The complete works of John Gower, volume 4

by John Gower

(4) The marginal note at iii. 375: the same as S (4), C (6), H (6).

(5) The text of ‘Vnanimes esse’ and the succeeding poems on ff. 131 v^o, 132.

C.Cotton. Tib. A. iv, British Museum. Contains, ff. 2-152v^o, Vox Clamantis, ff. 153-167 r^o, ‘Explicit libellus’ &c. and Cronica Tripertita, f. 167, ‘Rex celi deus,’ ‘H. aquile pullus,’ ‘O recolende bone,’ ff. 168-172, Carmen super multiplici Viciorum Pestilencia, ff. 172 v^o-174, Tractatus de Lucis Scrutinio, ff. 174 v^o, 175, ‘Quia vnusquisque,’ ‘Eneidos Bucolis,’ ‘Orate pro anima,’ ‘O deus immense,’ ff. 176, 177, ‘Henrici regis,’ ‘Vnanimes esse,’ ‘Presul, ouile regis,’ ‘Cultor in ecclesia,’ ‘Dicunt scripture.’ Ends on 177 r^o. Parchment, ff. 178, that is, 176 leaves of original text, preceded by two blanks, on the second of which is Sir Robert Cotton’s Table of Contents, ending ‘Liber vt videtur ipsius autoris,’ the first leaf of the text being now numbered f. 2. In quires of eight with catchwords, signed a, b, c, &c. from f. 10 (where the text of the Vox Clamantis begins) the first quire, containing the chapter-headings &c., written in a hand different from that of the main part of the text. Leaves measure about 10 x 6½ in. Written in single column, 38 lines to the page in the Vox Clamantis, 40 or more in the Cronica Tripertita. The MS. has been carefully corrected, and revised passages appear written over erasure as in SGH. Capitals coloured and gilded at the beginning of the books, coloured blue and red at the beginning of chapters and paragraphs. On f. 9, the last of the first quire, a picture like that in the Glasgow MS., of the author shooting at the world, as shown in the frontispiece of this volume.

On f. 2 is written ‘Roberti Cotton liber ex dono doctissimi Patricii Youngi generosi.’ The book suffered somewhat in the fire of 1731, but it has been carefully and skilfully repaired, and though the writing at the top of each page shows traces of the heat, no part of it is illegible. The effect produced is clearly visible on the page of which a facsimile is given.

The text of C is a very good one and unquestionably independent. In regard to spelling it may be observed that the copyist of the Vox Clamantis frequently gives ‘u’ for ‘v’ at the beginning of words, he writes ‘sed’ almost always for ‘set,’ and often ‘ti’ for ‘ci’ in words like ‘etiam,’ ‘ratio,’ ‘patiens’ and even ‘fatie’ (ii. 57), but also ‘eciam,’ ‘ambicio,’ ‘precium,’ &c.

The following are the hands, so far as they can be distinguished:

(1) Text of the Vox Clamantis, a small and somewhat irregular but clear hand, of the fourteenth century.

(2) The eight leaves preceding this (containing the chapter-headings), and also ff. 96, 97 and part of 140. This hand has made corrections throughout, not revising the text, as the author might, but setting right the mistakes of the scribe.

The (3) following passages as rewritten over erasure: i. 1019 ff., vi. 545-554, and also the prose heading of the first part of the Cronica Tripertita. This is the ‘second hand’ of the Fairfax MS., the same as S (2), G (2), H (3).

(4) The passage rewritten over erasure in iii. 1 ff., also the heading of iii, cap. iv., corrections in iv. 1198 ff., and iv. 1221*-1232* rewritten over erasure. This is a neat round hand used also in the same places of the Harleian MS.