Josephus, Antiquitates Judaicae; England, s. xiiex

Title

Josephus, Antiquitates Judaicae; England, s. xiiex

Shelfmark

Exeter College MS. 25

Place of origin

England

Date

s. xiiex

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

parchment HFFH

Physical extent

130 leaves preceded by two 18th-century paper flyleaves and followed by two others

Hands

Written above top line in several good protogothic book hands verging on gothic. Chapter titles (rubrics) are in rustic capitals, but where lacking they were supplied in a cursive hand of s. xv. Capitula are in either a smaller version of the main hand or (as on fol. 21r) in a rather documentary script with longer ascenders and descenders. Punctuation is by low point and punctus elevatus. There are running titles in the cursive hand of s. xv.

Decoration

Red, blue, and green initials, 7/10-line, some with arabesque decoration, at beginnings of chapters; 3-line mostly plain red or blue but some with extenders and 1/2-line throughout. Rubrics, red stroking. Some marginalia are encircled in red. Alexander and Temple, no. 110.

Binding

Sewn on six bands. Standard Exeter binding: simple and quite elegant, calf over millboards, the calf bearing blind decoration of a floral type, early 19th century; sprinkled edges.

Provenance

On fol. 130r, in a large and competent gothic quadrata script, is ‘Ex dono domini Johannis [wrongly altered to Willelmi in a post-medieval hand] French capellani Collegij Regalis Etone. collegio Exonie in Oxonia. Orate pro anima eius.’ He died in 1457 (BRUO). The Rector’s Accounts for 1458 record payments to John Godysson, stationer, for chaining six volumes of which two were ex dono John French (Boase1, 21, Boase2, 40). Note that Boase1, 34, and Boase2, 59, attribute the gift of this manuscript to John French, Principal of Hart Hall, d. by Jan. 1552, and deduce from the ex dono that he was chaplain of Eton: these errors are taken over by BRUO 1501–1540.

Not recorded in Ecloga, but recorded as CMA, no. 40.

Exeter library identifications, on the front pastedown, are: bookplate 3, ‘Ex: Coll: Oxon:’ and ‘(Q8—5 Gall’ (the latter deleted); ‘C2—H’ (deleted), ‘172–G–5’ and ‘Coxe Cat. no. xxv’. ‘5’ is on a round paper label at the top of the spine.