OF

GEOFFREY CHAUCER

edited, from numerOUS MANUSCRIPTS

BY THE

REV. WALTER W. SKEAT, LITT.D., LL.D., M.A.

ELRINGTON AND BOSWORTH PROFESSOR OF ANGLO-SAXON

AND FELLOW OF CHRIST'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE

THE HOUSE OF FAME: THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN THE TREATISE ON THE ASTROLABE

WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE SOURCES OF THE CANTERBURY TALES

'He made the book that hight the Hous of Fame.'

Legend of Good Women; 417.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION TO THE HOUSE OF FAME.-§ 1. Authorship. § 2. Influ-

ence of Dante. § 3. Testimony of Lydgate. § 4. Influence of

Ovid. § 5. Date of the Poem. § 6. Metre. § 7. Imitations.

§ 8. Authorities. § 9. Some Emendations

INTRODUCTION to the Legend of Good WOMEN.-§ 1. Date of the

Poem. § 2. The Two Forms of the Prologue. § 3. Comparison

of these. § 4. The Subject of the Legend. § 5. The Daisy.

§ 6. Agaton. § 7. Chief Sources of the Legend. § 8. The

Prologue; Legends of (1) Cleopatra; (2) Thisbe; (3) Dido; (4)

Hypsipyle and Medea; (5) Lucretia; (6) Ariadne; (7) Philo-

mela; (8) Phyllis; (9) Hypermnestra. § 9. Gower's Confessio

Amantis. § 10. Metre. § 11. 'Clipped' Lines. § 12. Descrip-

tion of the MSS. § 13. Description of the Printed Editions.

§ 14. Some Improvements in my Edition of 1889. § 15. Con-

clusion

INTRODUCTION to a Treatise on THE ASTROLABE.—§ 1. Description

of the MSS. §§ 2-16. MSS. A., B., C., D., E., F., G., H., I., K., L.,

M., N., O., P. § 17. MSS. Q., R., S., T., U., W., X. § 18. Thynne's

Edition. § 19. The two Classes of MSS. § 20. The last five

Sections (spurious). § 21. Gap between Sections 40 and 41. § 22.

Gap between Sections 43 and 44. § 23. Conclusion 40. § 24.

Extant portion of the Treatise. § 25. Sources. § 26. Various

Editions. § 27. Works on the Subject. § 28. Description of the

Astrolabe Planisphere. § 29. Uses of the Astrolabe Planisphere.

§ 30. Stars marked on the Rete. § 31. Astrological Notes.

$32. Description of the Plates

PLATES ILLUstrating thE DESCRIPTION OF THE ASTROLABE

THE HOUS OF FAME: BOOK I.

THE HOUS OF FAME: BOOK II.

THE HOUS OF FAME: BOOK III.

PAGE

vii

xvi

lvii

lxxxi

I

16

33

THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN: THE PROLOGUE

I. THE LEGend of CLEOPATRA

II. THE Legend of THISBE

III. THE LEGEND OF DIDO

IV. THE LEGEND OF HYPSIPYLE AND MEDEA

V. THE LEGEND OF LUCRETIA

PAGE

65

106

110

117

131

140

AN ACCOUNT OF THE SOURCES OF THE CANTERBURY TALES .

370