Gower, Confessio amantis (Caxton): London, British Library, C.11.c.7 = IB.55078
Physical Description:
Object Description:
Form: Codex
Material: Paper
Size: 284 mm x 214 mm (dimensions of all - size of leaves)
Collation:
- Imperfect; wanting quire [*], leaf 1.7, and quire C, which are
supplied in pen-and-ink facsimile by John Whitaker. Without the blanks.
Rubrication and decorated initials:
- Number of hands: 1
- Summary:
Rubricated partially.
- Quire c: initials and paraph marks in red.
- Quire e: initials and paraph marks in red.
- Quire i: initials and paraph marks in red; the Latin phrase of the main text on i2v is underlined.
- Hand: rubrications
- Scope:
sig. i5v
Hand decoration:
Not decorated.
Additions:
- Marginal notes (sig. b3v, e1v) and summary of the text (sig. b3v, b4r) in a 16th-century hand.
- 'Richerd 3d anno Regis Rgni 1383[sic] Gower poems' in an 18th-century hand (1.2r)
- Price '2.12.6' (1.2r)
Binding Description:
'Bound in the private bindery of King George III in gold-tooled brown russia, with his arms'. (BMC XI, 143.)
Accompanying Material:
None.
History:
- Provenance:
- John Ratcliffe, before 1776.
- G. Nicol for King George III, 1776 (bought at J. Ratcliffe's sale, March 1776 (lot 1225).
- King George III (with his Library's press-mark 167.d.21)
'This is not the West copy as supposed by De Ricci (48:8) but was bought for King George III by G. Nicol at Ratcliffe's sale, March 1776 (lot 1225); W. Herbert's comment in BL Add. MS 18202H' (BMC XI, 143).
- Acquisition: King George III's copy.
Image Gallery:
Works referred:
Administration Information:
Images are supplied by Lotte Hellinga and scanned by CB and JT (2014).
The information is taken from BMC XI with the editor's kind permission.
Ed. by ST and TK (2014/15).