A Digital Catalogue of the
Pre-1500 Manuscripts and Incunables of the
Canterbury Tales
Second Edition
RECORDS OF UNTRACED MANUSCRIPTS
I do not repeat the records provided in
Manly-Rickert (1:606-45) and
essentially repeated by
Seymour (1997, pp. 256-60). The references below,
then, are found in neither of those two lists (see also
Rickert 1931). On
Manly-Rickert’s first entry, however, see
Richardson 1990 (Richard Sotheworth to John Stopyndon; 1:606-45; PROB 11/2B/268: Will of Richard Sotheworth of Easthenreth, Berkshire, 20 May 1418).
1474: York Medieval Probate Index, Probate Register 4, fol. 220
r:
John Preston (Will Date 10 August 1474, Probate Date 29 November 1474),
bequeathed a book called “Cantrebery Talez” to Dominus Richard
Barthilmewe, capellanus, supervisor of the will.
note
1492: The MS used by
Wynkyn de Worde and the annotator of
the
Sterling Library copy of Pn (for the latter see
Mosser 2007).
Partridge refers to this MS as W. See also
Tokunaga 2005, especially Chapter 4. In order to account for Wy’s
close relationship both to El-Ll² and Gg-Ph¹, and for the relative paucity of glosses in the
latter pair,
Partridge proposes that: “It seems most plausible to
construct a W, and in turn a V, which sit in the tradition close to El and Gg, drawing on the same
textual sources they did, and containing abundant numbers of glosses, which were dropped in the
transmission history that produced Gg but survived elsewhere. Perhaps copying of V resulted in two
types of text, both glossed—a Gg-Ph¹ type and an El-Ll² type—and a further stage
of copying led specifically to Gg and Ph¹ but largely omitted glosses” (p. 349).
Late Fifteenth Century:
Youngs records a fragment of the
Parson’s Tale in Bodleian MS Latin misc.
c.66, “a commonplace book compiled by the
Cheshire gentleman
Humphrey Newton of Newton and Pownall (1466-1536). Transcribed near the
end of the book are around fifty lines of prose on the sins of swearing and flattery” (p. 207).
“The lines of the
Tale selected for the commonplace book were the
diatribes against the swearers and flatters found in the section on the sin of ire. They comprise lines
I [X] 600-21, 626-27, and the first thirteen words of 628. The omission of lines 622-25 appears
deliberate as Humphrey ended line 621 with an
etc.” (p. 209). Youngs notes
elsewhere that “the section consists of three bifolia, 93 + 94, 96 + 97, 108 + 109; a
parchment booklet, fols. 112-29; a quire, fols. 122-29; and fifteen single sheets. The material
includes items dating to the 1510s, but most of the paper stocks date to the late fifteenth century,
making them older than those contained in the first part of the commonplace book” (p. 213, n. 7).
She is correct about the paper stocks; some appear to be congruent with those in
Tc³.
Seventeenth Century:
Edwards argues that copies of the
Cook’s Tale and
Gamelyn in Ashmole 45 derive from a lost [fifteenth-century] witness (2005, p. 125;
for a transcription of the Ashmole 45 text of the
Cook’s Tale, see pp.
126-8).
Seventeenth Century:
Beadle identifies a manuscript of the
Cook’s Tale “compleat” (i.e., including the
Tale of Gamelyn) borrowed from John Selden by Sir Francis Kinaston and described by the latter. Beadle suggests the
reference
*Se².
1721: Henry Worsely, cited in
Urry’s 1721 edition, and alluded to by
Manly-Rickert (1:617:
“lost Worsely MS?”).
Edwards eliminates all surviving MSS and
concludes “that Urry was describing a manuscript previously unrecorded by modern scholars and now
lost” (1985, p. 58).
MS of the Franklin’s Tale in private hands in
England:
NIMEV 4019, MS 87; see
Edwards 2005, p. 126, n. 19: “For example, at least one unrecorded fifteenth-century
fragment of part of the
Canterbury Tales survives in private hands in
England.”
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Humphrey Newton (1466-1539)
Nationality: English
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Aberystwyth, Dyfed, United Kingdom
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Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
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Alnwick, Northumberland, United Kingdom
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Althorp House, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom
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Amherst, Massachusetts, United States
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Amsterdam, Netherlands
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Anglesey, United Kingdom
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Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
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Auckland, New Zealand
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Austin, Texas, United States
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Bangor, Gwynedd, United Kingdom
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Barnstaple, Devon, United Kingdom
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Bath, Somerset, United Kingdom
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Bateman’s, Burwash, Sussex, United Kingdom
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Beaupré Hall, Outwell, Norfolk, United Kingdom
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Bedfordshire, United Kingdom
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Bedminster, Somerset, United Kingdom
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Berkeley, California, United States
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Berkshire, United Kingdom
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Bermondsey, Southwark, United Kingdom
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Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States
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Bridgend, Glamorganshire, United Kingdom
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Blackburn, Lancashire, United Kingdom
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Bloomington, Indiana, United States
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Boston, Massachusetts, United States
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Boulder, Colorado, United States
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Bristol, United Kingdom
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Buckenham, Norfolk, United Kingdom
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Buckingham, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom
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Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom
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Buffalo, New York, United States
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Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, United Kingdom
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Burnham, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom
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Burwash, Sussex, United Kingdom
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Caernarfon, Kent, United Kingdom
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Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk, United Kingdom
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Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
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Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
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Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
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Canterbury, Kent, United Kingdom
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Cape of Good Hope, South Africa
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Cape Town, South Africa
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Carbondale, Illinois, United States
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Carlisle, Cumbria, United Kingdom
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Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States
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Chatsworth House, Derbyshire, United Kingdom
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Cheshire, United Kingdom
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Chester, Cheshire, United Kingdom
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Chicago, Illinois, United States
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Clitheroe, Lancashire, United Kingdom
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Clun, Shropshire, United Kingdom
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Colchester, Essex, United Kingdom
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Columbia, Missouri, United States, Coleraine, Ulster, United Kingdom
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Coleraine, Ulster, United Kingdom
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Cooling, Kent, United Kingdom
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Corby, Northamtonshire, United Kingdom
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Cumberland, United Kingdom
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Dallas, Texas, United States
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Dartmouth, Devon, United Kingdom
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Daventry, Northamtonshire, United Kingdom
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Deene Park, Corby, Northamtonshire, United Kingdom
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DeKalb, Illinois, United States
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Derby, Derbyshire, United Kingdom
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Derbyshire, United Kingdom
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Detroit, Michigan, United States
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Devonshire, United Kingdom
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Dorset, United Kingdom
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Dover, Kent, United Kingdom
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Great Dunmow, Essex, United Kingdom
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Little Dunmow, Essex, United Kingdom
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Dunstable, Bedfordshire, United Kingdom
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Durham, Durham, United Kingdom
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East Langdon, Kent, United Kingdom
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Eastry, Kent, United Kingdom
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Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
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Essex, United Kingdom
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Evanston, Illinois, United States
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Exeter, Devon, United Kingdom
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Exeter Cathedraal, Exeter, Devon, United Kingdom
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Faversham, Kent, United Kingdom
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Fenny Stratford, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom
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Fonthill, Wiltshire, United Kingdom
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Foston, Derbyshire, United Kingdom
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Foxearth, Essex, United Kingdom
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Geneva, Switzerland
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Vale of Glamorgan, United Kingdom
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Glasgow, Strathclyde, United Kingdom
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Gloucestershire, United Kingdom
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Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States
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Greensboro, North Carolina, United States
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Hampshire, United Kingdom
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Hawkedon, Suffolk, United Kingdom
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Hawstead, Suffolk, United Kingdom
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Helmingham, Suffolk, United Kingdom
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Herefordshire, United Kingdom
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Hereford, Herefordshire, United Kingdom
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Hertford, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
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Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
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Monks Horton, Kent, United Kingdom
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Ingestre, Staffordshire, United Kingdom
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Iowa City, Iowa, United States
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Ipswich, Suffolk, United Kingdom
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Ivybridge, Devon, United Kingdom
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Kent, United Kingdom
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Kentwell Hall, Long Melford, Suffolk, United Kingdom
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King’s Lynn, Norfolk, United Kingdom
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Lancashire, United Kingdom
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Latrobe, Pennsylvania, United States
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Leeds, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
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Leek, Staffordshire, United Kingdom
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Leicester, Leicestershire, United Kingdom
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Leicestershire, United Kingdom
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Lichfield, Staffordshire, United Kingdom
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Lincoln, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom
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Lincolnshire, United Kingdom
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Liverpool, United Kingdom
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London, United Kingdom
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Longleat, Warminster, Wiltshire, United Kingdom
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Long Melford, Suffolk, United Kingdom
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Ludlow, Shropshire, United Kingdom
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Mainz, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany
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Maldon, Essex, United Kingdom
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Manchester, United Kingdom
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Middlesex, United Kingdom
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Nantwich, Cheshire, United Kingdom
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Naperville, Illinois, United States
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Nether Heyford, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom
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Newark, Delaware, United States
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New Haven, Connecticut, United States
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New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
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New York, New York, United States
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Normal, Illinois, United States
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Northwich, Cheshire, United Kingdom
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Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom
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Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom
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Over Heyford, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom
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Norfolk, United Kingdom
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Northampton, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom
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Northamptonshire, United Kingdom
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Northumberland, United Kingdom
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Ockendon, Essex, United Kingdom
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Olympia, Washington, United States
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Otford, Kent, United Kingdom
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Overstrand, Norfolk, United Kingdom
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Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
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Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
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Oxnead, Norfolk, United Kingdom
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Pembrokeshire, United Kingdom
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Penshurst, Kent, United Kingdom
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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
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Pilton, Devon, United Kingdom
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Pitchford, Shropshire, United Kingdom
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Plymouth, Devon, United Kingdom
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Potton, Bedforshire, United Kingdom
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Princeton, New Jersey, United States
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Reigate, Surrey, England
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Rochester, New York, United States
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Rotherhithe, Southwark, England
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Stockholm Royal Library (National Library of Sweden), Stockholm, Sweden
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Rutland, United Kingdom
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Saffron Walden, Essex, United Kingdom
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Saint Louis, Missouri, United States
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Saltfleetby, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom
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San Diego, California, United States
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San Francisco, California, United States
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San Juan, Puerto Rico
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San Marino, California, United States
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Sandwich, Kent, United Kingdom
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Sevenoaks, Kent, United Kingdom
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Shaugh, Devon, United Kingdom
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Shotesham, Norfolk, United Kingdom
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Shropshire, United Kingdom
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Shrewsbury, Shropshire, United Kingdom
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Somerset, United Kingdom
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Southport, Connecticut, United States
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Southwick, Hampshire, United Kingdom
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Southwark, London, United Kingdom
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Spalding, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom
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Spokane, Washington, United States
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Staffordshire, United Kingdom
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Stanford, California, United States
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Stonyhurst College, Lancashire, United Kingdom
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Sudbury, Suffolk, United Kingdom
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Suffolk, United Kingdom
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Surrey, United Kingdom
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Sussex, United Kingdom
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Tandridge, Surrey, United Kingdom
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Tenterden, Kent, United Kingdom
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Thetford, Norfolk, United Kingdom
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Thorpe Mandeville, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom
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Thorpe Market, Norfolk, United Kingdom
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Tillingham, Essex, United Kingdom
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Toledo, Ohio, United States
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University Park, Pennsylvania, United States
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Urbana, Illinois, United Kingdom
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Vale Royal, Cheshire, United Kingdom
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Ware, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
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Wareham, Dorset, United Kingdom
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Warminster, Wiltshire, United Kingdom
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Warwick, Warwickshire, United Kingdom
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Warwickshire, United Kingdom
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Washington, D. C., United States
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North Riding, Yorkshire, United Kingdom
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West Riding, Yorkshire, United Kingdom
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Well, Yorkshire, United Kingdom
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Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States
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Wellington, Shropshire, United Kingdom
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Wells next-the-Sea, Norfolk, United Kingdom
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Westminster Abbey, London, United Kingdom
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Whitfield, Kent, United Kingdom
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Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States
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Wiltshire, United Kingdom
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Wolverhampton, United Kingdom
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Worcestershire, United Kingdom
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Worcester, Worcestershire, United Kingdom
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Worcester Cathedral, Worcester, Worcestershire, United Kingdom
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Wormer, Netherlands
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Yealmpton, Devon, United Kingdom
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York, Yorkshire, United Kingdom
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East Riding of Yorkshire, United Kingdom
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Yorkshire, United Kingdom
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Beadle, Richard. “‘I wol nat telle it yit’: John Selden and a Lost
Version of the Cook’s Tale.” In Chaucer to Shakespeare: Essays
in Honour of Shinsuke Ando. Toshiyuki Takamiya and Richard Beadle, eds. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1992.
55-66
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Boffey, Julia, and A. S. G. Edwards. A New Index of Middle English
Verse. London: British Library, 2005.
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Brown, Carleton, and Rossell Hope Robbins, eds. The Index of Middle English
Verse. New York: Columbia UP, 1943.
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Edwards, A. S. G., introd. Manuscript Pepys 2006: a Facsimile, Magdalene
College, Cambridge. The Facsimile Series of the Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, vol. 6. Norman, OK: Pilgrim
Books; Woodbridge and Suffolk: Boydell and Brewer, 1985.
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Edwards, A. S. G., “The ‘Worsley’ Manuscript of the Canterbury Tales.” The Library, 6th ser., no. 7 (1985): 54-8.
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Edwards, A. S. G. “A New Text of The Canterbury
Tales?” In Studies in Late Medieval and Early Renaissance Texts in Honour of
John Scattergood. Ann Marie D’Arcy & Alan J. Fletcher, eds. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2005.
121-8.
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Manly, John M., and Edith Rickert, eds. The Text of the Canterbury Tales:
Studied on the Basis of All Known Manuscripts. 8 vols. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1940.
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Mosser, Daniel W. “The Manuscript Glosses of the Canterbury Tales and the University
of London’s Copy of Pynson’s [1492] Edition: Witness to a Lost Exemplar.” Chaucer Review 41 (2007): 360-92.
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Partridge, Stephen. “Wynkyn de Worde’s Manuscript source for the Canterbury Tales: Evidence from the Glosses.” Chaucer
Review 41 (2007): 326-59.
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Rickert, Edith. “Are There More Chaucer Manuscripts?” The Times
Literary Supplement. December 17, 1931. 1028
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Richardson, Malcolm. “The Earliest Known Owners of ‘Canterbury Tales’ MSS
and Chaucer’s Secondary Audience.“ Chaucer Review 25 (1990): 17-32.
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Seymour, Michael C. A Catalogue of Chaucer Manuscripts. Volume II, The
Canterbury Tales. Aldershot and Brookfield: Scolar Press, 1997.
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Tokunaga, Satoko. “The Textual Transmission of the Canterbury
Tales: The Case of Wynkyn de Worde.” Diss. Keio University, 2005.
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Urry, John. The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer. London: B. Lintot,
1721.
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Youngs, Deborah. “The Parson’s Tale: A Newly Discovered
Fragment.” Chaucer Review 34 (1999): 207-16.
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I am grateful to A. I. Doyle, personal communication 10 May 1994, for
alerting me to this record.