sehepunkte 26 (2026), Nr. 11

Gervase of Melkley / Traugott Lawler (eds.): The Art of Making Verses

Gervase of Melkley, known in Latin as Gervasius de Saltu lacteo, was an early thirteenth-century Anglo-Norman scholar, poet, and teacher born around 1185. After studying in France under the poet John of Hauville, he returned to spend his adult life teaching and writing in England. Gervase's most significant contribution is his Ars versificatoria (The Art of Making Verses), a medieval educational treatise on rhetoric, poetry, and prose composition written between roughly 1200 and 1220. As Lawler observes, his aim was to teach his students how to compose short sentences (clausulae) in an elegant, that is "figured" way (ix). The manual exposes basic principles common to all forms of discourse, and rules for verse and prose composition covering arguments and elegance of style. Gervase designed the work to instruct students in three progressive modes of composition - literal but artful language, metaphor, and irony or paradox. While he drew upon classical authorities, he actively sought to innovate beyond the established texts of his contemporaries, such as Matthew of Vendôme and Geoffrey of Vinsauf.

The recent publication of Gervase's treatise in by Traugott Lawler, released through Harvard University Press, marks a very welcome milestone. A fresh critical edition and English translation had long been a necessity. Prior to Lawler's work, the only modern critical edition in existence was produced by Hans Jürgen Gräbner in 1965. Gräbner's volume is not only difficult to find in libraries, but it is also marred by a considerable number of controversial editorial choices. Furthermore, the single existing English translation - completed by Catherine Yodice Giles - was based entirely on Gräbner's flawed edition and remains similarly difficult to access. Lawler's volume effectively addresses both deficiencies at once, offering a newly prepared edition of Latin text accompanied by an English translation.

In preparing this new edition, Lawler consulted four medieval manuscripts - one more than Gräbner utilized - which current scholarship confirms as the only surviving witnesses to Gervase's text. Lawler establishes his base text primarily on MS V.8.14, preserved in the Hunterian Museum at Glasgow University. Readings that diverge from this core manuscript are carefully drawn from the remaining three codices or represent judicious editorial emendations proposed by Lawler himself. Aside from one noticeable structural flaw, the editorial work reflects a high standard of scholarly rigor.

That primary flaw concerns the physical placement of the critical apparatus. Rather than placing textual variants at the bottom of the page as traditional footnotes, the editor (or the publishing house) chose to relegate the apparatus to a separate section titled "Notes to the Text" at the back of the volume. This layout decision proves quite inconvenient for readers wishing to consult variant readings alongside the Latin text. While such a placement might be defended if the apparatus was overwhelmingly bulky, that argument does not apply here: textual variants in Gervase's treatise are relatively sparse and predominantly short. Relegating them to the end needlessly complicates consultation of the critical text.

In contrast, the execution of the English translation itself is remarkably successful. The volume adopts a parallel, facing-page format in which the Latin original appears on the left-hand page and the English rendering sits on the right. Lawler's translation strikes a good balance between faithful adherence to the source text and a fluent, highly readable English style.

Much like the critical apparatus, the explanatory annotations for the translation are gathered at the back of the book in a section titled "Notes to the Translation." In this instance, however, the decision to place the commentary at the end is entirely justified. Many of Lawler's notes are extensive and detailed; placing them as footnotes would have severely cluttered the presentation and disrupted the visual symmetry of the facing pages. These notes illuminate Gervase's complex web of classical and medieval allusions, presenting his sources, explaining his terminology, and clarifying concepts that might otherwise confuse a modern reader.

The volume is prefaced by an introduction that situates Gervase and his Ars versificatoria within their historical and literary context. Lawler also provides a clear roadmap of the work's structure. The main pillar of the treatise resides in its first three books, which systematically explore three foundational stylistic principles: identitas (rendered by Lawler as "sameness"), similitudo ("likeness"), and contrarietas ("opposition"). The remaining five parts (Books 4 through 8) contain much shorter discussions concerning stylistic devices, rhetorical figures, and rules for poetry.

Ultimately, this publication is a genuine cause for celebration. It places a vital medieval text into the hands of today's readers in an edition that surpasses its scarce and flawed predecessor, equipped with a good translation and comprehensive commentary that firmly situates the treatise within its literary tradition.