Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Hooper.djvu/17

Rh only in B), and B for the remainder. His text therefore reproduces the two editiones principes, if such an expression is not a solecism.

These editions all have some stories in common with the Vulgate, together with many which are peculiar to themselves. I may remark that Wynkyn de Worde's edition (a) is the only instance we have of a printed copy exactly corresponding to a MS. of the Gesta.

II. Manuscripts.

The MSS. of the Gesta fall naturally into three groups, or families, as Herr Oesterley calls them.

A. The English group; written in Latin. Of this the best representative is MS. Harl. 2270; date, fifteenth century. It contains 102 chapters, of which 72 are found in the Vulgate. This is the group which Mr. Douce calls the "English Gesta," and which he and others have maintained to have been