Manual, York Use

Title

Manual, York Use

Shelfmark

St John's College MS 47

Place of origin

England

Date

s. xv in.

Language

Latin

Middle English (1100-1500)

Contents

Form

codex

Support

Vellum (FSOS/FHHF).

Physical extent

Fols. iii + 126+ iii (numbered fols. iii bis, a mounted medieval leaf, and iv–v).

Hands

Written in gothic textura quadrata . Punctuation by point, double point, and occasional punctus elevatus.

Decoration

Written in both red (liturgical instructions especially) and black, with music.

At major divisions, large champes (eight lines on fol. 1, others usually five lines) with demivinets (a full vinet on fol. 1) in violet, blue, gold leaf, orange, and green—all very faded through damp.

Within sections, major divisions marked by 2- and 3-line blue lombards on red flourishing (very occasional unflourished 3-line champes, e.g. fols. 61, 88v); smaller divisions alternate 1-line blue and red lombards on flourishing of the other colour.

Ornamental text ink strap capitals at the heads of musical portions, often with included human heads, more usually leaf forms.

Frequent 3-line extended blue paraphs on red flourishing.

See AT, no. 453 (45), dating s. xv2/4.

Binding

A modern replacement. Sewn on five thongs. At the front, three modern paper flyleaves; at the rear, one medieval vellum flyleaf pasted to paper and two modern paper flyleaves (iii bis, iv–v).

Acquisition

‘Liber Collegij Sanctj Iohannis Baptistae Oxon’ ex dono Richardj ButlerDoctoris Theologiae Archidiaconi Northampt procurante Reuerendo in Cristo Patre Iohanne Episcopo Roffensi’ (fol. 2, upper margin). Followed by a notation of the volume as a ‘Missale’, partly erased (a similar identification in the upper margin, fol. 1).

Provenance

‘Master coxe off Bugbroucke’ (fol. 121, upper margin, s. xv ex.), as well as a partially defaced English inscription ‘not in the ryght execusyon’ of hys ryghtwysnes’ (fol. 124v, lower margin).

‘Atany bannyng’(s. xvi med.); the opening of a will with several small bequests ‘In dei nomine Amen & Ego Will’ pha Condo testu. in hunc modum . . .’; ‘ Thomas Royland ’ (twice), in one case in a sentence identifying him as ‘a knave’ (fol. iii bis).