Ps.-Johannes Chrysostomos, Opus imperfectum in Matthaeum; John Wyclif, Sermones xxx et xli; etc.; England, s. xivex

Title

Ps.-Johannes Chrysostomos, Opus imperfectum in Matthaeum; John Wyclif, Sermones xxx et xli; etc.; England, s. xivex

Shelfmark

Exeter College MS. 6

Place of origin

England

Date

s. xivex

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

parchment FHHF

Physical extent

265 leaves preceded by two 18th-century paper flyleaves and two medieval membrane flyleaves and followed by an 18th-century paper flyleaf. The quality of the membrane, originally good, suffered from damp from fol. 167 to the end (see Binding below) and all leaves have been cropped, with some loss of the border on fol. 1 and of homily numbers in upper margins.

Hands

A good bastard anglicana by one scribe. Punctuation is by medial point, punctus elevatus, and double virgula. Homily numbers in ink appear as running heads (many trimmed off) and letters in margins act as reference points from the subject index.

Decoration

Illuminated border and initial on fol. 1r, Alexander and Temple, no. 360.

Three-line blue lombards flourished red; red and blue paraphs.

Binding

Sewn on five bands. Standard Exeter binding: simple and quite elegant, calf over millboards, the calf bearing blind decoration of a floral type, early 19th century. The sprinkled edges enable one to deduce that the water damage to fols. 169–267 happened while the book was disbound; all the leaves had been sprinkled before the damage occurred but, while the undamaged ones could be bound perfectly, the damaged ones had cockled and did not bind so well.

Provenance

‘Magister Johannes Allwarde’ on fol. iiiv indicates that this is one of three unspecified books (MS 16 being another) bequeathed to the College by John Alward, fellow in 1408, rector 1416–17, 1418–19, etc., died by March 1458 (BRUO, Alward). The Rector’s Accounts for 1458–9 include a series of related payments to Alward’s executor for his expenses in bringing the books and for chains and chaining.

Recorded at Exeter c. 1600 as Ecloga, no. 5, then in CMA, no. 28.

Exeter library identifications are, on the front pastedown, ‘D2–10’, ‘Aa.9–14 Gall’ and ‘Q6–6 Gall’ (all deleted), ‘Ex: Coll: Oxon:’, bookplate 3, on which is ‘174–K–6’ altered to ‘170–I–6’. On fol. iiiv is book plate 1.