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Manuscript Description
Oxford, All Souls College MS 98
 
Title:Vox Clamantis, Confessio Amantis
Author:Gower
Contents:Confessio Amantis (B version); Vox Clamantis
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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Material:Parchment
No of Folios:Stub and 2 original parchment flyleaves + 1-137 + 2 original flyleaves and the stub of a third.
Pagination:Modern pencil in upper outer corners recto.
Quiring:8s
Signatures:A letter plus roman numerals, eg f7r is 'bj', f24r is 'dij'. None survive in portions by Scribe B.
Catchwords:Catchwords also in textura in the same ink as the text. By the scribe in the usual place and surrounded by a box with inclusive brackets as left and right sides running up to the frame line. By Scribe B, not much larger than the main text and in same hand and font. Written up to right edge of frame, near bottom of page and surrounded by a box in the same colour with loops at the corners, eg f116v.
Page Size:305 x 202
Frame:4 x vertical enclosing text column and narrow column in outer margin for glosses; 4 x horizontal enclosing top and bottom lines; ruled within text block only in fine grey-brown ink. Pricking survives on some folios eg 12r, 110r.
Writing Space:This scribe, for example on f130v, 235 x ca. 90-100. Ruled for 235 x 130.
Marginal Headings:Headings in textura begin with a red or blue one-line initial just enlarged, textura script in the same ink as the text. Capitulum markers in margins beside beginnings of chapters. Glosses begin with red-touched initial, smaller than text but same script and ink.
Running Titles:Running titles in textura but in the same ink as the text.
Historiated Initials:On f1v, a 6-line pink initial with white highlighting creating an incised pattern on gold ground with historiated illustration of a bishop (or archbishop) inside the initial 'S'. Stalks of the stem plus leaves and gold balls extend from this ground into the left margin in green, pink, orange and blue. A different style later in the volume of 6-line gold initial on part-coloured ground with sprays of black with spirals resembling ironwork, with gold and blue balls and black squiggles.
Flourished Initials:2-3-line blue lombard initials throughout with red flourishing, postage stamp design, sawtooth extenders, scallopping and red-hatching. An unusual design, perhaps not created by the London book trade? Also alternating one-line blue and red initials with no embellishment.
Other Names (not owners):See All Souls catalogue.
Miscellaneous Info:Gower Scribe II is the MAIN scribe of both Glasgow 59 and All Souls 98, and marginal notator of Harley 6291. He copies all in this All Souls manuscript except for corrections in another hand on ff1v, 116-137. In the Vox Clamantis, other scribes made corrections passim.
Further Information:All Souls Catalogue.
Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York, King's Manor, York YO1 7EP