This Treatise is of more importance than might be supposed, owing to Chaucer's frequent allusions to astronomical subjects. Every editor of Chaucer should know that there are nine spheres; otherwise, he may fall (as three editors have done) into the trap prepared by the scribe of the Harleian MS., who gives lines 1280 and 1283 of Group F of the Canterbury Tales in this extraordinary form:—
'And by his thre speeres in his worching' ...
'That in the fourthe speere considred is.'
It was a special pleasure to find that Chaucer's star Aldiran (Cant. Tales, F 265) was one of the stars marked on the 'Rete' or web of a Parisian astrolabe in A.D. 1223, and is described (in MS. Ii. 3. 3, in the Camb. Univ. Library) as being 'in fronte Leonis.' See vol. v. p. 380.
Some attempts have been made to calculate the date of the Canterbury Tales from ll. 10, 11 of the Parson's Prologue. The absurdity of such an endeavour is patent to any one who knows enough of the old astronomy and astrology to be aware that the 'moon's exaltation' is merely a name for a sign of the zodiac, and has nothing whatever to do with the position of the moon itself. Here, again, the scribe of the Harleian MS. has turned the phrase I mene into In mena[[7]], misleading many enquirers who fail to realise that he was as careless in this passage as in the former one.
[§ 10]. The Canterbury Tales. The great gain in this poem has been the foundation of the text upon the basis of the Ellesmere MS., the most satisfactory of all existing MSS. having any reference to Chaucer.
The general excellence and correctness of its spellings and readings render it the safest on which to found rules for our guidance as to pronunciation, syntax, and prosody. For further remarks, see the Introduction to vol. iv. p. xvii.
Much help has been obtained from the experience gained in editing various portions of the Tales from the same MS. in former years. The edition of the Prologue, the Knightes Tale, and the Nonnes Preestes Tale, originally issued by Dr. Morris, underwent a considerable amount of revision by him and by myself conjointly; and so great was the interest which he took in the work, and so freely were the results of our researches thrown, as it were, into a common fund, that in many instances I am unable to say which of us it was that suggested the illustrations given in the Notes. Dr. Morris was justly celebrated for his acuteness in unravelling the intricacies of the various Middle-English dialects, and for his swiftness of perception of the right use of grammatical inflections; and he communicated the results of his labours with unsparing generosity.
The Prioresses Tale, Sire Thopas, the Monkes Tale, the Clerkes Tale, and the Squieres Tale were first edited by me, with Notes and a Glossary, as far back as 1874; and the book has passed through several editions since that date[[8]].