MS 424

Summary

Described Thomas James 194; Stanley N. 32; Nasmith 424; Walter W. Skeat, ed., A Treatise on the Astrolabe Addressed to his Son Lowys by Geoffrey Chaucer A.D. 1391, EETS es 16 (London, 1872), p. xi; James, Corpus 424; Seymour 1, pp. 126–127; Wilkins, Middle English, p. 2; Sigmund Eisner, A Treatise on the Astrolabe, A Variorum Edition of the Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, vol. 6, The Prose Treatises, pt. 1 (Norman, Oklahoma, 2002), pp. 58–59; Index of Images 108 (Pt. 4 of MS).

[1]

Pt. 4, f. 1

… vnderstond well þat þe zodiake is departyd in 2 halfe cercles as fro þe hede of capricorn into þe ende of cancer & aʒenward fro þe hede of cancer into þe ende of capricorn þe hede of capricorn is þe lowest poynte where as þe sone goþ in wynter …

Pt. 4, f. 4

… & þe begynnyng of þe 10 howse is nadyr to þe 4 & þe begynnyng of þe 11 howse is nadyr to þe 5 & þe begynnyng of þe 12 howse is nadyr to þe 6 to fynde þe howse by þe astrolaby þat is wretin(?) suffyseþ.

‘Explicit tractatus astrolabij secundum chauncers factus filio suo lodowyco’. Chaucer's Treatise on the Astrolabe. Begins imperfectly at the beginning of II. 16, at a point corresponding to Eisner's line 709 (Riverside Chaucer, p. 673^b); ends at the end of II. 36 (Eisner's line 1155, Riverside Chaucer, p. 679^b). This is the only MS to contain the phrase ‘to fynde þe howse by þe astrolaby þat is wretin(?) suffyse’; the others stop after ‘nadyr to þe .6.’. There are no diagrams. ‘Tractatus astrolabij’ added at head of f. 1 (the hand is not, as Eisner suggests, Matthew Parker’s). IPMEP 438; eVK:540. For an overview of editions, see Eisner, pp. 81–96.

Other texts: The most recent list is Eisner’s, which includes thirty-two MSS and fragments. Of these he suggests that Takamiya 9 (olim Boies Penrose) is the one most closely affiliated to the present MS.

[A 70]

[A 71]

[2]

Pt. 4, f. 35

I nycolas yprevid of some men & felawes of practyse of medicynes to studye to hem þat wolde þat y hem schuld teche þe maner of dyspensyng & comfortyng & to hem schulde take a certayn techyng þat þey mowe knowe …