Secular Love in MS Harley 2253: An Experimental Digital Edition of a Selection of Lyrics

London, British Library, MS Harley 2253 is a fourteenth-century manuscript containing the finest collection of secular love lyrics that survived from medieval England. A remarkable feature of these love lyrics is their uniqueness; indeed, they survive only in this manuscript and are not attested elsewhere. The love lyrics, along with other religious and political lyrics contained in the manuscript, are commonly referred to as “Harley Lyrics”. The aim of this dissertation is to present an experimental digital edition of three secular love lyrics in Middle English preserved in MS Harley 2253, namely Alysoun, Spring, and When the nightingale sings. The first chapter provides a general overview of Middle English lyrics, exploring their ancient origins, structural features and thematic variety. Subsequently, the second chapter focuses on MS Harley 2253 itself, with particular attention to its physical description, contents, and history. Finally, the third chapter presents an image-based digital edition that integrates the diplomatic and interpretative transcriptions of the selected lyrics with the digital images of the manuscript folios.