Richard Rolle, Works

Title

Richard Rolle, Works

Shelfmark

St John's College MS 127

Associated place

Oxfordshire

Place of origin

England

Date

s. xv med.

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

Paper. The quires are regular groups of sheets folded in quarto(fols. 73 + 74 a half-sheet, with the mark), on a single stock, the type Monts / Dreiberg . The watermark is of Piccard’s Type II, resembling nos. 365–473, a type generally in use 1415–40.

Physical extent

Fols. i + 78+ i (numbered fol. ii).

Hands

Written in anglicana, probably by three different scribes, a booklet for each. Scribe 1 punctuates by double virgula, medial point, and occasional punctus elevatus; scribe 2 by virgula and double virgula, point, and punctus elevatus; scribe 3 by point and punctus elevatus .

Decoration

Headings in text ink, unfilled blanks for capitals (with guide letters) and rubrics.

A very few red side-notes of contents in text 1.

A drawing of a lion (fol. 7 leading edge).

Binding

Brownish leather over millboards, rough grained with a stamped rectangle at the centre, flowers at the corners, and a small floral stamped border around an inner rectangle, s. xvi ex. Sewn on five thongs. Scars on the boards suggest that there were previously ribbon ties to hold the book closed. Gold ‘127’ at the head of the spine, remains of a number in mostly flaked away black ink on the leading edges. Pastedowns modern paper, a College bookplate on the front pastedown. At the front, one modern paper flyleaf at the rear the same (ii).

Acquisition

‘Johannes Whyte de Suthwyk in Comitatu Sutht Armiger dedit hunc librum Thome Whitede london militi ad vsum Colegij per ipsum de nouo erecti in Oxon Anno 1555’ ( fols. 1v–2, upper margin).

Provenance

‘bloxh bloxham’ (fol. 56v), ‘Iohannes Bloxham est bonus homo sic dicit iohannes Wodestoke senior ’ (fol. 78v, s. xv ex.), suggesting early ownership in Oxfordshire.

'Alexander Bifeld ’ (fol. 56v, s. xv ex.).