The complete works of John Gower, volume 2 : $b The English worksGower, John
General
The complete works of John Gower, volume 2 : $b The English works
Gower, John
Poetry
Of these remaining MSS. one is directly copied from F, and another
seems to be certainly derived from the same source, though perhaps
not immediately. In the case of H₃ (MS. Harl. 7184) the question of
origin is not quite so simple. Its text generally seems to suggest
ultimate dependence on F, but it is very unequal as regards accuracy,
and in one part it regularly follows the early first recension readings
and seems to belong for the time to the ERCLB₂ group. In addition to
this it has a Latin marginal note at the beginning of the Prologue,
which is wanting in F. The problem is perhaps to be solved by means
of the Keswick MS. This is written in several hands, varying greatly
in accuracy, and exactly in that place where H₃ seems to follow a
first recension copy the Keswick MS. is defective, having lost several
leaves. It also contains the marginal note referred to above, and on
examination we find that a whole series of corruptions are common to
the two MSS. There seems to be very little doubt that K is the source
of H₃, the inequality of the latter MS. being to a great extent in
accordance with the change of hands in K, and the variation of H₃ in
a portion of the third book to a different type of text being exactly
coincident with the gap left in K by loss of leaves, a loss which must
apparently have taken place in the first forty or fifty years of its
existence[AJ]. As to the text of K itself, in the parts which are most
carefully written it reproduces that of F with scrupulous exactness,
giving every detail of orthography and punctuation, and for the most
part following it in such small errors as it has. It is impossible for
one who places these MSS. side by side, as I have been able to do,
to avoid the conviction that in some parts at least the exemplar for
K was the Fairfax MS. itself. On the other hand, the Latin marginal
note at the beginning was derived from some other copy, and setting
aside the many mistakes, which possibly are due to mere carelessness
on the part of some of the scribes, the Keswick MS. does undoubtedly
contain some readings which seem to be derived from a different source.
In form of text generally it corresponds exactly with F, reproducing
all the additions and corrections made by erasure or otherwise, and
containing the same Latin and French pieces in the same order at the
end, so far at least as it is perfect. The Magdalen College MS. must
be derived ultimately from the same source as H₃, and it has the same
lapse from the third recension to the first, coinciding with the gap
in the Keswick book. On the other hand W, though in form of text it
corresponds with these and with F, is quite independent of the group
above mentioned, and probably also of the Fairfax MS. It is late
and full of corruptions, but in several instances it assists in the
correction of errors which appear in F, and it is apparently based on
a copy which retained some of the variants of the earlier text still
uncorrected.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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