ABSTRACT
The Middle English section of CBEL (Vol. I, 1940—see above, p. 1), was mainly the work of John Edwin Wells, whose Manual of the Writings in Middle English, 1050—1400 (1916; nine Supplements, 1919–52) is an indispensable if unmspiring work of reference, which lists and summarizes almost every book and article about Middle English literature down to 1945 as well as describing the various Middle English works themselves. The Modern Language Association of America is preparing a one-volume revision to consolidate Wells, bring it up to date, and extend it to 1500; in the meantime annual lists in PMLA (unfortunately restricted to the work of American scholars until 1956) provide a current record of Middle English scholarly output. Wells included some fifteenth-century items such as the romances and the drama; other aspects are covered by H. S. Bennett in the Bibliography to his OHEL volume (Chaucer and the Fifteenth Century, 1947, pp. 240–318), which has an alphabetical catalogue of authors and anonyma and is also good on background topics.
