Manuscript Description London, British Library MS Egerton 2726 | |
| MS Appellation: | En1 (Manly and Rickert) |
| Title: | Canterbury Tales |
| Author: | Chaucer |
| Contents: | Canterbury Tales |
| Language: | English |
| Date Range: | 1425-1450 |
| Scribal Hands: | Examples of the hand. Click on the link above for full details and images of individual letter forms.                 Examples of the hand. Click on the link above for full details and images of individual letter forms.                |
| Dialect: | LP : 6150; County : Essex |
| Material: | Parchment |
| No of Folios: | i marbled flyleaf + ii paper flyleaves + 1-270 + i older paper flyleaf + vi paper flyleaves + i marbled flyleaf |
| Pagination: | At least two modern foliations, one in blue pencil now cancelled in upper outer corners recto and newer one in grey pencil just beneath; an even earlier foliation in red, usually on verso in top left corner, goes up to 106; there is then an 18th century addition of 8 leaves and what is now f64r has the number 126 in the top right corner also in the same red; thereafter no more red numbers. |
| Quiring: | 1-6(8), 7(6), 8(8) + 8 leaves (added by Timothy Thomas), 9-33(8) + 1 leaf (also 18th century) |
| Signatures: | None visible. |
| Catchwords: | From f102v with half sleigh underline and 'ex' attached to concave left side of sleigh. |
| Page Size: | 330 x 205 |
| Frame: | 2 x vertical and 3 x horizontal; two top horizontals contain top line; traces of ruling scarce but some in brown and grey. |
| Writing Space: | 225 x 135 |
| Incipits and Explicits: | In both Latin and English by each scribe and showing some originality of expression. |
| Running Titles: | None |
| Paragraph Marks: | None in either verse or prose. |
| Flourished Initials: | Blue ink initial capitals for most divisions of the text with red flourishing; other textual divisions marked in same way with smaller capitals. |
| Other Names (not owners): | On f1r Manly and Rickert suggest the name 'Brotherton', 'written as an owner might write'. Unfortunately this is no longer visible. On f158v is a reference to 'my lord Cobham'. 'Radolphus Pe...?' occurs on f229. |
| Miscellaneous Info: | Initial letters of folios by what may be the second scribe are elaborately decorated in the ink of the text rather like many in the Letter books; some have faces and on 126v is a face on the left side of the catchword sleigh which is then repeated as decoration of the first letter of the following folio. |
| Further Information: | Manly and Rickert vol. I, 130-135. Seymour vol. II, 103-107. |