MS. Bodl. 902
Summary Catalogue no.: 27573
Contents
A good text of the first recension. The usual Latin rubrics and short verses occur. The first leaf of the manuscript is lost and the missing part of the prologue (as far as 'vppon a were') is supplied by a 16th century transcription; the transcription was most likely based on the 1554 edition of the third rescension of the Confessio Amantis
At the end of the manuscript is the metrical explicit (four lines only), 'Epistola super huius operis sui complementum...', beginning 'Quam cinxere freta'
The manuscript contains the early form of Gower's account of his three works
Physical Description
Condition
Layout
2 cols
Hand(s)
The hand changes after fol. 16
Decoration
Pächt and Alexander iii. 826, Pl. LXXXI
Fine miniature. The Summary Catalogue notes that the miniature is of the Confessor and (probably) Gower himself
Borders
Initials
By Johannes
History
Provenance and Acquisition
'Anne Russe⟨ll⟩' (fol. 80v); 'Elyzebeth Gardnar' (fol. 115); and 'John Browghton (fol. 184v) seem to have possessed the manuscript in the 16th century. For further information see L. Mooney and D. Pearsall, A descriptive catalogue of the English manuscripts of John Gower's Confessio amantis (Cambridge, 2021).
"No doubt given to the Library by Gilbert Sheldon, son of the archbishop, in 1697" (Summary Catalogue)
Record Sources
Digital Images
Digital Bodleian (7 images from 35mm slides)
Bibliography
Online resources:
Abbreviations
View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.
Last Substantive Revision
2023-01-06: Description revised to incorporate all the information in the Summary Catalogue (1922)