Robert Cowton, Super Sententias Petri Lombardi; England, s. xivin

Title

Robert Cowton, Super Sententias Petri Lombardi; England, s. xivin

Shelfmark

Exeter College MS. 43

Place of origin

England

Date

s. xivin

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

parchment FHHF

Physical extent

280 leaves, some poorly prepared, preceded by a probably incunable leaf (fol. iii) and its stub (fol. ii) between an 18th-century paper flyleaf (fol. iv) and its stub (fol. i), and followed by one 18th-century paper flyleaf (fol. I) and its stub (fol. IV) enclosing another leaf probably from the same incunable (fol. II) and its stub (fol. III). On these leaves see Binding below.

Hands

A, gothic bookhand of academic type by several scribes, punctuated by low point sometimes combined with a double virgula.

B, anglicana of s. xivin.

Decoration

A, four-line blue-and-red lombards flourished in the same and extended as bar-frame borders on two sides of page; two-line blue lombards flourished red; red-and-blue running book numbers, lacking on fols. 235r–46v; blue and red paraphs.

B, one-line plain red and blue initials; red and blue paraphs.

Binding

Sewn on three bands between thick millboards covered with reversed calf with blind triple rules round the edges, s. xvii. Thongs enter the boards through incisions in the edge. On the spine is a red leather label with a gold title. Binding leaves at front and back are from the same probably incunable copy of Gratian’s Decreta as those in MSS 26, 28, and 30 and were probably added in s. xvii. The book received its earliest Exeter binding, at a cost of 11d., when it reached the College (Rector’s Accounts, 1417/18).

Provenance

At the top of fol. 1r, in the hand that wrote the same inscription in MS 23, is ‘Hunc librum dedit Magister Thomas Plymiswode Collegio seu aule de Stapyldonhalle Oxon’ ad cathenandum in libraria ibidem. Oretis pro eo.’ On Plymiswode, d. 1418, see note on MS 23, History, and BRUO.

Recorded at Exeter c. 1600 as Ecloga, no. 9. Not in CMA.

Exeter library identifications are, on the front pastedown, ‘E1–20’ and ‘P8—12 Gall’, both deleted; ‘173–H–8’ and bookplate 1. On fol. ir is ‘Coxe Cat. no. XLIII.’ On the spine is a round paper label with the number ‘8’ on it.