DIMEV 4227
IMEV 2662
NIMEV 2662
Of them that written us tofore
John Gower, Confessio Amantis, B Text — in eight Books and a
Prologue: the longest version has about 34,000 lines
Note: See
4226 for the A Text,
4228 for the C Text, and
4229 for fragments.
Author(s): John Gower
Title(s):
Confessio Amantis
Subjects: tales; love
Versification: —
two-line —
aa
Macaronic: Latin
Manuscript Witnesses:
2.Source: Cambridge UK, Sidney Sussex College 63, ff. 2
ra-202
va
First Lines:Þo heuen wot what is to done
but we þat duelle vnder
þe mone
stonde in þis werld vp on a were
& nameli but
þe powere…
Last Lines:…Amen I prai pur charite
þat it mot so be
3.Source: Cambridge UK, Trinity College R.3.2 (581), ff. 1
ra-147
va
First Lines:…To whom the lordes doon homage
And aftir that of mariage…
Last Lines:…Wher resteþ loue and alle pes
Oure ioye may ben endeles
Note: Begins 2.2687 (missing five quires at the front).
Attributed Author: Liber Iohannis Gower…Iohannis Gower Poemata Anglica Gallica &
Latina (added 2 later hands, f. iiv)
4.Source: London, British Library Addit. 12043, f. 1-155
v
First Lines:…The strengthe of loue to withstonde
That he ne was so brought
to honde…
Last Lines:…Which I may take in þi persone
Mi loue lust and lokes
hore…
Note: Begins 1.786; ends 8.2403; about twenty leaves missing.
6.Source: New Haven, Yale University, Beinecke Library Osborn fa1 [olim Laurence Witten, Cat. 5, item 24], ff. 1
ra-196
ra
First Lines:…And wiþ his wordes debonaire
He saide to me softe and
faire…
Last Lines:…Wher resteþ loue and all pes
Oure ioye may ben
endeles
Note: Begins imperfectly at 1.231; several leaves missing. A fragment of 8 folios, comprising Book 1, lines 1361-2602, from this volume but separated, is also owned by the Beinecke.
Attributed Title: Explicit iste liber qui transeat obsecro liber… super huius
opusculi sui complementum Iohnni Gower a quodam philosopho transmissa
(f. 196ra)
8.Source: San Marino, CA, Henry Huntington Library EL 26.A.17 [olim Bridgewater; the ‘Stafford Gower’], ff. 1-169
v
First Lines:Off hem þat writen ous tofore
þe bokes dwelle and we
þerfore…
Last Lines:…Wher restiþ loue and alle pes
Oure ioie mai ben
endeles
Note: Seventeen leaves lost from this MS copy. For one of these missing
leaves, see New Haven, Yale University, Beinecke Library, Takamiya Deposit 98 [olim Quaritch, Cat. 1270 (2000), item 55; prior Mertoun, Duke of
Sutherland], below.
Attributed Author: Gower (f. 169v in colophon)
9.Source: New Haven, Yale University, Beinecke Library, Takamiya Deposit 98 [olim Quaritch, Cat. 1270 (2000), item 55; prior Mertoun, Duke of
Sutherland], ff. 1-1
v
First Lines:…ich þat þei first founden oute
[ ]e nocht be broght
aboute…
Last Lines:…The point of sublunacion
And forþ wiþ
calcinacion
Of veray apperbacion
Do[ ]cion
Note: A single-leaf fragment containing lines 4.2351-82; 2392-2428; 2439-74;
and 2485-2520 from San Marino, CA, Henry Huntington Library EL 26.A.17 [olim Bridgewater; the ‘Stafford Gower’] (see above).
Editions: Edwards, A. S. G., and Toshiyuki Takamiya.
“A New Fragment of Gower’s ‘Confessio
Amantis’.”
Modern Language Review.
96 (2001): 931-6: 933-6.