The Coucher Book of Selby

The Coucher Book of Selby Synopsis

This two-volume work comprises a fourteenth-century cartulary containing charters and deeds that document the history of Selby Abbey from its foundation under William the Conqueror in 1069 until the mid-fifteenth century. The editor, J. T. Fowler (1834–1924), originally a surgeon, left medicine for the church. He studied at Durham University before becoming a deacon in the Durham diocese and holding posts in the university itself. The contents of the cartulary are divided across the two volumes, originally published between 1891 and 1893, and Fowler has aimed to reproduce the Latin text as closely as possible, noting any errors in occasional footnotes. Volume 1 includes the Historia Selebiensis monasterii, a history of Selby written in 1174 by an anonymous Selby monk. Fowler's version is reprinted from an imperfect 1657 edition by the Jesuit historian Philippe Labbe and does not attempt to correct the errors found in that version.