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
The text of this fine MS. belongs clearly to the unrevised
group. At the same time its original must have had some
corrections, and some also appear on the face of this MS. It
stands alone of the first recension in agreement with S, F in
a few passages, as v. 5438, vi. 1954, vii. 4318 _marg._, and
with J in ii. 2576, iii. 176, v. 4989 f., 7327, vii. 3484. It
has also some connexion with B (BTΛ), standing in this matter
either with C (or YC), as iii. 633, v. 3688, 3814, 5667, 6318,
or by itself, as Prol. 169, i. 2122, ii. 1353, iv. 3401, v.
3992, 6336, vii. 323, 978, viii. 1761, 2706.
The scribe seems to have had a good ear for metre, and seldom
goes wrong in any point of spelling which affects the verse,
though apt to omit final _e_ in case of elision. Sometimes,
however, he drops words, as ‘swerd,’ i. 433, ‘so,’ v. 122,
‘chaste,’ v. 6277. On the whole the text of E is probably the
best of its class.
C. CORPUS CHRISTI COLL., OXF. 67 (Bern. Cat. i. 2. 1534). _Confessio
Amantis_ with ‘Explicit’ (four lines), ‘Quam cinxere,’ and ‘Quia
vnusquisque,’ after which ‘Deo Gracias.’ Parchment, large folio, ff.
209, of which three blank, in quires of 8 with catchwords: written in
double column in a good hand of first quarter fifteenth cent. Latin
summaries in text (red). Pages with complete borders at beginning
of books (except Lib. i), and two very fair miniatures, f. 4 v^o
Nebuchadnezzar’s Image, f. 9 v^o the Confession (priest laying stole on
youthful penitent’s head). The book has lost four leaves, the second of
the first quire (Prol. 144-301), the last of the 22nd and first of the
23rd (vii. 3137-3416), and the first of the 26th (viii. 1569-1727).
We find on the last leaf in a hand perhaps as early as the fifteenth
cent. ‘Liber partinet Thomam Crispe Ciuem et Mercerium Londiniarum,’
and on the flyleaf at the beginning a device containing the same name,
and also A. Crispe, F. Crispe, W. Rawson, Anne Rawson. ‘Augusten Crispe
me Iure tenet’ is written on the first leaf of the text, and also
‘Liber Willelmi Rawson A^o. Dni 1580.’ Finally, ‘Liber C. C. C. Oxon.
1676.’ The device referred to above appears also in the decoration of
the book both at the beginning and the end, but the manuscript must
have been written much earlier than the time of Thomas Crispe.
This is a good copy of the unrevised group, having some
connexion, as we have seen above, with E, but less good
in spelling, especially as regards final _e_. For special
connexion with B, see i. 2234, iv. 359, &c. CL go specially
together apparently in some places, as Prol. 937 f., i.
94, 161, 165, 433, 916, but not throughout. There are some
corrections by erasure of final e, and a line supplied by a
different hand, vi. 1028. No punctuation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account