University of Virginia Library

IV

In the transcriptions below the abbreviations are expanded without italics. The brief statements of affiliation which precede the transcriptions are expressed in terms of Robinson's The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer (see fn. 5 above), Textual Notes, pp. 915-920. We believe this to be the edition most likely to be compared. Our intention is not to give a full treatment of the textual problems involved, which could not be done in the space available to us.

An A B C. Chaucer's A B C survives in 16 manuscript copies and in Speght's printed edition of 1602.[37] Robinson views the authorities as comprising two groups, an α and a β. The group with which the Melbourne copy is affiliated is the β: Additional 36983, British Museum; Cambridge University Library Ff. 5. 30; Hunterian Museum, Glasgow, U. 3. 12; St. John's College, Cambridge, G. 21; Laud Misc. 740, Bodleian; Sion College, London, Arc. L.40.2/E.44. Except for the first, these texts all appear in manuscripts of the Middle English prose version of Deguileville's Pèlerinage de la Vie Humaine. As the Melbourne copy occurs also in a manuscript of the prose Deguileville, the major affiliation is virtually certain. Melbourne's

closest kinships within the β group are with St. John's and Laud (both published by the Chaucer Society in No. 57). The three share a number of variants (most strikingly, the peculiarities in lines 98-99, 120, and 135; see transcription); the northerly coloring to the language is also characteristic of all three. The relationship, however, is not simple but rather complex; Melbourne is hardly a copy of either of these or of any extant manuscript.

The β manuscripts are looked upon by most editors as forming the superior group.

The Melbourne scribe uses the following abbreviations: the common signs for er; es/is (both occur written out; es is arbitrarily chosen); per; pre. There are frequent flourishes which suggest abbreviations—and some conceivably may be. These markings are not recorded, however, the line being exceedingly hard to draw.[38] The scribe, who distinguishes þ from γ (see part I above), in a few instances writes þow where grammatically yow is expected (perhaps the exemplar did not clearly differentiate þ and y); in these cases the expected form is inserted within square brackets.

In the manuscript F is actually always ff. Each stanza begins with an illuminated initial. The italicized names (line 89, etc.) are, of course, only underlined in the manuscript. The passages from the prose Deguileville are included so that the transcription may match those given by the Chaucer Society.

Truth. Chaucer's Truth survives in 24 manuscript copies and some six early printed editions with pretensions to manuscript authority. Robinson presents 18 of these texts as forming three groups: α, β, γ. By far the largest is the last: Caxton's edition, c. 1478; Corpus Christi College, Oxford, 203; Fairfax 16, Bodleian (2 copies); Harley 7333, British Museum; Hatton 73, Bodleian; Cambridge University Library Kk. 1.5; Lansdowne 699, British Museum; Arch. Selden B. 10

and B. 24, Bodleian.[40] The Nottingham copy, which belongs to this group, has the greatest overall similarity to Fairfax (2nd copy), which is printed by the Chaucer Society in No. 59.[41] Nottingham seems also related to Caxton (Chaucer Society, ibid.), Corpus (Chaucer Society, No. 60), and the editions of Thynne, Tottel, and Stowe (see fn. 40 above), for it shares with them the variant (probable error) Rede for Reule, line 6.[42] The omitted article in line 1 (all other texts read the before pres) is Nottingham's only unique reading. Although editors have generally preferred the α and β readings, the γ variants may also come from Chaucer.[43] Although far from perfect, Nottingham is a better than average γ text.

The problems of transcription are slight. The Scribe employs only one abbreviation, the common sign for er. F is ff in the manuscript.

Against Women Unconstant (or Newfangelnesse). Robinson views the four authorities as forming two groups: α Fairfax 16, Bodleian; β Harley 7578, British Museum; Cotton Cleopatra D. vii, British Museum; Stowe's edition, 1561. Only the Cotton copy has been printed (Chaucer Society, No. 60). Robinson observes: "variants from the other copies are registered by Skeat (Oxf. Chau., I, pp. 409 f.) and the Globe editor. Type α [i.e. Fairfax] is superior; the C [Cotton] text has been corrected by comparison with it" (apparently means comparison with the variants from it given by Skeat and the Globe). The printed variants, however, are by no means complete.[44] Moreover, we have the anomaly of the best manuscript's not being in print.[45]

The problems of transcription are slight. Except for one instance of omitted r (grace, line 2; α written above the line thus: gace), the only abbreviation is the common sign for er. F is actually ff in the manuscript.