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Detailed record for Stowe 950
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| Author |
John Gower |
| Title |
Confessio Amantis, imperfect |
| Origin |
England |
| Date |
1st half of the 15th century |
| Language |
English and Latin |
| Script |
Gothic cursive |
| Decoration |
Large initials in blue with red penwork decoration, some in foliate patterns. Large and small initials in blue, 2 with a face in brown ink (ff. 22v, 52v). Latin summaries in red. Cadels, many with penwork decoration, including faces and animals. Decorated catchwords. |
| Dimensions in mm |
365 x 255 (265 x 165) in two columns |
| Official foliation |
ff. 177 |
| Form |
Parchment codex |
| Binding |
Pre-1600. English c. 1450 polished brown calf over wooden boards, with tooling including a flower pattern and clasp marks; parchment pastedowns affixed to the boards. |
| Provenance |
Inscription: 'Ano 1569 Maye 9D' (f. 63v).
William Burye: Latin verses signed 'W. Burye' and dated 1573, and ' . . . by me William Burye' and dated 1575 (ff. 61v and 62).
16th-century inscriptions: 'Frauncis Normann' (upper pastedown); 'Gualterus Hart 1790 (f. 2); 'Gualte' (f. 3); 'Henry Swynbourne' (f. 73); 'William erosl' (?) (f. 138v); 'John Maks' (f. 174).
Inscription: 'Robert Willmer' and 'RW' with the date 'June 1620' (f. 55v).
17th-century inscriptions: 'Anthony Chest' and 'Anthony Chester', and 'John Ch Chester' (upper pastedown).
Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville (b. 1776, d. 1839), 1st duke of Buckingham and Chandos, of Stowe House, near Buckingham: inscribed with the press-mark 'Press 2 No. 98' (f. 2) corresponding to his catalogue (see O’Conor 1819).
Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville (b. 1797, d. 1861), 2nd duke of Buckingham and Chandos: sold in 1849 to Lord Ashburnham.
Bertram Ashburnham (b. 1797, d. 1878), 4th earl of Ashburnham, of Ashburnham Place, Sussex.
Bertram Ashburnham (b. 1840, d. 1913), 5th earl of Ashburnham: purchased by the British Museum from him together with 1084 other Stowe manuscripts in 1883. |
| Notes |
ff. 1 and 177 are paper leaves with notes in English, the latter affixed to the lower inside cover.
The first recension of the text. |
| Select bibliography |
Charles O'Conor, Bibliotheca Ms. Stowensis: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Stowe Library, 2 vols (Buckingham: Seeley, 1818-1819), II, 380-81.
W. H. James Weale and Lawrence Taylor,Early Stamped Bookbindings in the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1922), no. 42.
Catalogue of the Stowe Manuscripts in the British Museum, 2 vols (London: British Museum, 1895-1896), no. 950.
The English Works of John Gower, ed. by G. C. Macaulay, 2 vols (London: Early English Text Society, 1900-1901), I, Confessio Amantis, Prol.-Lib. V. 1970, Early English Text Society, Extra Series, 81, p. cxlv (as 'O').
Derek Pearsall, ‘The Manuscripts and Illustrations of Gower’s Works’, in A Companion to Gower, ed. by Sian Echard (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2004), pp. 73-97 (pp. 74, 81, 91).
John Gower,Trilingual Poet: Language, Translation, and Tradition, ed. by Elisabeth Dutton, with John Hines and R. F. Yeager. (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2010), pp. 16, 306, 309, 312. |
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f. 20v
Decorated initial |
ff. 28v-29
Cadels. |
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