Edited and translated by Wolfgang van Emden
Second edition
Edinburgh 1999
ISBN 978 0 9519791 2 9
 
The twelfth-century Jeu d’Adam is essential reading for all students of medieval French or drama, if only because it is the first European play in the vernacular.  It is presented here with a facing-page translation into English, with introduction, notes and glossary, in readable and easily accessible form.
The play is important both for its superb poetry and its detailed stage-directions, while the dramatic, psychological and theological insights of its gifted author can arguably be seen not least in his subversion of standard medieval misogyny.
Through this new edition and translation, this outstanding play will reach the wider audience its originality deserves.
 
Designed for undergraduate and taught postgraduate students following courses on medieval literature in French or Comparative Literature programmes, it contains an introduction, the text and translation into modern English, explanatory notes and a glossary.