Today | News | Books | Recipes Adventure | Science Fiction | Ghost stories | Poetry | Children | History Bookly_) AB. § 3, ll. 31, 32. A _has_ 12 degres, _corrected to_ 18 degres; B. _has_ 12 degrees; C _has_ 18. The numbers in the MSS. in these propositions are somewhat uncertain; it seems probable that some alteration was made by Chaucer himself. The readings in MS. B give one set of calculations, which are no doubt the original ones; for in MS. A the same set is again found, but altered throughout, by the scribe who drew the diagrams. The sets of readings are these:-- Ll. 31, 32. 12 degrees B; _so in_ A, _but altered to_ 18; C _has_ 18. 37. passed 9 of the clokke the space of 10 degrees B; _so in_ A, _with_ 9 _altered to_ 8, _and_ 10 _altered to_ 2; C _has_ ij _for_ 9, _but agrees with_ A _in the reading_ 2. 39. fond ther 10 degrees of taur_us_ B; _so in_ A _originally, but_ 10 _has been corrected to_ 23, _and_ libra _is written over an erasure_. C _agrees with neither, having_ 20 _for_ 10, _but agreeing with_ A _as to_ libra. The later MSS. sometimes vary from all these. 42. an _supplied from_ C; AB _omit._ § 4, l. 5. largest C; largesse AB. 6. upon C; vn (!) AB. 8. forseide degree of his longitude] forseyde same degre of hys longitude C; forseid same gre of his longitude P; forseyde latitude his longitude (_sic!_) AB. 9. planete ys C; _miswritten_ planetes AB, _but_ is _is added in margin of_ A. 16. For '25 degrees,' all the MSS. have '15 degrees.' The mistake is probably Chaucer's own; the correction was made by Mr. Brae, who remarks that it is a mere translation from the Latin version of Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos, which has--'Signum ascendentis, quod est a _quinque_ gradibus qui super horizontem ante ipsum ascenderant usque ad _viginti quinque_ qui ad ascendentem remanserint'; Lib. iii. c. 10. In fact, it is clear that 25 must be added to 5 to make up the extent of a 'house,' which was 30 degrees. 16. ys like C; is lik P; _miswritten_ illyk AB. 17. in _is supplied from_ GM; ABC _omit it_. 23. _second_ the _supplied from_ CP; AB _omit_. 32. wel _supplied from_ CPM; AB _omit_. 36. than] þan CM; þenne P; AB _omit_. 40. _The number_ 10 _is supplied from_ C; AB _omit_. 42. some folk _supplied from_ CPG; AB _omit_. 44. yit is] AB _wrongly have_ yit it is; _but_ CPGM _omit_ it. § 5, l. 3. by 2 and 2 ACG; by 3 and 3 P; _left blank in_ B. Either reading makes sense, but it is clear that divisions representing three degrees each must have been very awkward. 10. of _supplied from_ CPGM: AB _omit_. § 6, l. 5. est C; west A (_which is absurd_); west (_corrected to_ est) B. 9. signe CGP; signes ABM. § 10, l. 3. than B; þan C; A _has_ & by nyht, _which is absurd_. 4, 5. A _omits_ day with the howr inequal of the, _which is supplied from_ BCP; _the number_ 30 _is also supplied from_ BCM, _as_ A _has a blank space here_; see l. 10. § 11, l. 12. _The number_ 4 _is from_ CP; AB _omit; old edd._ fourthe. 13. ther _supplied from_ PM; þere C; AB _omit_. § 12, l. 1. the _supplied from_ BC; A _omits_. 8. _The figure_ 2 _is from_ BCP; G _has_ secunde; A _omits_. § 14, l. 9, 10. The last clause supplied from B. § 15, l. 6. pointe] point P; pointes A; pointz B; poy_n_tes C; _but grammar requires the singular_. 9. the _supplied from_ CP; AB _omit_. § 16, l. 5. AB _wrongly insert_ the _before_ Cancer; CP _omit it_. 8. y-lyke] Ilyke G; ilik P; y-like C; ilke AB; see l. 7. § 17. _Latin rubric_; for _latitudinem_ (as in M) read _longitudinem_. l. 18. heued B; hed ACP; see sect. 16, l. 3. The word 'the' (rightly placed in BCMP) is, in A, wrongly placed before 'Aries' instead of before 'ende.' 23. _second_ the] þe C; AB _omit_. § 19. _Latin Rubric_; for _orizon_ (as in M) read _statio_. § 20. _Latin Rubric_; the MS. (M) transposes the words _in_ and _a_, having _a zodiaco in circulo_, which contradicts the sense. § 22. _Latin Rubric_; for _centri_ (as in M) read _regionis_. § 23, l. 21. The figure '8' is omitted in AB. 23. than] A _omits_; thanne _inserted afterwards in_ B. § 25, l. 3. _first_ the] _supplied from_ B; AC _omit_. 15. CP _om._ and 10 minutes. 16. CP _om._ and minutes out. _For_ 51 degrees and 50 minutes, C _has_ 52, þan is 52 degrees; _and_ P _has_ 52. Þenne is .52. grees. 19. CP _om._ as I mighte prove. 20. the _supplied from_ CP; AB _om._ 27. the firste degree] 10 degrees C; 10 gree P. 28. 58 degrees and 10 minutes] almost 56 C (_meaning_ 56 degrees); almost .56. grees P. 29. almost 20] almost 18 C. 31. thee] C _om._ and odde Minutes] CP _om._ It thus appears that there is a second set of readings, involving a different calculation. The second set supposes the Sun to be in the 10th degree of Leo, his altitude to be 56°, and his declination 18°; the difference, viz. 38°, is the complement of the latitude. Either set of readings suits the sense, but the one in the text agrees best with the former latitude, viz. 51°. 50'. 37. _After_ there, C _inserts_ 38 grees, þat is; _and omits the words_ of the pole, 51 degrees and 50 minutes. But this is a mere repetition of the 'height of the Equinoctial,' and is obviously wrong. _After_ pole, _in_ l. 38, A _inserts_ an that, _which is unmeaning, and omitted in_ B. § 26, l. 8. Nearly all the MSS. omit from _Fertherover_ down to _right orisonte_. The missing clause appears in MS. Bodley 619; I have not found it elsewhere. It is obviously correct, and agrees sufficiently closely with the conjectural addition by Mr. Brae, in his edition of Chaucer's Astrolabe, p. 48. § 27, l. 2. _second_ the] _supplied from_ BCPM; A _om._ § 28. _Latin Rubric._ MS. has _in recto circulo_; read _obliquo_. 3. set] sett C; sete P; AB _omit_. 11. these] þese C; thise B; the A. 23. ende] heed A; heued C. In fact, _heed_, _heued_, or _hed_ seems to be the reading of all the MSS. and printed copies, and may have been a slip of the pen in the first instance. The reading _ende_ is, however, amply justified by its previous occurrence, four times over, in lines 10, 13, 16, 18. We thus have Six Northern signs. From _head_ of Aries to _end_ of Virgo. Six Southern signs. From _head_ of Libra to _end_ of Pisces. Six Tortuous signs. From _head_ of Capricorn to _end_ of Gemini. Six Direct signs. From _head_ of Cancer to _end_ of Sagittarius. Opposite 'sagittare' is written 'sagittarie' in the margin of A, probably as a correction; but it is left uncorrected in l. 27. § 29, l. 3. Turne thanne] Turne þan C; turn_e_ the thanne AB. 9. thou] þou C; two AB. 14. rewle] rule CP; _miswritten_ rewles AB; _see_ l. 9. § 30. l. 11. wey A; place C. _After_ zodiak C _inserts_--for on þe morowe wol þe s_on_ne be in a-noþer degre þan þan, et cetera; P _inserts_--For yn þe morowe wol þe sonne be yn an oþer gree, & norþ_er_ or souþ_er_ par aventure. Nothing can be plainer than that 'the way of the sun' in this passage means the small circle formed by the sun's apparent path during a day; the text says expressly--'the wey wher as the sonne wente thilke day.' We need not argue about the impossibilit |