GOWER, John.

by John Gower

£42,500 · Offered by Sokol Books

.Fine, unsophisticated copy, virtually unpressed, of the third edition of this milestone of medieval English poetry (despite its Latin title), once as successful as The Canterbury Tales and Piers Plowman . What is known about the life of John Gower (1330-1408) comes mostly from his works, written in French, Latin and English, employing allegory to tackle moral, religious and political questions. His English vocabulary shows Kent and Suffolk influence. This edition of the Confessio his most successful work is a close reprint of Berthelet s (1532), based on a ms collated with Caxton s edition. (Pforzheimer II, p.411). Berthelet s dedication to the reader is a literary essay which explains how the work originated, i.e., from a conversation with King Richard II in the 1380s; it also canonises Gower by mentioning his acquaintance with Chaucer, who dedicated his Troilus and Criseyde to him, and his rich tomb at Southwark Cathedral. . . ..The Prologue summarises Gower s desire to produce a book somewhat of lust, and somewhat of lore , to elicit the interest of a varied readership. Like Boethius s De Consolatione , it is a work of consolation and meditation; like Chaucer s Canterbury Tales and Boccaccio s Decameron , it presents a myriad of delightful, short exemplary stories on sundry topics, populated by interesting characters. The narrative frame is the confession of an ageing lover to the chaplain of Venus, the epilogue being assigned to the goddess herself. The short stories are

• Printing: later
• Binding: Hardcover

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