Lexical Comparison of Four Prick of Conscience Group-IV Manuscripts

Abstract

Dublin, Trinity College, 157 (D.4.11) (MV 21), London, Lambeth Palace, 492 (MV 48), London, Sion College, Arc. L. 40. 2/E. 25 (MV 49) – from line 2,850 – and Shrewsbury, School, III (Mus. III. 39) (MV 95) were recently grouped together as the TLS1S2 subset within the Prick of Conscience Group-IV manuscripts. Apart from often showing identical – or closely related – deviant readings, these copies also display a fairly consistent shared pattern of significant textual omissions (author forthcoming). However, vocabulary variants – whether inherited or idiolectal, intentional or inadvertent, and stylistically or geographically conditioned – are by no means unusual across these four manuscripts. By providing a lexical comparison and analysis of the said copies, this paper aims to shed some light on individual scribal habits towards their presumed exemplar(s), thereby giving further insight into the TLS1S2 subgroup’s textual relations. The present analysis contributes to refining the history of this particular Group-IV branch through the identification of up to six different lexical layers.