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Manuscript Description
USA, Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Library, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections MS Taylor 5
 
MS Appellation:olim Phillipps 8192
Title:Confessio Amantis
Author:Gower
Contents:Gower, Confessio Amantis, ff7-190 ; and short verses added to flyleaves.
Language:English and Latin
Date Range:1390-1415
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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Dialect:
Material:Parchment
No of Folios:1 marbled paper + 2 original parchment flyleaves with late 15-16 cc writing + 1-193 + original parchment flyleaf with late 15-16 cc writing + 1 marbled paper; ff2 and 3 are added parchment leaves, blank.
Pagination:Medieval arabic foliation of each book separately, in upper outer corners recto, ff4-25 for Book I, then begins again with Liber Secundus at f26 so '2' on 27, '3' on 28, etc. and begins again with '1' on f46 at beginning of Liber Tercius, and so on through the books, occasionally also noting the book as on f51 which has '6 liber 3-us
and beginning f27 modern pencil further into upper outer corner recto beginning '27' through end of volume.
Quiring:8s
Signatures:Signatures are in red, letter plus very straight strokes i through iiii, eg f i through f iiii on 49-52.
Catchwords:By scribes, centred or toward right below second column about ' down lower margin, several words, enclosed in black-ink half box'three sides, not squared, no top, or sleigh; NB catchword on f183v by another hand or in informal script of scribe.
Page Size:385 x 265
Frame:6 x vertical for 2 columns of text and narrow column in outer margin for glosses.
Writing Space:272 x 175 plus 34, 2 columns 87 + 12 + 76 plus 6 + 28
Marginal Headings:By scribes in same ink as texts with blue paraph preceding; Latin glosses in margins.
Running Titles:Running titles which are 'Liber' on verso and number on recto.
Borders:On f1, bar border on left side and sprays in upper and lower margins, in blue, orange, pink and gold. At beginnings of each book bar borders of pink, blue and gold with sprays of blue stems across lower and upper margins.
Historiated Initials:f1 is by different decorator, and is illustrated with a miniature of Nebuchadnezzar at top column 1, blue with white highlighting, gold ground.
Illuminated Initials:At beginnings of each book, pink or blue 4-line initials with white highlighting on gold ground, sprays of blue stems across lower and upper margins blue, pink, brick or orangey-red, with white highlighting, and gold'look very similar in colours and style to f1.
Paragraph Marks:Blue paraphs with scallopped red flourishing following shape preceding each marginal gloss and preceding running titles.
Flourished Initials:2-4-line blue initials with red penwork flourishing, all in same style throughout manuscript through the three scribes' stints. Smaller one-line blue initials with simple red penwork box around to introduce Latin portions (note not in red), changes of speaker, etc.
Other Names (not owners):On f ii 'Joh[ann]es Saxeus / me iure optimo tenet' in 16th c script; 'quod Henry Baradon' twice after verses added to f194v and 'quod William Fayre' twice after veses added to f194v; note also here scribbles 'By the kyng' so possibly a royal clerk.
Miscellaneous Info:Re dating; first recension, probably pre-1399, altered early 15th c. but includes 'dum vixit' in the unusquisque on f191.
Further Information:de Ricci, and on-line?
Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York, King's Manor, York YO1 7EP