(2) Other MSS in London College of Physicians: Paper, the Canterbury Tales, "Tales in the usual order", according to Hist. MSS Comm. Report VIII, Appendix p. 233. Tales of Prioress and Parson imperfect. The Pardoner's Tale is printed Ch. Soc. Specimens part VI suppl. 1. This is probably the volume described in Bernard 3579. 10 among the MSS of Fr. Bernard, "Collegii Medicorum Lond. Socius" as "Geoffry Chawcer's Works. Imperfect. Imperfect." Koch, ed. Pard. Tale p. xxxiv, speaks of this MS as "hitherto unknown to all Chaucerians." [I have not examined this MS.] Sion College: In the In the library of Sion College, Victoria Embankment. On vellum, of 79 leaves about 83% by 63% inches; the last two blank except for an incomplete declaration written in "the first year of King Edward", and in a hand apparently later than the text. Script of the Canterbury Tales of the XV century, small and conventional; some traces of almost obliterated rubrics and capitals, other ink dark and clear. The great fire of London damaged these and other books of the library when at its former site. Contains only the Clerk's Tale, the Tales of Wife of Bath, Friar, and Sum moner. The Clerk's Tale is printed Ch. Soc. Specimens part VI. Mentioned in Bernard 4091.27 as "Part of Geoffrey Chaucer's Poem of his Canterbury Tale, 4to." Described by Todd, Illustrations p. 125. This MS must be distinguished from the Sion College copy, written by John Shirley, of the prose English translation of De Guileville's Pilgrimage, which contains in its text a transcription of Chaucer's ABC. Skeat, I: 50, 59, mentions "the Sion College MS", meaning the Shirley; the "Sion College MS" to which he alludes IV: xiii is the copy of the Cant. Tales. The Dict. Nat. Biog., art. Shirley gives in the list of his MSS the "Sion MS of Chaucer"; this is incorrect. (3) In the Bodleian Library, Oxford Catalogues of the Bodleian MSS are in Bernard, op. cit. The Ashmole MSS were catalogued by Black in 1845-67, the Tanner by Hackman in 1860, the Laud by Coxe, the Digby by Macray, who also catalogued part of the Rawlinson collection. See Madan, Books in Manuscript, pp. 172-75. The Bodleian collections not yet catalogued except by Bernard include the Fairfax, Bodley, Hatton, and Selden collections. Additions to the Library in the 18th and 19th centuries are described by Madan in his Summary Catalogue, vols. III-V; vols. I and II of this work are to be a revision of Bernard. Barlow 20: Vellum, of 259 leaves 121⁄2 by 84 inches, written in eights, 38 lines to the page. Begins imperfect with line 574, thus lacking probably one gathering, as the first catchword is on the 8th verso. In a clumsy XV century hand, with very wide margins and some ornament. Uses p and 3. Ends with a booklet complete, the last verso blank; no Parson's Tale. The Pardoner's Tale is printed Ch. Soc. Specimens part IV. The link Man of Law-Squire is printed Ch. Soc. Specimens of Moveable Prologues p. 6; the link Pardoner-Shipman is printed ibid. p. 27; the link Squire-Merchant is printed ibid. p. 35; the link Clerk-Franklin is printed ibid p. 54. Bernard notes the MS, 6420.8; it was used by Tyrwhitt. Order of Tales:-A Gamelyn B F E D E F G C B2 H, no more in MS. There is a spurious link of 16 lines MerchantWife of Bath, as in Royal 18 and Laud 739; spurious links connect Canon's Yeoman-Doctor and Pardoner-Shipman. Two lines connect Cook and Gamelyn. The Man of Law's headlink and his endlink begin and end with a fascicule. Bodley 414: On paper, of 436 pages 111⁄2 by 81⁄2 inches, 434 pages according to the old numbering, but 235 is trebled. In one clear, compact hand ca. 1460-80. Spaces left throughout the MS for initials; rubric headings to most of the Tales. The Pardoner's Tale is printed Ch. Soc. Specimens part IV. Order of Tales, not given by the Chaucer Society:-A, (no Cook's Tale or Gamelyn), B1 D E F G C B2 H I. No Tale of Squire or of Merchant. Spurious links Canon's Yeoman-Doctor and Pardoner-Shipman. (Description communicated.) Bodley 686: Vellum, of 217 leaves 14% by 9% inches; first page with large capital and illuminated border. In one hand of XV century, stereotyped and clear; very wide margins, running titles, rubrics, elaborate capitals, and some borders. The Canterbury Tales fill 1a to 184a. Order of Tales: A B1 D E F C B2 in part, H G1. The text was used by Tyrwhitt. The Pardoner's Tale is printed Ch. Soc. Specimens part II. The rest of MS, all by Lydgate, contains: (2) Verses on English Kings, ending with Henry VI. See Anglia 28: 6-7. (3) Stans Puer ad Mensam. See Anglia 28: 20. (4) "For helth of body" etc., see Anglia 28: 7, to which list Foerster adds copies in Glasgow, Hunterian U iv 17, Sloane 989, Adds. 10099, Harley 5401, Rawl. A, 653, part in Harley 2252. See also Rawl. poet. 35. The heading in this MS has a trace of Shirley spelling. (5) "So as the Crab goes", see Anglia 28: 17. (6) Of the Ram's horn, see Anglia 28: 15. (7) Wicked Tongue, see Anglia 28: 21. To that note it should be added that the last stanza of Harley 2251 is not a part of the poem, but begins "Right as povert causeth sobrenes," see under Prosperity, Section V here. This poem has been printed by Skeat VII: 285, from Thynne. (8) Life of St. Margaret, 74 stanzas of seven lines; also in Trin. Coll. Cambr. R 3, 20 (a Shirley MS), and in Stow's copy from Shirley, Adds. 29279. (9) Life of St. George, 35 stanzas of seven lines. Also in R 3, 20, see above. (10) The Fifteen Joys of Our Lady, followed by the Fifteen Heavinesses; in all 45 stanzas of seven lines. In Harley 2255, Trin. Coll. Cambr. R 3, 21, Jesus Coll. Cambr. 56. (11) The Dance Macabre, headed "The Daunce of Poules". The text here copied is not Lydgate's direct translation from the French, but has undergone some changes. The translated text is to be printed in vol. 18, Sect. II of the Belles Lettres Series, Boston. From the heading here given the poem, we may infer that the MS is later than the painting of the fresco in Pardon Churchyard, St. Paul's, which took place about 1430. In the Canterbury Tales, the Cook's Tale has a spurious conclusion of 12 lines, printed in the 1687 Chaucer, and under Cook's Tale here. The Man of Law's Tale has no endlink, and the E F connectives are complete, as in the Ellesmere type of MSS, except that the loss of a leaf (S iii) at the end of the Squire's Tale renders it doubtful if the Words of the Franklin were present. The Verba Hospitis are at the end of the Clerk's Tale. At the end of Sir Thopas follows the Manciple's Tale, marked not as his but as "a lytel tretis of pe Crowe", and its pages headed "Lydgate.' The Second Nun's Tale is then copied, and no more of the Canterbury Tales. Hatton Donat, 1: Vellum, 257 leaves 104 by 71⁄2 inches, in eights. With headings and running titles in red, border around first page and 8-line capital. In one small, neat XV century hand, 43 lines to page. Contains the Canterbury Tales only. The Pardoner's Tale is printed Ch. Soc. Specimens part II. The link Man of Law-Squire is printed Ch. Soc. Specimens of Moveable Prologues p. 15; the spurious link Pardoner-Shipman is printed ibid. p. 28, the link Merchant-Squire is printed ibid. p. 34. Order of Tales: A B Cook Gamelyn F1 F2 F2 D G C E1 B2 HI. The Cook has his usual headlink, out of keeping with his position here. His Tale is connected by two spurious lines to Gamelyn. The Squire's Tale has a blank space of a leaf and a half following it, and the Merchant begins a new fascicule. No Merch. headlink; he has the Words of Franklin. There is a spurious link of 14 lines Canon's Yeoman-Doctor, and the spurious headlink to Shipman, connecting from Pardoner, is here out of keeping because of the place of Clerk in front of Shipman. The connection Merchant-Franklin here present is also found in Hengwrt, Petworth, Cambridge Ii and Cambridge Mm. See Specimens of Moveable Prologues, pp. 46 ff. The Retractation is present, and is printed Six-Text to supply gap in Corpus. From the Links it is plain that the order back of this MS was:A Gamelyn B1 F1 E2 F2 D G C B H I, with E1 probably following D as in the Ii MS. Laud 600: Vellum, of 304 leaves 114 by 84 inches, in eights, beginning on Ia of first gathering. Illuminated initials, headings and running titles in red. Contains the Canterbury Tales only; was originally in one clear, neat XV century hand, but has suffered many mutilations, a number of which are supplied on newer vellum by a hand of the early XVII century. Gaps still existing are between Melibeus and Monk, Nun's Priest and Manciple, Canon's Yeoman and Doctor, Doctor and Pardoner. The Pardoner's Tale is printed Ch. Soc. Specimens part IV. The link Squire-Franklin is printed Ch. Soc. Specimens of Moveable Prologues p. 33 and Six-Text p. 498. This MS was used by Tyrwhitt; it is described by Bernard 1476, Laud K 50 as "Geoffrey Order of Tales:-A Gamelyn D E1 B1 E2 F G C B2 H I. The original order must have been as in the Ellesmere group, B1 being misplaced. The Wife's prologue opens a booklet; her first word is Experiment, as in Barlow 20, Lansdowne 851, Sloane 1686. There is no Man of Law's endlink (Shipman's prologue). Laud 739: Vellum, 239 leaves 11% by 71⁄2 inches, in twelves, 33 lines to the page. Headings, running titles, glosses, additions, notes, and corrections by a Jacobean hand; the original scribe wrote in a large, coarse hand of XV century. No contents other than the Canterbury Tales. Breaks off imperfect in Sir Thopas; began on Ia of the first gathering. The Pardoner's Tale is printed Ch. Soc. Specimens part IV. The link Man of Law-Squire is printed Ch. Soc. Specimens of Moveable Prologues p. 13; the spurious link Pardoner-Shipman is printed ibid. p. 28; the link Squire-Merchant is printed ibid. p. 39. This MS was used by Tyrwhitt; it is described in Bernard 1234, Laud G 69 as "Jeffrey Chaucer his Canterbury Tales." Order of Tales:-A Gamelyn B1 F1 E2 D E F G C B2 G C imperfect. There is a spurious link of 16 lines Merchant-Wife, as in Royal 18 and Barlow. The Summoner's Tale has the abrupt spurious conclusion, as in Petworth, Sloane 1685, Royal 18, Rawlinson 149. In this MS the Jacobean hand has crossed out the last four lines and written in margin "Hic desunt 2 folia." There is a garbled link Clerk-Franklin of two seven-line stanzas, as in Sloane 1685; spurious links also connect Canon's Yeoman and Doctor (14 lines) and Pardoner-Shipman (12 lines). Rawlinson C 86: Paper, 189 leaves about II by 81⁄2 inches, in various current hands, late and slovenly. Contents, 32 entries, partly Lydgatian; also Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell, Guiscard and Sigismond, etc. The Chaucerian poems are the story of Dido, from the Legend of Good Women, marked as by Lydgate; the first 180 lines of the Prioress' prologue and Tale, without heading; and the Clerk's Tale, headed "Grysill" and ending (Envoy) with "I you counsell", followed by three spurious lines (see under Clerk's Tale in Section III G) and "ffinis Gryseld." The Dido legend is printed Ch. Soc. OT pp. 133 ff. Rawlinson Poetry 141 (fragmentary): Paper, ii plus 159 leaves 10% by 7% inches, in eights. Headings, running titles and initials in colors. In a clear, compact hand of the first half of the XV century, 32 lines to the page. Contains a part of the Canterbury Tales, beginning with line 1709 of the Knight's Tale, and breaking off imperfect in the Manciple's Tale. The The Clerk's Tale is printed Ch. Soc. Specimens part VI. link Man of Law-Squire is printed Ch. Soc. Specimens of Moveable Prologues p. 18. Described in Madan's Summary Catalogue III: 312. Order of Tales:-A B1 F1 E1 B2 without the Nun's Priest, D Nun's Priest H imperfect. Parts only of the Summoner's Tale and Nun's Priest Tale are in the MS. There is a spurious conclusion of four lines to Cook's Tale. The Clerk ends ready for the Merchant, but the Merch. Tale is not in the MS. Rawlinson Poetry 149: Vellum, in one (or two) very small hand of the XV century. Of iv plus 138 leaves 114 by 8% inches, in eights; written 49 lines to the page for part of the MS, then 74 lines to page. This change comes on the middle of a verso, in the ML headlink. Begins imperfect, with line 432 of the Prologue. Headings and some running titles in red, colored initials. According to note at end, written by William Stevens. At the foot of 136b is a short poem, ca. 1600, on the word jest scraped out of a lady's Chaucer; see the Glossary to Speght, s. v. iape; also see Urry, Glossary, and pp. 221, 507, here. The Pardoner's Tale is printed Ch. Soc. Specimens part IV. The link Man of Law-Squire is printed Ch. Soc. Specimens of Moveable Prologues p. 20; the link Pardoner-Shipman is printed ibid. p. 30; the link Squire-Merchant ibid. p. 38. Described in Madan's Summary Catalogue III: 314. Order of Tales:-A B1 F1 E2 Gamelyn D E G C B2 H I. After the Squire's Tale is a blank of nearly one leaf; the Words of the Franklin, given to the Merchant, begin the next gathering, on Ki. There is no Cook's Tale in A, and Gamelyn is imperfect at beginning, Merchant at end; a whole gathering seems to have been lost at that point. The Summoner's Tale ends abruptly, as in Royal 18, Sloane 1685, Laud 739. The Clerk does not end ready for the Merchant. There are spurious links Canon's Yeoman-Doctor (14 lines) and Pardoner-Shipman (12 lines.) The Monk's Tale breaks off in Hercules, and the Nun's Priest's begins imperfect. The Retractation is on the last verso. Rawlinson Poetry 223, formerly Rawl. Misc. 1133: Vellum, xi plus 272 leaves 163% by 114 inches, with rubrics and many beautifully illuminated large and small letters and borders, running titles in black, illuminated initials, figures of the Friar and of Melibeus. In one large, clear stereotyped hand of the XV century; writing and illuminating beautifully executed. Foll. i-x are a fragment, originally loose in the volume, of a XV century copy of Lydgate's Siege of Troy. The Pardoner's Tale is printed Ch. Soc. Specimens part II. III: 332. Order of Tales:-A B1 F1 E2 E1 D Second Nun-PardonerManciple-Sir Thopas-Melibeus-Nun's Priest-Doctor-Shipman-Prioress-Franklin's Tale given to Merchant-Parson. |