Biblia (fragm.); England (pt. Oxford), ss. xiiimed, xvmed

Title

Biblia (fragm.); England (pt. Oxford), ss. xiiimed, xvmed

Shelfmark

Exeter College MS. 36

Place of origin

England (pt. Oxford)

Date

s. xiiimed (items 4 and 9);

s. xv (item *1)

c. 1450 (item *3);

s. xvmed (items *5–*8(iii);

s. xv1 (item *2);

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

parchment

Physical extent

282 leaves preceded by two 18th-century paper flyleaves and two medieval flyleaves, and followed by two 18th-century paper flyleaves.

Hands

4 and 9: gothic quadrata bookhand of medium size, s. xiiimed, punctuated by low point;

*1: large bookhand, which also added runing titles, etc. throughout the biblical texts in item 4, s. xv;

*2: an anglicana script influenced by secretary, s. xv1;

*3: A good quadrata / semiquadrata bookhand;

*5–*8: gothic rotunda bookhand of medium size, s. xvmed, punctuated by low point and punctus elevatus;

*10: as *5–*8 but a different hand, punctuated by medial point.

Decoration

*3, *4–*7: are mid-15th-century Oxford style related to the manuscripts in Roger Keys’s donation (MSS 51–68); the decoration of fol. 203r of the present manuscript is almost certainly by the hand of fol. 1r of Bod. Lib., MS Bodl. 795 (SC 2644) written in Oxford in 1435 (DMO, no. 114, pl. 358) and of Bod. Lib., MS Hatton 73 (SC 4199) (Scott, Later Gothic Manuscripts, ii. 287, q.v. for others) and MS 53 below (our Artist A). For a characterization of his work see headnote to MSS 51–68 in Watson, Exeter, pp. 85–87.

*3: 6-line illuminated initial and extender fol. 1r, colours blue, green, brown;

4: at beginning of books, plain blue initials, 4-line but some with long extenders; also 3/4-line red-and-blue initials. Otherwise 1-line red, blue, and green initials, red-and-blue running titles, rubrics, blue paraphs;

*5: 3-line illuminated initial and extender (blue, green, brown, orange) by artist of *3; 2/3-line blue lombards flourished red, 1-line blue initials, rubrics;

*6: 9-line illuminated initial and border, fol. 203r colours blue, green, brown, orange, by same artist as *3;

*7: as *6 but without illumination;

*8: 1-line red and blue initials, rubrics;

9: as 4, but coloured running titles are replaced by elegant uncials in ink, written across both columns between ruled lines, and plain initials are replaced by red and blue initials flourished in the other colour, and red-and-blue initials;

10: 2/3-line initials flourished red, 1-line blue and red initials. Alexander and Temple, no. 451.

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, red-and-white headbands. In their lower margins fols. 281 back to 279r have a hole and/or a diminishing stain from a chain-staple. This mark is not found on fols. iii–iv, which were at one time at the back of the volume; see History, below.

Provenance

The original book, items 4 and 9, plain but well-written, was written in England in s. xiiimed, without Psalms and, strangely, with Baruch ending at 3.8 despite the availability of space for the completion, but with the New Testament and Apocalypse complete.

In the mid-fifteenth century, judging by script and decoration, it was given a new lease of life: Baruch was completed; Psalms, New Testament prologues, and the other items *5–*8(iii) were added and placed between the Old and New Testaments; some passages were erased and rewritten. The leaves were then numbered in large, clear figures [1]–327, clear running titles were added throughout (probably because at least some of the 13th-century ones, those written in uncial script, were not readily legible), books of the Bible were renumbered clearly, and, to facilitate the use of a book which was now in a very confusing order, directions to the reader and a list of the books in the standard order with folio references were set at the beginning (item *3). The present volume is, however, incomplete at the beginning probably because of the extraction of a decorated leaf and also at the end, where 1 Corinthians breaks off abruptly at 7.15.

In the late 14th century the book was in the hands of a fellow of Magdalen College, John Mercer (BRUO) who, with an otherwise unknown Oxford master, borrowed money on the strength of it: on fol. iiiv are ‘Caucio M. J. Mercer et M. W. Masse exposita in cista Wynton. Anno domini mmo cccº lxxixº 3º die mensis Novembris et est Biblia 2º fo cione et habet duo supplementa 2º fo primi minus et 2º fo 2i. quod sapientem et iacet pro lxxxs. iiijd.’ and ‘Renouatur per m. Masse 26 die Octobris anno 1480 et iacet pro xlvis viijd’, and the Oxford-style decoration in items *3, *5, and *6 shows that in the mid-fifteenth century the volume was still there.

When and how it came to Exeter is not known; it is not recorded in Ecloga but does have ‘Liber Coll. Exon’ in a hand of s. xvi/xvii which is found in some of Roger Keys’s manuscripts which were in the medieval library: see further Watson, Exeter, Introduction, pp. xxii–xxiii. CMA, no. 27.

Exeter library identifications are, on the front pastedown, ‘P8–5 Gall’, ‘C2–13’ and ‘W4–1’ (all deleted), ‘173 H 1’, the book stamp and ‘Coxe Cat. no. xxxvi’. On fol. ivr is bookplate 1. ‘1’ is on a round paper label at the top of the spine.