Ellesmere Manuscript in Huntington Library

The Ellesmere Chaucer, or Ellesmere Manuscript of the Canterbury Tales, is an early 15th-century

illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, th ...

of Geoffrey Chaucer's ''

Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''magnum opus ...

'', owned by the Huntington Library, in San Marino, California (EL 26 C 9). It is considered one of the most significant copies of the ''Tales''.

History

Written most likely in the first or second decade of the fifteenth century, the early history of the manuscript is uncertain, but it seems to have been owned by John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford (1408–1462). The manuscript takes its popular name from the fact that it later belonged to Sir Thomas Egerton (1540–1617), Baron Ellesmere and Viscount Brackley, who apparently obtained it from Roger North, 2nd Baron North (1530/31-1600). The library of manuscripts, known as the Bridgewater Library, remained at the Egerton house, Ashridge, Hertfordshire, until 1802 when it was removed to London. Francis Egerton, created Earl of Ellesmere in 1846, inherited the library, and it remained in the family until its sale to Henry Huntington by John Francis Granville Scrope Egerton (1872–1944), 4th Earl of Ellesmere. Huntington purchased the Bridgewater library privately in 1917 through

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

. The manuscript is now in the collection of the Huntington Library in San Marino, California (EL 26 C 9).

Description

The Ellesmere manuscript is a highly polished example of scribal workmanship, with a great deal of elaborate illumination and, notably, a series of illustrations of the various narrators of the ''Tales'' (including a famous one of Chaucer himself, mounted on a horse). As such, it was clearly a ''de luxe'' product, commissioned by a very wealthy patron. The manuscript is written on fine

vellum Vellum is prepared animal skin or membrane, typically used as writing material. Parchment is another term for this material, from which vellum is sometimes distinguished, when it is made from calfskin, as opposed to that made from other ani ...

and the leaves are approximately 400mm by 284mm in size; there are 240 leaves, of which 232 contain the text of the ''Tales''.The Ellesmere Chaucer
,

Long Island University Long Island University (LIU) is a private university with two main campuses, LIU Post and LIU Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. It offers more than 500 academic programs at its main campuses, online, and at multiple non-residential. LI ...

Illuminations

In order of appearance in the Ellesmere Chaucer (note that not all storytellers have an illumination): *

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...

(fol. 10r) * Miller (fol. 34v) *

Reeve Reeve may refer to: Titles *Reeve (Canada), an elected chief executive of some counties, townships, and equivalents *Reeve (England), an official elected annually by the serfs to supervise lands for a lord *High-reeve, a title taken by some Englis ...

(fol. 42r) * Cook (fol. 47r) * Man of Law (fol. 50v) * Wife of Bath (fol. 72r) *

Friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the o ...

(fol. 76v) * Summoner (fol. 81r) * Clerk of Oxford (fol. 88r) *

Merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

(fol. 102v) *

Squire In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight. Use of the term evolved over time. Initially, a squire served as a knight's apprentice. Later, a village leader or a lord of the manor might come to be known as a ...

(fol. 115v) * Franklin (fol. 123v) *

Physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

(fol. 133r) * Pardoner (fol. 138r) * Shipman (fol. 143v) * Prioress (fol. 148v) *

Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...

(fol. 153v) * Monk and his greyhounds (fol. 169r) * Nun's Priest (fol. 179r) * Second Nun (fol. 187r) * Canon's Yeoman (fol. 194r) * Manciple (fol. 203r) * Parson (fol. 206v)

Scribe and its relation to other manuscripts

The Ellesmere manuscript is thought to be very early in date, being written shortly after Chaucer's death. It is seen as an important source for efforts to reconstruct Chaucer's original text and intentions, though

John M. Manly John Matthews Manly (September 2, 1865 — April 2, 1940) was an American professor of English literature and philology at the University of Chicago. Manly specialized in the study of the works of William Shakespeare and Geoffrey Chaucer. His eight- ...

and Edith Rickert in their ''Text of the Canterbury Tales'' (1940) noted that whoever edited the manuscript probably made substantial revisions, tried to regularise spelling, and put the individual Tales into a smoothly running order. Up until this point the Ellesmere manuscript had been used as the 'base text' by several editions, such as that of

W. W. Skeat Walter William Skeat, (21 November 18356 October 1912) was a British philologist and Anglican deacon. The pre-eminent British philologist of his time, he was instrumental in developing the English language as a higher education subject in th ...

, with variants checked against British Library, Harley MS 7334. Linne Mooney identified Ellesmere's scribe as Adam Pinkhurst, a man employed by Chaucer himself, but recent scholarship has claimed that this identification is without merit.The claim was put forth by Linne R. Mooney, 'Chaucer's Scribe', Speculum, 81 (2006), 91-138; for the most extensive rebuttal see Lawrence Warner, ''Chaucer's Scribes: London Textual Production, 1384-1432'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018). Further discussion in the Wikipedia entry for Adam Pinkhurst. The same scribe appears to have been responsible for writing the

Hengwrt Manuscript The Hengwrt Chaucer manuscript is an early-15th-century manuscript of the ''Canterbury Tales'', held in the National Library of Wales, in Aberystwyth. It is an important source for Chaucer's text, and was possibly written by someone with access to a ...

of the ''Tales'', now considered the earliest, most authoritative, and closest to Chaucer's

holograph An autograph or holograph is a manuscript or document written in its author's or composer's hand. The meaning of autograph as a document penned entirely by the author of its content, as opposed to a typeset document or one written by a copyist o ...

. This would also imply, however, that the revisions seen in the Ellesmere manuscript would have been carried out by someone who had worked with Chaucer, knew his intentions for the ''Tales'', and had access to draft materials. The Ellesmere manuscript is conventionally referred to as El in studies of the ''Tales'' and their textual history. A facsimile edition is available. File:Chaucer knight.jpg, Image:Wife-of-Bath-ms.jpg, File:Page of The Ellesmere Chaucer.jpg, File:Friar-canterbury-tales.jpg, File:Canterbury Tales - The Miller - f. 34v detail - Robin with the Bagpype - early 1400s Chaucer.png, File:Chaucer cook.jpg, File:The Summoner - Ellesmere Chaucer.jpg,

References

External links

The Ellesmere mss
at the Huntington Library
Huntington catalogue images of Ellesmere Chaucer at Digital Scriptorium

Full digital facsimile on the Huntington Digital LibraryEzard, John, 'The scrivener's tale: how Chaucer's sloppy copyist was unmasked after 600 years', ''The Guardian'', 20 July 2004
{{Authority control Literary illuminated manuscripts The Canterbury Tales Collection of the Huntington Library English manuscripts