Chapter IV: Part 4

p{ar}soune and plowmane [p{ar}sonne]
Under the tytle of chaucers countaye,[4] [countrye, no footnote]
H. Regis patris nostri [Henrici Regis]
apud West {minsteriu}m [Westm{onasterium}] 316
In whiche are two unperfect{i}ons. [imperfect{i}ons]
thus sett downe to the forthe daye of februarye
[... in the ferthe daye ...]
with the daye when and where they presented her
[_“with de daye” with footnote “MS. plainly de”_]
apud Eboru{m} in comitatiua [Ebor{ac}u{m}]
the laude fulfilled is ouer all [lande] 346
For in truth yo{u}r armes of this S^r Johne Gower [{th}e armes]
an ensigne of his poetrye [one]
for he was an olde manne [one]
Ric. de la Poole [Ric{hard}]
continentem iij^c lxx^li xviij^s 1^d [I^d (capital Eye for One)]
factum ad Scaccariu{m} computator [computator{is}]
iiij^c marc. [marc{as}]
(a magistrate of greate welthe in Hull,) [a marchante]
Walsingham (who wroote longe after) [w{hic}he wroote]
by reasone of others mens dealinge
[_“othere mens dealing{es}” with footnote “MS. others”_]
and, as some have yt
[and, [printinge,] as some have yt]
In the title of the augmente [argumente]
w{hic}h Chaucer w{i}th muche of that matter omytted
[w{i}th Chawcer,]
[_footnote “? _for_ which Chaucer englisht”_]
In the expositione of the olde wordes
[_Footnote: “+of+ of” with first “of” boldface_]
to oure nowe vnderstandinges [vnderstandinge]
beinge an indiffynyte speache [one]
an olde coyne of france [one]
I will produce twoo auctorauctors [twoo Auctors]
written in Gothyshe rymynge verse [verses]
That dame abstinence streyned
[_“weyned” with footnote (MS) “streyned”_]
And ganne her gratche as a Bygin.
[_footnote (MS) “graithe”_]
A large cover-cherfe of Thredde [cover-cheife]
whiche is true, for a gowshawke
[_“goshawke”, with footnote “MS. gowshake”_]
with her byll or talons [talentes]
an engine not muche vnlyke to the catapulte [one engine]
a Ramme to batter wales [wal[l]es]
Wherein yo{u} mistake the valewe of the florens [a florens]
the same Walsingha{m} in another place [in other place]
within the price of ij^s. x^d. [QR]
--ij^s. x^d. [QR] de quibus florenis regal{ibus}
[_in both passages, 1865 has the “QR” symbol while
1876 expands to “q{uad}r{anta}”_]
as were her younge and grene yeres [was]
yo{u} wolde haue us to reade [haue us reade]
save onlye the intellecte or vnderstandinge [his intellecte]
And twenty fadome of breedth, armes straughte [breed th’armes]
he[9] knocked at her[10] windowe
[_1876 text ADDS “to make her the better to heare” after this
phrase (skipped line in original MS?)_]
are nerer to Sorria [is nerer]
reference to his antecedente, i. e. this worde wyfe
[_word “i. e.” omitted_]
eightene Jewes were broughte fro{m} Lincolne
[_1876 text ADDS [to London] in brackets after “broughte”_]
For yf yt doe, &c. [For yf yt doe, . . .]
[_the fair Pertelote_]
[parenthesised in 1865 text, moved to footnote in 1876]
So that yf you nowe will [yf yowe will]
that hight Marche ... the bright sonne [hight[e] ... bright[e]]
and in the signe Taurus [signe of Taurus]
than in the weringe of furres [than ys]
“with change of many meates;” [with many change of meates]
kepe an equall proport{i}one and decorum [one equall]
But on these and suche petit matters [in these]
they are of [{no}?] great momente
[1865 has “no” italicized and in parentheses;
1876 omits question mark]
as apperethe in the woordes [by these woordes]
Aristotle sayeth Bartholomeus [sayethe &]
I will not now treate; [entreate]
Whiche three edit[i]ons beinge verye unperfecte [imperfecte]
An angry wighte and chyderesse [One angry]

The HTML version of this e-text includes a detailed record of differences between the 1865 and 1876 editions. Neither edition includes a facsimile of the original MS, so readers will have to decide for themselves which differences reflect editorial decisions and which ones are errors in one edition or the other.

Basic variations:

Typographic:
Variations in punctuation and capitalization
Decorative features of final letters, especially -ll printed
with connecting line
Font changes such as boldface instead of small capitals
Prices are printed inline as ijs. and similar

Consistent:
Initial v used throughout (medial u/v is variable)
“you” always printed with superscript “u”
(replacing both “you” and yo{u})
“S^r” (superscript “r”) printed as “S{i}r” (italic “i”)
“emongst(e)” always spelled with medial “e” as “emongest(e)”

Common:
initial J or j printed as I (always capitalized)
“than” spelled “then”
“could(e), would(e), should(e)” spelled “cold(e), wold(e), shold(e)”
in plurals or possessives of words ending in two consonants
(other than -ll-), where 1865 has simple “-s”, 1876 has -{es}
“which” written “whiche”, sometimes “wh{ic}he”
“your” transcribed “yo{u}r”
final “-eth” spelled “-ethe”

Occasional:
“y” for “i”
_The two occurrences of “it” in 1865 may be errors; 1876 has
“yt”, agreeing with all other occurrences of the word._
“i” for “e”, “aw” for “au” (“Chawcer”)
several occurrences of “an” are read as “one”
ampersand (&) for word “and”
final “-e”, especially in “much(e), such(e)”;
sometimes in “doth(e), hath(e)” and other words
single “o” changed to “oo”: “moore”, “woordes”
some Latin citations have final -e for -æ
words ending -o{r} transcribed as -o{u}r
word divisions such as “as well”, “my selfe”