Advanced Search   *   Manuscripts   *   Scribes   *   Authors   *   Letters
Home   *   About the Project   *   Bibliography
Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council
Find What? Search by
Manuscript Description
London, British Library MS Additional 9832
 
Title:Legend of Good Women
Author:Chaucer
Contents:Legend of Good Women; manuscript and printed edition interleaved.
Language:English
Date Range:1450-1475
Scribal Hands:
Examples of the hand. Click on the link above for full details and images of individual letter forms.
****************

Material:Paper
No of Folios:47, incorporating the 5 last folios of the printed book; the manuscript fragments end on f42.
Pagination:The earliest foliation is probably 16th century in Roman numerals. Recto and verso are numbered continuously. These do not match with the Roman numeral foliation of the printed book. Modern pencil foliation in top right corner on manuscript folios. This treats each leaf as a single entity. Manuscript folios run out on f42 and thereafter the remnants of the pages of the printed book receive the pencil foliation as far as f47.
Quiring:Difficult to assess as this is a manuscript interleaved with a printed book. Blank folios and remnants of stubs. See Seymour for suggested collation.
Signatures:None
Catchwords:Remnants of black ink scroll in bottom right of footer on fxvj. Catchwords remain on fxxxvj and flx in same position.
Page Size:275 x 195
Frame:2 x vertical 2 x horizontal brown (where visible)
Writing Space:200 x 120
Title by Scribe:On f2r set within a a frame of five ink lines (2 red, 3 black) 'The legende of Goode Womene; compyled by M. Geffrey Chaucer.'
Paragraph Marks:Evidence on fviij (8v) of cc marks for intended paraphs.
Flourished Initials:Space left for initials at the opening of the Prologue and thereafter for each Legend.
Other Names (not owners):f6v has 'Hamen rycotye' and 'Amen' again on f11. On f13 is 'Willm Dene'. See flyleaf for ownership by Urry and Mr Morell Thurston. See Seymour vol. II, 98-100, for the history of the ms after ownership by Thurston.
Miscellaneous Info:Order f16r pencil foliation (fol. xix ink foliation)
Further Information:Note at the beginning of the manuscript: 'The MS is interleaved with the corresponding printed text from the edition of Chaucer's works published by William Bonham in 1542.' On leaves 1 and 2, added presumably when the pencil foliation was accomplished, are the following notes: f1v 'Of all the manuscript copies of any of the poems of Chaucer, those of the legend of Good Women are the rarest there not being more than two known, except the present copy'. Also on f1v 'This is apparently the first portion of the MS. acquired by Urry from Mr Morell Thurston of Rochester, and collated by him. See his edition of Chaucer's Works 1721. [B43 m. 1.]' Seymour says this is in the hand of Timothy Thomas who published Urry's work after his death. Seymour points to a BL copy of Urry's edition (643.M.1). It is noted that this manuscript also contained fragments of the Canterbury Tales which were sold as a separate item in Haslewood's sale, lot 1302. They then became Phillipps MS 6570 and are now Austin, Texas, HRC pre-1700 MS 46. However, this seems unlikely because of differences of hand, paper and format.
Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York, King's Manor, York YO1 7EP