This edition offers a selection of ten of the most widely read of the Canterbury Tales in the original Middle English, along with the General Prologue and Chaucer's Retraction, where he apologizes for the unworthy parts of the poem. Drawing from the same text as the full Broadview edition of the Tales, which is based on the famous Ellesmere Manuscript, this edition also features a critical introduction, marginal translations in modern English of difficult words, and explanatory footnotes. The appendices from the complete edition are also included in their entirety, along with a sampling of illustrations from the Ellesmere manuscript