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Chaucer's Works, Volume 4 — The Canterbury Tales

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Title: Chaucer's Works, Volume 4 - The Canterbury Tales

Author: Geoffrey Chaucer

Editor: Walter W. Skeat

 
Release date: July 22, 2007 [eBook #22120]
 Most recently updated: April 30, 2021

Language: Middle English

Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22120

Credits: by Jonathan Ingram, Keith Edkins and the Online
 Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
 Revised by Richard Tonsing.

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAUCER'S WORKS, VOLUME 4 - THE CANTERBURY TALES ***

HENRY FROWDE, M.A.
PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
LONDON, EDINBURGH, AND NEW YORK

 * * * * *

THE COMPLETE WORKS

OF

GEOFFREY CHAUCER

_EDITED, FROM NUMEROUS MANUSCRIPTS_

BY THE

REV. WALTER W. SKEAT, M.A.

LITT.D., LL.D., D.C.L., PH.D.
ELRINGTON AND BOSWORTH PROFESSOR OF ANGLO-SAXON
AND FELLOW OF CHRIST'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE

* * * *

THE CANTERBURY TALES: TEXT

 'Let every felawe telle his tale aboute,
 And lat see now who shal the soper winne.'
 _The Knightes Tale;_ A 890

SECOND EDITION

Oxford

AT THE CLARENDON PRESS

M DCCCC

 * * * * *

[Illustration: _Frontispiece_. CAMBRIDGE MS. (Gg. 4. 27). Prol. 326-342]

Oxford
PRINTED AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
BY HORACE HART, M.A.,
PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY

[v]

 * * * * *

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION.-§ 1. The Present Text. § 2. The MSS.-I. In the British
Museum. II. In Oxford. III. In Cambridge. IV. In other Public Libraries. V.
In private hands. § 3. The Printed Editions. § 4. Plan of the present
Edition. § 5. Table of symbols denoting MSS. § 6. Table showing various
ways of numbering the lines. § 7. The four types of MSS.

 THE CANTERBURY TALES

 GROUP A. THE PROLOGUE
 THE KNIGHTES TALE
 THE MILLER'S PROLOGUE
 THE MILLERES TALE
 THE REEVE'S PROLOGUE
 THE REVES TALE
 THE COOK'S PROLOGUE
 THE COKES TALE

 GROUP B. INTRODUCTION TO THE MAN OF LAW'S PROLOGUE
 MAN OF LAW'S PROLOGUE
 THE TALE OF THE MAN OF LAWE
 THE SHIPMAN'S PROLOGUE
 THE SHIPMANNES TALE
 THE PRIORESS'S PROLOGUE
 THE PRIORESSES TALE
 PROLOGUE TO SIR THOPAS
 SIR THOPAS
 PROLOGUE TO MELIBEUS
 THE TALE OF MELIBEUS
 THE MONK'S PROLOGUE
 THE MONKES TALE:-Lucifer; Adam; Sampson; Hercules;
 Nabugodonosor; Balthasar; Cenobia; De Petro Rege Ispannie;
 De Petro Rege De Cipro; De Barnabo de Lumbardia;
 De Hugelino Comite de Pize; Nero; De Oloferno;
 De Rege Anthiocho; De Alexandro; De Iulio Cesare; Cresus
 [vi]
 THE PROLOGUE OF THE NONNE PRESTES TALE
 THE NONNE PRESTES TALE
 EPILOGUE TO THE NONNE PRESTES TALE

 GROUP C. THE PHISICIENS TALE
 WORDS OF THE HOST
 PROLOGUE OF THE PARDONERS TALE
 THE PARDONERS TALE

 GROUP D. THE WIFE OF BATH'S PROLOGUE
 THE TALE OF THE WYF OF BATHE
 THE FRIAR'S PROLOGUE
 THE FRERES TALE
 THE SOMNOUR'S PROLOGUE
 THE SOMNOURS TALE

 GROUP E. THE CLERK'S PROLOGUE
 THE CLERKES TALE
 THE MERCHANT'S PROLOGUE
 THE MARCHANTES TALE
 EPILOGUE TO THE MARCHANTES TALE

 GROUP F. THE SQUIERES TALE
 WORDS OF THE FRANKLIN
 THE FRANKLIN'S PROLOGUE
 THE FRANKELEYNS TALE

 GROUP G. THE SECONDE NONNES TALE
 THE CANON'S YEOMAN'S PROLOGUE
 THE CHANOUNS YEMANNES TALE

 GROUP H. THE MANCIPLE'S PROLOGUE
 THE MAUNCIPLES TALE

 GROUP I. THE PARSON'S PROLOGUE
 THE PERSONES TALE

 APPENDIX TO GROUP A. The Tale of Gamelyn

[vii]

 * * * * *

INTRODUCTION

§ 1. THE PRESENT TEXT.

The text of the 'Canterbury Tales,' as printed in the present volume, is an
entirely new one, owing nothing to the numerous printed editions which have
preceded it. The only exceptions to this statement are to be found in the
case of such portions as have been formerly edited, for the Clarendon
Press, by Dr. Morris and myself. The reasons for the necessity of a
formation of an absolutely new text will appear on a perusal of the text
itself, as compared with any of its predecessors.

On the other hand, it owes everything to the labours of Dr. Furnivall for
the Chaucer Society, but for which no satisfactory results could have been
obtained, except at the cost of more time and toil than I could well devote
to the subject. In other words, my work is entirely founded upon the
splendid 'Six-text' Edition published by that Society, supplemented by the
very valuable reprint of the celebrated 'Harleian' manuscript in the same
series. These Seven Texts are all exact reproductions of seven important
MSS., and are, in two respects, more important to the student than the MSS.
themselves; that is to say, they can be studied simultaneously instead of
separately, and they can be consulted and re-consulted at any moment, being
always accessible. The importance of such opportunities is obvious.

§ 2. THE MANUSCRIPTS.

The following list contains all the MSS. of the existence of which I am
aware. As to their types, see § 7. [viii]

I. MSS. IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM.

1. Harl. 7334; denoted here by HL. By Tyrwhitt called 'C.' A MS of the
B-type (see below). Printed in full for the Chaucer Society, 1885. Collated
throughout.

 A MS. of great importance, but difficult to understand or describe. For
 the greater clearness, I shall roughly describe the MSS. as being of
 the A-type, the B-type, the C-type, and the D-type (really a second
 C-type). Of the A-type, the best example is the Ellesmere MS.; of the
 B-type, the best example is the Harleian MS. 7334; of the C-type, the
 Corpus and Lansdowne MSS.; the D-type is that exhibited by Caxton and
 Thynne in the early printed editions. They may be called the
 'Ellesmere,' 'Harleian,' 'Corpus,' and 'Caxton' types respectively.
 These types differ as to the arrangement of the Tales, and even MSS. of
 a similar type differ slightly, in this respect, among themselves. They
 also frequently differ as to certain characteristic readings, although
 many of the variations of reading are peculiar to one or two MSS. only.

 MS. Hl. contains the best copy of the Tale of Gamelyn, for which see p.
 645; this Tale is not found in MSS. of the A-type. Moreover, Group G
 here precedes Group C and a large part of Group B, whereas in the
 Ellesmere MS. it follows them. In the Monk's Tale, the lines numbered B
 3565-3652 (containing the Tales called the 'modern instances')
 immediately follow B 3564 (as in this edition), whereas in the
 Ellesmere MS. these lines come at the end of the Tale.

 The 'various readings' of this MS. are often peculiar, and it is
 difficult to appraise them. I take them to be of two kinds: (i)
 readings which are better than those of the Six-text, and should
 certainly be preferred, such as _halfe_ in A 8, _cloysterlees_ in A
 179, 

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