þat two townes haue I-like meridian or one merydian, ¶ Than ys pe distaunce of hem bope I-like fer from pe est, & pe contrarye. And in pis maner þei chaunge not her meridyan, but soply, þei chaungen her almykanteras, For þe enhaunsynge of þe pool / and þe distaunce of þe sonne. ¶ The longitude of a clymate ys a lyne ymagyned fro þe est to be west, I-like distaunte fro pe equinoxial.¶The latitude of a clymat may be cleped pe space of þe erbe fro þe by-gynnynge of þe first clymat unto pe ende of þe same clymat / euene-directe a-zens pe pool artyke. ¶ Thus seyn somme auctours / and somme clerkes seyn/ þat if men clepen pe latitude of a contrey', pe arche mer[i]dian þat is contened or intercept by-twixe pe Cenyth & pe equinoxial; þan sey þei þat þe distaunce fro pe equinoxial unto pe ende of a clymat, euene a-gaynes þe pool artik, is pe latitude off þat climat 2 forsope.

The corrections made in this section are here fully described. 1. of lyne P; of a line I; or lyne C; or the AB.

2. this] þis the AB, absurdly;

3. ycleped the] y-clupid þe P;

CP omit the, rightly.

cleped þe C; the same (sic) AB.

4. is at; supplied from PCI; AB omit.

5. by moeving] by meuynge C; by mevyng PI; schyneth ony thing (sic) A; schyned eny thing B; for the spelling moeving, see sect. 35, 1. 5.

6. meridian CP; meridianale I; Middel lyne of the (sic) AB.

8. 2 citees CI; too citees P; any lynes (sic) AB.

9. aprocheth] a-prochep C; aprochip P; miswritten aprochid AB.

more toward] neer C; ner P; neerer I; thoward AB.

11. conteyned I; conteynyd P; contened C; consideered (sic) A; contined B.

13. yf P; 3if C; if it I; AB omit. N.B. It is best to use the spelling yif, as the word is commonly so spelt in A.

22. same CPI; seconde AB. The reading same is right; for the 'latitude of a climate' means the breadth of a zone of the earth, and the latitude of the first climate (here chosen by way of example) is the breadth as measured along a great circle perpendicular to the equator, from the beginning of the said first climate to the end of the same. The words 'evene-directe agayns the poole Artik' mean in the direction of the North pole; i. e. the latitude of a climate is reckoned from its beginning, or southernmost boundary-line, towards the end of the same, viz. its northern boundary-line.

22. pe poole Artik P; þe pool artyke C; the pole artike I; from north to south AB. Observe that this singular error in A, 'euene directe agayns from north to south,' probably arose from a confusion of the text 'euene directe agayns þe poole Artik' with a gloss upon it, which was from north to south.' It is important as throwing light on the meaning of the phrase, and proving that the interpretation of it given above (note to 1. 22) is correct.

24. intercept CP; intercepte I; except (over an erasure) AB.

The only reading about which there is any doubt is that in line 18, which may be either illike distant by-twene them alle' (A), or ‘I-like distaunte fro þe equinoxial' (C). But it is immaterial which reading be adopted, since Illike-distant is here used merely in the sense of parallel, and the boundaries of the climates are parallel both to one another, and to the equinoctial. The climates themselves were of different breadths.

1 Here insert-[they mene]-which CP omit.

2 The words from euene to climat are added at the bottom of the page in the MS.

§ 40, 1. 4. this samples AB; þese ensamples C.

5. for sothe] miswritten for sonne AB; in general C; yn special P; the reading sonne points to sothe, and makes it very probable that for sothe is the true reading.

6. the longitude] þe longitude C; latitude AB (absurdly); see 1. 11.

7. planete; miswritten that A, but corrected to planete in the margin; C has planete, correctly. The figure 6 is omitted in C; so are all the other figures further on. him] hir C.

8. I tok] Than toke I C. 8, 16. 2 degrees A; 3 degrees B.

10. Than tok I] Than toke I C; for tok AB wrongly have stykke, after wards altered to stokke in A. second the] supplied from C, which has pe; AB omit.

23. the] þe C; AB omit.

27. prikke] prickes C; perhaps prikkes would be a better reading.

29. AB omit the figure 2; but see 1. 8.

31. in alle] in al C; A has septentrionalle, an obvious mistake for septentrional in alle, by confusion of the syllable 'al' in the former with 'al' in the latter word; B has septentrional, omitting in alle.

34. signes C] tymes AB (wrongly); see 1. 32.

46. Perhaps evene before of should be omitted, as in C. AB have in the ende euene ouer of thee, where euene ouer is repeated from the former part of the line.

47. F endlang] F endlonge C; A euene AB; but see 11. 23, 24.

A omits of and degrees, yet both are required; BC omit of 3 degrees altogether.

49. til] tyl þat C; tho AB (absurdly).

50. saw] sey C; may AB; see 1. 28.

56. hir] his ABC. a] ABC omit.

57. At the word houre four of the best MSS. break off, viz. MSS. ABCE, although E adds one more section, viz. sect. 46; others come to a sudden end even sooner, viz. MSS. DFGHK. But MS. P carries us on to the end of sect. 43, and supplies the words-pu shalt do wel ynow, as in the old editions. § 41. 7. betwixe] be M (wrongly); betwixe R; by-twyx L. M inserts & before to pe altitude; a mere slip. 8. thridde; miswritten ridde M; þrydde R. 13. LM wrongly place of after the heyzt instead of before it.

For; miswritten Fro M.

§ 42, 1. 2. see] so in LR; miswritten sette M; see sect. 41, 1. 4.

8. second I] so L; y R; M omits.

8. M omits as, above, and is þe; L has 12 passethe 6 the.

11. seest] so in LR; miswritten settest M.

12. 60] so in LNR; sexe M.

13. M omits from 10 is to 10 feet, which is supplied from NLPR.

14. For] so in LNR; fro M.

15. For 2, M has 6; so also R. For 3, M has 4.

16. For 2, M has 6; for 6, M has 2; and the words and 3 is 4 partyes of 12

are omitted, though L has—& 4 is the thrid partye of 12.

17. betwen R] by-twene L; bitwixe P; miswritten be M; cf. sect. 41, 7.

19. thre R] 3 LP; miswritten þe M.

§ 43. Rubric in M,

error is repeated in 1. 1.

Umbra Versa; obviously a mistake for Recta. The
LPR rightly read Recta.

3. M omits 1, which is supplied from LPR; see 1. 5.

11. After heythe (as in M), LNR add to thyn eye. In place of lines 9-11, P has & so of alle oper, &c.

§ 44. From MS. Digby 72 (N). Also in LMOR.

2. fro] so in LO; for M.

3. into] so in L; in M. for] so in O; fro M.

6. 3eris M; LNO omit.

7. tabelis NO; table M; tables L.

8. where L; qwere O; wheper N.

9. loke LM; N omits.

11, 2. NM omit from or what to or; supplied from Ọ, which has—or qwat nombre þat euere it be, tyl þe tyme þat þou come to 20, or 40, or 60. I have merely turned qwat into what, as in L, which also has this insertion.

L.

13. wreten N; the alteration to wryte is my own; see l. 23.

under] so in L; vndirnepe M.

14. to-geder] too-geder M; miswritten to 2 degreis N; to the 2 degrees

For 1 (as in M) LN have 10.

15. hast M; miswritten laste N; last L.
16. that (1); supplied from M; LN omit.
21. to-gedere M; to the degreis N; 2 grees O; to degrees L.

22. that (2); supplied from M; LNO omit.
lasse] passid LNO; M omits.

Of course passid is wrong, and equally

of course lasse is right; see ll. 5, 6 above, and 1. 25 below.

25. that] so in L; þat MO; if hit N.

27. entringe] entre M; entre L. ther] so in M; miswritten the 3ere N;

the zeer L.

30. merydie LM; merdie N.

32. for LM; fro N (twice).

34. tha3the N; have tauzt M; have tawзt O; haue tauht L.

36. the (1); supplied from M; LNO omit.

with the] so in M; wyche N; see 1. 36.

40. in (2)] in-to N; yn M.

§ 45. From MS. Digby 72 (N); also in LOR; but not in M.

4. that N; the L; pe O (after wryte in 1. 3).

6. wrytoun O; Iwyton N. But L has I wold wyttyn; read-I wolde witen precise my rote; cf. ll. 19, 30.

8. 1397] miswritten 1391 LN; O has 1391, corrected to 1397; see 1. 3.

11. so3th N; sowte O; sowthe L; read soghte.

14. vnder N; vndyr-nethe O; vndre-nethe L.

20, 1. oper in any oþer tyme or monyth N; or any oder tymys or monthys O; or in eny other moneth L.

27. adde] supplied from L; NO omit. There is no doubt about it, for see 1. 16.

31. wete the] so in O; wete thi L; miswritten with thy N; see 1. 19.

85. and (3)] supplied from LO; N omits.

§ 46, 5, 6. þat same E; þe same S.

10. it S; E omits.

13. þat same (om. tyme) E; þe same tyme S. 16. pou þan esely E; than shallt thou easly S. 17. tyme of E; tyme of the S.

20. S meve (for bringe furþe).

§ 41 a. This and the remaining sections are certainly spurious. They occur in LMNR, the first being also found in O. The text of 41a-426 is from M. 3. hast] supplied from LR; M omits.

§ 42a, 1. heyth by by N; heyth by the L; heythe bi þi R; M om.

4. lyk] lykk M; L. omits. mete] mette M; mett L.

9. is L; miswritten hys M.

§ 43 a, 1. nat] not R; nott L; M omits; see the footnote. In the rubric, M has versam; but L has the rubric-Vmbra Recta.

§ 426, 5. as] so in LR; miswritten & M.

6. 4 is supplied from LR; M omits.