Exhibit E: Glossing & Commentary

All of the glossing that occurs in this manuscript is in Latin. It appears throughout the entire book up until f. 146v in Paradiso. The glossing that occurs in this manuscript is primarily lexical glossing in the form of Concordance, which uses paraph marks (as seen below) and is organized in alphabetical order (also seen below). Concordance was useful for people living in religious communities who were actively studying the Bible or a particular topic, however, this sort of gloss is useful for this manuscript because it includes so many references to religious beliefs about the afterlife. This type of gloss is also syntactical because it uses letters to indicate the order in which they should be read.

There are both short and longer glosses throughout the manuscript. Each stanza of poetry in the image below has been glossed, matching the commentary in the margins. The glossing appears on both sides of the text on this page and in many others, sometimes taking over the entire page.

Glossing from Paradiso, Egerton MS 943, f. 139v

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