The following is a list of the MSS. which have been followed. I must here acknowledge my great debt to Dr. Furnivall, whose excellent, careful, and exact reproduction in print of the various MSS. leaves nothing to be desired, and is a great boon to all Chaucer scholars. They are nearly all[235] printed among the Chaucer Society's publications. At the same time, I desire to say that I have myself consulted most of the MSS., and have thus gleaned a few hints which could hardly have been otherwise acquired; it was by this process that I became acquainted with the poems numbered XXII. and XXIII., which are probably genuine, and with the poem numbered XII., which is certainly so. An editor should always look at the MSS. for himself, if he can possibly contrive to do so.
N.B. The roman numbers following the name of each MS. denote the numbers of the poems in the present edition.
A.--Ashmole 59, Bodleian Library (Shirley's).--X. XIV. XVIII.
Ad.--Addit. 16165, British Museum.--VII. XX. XXIII.
Add.--Addit. 22139, British Museum.--XIII. XIV. XV. XIX.
Ar.--Arch. Selden B. 24, Bodleian Library.--IV. V. XIII. XVIII.
Arch.--Arch. Selden B. 10, Bodleian Library.--X. XIII.
At.--Addit. 10340, British Museum.--XIII.
B.--Bodley 638 (Oxford).--I. II. III. V. VII. X. XXII.
Bannatyne MS. 1568, Hunterian Museum, Glasgow.--XV.
C.--Cambridge Univ. Library, Ff. 5. 30.--I.
Corpus.--Corpus Chr. Coll., Oxford, 203.--XIII.
Ct.--Cotton, Cleopatra D. 7; Brit. Mus.--XIII. XIV. XV. XXI.
Cx.--Caxton's editions; see above (p. 27).--V. VII. X. XIII. XIV. XVI. (part); XIX.
D.--Digby 181, Bodleian Library.--V. VII.
E.--Ellesmere MS. (also has the Cant. Tales).--XIII.
ed. 1561.--Stowe's edition, 1561.--VI. VIII. XX. XXI., &c.
F.--Fairfax 16, Bodleian Library.--I. II. III. IV. V. VII. X. XIII. (two copies); XV. XVI. XVII. XVIII. XIX. XX. XXI. XXII.
Ff.--Cambridge Univ. Library, Ff. 1. 6.--II. V. VII. (part); XVIII. XIX.
Gg.[236]--Cambridge Univ. Library, Gg. 4. 27.--I. V. XIII. XVI.
Gl.--Glasgow, Hunterian Museum, Q. 2. 25.--I.
H.--Harleian 2251, Brit. Mus.--I. X. XIV. XIX.
Ha.--Harleian 7578, Brit. Mus.--I. II. XIV. XV. XX. XXI.
Harl.--Harleian 7333, Brit. Mus.--IV. V. VII. XIII. XIV. XV. XIX. XXII.
Harleian 78, Brit. Mus. (Shirley's). _See_ Sh. _below._