JOHN GOWER: THE MINOR LATIN WORKS: NOTES

ABBREVIATIONS: CA: Gower, Confessio Amantis; CB: Gower, Cinkante Ballades; Cronica: Gower, Cronica Tripertita; CT: Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales; CVP: Gower, Carmen super multiplici viciorum pestilencia; IPP: Gower, In Praise of Peace; Mac: Macaulay edition; MO: Gower, Mirour de l'Omme; TC: Chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde; Thynne: William Thynne, printer, The Works of Geffray Chaucer (1532) [prints IPP from Tr]; Traitié: Gower, Traitié pour essampler les amantz marietz; VC: Gower, Vox Clamantis.

All biblical citations are to the Vulgate text, and, unless otherwise noted, all biblical translations are from the Douai-Rheims. For a list of manuscript abbreviations, please see Manuscripts in the Introduction.

5. QUIA UNUSQUISQUE: NOTES

The marginal Latin glosses, identified by a capital L in the left margin next to the text, are transcribed and translated in the notes and can be accessed by clicking on the L at the corresponding line.

Quia unusquisque: Essentially a colophon summarizing Gower's three major poems, assumed to be Gower's own composition and written after 1399 since it mentions Richard's fall; but at that time Henry was not simply earl of Derby. (For the best reconciliation of its disparate history, see Nicholson, "Dedications.") There is some variation in placement and wording amongst the manuscripts, many being corrupt (e.g., a probable dropped line): see below, and Macaulay 3.550. Macaulay (4.418) pointed out that the description of VC seems "to include the Cronica Tripertita as a sequel." Pearsall ("Gower's Latin," pp. 24-25) noted the selective description of CA by way of warning against using Quia as an authorial summary. In five manuscripts containing the Confesssio Amantis, the colophon precedes Eneidos bucolis (see Appendix 1).

The text here is from S. Other versions survive in C, H, G, and F.

8 Speculum Meditantis. Macaulay 3.550: "'Speculum hominis' in all copies of the first recension. 'Speculum meditantis' over an erasure in the Glasgow MS of the Vox Clamantis."