The Companion to Chaucer Studies arose out of present necessity: it has been devised to assist students when they confront the formidable mass of Chaucerian scholarship, and, in particular, to give those who have small library facilities some idea of the critical background which seems essential for an appreciation of Chaucer's poetry at any but a superficial level. It may also, perhaps, prove stimulating and useful to those already familiar with Chaucerian scholarship. - Preface.