British Library MS Additional 59495, known to early editors and modern Gower scholars alike as the Trentham Manuscript, is extraordinarily important to the study of Gower, given both its provenance and its contents. The manuscript consists exclusively of Gower's works, including the only extant copies of In Praise of Peace and the Cinkante Balades. For an excellent brief summary of the manuscript see Michael Livingston's introduction to the TEAMS edition of John Gower: The Minor Latin Works with 'In Praise of Peace'.
Contents (from Livingston's Introduction):
- Fols. 5r-10v: The English poem In Praise of Peace (the unique copy).
- Fols. 10v-11r: The Latin poem Rex celi deus.
- Fols. 11v-12v: Two French balades that bookend a Latin poem combining O recolende and H. aquile pullus. Macaulay (1.335-37) refers to this sequence as the "Dedication" to the Cinkante Balades and prints it as such (a unique combination).
- Fols. 12v-33r: The French sequence Cinkante Balades (the unique copy).
- Fol. 33v: The Latin poem Ecce patet tensus, which ends imperfectly due to a missing folio (the unique copy).
- Fols. 34r-39r: The French sequence Traitié pour ensampler les amantz marietz, which begins imperfectly due to a missing folio.
- Fol. 39v: The Latin poem Quicquid homo scribat (in a unique version), which appears to have been a later addition to the manuscript.
British Library MS Additional 59495
Unless otherwise stated, jpg images .2mb-2.4mb each.
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Cover |
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Inside cover - 1r |
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1v-2r |
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2v-3r |
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3v-4r |
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4v-5r
In Praise of Peace |
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5v-6r
In Praise of Peace |
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6v-7r
In Praise of Peace |
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7v-8r
In Praise of Peace |
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8v-9r
In Praise of Peace |
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9v-10r
In Praise of Peace |
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10v-11r
Rex celi deus |
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11v-12r
Dedication to the Cinkante Balades
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12v-13r
Cinkante Balades |
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13v-14r
Cinkante Balades |
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14v-15r
Cinkante Balades |
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15v-16r
Cinkante Balades |
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16v-17r
Cinkante Balades |
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17v-18r
Cinkante Balades
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18v-19r
Cinkante Balades |
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19v-20r
Cinkante Balades |
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20v-21r
Cinkante Balades |
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21v-22r
Cinkante Balades |
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22v-23r
Cinkante Balades |
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23v-24r
Cinkante Balades |
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24v-25r
Cinkante Balades |
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25v-26r
Cinkante Balades |
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26v-27r
Cinkante Balades |
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27v-28r
Cinkante Balades |
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28v-29r
Cinkante Balades |
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29v-30r
Cinkante Balades |
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30v-31r
Cinkante Balades |
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31v-32r
Cinkante Balades |
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32v-33r
Cinkante Balades |
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33v - Ecce patet tensus
34r -
Traitié pour ensampler les amantz marietz |
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34v-35r
Traitié pour ensampler les amantz marietz |
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35v-36r
Traitié pour ensampler les amantz marietz |
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36v-37r
Traitié pour ensampler les amantz marietz |
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37v-38r
Traitié pour ensampler les amantz marietz |
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38v-39r
Traitié pour ensampler les amantz marietz |
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39v-40r
Quicquid homo scribat
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40v-41r |
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41v-42r |
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Add 59495
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The John Gower Society would like to thank the British Library for generously allowing the Society to host these images. The John Gower Society would also like to thank Dr. Candace Barrington for supplying the digitized microfilm images of the manuscript.
Bibliography
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