Beginning with what may be the earliest extended first-person narrative in Middle English, , the book examines instances of the dit as discussed by French scholars, analyzes Chaucer’s as a textual performance, and devotes separate chapters to detailed readings of Hoccleve’s prologue, his , and the witty first-person elements in Osbern Bokenham’s legends of saints. An afterword suggests possible further applications of the concept of autography, including discussion of the intermittent autographic commentaries on the narrative in and Capgrave’s .