Manuscript Description London, British Library MS Sloane 1686 | |
MS Appellation: | Sl2 (Manly and Rickert) |
Title: | Canterbury Tales |
Author: | Chaucer |
Contents: | Canterbury Tales |
Language: | English |
Date Range: | 1475-1500 |
Scribal Hands: | Examples of the hand. Click on the link above for full details and images of individual letter forms. |
Dialect: | Norfolk |
Material: | Paper |
No of Folios: | 1-295 |
Pagination: | Modern foliation. |
Quiring: | 8's 1(6 i and viii missing), 2-27(8), 28(7 iii missing), 29-31(8), 32(4), 33-37(8), 38(6 i and viii missing) |
Signatures: | Original signatures as far as f241. |
Catchwords: | Catchwords regularly found, some in red ink with occasional underline in red. |
Page Size: | 275 x 180 |
Frame: | Ruled in grey plummet. 2 x vertical and 2 or 3 x horizontal. If 3 horizontals are ruled, there are 2 at the top enclosing the first line. |
Writing Space: | 160 x 115 |
Marginal Headings: | Latin glosses in Man of Law's Tale in red ink copied within the text not in margins. |
Running Titles: | In the ink of the text in a display script but often missing the initial letter which was left for the rubricator. Some tales have odd titles such as 'Theseus' for Knight's Tale, and '[D]origen' for the Franklin's Tale. |
Flourished Initials: | Blue with red flourishing much faded. Upper case letters at the beginning of lines and catchwords are tipped with red. |
Other Names (not owners): | On f1r is the name 'Will Walter'. See Manly and Rickert I: 514 for their speculation about Walter's identity. By 1712 it was in the possession of Sloane who apparently then lent it to Urry. |
Further Information: | Manly and Rickert I:510-514. Seymour II: 146-150. |