Account of a Manuscript of Chaucer. 



106 



written by Geoffrey Chancer, in 1391, 

 for the use of his son Lewis, then ten 

 years old, and a student of iMcrton Col- 

 lege, in Ojcford, under the famous Ni- 

 cholas Strode.'''' 



At page twenty-three begins his ad- 

 dress to '■'• Lite Lewis,'''' which termi- 

 nates nearly at (he bottom of the ensu- 

 ing page, and immediately after follows 

 chapter or head the first, being thus 

 worded : 



Here der/ynnei/ ye disc-jicioun of ye 

 attrolabre. These chapters are forty- 

 two in number, and ou the final page is 

 written as follows: 



" Tliis booke was given me by my 

 loving and good servant, Mr. Robert 

 Abbay, one of the most learned men of 

 the age, iu the knowledge of tongues/' 

 Kenebne Digby. 



Here follows a portion of the writer's 

 address to his sou, precisely copied ac- 

 cording to (he orthography of the ori- 

 ginal, with (he exception of two words, 

 for which blanks are left, as they were 

 unintelligible to your correspondent. 



" Lite Lewis, my soue, 1 pcey ve wel by 

 certayn evydencesyin liabylite to lerne 



sciences. Touchinge nubres and 



and as wel considere I ye bisy in specyal 

 to lerne ye tretis of ye astrolabre. Yanne 

 for as moche as ye philasophre, sey be 

 wrapping him in his frende yat coude- 

 stendigto ye riztful pyer of his frende. 

 Yer for I have zent yee ye worthinge 

 (wording) of a snfficient astrolabre, as 



for ye orizont to after ye latitude 



of Oxenford.upou whiche yi mediaciouu 

 ofyislitel tretis. I purpose to teche 

 yee a certayn uubre of conclusions pte- 

 nyuge to yo same instrument. The 

 first cause is yis. Tryst wel yt all ye 

 conclusions yat hau ben foude, or eff 

 possible myzt be founde iu so noble an 

 instrument as is an astrolabre ben un- 

 kuowen pfiztly to any mortel man in 

 yis regioun as I suppose. An oyer 

 cause is yis, yat soyely in some tretis 

 of ye astrolabre yat I have seen, yer 

 ben some conclnsiouns yat wil not alle 

 yinges p-formen, here hi hestis and 

 some of hem ben to hard to under- 

 stonde, and to conceyve to yi fendre 

 age af yat. This tretis is divydid in to 

 V p-ties, in ye whiche wil sdiewe yee 

 wonderful lizt rewles and uakid workes 

 in englyssche, for latyn canst you zit 

 but litel, my litel sone. But nayeles 

 bul sufficig to yee yise trewe concln- 

 siouns in englessh, as wel as liit sufficg 

 to yise noble clerkesin Latyn," &c. &c. 

 From the following words in the 



[March I, 



above address, this curious fact is ob- 

 vious, that the xise of the astrolabe had 

 been, till that epoch, unknown in 

 England ; the sentence runs thus 

 " Tryst wel yt all the conclusions yat 

 hav ben founde, or eff possible myzt be 

 founde in so noble an instrument as in 

 an astrolabre, ben unknowen pfiztly 



TO ANY MORTEL MAN IN YIS REGIOUN 



AS I siippo.SE;" and from the tenor 

 of the address, the writer forcibly de- 

 monstrates his idea of the great utility 

 of this machine, the astrolabe, being a 

 mathematical instrument in form of 

 a planisphere, used principally at sea 

 for observing the heighth of the pole 

 and the stars : ^Istrolabium. This 

 word is derived froui the Greek a^rpov, 

 and Xa/u.j3«.vw, capio, colligo ; the Ara- 

 bians, in their tongue, called '\tAsthar- 

 lab, being a corruption of the Greek 

 word, and tliey sometimes endeavour to 

 ai)ply to it an Arabian etymology ; but 

 it is universally ackaowledged by the 

 learned, tliat they acquired from the 

 Greeks the name and use of this instru- 

 ment. Nassi Reddi Thousi composed 

 a treatise in Persian, intitled Bait Bal 

 fil Aslharlab, wherein he treats of the 

 formation and use of the astrolabe. 



As it is universally allowed that we 

 are principally indebted to Chaucer for 

 having emancipated our tongue from 

 the shackles to which it was subjected, 

 from the period of the Norman con- 

 quest, and as it is said of Shakespeare, 

 that not a line should be lost that fell 

 from his pen; surely the present re- 

 lique is worthy consideration, and 

 shoidd be snatched from oblivion, iu 

 order to form a small supplement to 

 the works of its revered author, as il 

 appears to liave interested Mr. Robert 

 Abbay, one of the most learned men in 

 the knowledge of tongues, from whose 

 hands it descended as a gift to the well- 

 known Sir Kenelm Digby, author of 

 several learned works ;* if therefore, 

 Mr. Editor, a small edition of 150 or 

 200 copies were subscribed for, tlie 

 work miglit be committed to the press, 

 and Chaucer'' s Tipntise of theAstrolabe, 

 for the instruction of his " Lite Sone 

 Lewis,'''' be thus handed down to pos- 

 terity. A Constant Reader. 



Paris, Jan. 25, 1821. 



' J . A treatise on the Nature of Bodies. — 

 2. Ou the Operations and Nature of Man's 

 Soul.— 3. Instiiutionuni Peripateticiirum 

 Libri quiuqiie cum Appendice Theologica 

 da Origine Mundi, <fec. 



For 



