Cædmon's Hymn. A Multi-media study, Edition and Archive. Edited by Daniel Paul O'Donnell. Cambridge: D.S. Brewer in association with SEENET and the Medieval Academy, 2005. Pp. xxiii + 261, with CD-ROM. $85.

This new edition of the Old English poem Cædmon's Hymn (hereafter CH), published in both book and CD-ROM form, is indispensable reading for anyone interested in Cædmon's career as a poet and his place in literary history. After the usual preliminaries, we are given seven introductory chapters, five substantial "Notes" (A to E) on aspects of the poem and its history, "Critical Editions" of the five identifiable recensions of the poem (Northumbrian aelda and eordu, and West-Saxon eordan, eorde, and ylda versions), a "Witness Archive" containing diplomatic transcriptions of the manuscript texts of CH, a "Glossary" to the critical editions, a list of "Works Cited," general and manuscript indexes, and finally guidance on the installation of the CD.

Peter Orton
Queen Mary, University of London