Further notes on J. R. R. Tolkien’s photostats of "The Equatorie of the Planetis" (MS Peterhouse 75.I)
Selim 27(1) : 166–176 (2022)
Laburpena
Andoni Cossio proposes in a recent article the addition of The Equatorie of the
Planetis (c. 1393) in MS Peterhouse 75.I to “Section A” of Oronzo Cilli’s
Tolkien’s Library: An Annotated Checklist (2019). However, Cossio fails to
specify the folios of MS Peterhouse 75.I to which the photostats in Tolkien VC
277 correspond. A detailed descriptive list of the photostats that J. R. R. Tolkien
received from Derek J. Price could be useful in the understanding of the type
of assistance Tolkien offered to Price and R. M. Wilson at the time they were
preparing an edition of The Equatorie of the Planetis (1955). This note will
supply that missing information as well as speculate about the nature of
Tolkien’s contribution to the project and its implications. Tolkien devoted
considerable attention to the study of Geoffrey Chaucer’s language, and he
may have been aware, after careful examination of The Equatorie of the
Planetis, that its attribution to Chaucer rested on inconclusive evidence. This
view of course would have challenged Price and Wilson’s assumptions and it
may explain why we know so little about Tolkien’s involvement.