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Manuscript Description
Cambridge, Cambridge University Library MS Mm.2.21
 
MS Appellation:Confessio Amantis
Title:Confessio Amantis
Author:Gower
Contents:Confessio Amantis
Language:English and Latin
Date Range:1390-1425; dedication to Richard on f1, so first recension of text, decoration is late 14th c. possibly.
Scribal Hands:
Examples of the hand. Click on the link above for full details and images of individual letter forms.
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Examples of the hand. Click on the link above for full details and images of individual letter forms.
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Examples of the hand. Click on the link above for full details and images of individual letter forms.
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Examples of the hand. Click on the link above for full details and images of individual letter forms.
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Material:Parchment
No of Folios: 4 new paper + 1-183 + 4 new paper
Pagination:Original scribal Arabic foliation i through clxxxiii in upper outer corner recto; no modern foliation or pagination, but modern pencil counting of quires in lower margin of recto first leaf, with the last '23' on f177, and a cross on the 5th leaf of each quire to mark centre of quire in same place.
Quiring:8s
Signatures:Some signatures in red ink survive, upper case letters followed by romans i through iiij as 'I i' through 'I iiij' on 41-44, 'D i' through 'D iiij' on 57-60, 'E i' through 'E iiij' on 73-76 (missing one on 75 because corner torn off), 'g i' through 'g iiij' on 97-100, 'X i' through 'X iiij' on 105-108, 'b i' through 'b iiij' on 153-156, so clearly do not correspond to order in volume: perhaps each scribe began anew?
Catchwords:In lower margins verso last leaf each quire by the hand which wrote that leaf, in frames of various shapes, sometimes repeated shapes for same scribe, using only black ink, usually centred under second column and near bottom edge.
Page Size:355 x 240
Frame:8 x vertical, one either side of glossing columns and regular text columns; 2 x horizontal above top line and below bottom one; ruled within text columns and sometimes running through centre margin; ruling very faint, sometimes invisible. Pricking in lower margin for verticals of frame and occasionally on very top edge as well but none on outer edges of leaves.
Writing Space:227 x (78 + 12 + 72) = 227 x 162 for two-column text plus 25 mm framed glossing column in outer margin, 16 framed glossing column in inner margin (f163 used as typical)
Incipits and Explicits:Explicits and incipits for books, eg f7 'Explicit prologus / Incipit liber primus
f1 in top margin has 'Johannis Goweri Confessio Amantis' added by a later hand, Luard identifies as Bishop Tanner.
Running Titles:Running titles on top of verso leaves give the sin rather than the book, so 'gula' or 'accidia' or 'superbia'.
Title by Scribe:Title added by Tanner
Borders:At beginnings of books, gold-blue-pink bar borders down one side, sprays along upper and lower margins, in style of end of 14th century.
Illuminated Initials:4-5 line blue and pink initials at beginnings of books, with white highlighting, on illuminated gold ground.
Miniatures:Two miniatures on ff1r and 7r.
Paragraph Marks:Alternating blue and red paraphs before names Amans and Confessor and before glosses, all of which are in the ruled glossing columns in outer and inner margins; paraphs around explicits and incipits extended to form a box around the heading, so on f7 red around explicit and blue around incipit; faint yellow wash on initials every line.
Flourished Initials:3-line blue lombard initials with red pen-work flourishing; where speaker changes Amans to Confessor or vice versa, a one-line plain blue or red initial, alternating.
Other Names (not owners):No names. 16th century writing bottom f83v, also a scribble possibly ownership bottom f1r now illegible because rubbed out.
Further Information:Luard, 4.173 (very brief description).
Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York, King's Manor, York YO1 7EP