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Manuscript Description
London, British Library, MS Egerton 1991
 
Title:Confessio Amantis
Author:Gower
Contents:Confessio Amantis
Language:English and Latin
Date Range:1400-1425
Scribal Hands:
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:3 newer paper flyleaves of which first matches marbled pastedown, third is foliated i + 2 old paper sheets now pasted to newer paper leaves (foliated i and ii) + 214 parchment leaves + 3 newer paper flyleaves of which last matches pastedown
Pagination:Modern pencil foliation in upper outer corners recto counting the surviving folios 1-214 with i-iii for last three flyleaves at front.
Quiring:8
Catchwords:By the scribe below the second column of the last verso of the quire either without embellishment or black-line two-sided underline beginning to the left of catchword.
Page Size:378 x 260
Frame:4 x enclosing 2 columns; 4 x horizontals enclosing top and bottom lines; ruled within columns with very fine grey lines.
Writing Space:280 x 79 each column = 280 x 175
Incipits and Explicits:Latin in text column in rubric.
Marginal Headings:All in Latin in rubric in ruled lines for text.
Running Titles:Rubric with 'Liber' on versos and Latin number such as 'Tercius' on rectos.
Borders:Bar border, gold, pink, blue, green
Illuminated Initials:5-line blue initials with white highlighting on gold ground, with blue, orange, pink, green. Smaller 2-line gold initials on blue and rose parti-coloured grounds with white highlighting, green.
Miniatures:On f7v is author presenting his book.
Paragraph Marks:'Liber' is preceded by blue paraph with red pen-work and number preceded by gold paraph with dark-blue pen-work.
Flourished Initials:Alternating one-line initials, blue with red pen-work and gold with dark-blue pen-work.
Other Names (not owners):The Egerton Catalogue has the following note on p. 938:'According to a note by Sir Edward Dymoke, on f1b, this manuscript was given to him at Scarborough Castle, 5 Apr. 1609, by his aunt, Lady Catherine Burghe [widow of William de Burgh] to whom it descended from her mother, Elizabeth [daughter of Sir John Blount, mistress of Henry VIII, and] wife, successively, of [Gilbert Talboys] Lord Talboys, and [Edward Clinton] Lord Clinton, afterwards Earl of Lincoln. Among other marginal entries are:--Note of the birth of Henry Clinton [afterwards 2nd Earl of Lincoln]; 6 June 1542, f.2; --signatures of Elyzabeth Clynton, ff. 34, 94; --'The Lord Clyntone. Elesabyth Talboys your eneme to thomost [the utmost].' ...f. 143. ...--names of Anne Pellam [Pelham] and Amias Willoughby, s.212b. At the beginning is inserted a Latin acrostic by Thomas Tragicus, Bohemus, on the name of John Brograve whose signature is affixed to an / [p. 393] inscription on the fly-leaf, dated 1682.'
Miscellaneous Info:The flyleaf with acrostic is now pasted to folio iii; the note of birth of Henry Clinton on lower margin of fol. 2 is in 16th century script, whereas Dymoke's note on fol. 1v is 17th century script. Brograve's note regarding identity of Gower and about ownership of the MS by Lord Talboys and the Lord Clinton after Earle of Lincolne is on paper now pasted to fol. ii. 'Elyzabeth Clynton in lower margin of fol. 94 and more crudely 'E. Nynton' [sic] bottom margin of fol. 93v.
Further Information:Egerton Catalogue vol. 11 pp. 938-939.
Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York, King's Manor, York YO1 7EP