CONTENTS A. The Legend. Reprints of the biographies by Leland in his Commentarii, by Bale in his Summarium, by Bale in his Cata- logus, by Pits in his De Rebus Anglicis; of that prefixed to the Speght Chaucer of 1598, with notes on the changes made in 1602. Notes on the biographies by Winstanley, by Phillips, by Blount, by Dart in the Urry Chaucer, on that in the Bio- graphia Britannica, in the Bibliotheca Britannico-Hibernica, by Ritson, by Godwin, by Todd. B. The Appeal to Fact. Notes on the Life of Chaucer by Nicolas, Appendix of notes on the dates of Chaucer's birth and A. The Canon of Chaucer. The Lists (1) of Chaucer, (2) of Lydgate, (3) of Thynne, of Leland, of Bale, (4) of Pits, Stow, Sources of Chaucer's Works. (1) English. (2) French. (3) Italian. (4) Latin and Anglo-Latin. D. Editions of the Collected Works or Poems, arranged chrono- A. Introduction. Stories in a Framework. Headlinks and End- links. The Host. The "Fragments" of the Tales. The Ar- rangement of the Tales: (1) Evidence of Time and Place Allusions in the Text. (2) Evidence of Other Allusions in the Text. (3) Evidence of the MSS. List of the MSS, the Order of the Tales in the MSS, the Classification of the MSS. B. The Manuscripts of the Tales: (1) In the British Museum. (2) In other London Libraries. (3) In the Bodleian Library. (4) In Other Oxford Libraries. (5) In the University Library, C. Editions of the Tales, chronologically arranged. Editions of Portions for School Use, chronologically arranged. D. Editions of Selections, from the Works or from the Canter- E. Modernizations and Imitations, chronologically arranged. Versions for Children. Translations. Note on the Influence F. The Dates of the Tales. On the Relative Dates of the Tales. G. The Separate Tales, in Order as in the Oxford Chaucer, i. e. :— Prologue, Knight, Miller, Reeve, Cook. Man of Law. Ship- man, Prioress, Rime of Sir Thopas, Melibeus, Monk, Nun's Priest. Doctor, Pardoner. Wife, Friar, Summoner. Clerk, A. The Manuscripts. (1) In the British Museum. (2) In Other SECTION I THE LIFE OF CHAUCER The study of Chaucer's life may be divided into two periods, that of the Legend, and that of the Appeal to Fact. The first period extends from Leland to Nicolas, the second from Nicolas to the Life-Records gathered by the Chaucer Society, and subsequently. Many actual documents were examined and printed by Godwin, earlier than Nicolas, but the spirit in which Godwin's work is written forbids its inclusion among genuine biographies. The soberer investigations of Nicolas have been greatly augmented by the discovery, under the auspices of the Chaucer Society, of a number of official records throwing light upon Chaucer's life. All these records, forming the authentic foundation for a biography of the poet, are printed by the Society as the Life-Records below noted. The work of killing the legend has, however, been difficult; for a most interesting and important summary see Lounsbury, Studies in Chaucer, vol. 1, chap. 2, and his earlier article in the Atlantic Monthly 40 269, 592, entitled Fictitious Lives of Chaucer. The principal fictions regarding Chaucer, e. g. that of his imprisonment for conspiracy, are now well eradicated; but even among scholars still persist the tendencies to repeat statements without examination, to welcome an attractive but ill-founded suggestion, and to accept poetic commonplace as autobiography. See the slips in Skeat's Life as noted by Flügel in Anglia 21: 245 ff., the discussion over Chaucer's meeting with Petrarch, and the dispute as to the reality of Chaucer's hopeless love; see under Clerk's Tale, Section III G here, and in Appendix (b) to this Section. A. The Legend [Reprint of the Life of Chaucer by Leland in his Commentarii de Scriptoribus Britannicis, Oxford 1709, pp. 419-426.] CAP. DV. De Gallofrido Chaucero. ALLOFRIDUS Chaucerus, nobili loco natus, & summae spei Gjuvenis, siacas scholars tam diligenter, quam qui maxime, celebravit: id quod ut faceret, academiae vicinitas quodammodo invitavit. Nam quibusdam argumentis adducor ut credam, Isiacam vel Berochensem provinciam illius natale solum fuisse. Hinc acutus dialecticus, hinc dulcis rhetor, hinc lepidus poeta, hinc gravis philosophus, hinc ingeniosus mathematicus, (qua parte & à Joanne Somaeo, & Nicolao, Carmelita Linensi, viris in mathesi eruditis, quos in libro de Sphaera nominat, instructus fuit) hinc denique sanctus theologus evasit. Maxima equidem sum locutus; at quisquis ejus libros curiosa manu evolverit, me bonae fidei praeconem facile judicabit. Ingenue tamen fatebor sic eum Isiaci studuisse, ut & alibi etiam longo studiorum usu multa ad scientiae cumulum adjecerit. Constat utique illum circa postremos Richardi secundi, cui non incognitus erat, annos in Gallia floruisse, magnamque ex assidua in literis exercitatione gloriam sibi comparasse; tum praeterea eadem opera omnes veneres, lepores, delicias, sales, ac postremo gratias linguae Gallicae tam alte coimbibisse, quam cuiquam vix credibile. Laus ista Gallofridum in Angliam reversum sequebatur, tanquam comes ejus virtutis individua. Ejusmodi igitur laetus successibus forum Londinense & collegia leguleiorum, qui ibidem patria jura interpretantur, frequentavit, ut & ante Galliam cognitam forsitan fecerat. Illis temporibus inter forenses clarissimus erat Joannes Goverus, cujus vitam praescripsimus, homo venerandae aetatis, & qui mirum in modum Anglicae linguae politiei studebat. Hic, perspecta indole & examinata Gallofridi probitate, illum in familiarem sibi accivit, illum ulnis amplexus est, illum etiam in honestis deliciis habuit, illum denique tanquam numen aliquod modo non veneratus est. Ut ego taceam, ipsemet Goverus in libro, qui titulo Amantis inscribitur, abunde satis declarat, quanti suum Chaucerum fecerit; quem accuratissime prius laudatum, eximium vocat poetam, & sui operis quasi Aristarchum facit. Ecce tibi, lector, pulcherrimum virtutis certamen, nam ut Goverus, homo parum sibi tribuens, lucubrationes, quas consummaverat Gallofridi judicio modeste submisit; sic rursus Chaucerus Amores Troili Goveri & Strodaei calculis subjecit. Sed quis hic Strodaeus fuerit, apud autorem nullum hactenus legi. At memini interim legisse me illustria de Strodaco, Maridunensis ocietatis ad Isidis Vadum alumno, in poesi eruditissimo, qui & in o Maridunensium postremis Eadweardi tertii annis adscribitur. 1 antum apparet ex Gallofridi versiculis philosophiae studiosum fuisse. Adde huc, quod quemadmodum Chaucerus admirator simul & sectator Goveri, ita . . . . Schoganus, cujus sepulchrum Visimonasterii extat, vir ad omnes facetias & sales compositus, Chauceri admirator ac imitator fuit. At rursus, quanto discipulus Chaucerus major Govero praeceptore suo, tanto minor erat Schoganus Chaucero. Nunc vero orationis series postulat, ut aperte doceamus quem scopum Gallofridum studiis praefixerit. Profecto ejus scopus unicus fuit, ut linguam Anglicam numeris omnibus quam ornatissimam redderet, viderat enim Goverum in eodem negotio belle processisse. Quare nullum non movendum sibi lapidem putabat, quo ad supremam felicitatis metam perveniret. Et quoniam poesim praeter caetera semper dilexit, amavit, coluit; visum est ei vel commodissimum per illum ad ipsa eloquentiae culmina viam patefacere. Tale etenim est poesis, ut tropos, elegantias, ornamenta, copiam, & quicquid venerum & leporum est, non modo admittat, verum, quod multo majus, suo quodam jure poscat. Adde huc, quod Italos & Gallos, qui plurima suis linguis terse, nitide, ac eleganter scripserunt, in partem operis evocaverit. Tantum est inclytos habere duces, quos sequaris. Petrarcha circa haec tempora in Italia claruit, cujus opera lingua ibidem vernacula eo elegantiae perducta est, ut cum ipsa Latina de eloquentiae palma contenderit. Quidam etiam Alanus linguam Gallicam infinitis modis expoliebat. Uterque istorum (multos alios clarissimae notae homines, qui eadem fecerunt, omitto) calcar Chaucero, alioqui sua sponte satis currenti, addidit. Bonis igitur avibus incepto operi incubuit, nunc libellos Gallica lingua compte, ornate, diserte scriptos in patrium sermonem transferens; nunc Latinos versus Anglicis, sed docte, sed apte, sed canore exprimens; nunc multa è suo capite nata, & Latinorum felicitatem aequantia, victuris chartis commendans; nunc lectori ut prodesset nervis omnibus contendens, & vicissim ut eundem delectaret sedulo curans; nec antea finem fecit, quam linguam nostram ad eam puritatem, ad eam eloquentiam, ad eam denique brevitatem ac gratiam perduxerat, ut inter expolitas gentium linguas posset recte quidem connumerari. Itaque in libris meorum Epigrammaton his versibus ejus gloriae assurgo: Et rursus: Praedicat Aligerum merito Florentia Dantem, Dum juga montis aper, frondes dum laeta volucris Sic quoque Virgilius Romanae gloria musae Illos quis nescit felicia saecla tulisse, Hunc talem & tantum protulit hora rudis. Aequasset celebres, vel superasset avos. Neque hic pigebit in medium adducere Hendecasyllabos, ex eodem fonte petitos, quos aliquot abhinc annis, orante Thoma Bertholeto, typographo cum diligenti tum erudito, scripsi: |