Further notes on J. R. R. Tolkien’s photostats of "The Equatorie of the Planetis" (MS Peterhouse 75.I)

Abstract

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.