Scribal Self-Correction and Editorial Theory.

Although Robert Thornton corrected numerous errors in his copies of alliterative poems, comparison of his text of P3A (and the Siege of Jerusalem) with other manuscripts of these poems indicates that his final productions remained corrupt in many instances, and thus undermines any easy confidence that the text produced by even a conscientious scribe should dictate a conservative editorial policy. With particular regard to P3A, although Thornton was careful to reproduce his original, he also introduced incorrect readings through hyper-correction.