The Canterbury Tales of Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400) represent one of the foundations of English literature. For this 1879 entry in the influential “English Men of Letters” series of literary biographies, the distinguished critic Adolphus Ward placed Chaucer’s life and work in the context of his tempestuous times, which included the Black Death.
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Sir Adolphus William Ward (1837-1924) was an English historian and man of letters. He helped to found Victoria University, where he served as vice-chancellor, teaching and lecturing at other colleges such as Owens College, Oxford, and Cambridge. His works include The History of English Dramatic Literature to the Age of Queen Anne, The House of Austria in the Thirty Years’ War, and Great Britain and Hanover.