The Middle English Compendium is an online resource for students and scholars of Middle English language and literature of the period 1100‐1500. It consists of three main components: an electronic version of the Middle English Dictionary (MED); the HyperBibliography of Middle English, based on the bibliographies in the print MED; and the Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse, a collection of electronic Middle English texts. The Corpus, a project of the Humanities Text Initiative at the University of Michigan, is freely accessible.
The Compendium is a work in progress: the Dictionary portion presently provides
access to entries from A‐War; the Corpus contains 47 texts; and the HyperBibliography is under construction as well. However, a more extensive collection of texts is planned along with completion of the Dictionary and HyperBibliography. General information about the Compendium and its components are provided, as well as a list of the Compendium staff.
The Middle English Dictionary entries contain the same information provided in the print version: headword (entry word) and its variant forms; etymology; definitions; and illustrative quotations. Users may choose whether to view the quotations, which link to the HyperBibliography entries for their sources. This linking process is incomplete; if a link is presented in bold font, you can be sure you will be linked to the appropriate HyperBibliography entry; if it is presented in regular font, you may or may not be linked to the appropriate entry.
The MED provides a variety of search options. Users may search the headword and its variants (called a lookup search); they may search the entirety of the MED entries or select a particular field in which to search; or they may search the quotations for a particular word or phrase or search for quotations from a particular work or date. The lookup searches permit truncation and wildcards. Entry and quotation searches permit proximity and Boolean operators but not wildcards. Truncation is automatic in entry and quotation searches.
The help available for the MED explains searching, describes the entries, and explains the links to the HyperBibliography. There is also a list of labels explaining some, but not all, of the abbreviations used. A comprehensive list linked directly from the entries would be a useful addition. Users with access to the print MED can consult its more extensive abbreviations list.
The HyperBibliography of Middle English provides information about manuscripts, editions, bibliographic references, and MED title stencils (a term which is explained in the help section). Users may browse the titles, authors, manuscripts, documents, or stencils. The HyperBibliography is also searchable by author, title, manuscript abbreviation, MED stencil, or word or phrase. Users may also search for a bibliographic reference from a specific handful of sources, or search by scribal dialect. HyperBibliography entries link to the electronic text of the title when available. Users may link to help for browsing and searching the HyperBibliography.
The texts in the Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse are accompanied by information about the text (title, author, individuals involved in the electronic text creation, etc.). Users may choose to view a source description and table of contents which are linked to the full text or a full header with more information about the text or the entire text. Graphics do not appear to be included. The Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse is browsable and searchable. Various combinations of proximity searching are available, either throughout the Corpus or within user‐selected texts. The multi‐level Corpus search screens could be simplified for greater clarity.
Help for the Compendium is divided into sections for the three main components, plus general help with searching. Help for the Corpus is under development and is much less extensive than that for the HyperBibliography and the MED. There is no help phone number; but an e‐mail address is provided. My e‐mail query received a prompt reply.
I am unaware of any other searchable online dictionary of Middle English or Middle English bibliography of comparable scope. Middle English texts are available from other online sources, notably the Middle English Collection at the Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia (http://etext.virginia.edu/mebrowse.html). Other Middle English resources available online include the Anthology of Middle English Literature (1350‐1485) (http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/index.html), which provides links to biographical information, online texts, bibliographies, essays, and other information; and Medieval Databases (http://ebbs.english.vt.edu/medieval/medieval.databases.html), a list of annotated links to Internet databases.
The greatest value of the Middle English Compendium lies in its search and hypertext capabilities. The search options allow users to locate information in ways impossible in a print source, while the links from quotes in the dictionary entries to the bibliography entries to, in some cases, the full text add value to an already useful resource. The Compendium could benefit from some fine‐tuning, but it is overall a well‐constructed, attractive, and unique resource.
