The Wollaton Hall Gower Manuscript (WLC/LM/8) Considered in the Context of Other Manuscripts of the "Confessio Amantis."
- Author/Editor
- Pearsall, Derek.
- Title
- The Wollaton Hall Gower Manuscript (WLC/LM/8) Considered in the Context of Other Manuscripts of the "Confessio Amantis."
- Published
- Pearsall, Derek. "The Wollaton Hall Gower Manuscript (WLC/LM/8) Considered in the Context of Other Manuscripts of the 'Confessio Amantis'." In Ralph Hanna and Thorlac Turville-Petre, eds. The Wollaton Medieval Manuscripts: Texts, Owners and Readers. Woodbridge: York Medieval Press, 2010. Pp. 57-67.
- Review
- Pearsall here offers a crash course in how to read a manuscript for what it can reveal beyond the text, using the Wollaton Hall "Confessio" manuscript (WLC/LM/8) as evidentiary case. Pointing out that MS WLC/LM/8 would "stand at the very heart of the best manuscript tradition of the 'Confessio,' were it not for the absence of decoration and illustration" (60), Pearsall discusses ownership (briefly, deferring to Kate Harris's "Ownership and Readership" study), the scribe's work, including ruling of lines, punctuation, rubrication, and correction (60-65); textual identity (i.e., "recension" issues) and likely period of production (65-67). Importantly, Pearsall argues that "the reputation of the Stafford MS (now San Marino, CA, Huntington Library MS Ellesmere 26 A 17) as exceptionally early in date and possibly a presentation copy for Henry, earl of Derby, is questionable. It may be no earlier than MS Fairfax 3, completed early in Henry IV's reign, and its text, though good, is inferior to that of MS Fairfax 3, especially in its carelessness with regard to metrical final -e" (67). [RFY. Copyright, John Gower Society. eJGN 43.1]
- Date
- 2010
- Gower Subjects
- Manuscripts and Textual Studies
Confessio Amantis