WORKS OF AUGUSTINE; S. XIV1

Title

WORKS OF AUGUSTINE; S. XIV1

Shelfmark

Merton College MS. 1

Place of origin

England, Oxford (?)

Date

S. XIV1

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

Parchment

Physical extent

370 leaves (1–368, incl. 15A, 70A)The edges heavily retrimmed affecting running heads and marginalia, and stained yellow.

Hands

Written in a single expert gothic rotunda bookhand of French appearance, except for ff. 345–7, and 358–67v, in a single anglicana hand which annotates throughout. This may be the hand of Thomas Buckingham (see below).

Decoration

Handsome vinet initials in blue, pink, orange and gold, sometimes with partial borders, open arts 6–10, and bks 5–9 of 6; red and blue initials flourished in red and violet; blue initials flourished in red; red or blue paraphs; early on running heads in red and blue capitals; red highlighting, underlining and framing of marginal chapter-numbers.

Binding

s. xv ex., tawed skin over reverse-bevelled oak boards with projecting squares, sewn on eight bands, raised on the spine; blue and plain endbands; two broad leather straps with brass clasps, the uppermost now gone, from recesses in the front board to catches in the back, the lower catch gone. Marks of brass chain-staples at the foredge of the front board near head and foot. At the bottom outer corner of f. 1 are rust marks from another chain-staple, probably from the foredge. At the foot of the rear pastedown, near the spine, is a mark perhaps from another brass chain-staple.

Provenance

Probably made commercially in Oxford. An inscription may have been on one of the two or three leaves at the front now excised.

The secundo folio identifies it as UO47. 197 (1349), the gift of Thomas of Buckingham (BRUO 298–9), fellow by 1324, gone 1338 × 1340, d. 1347 × 1353. He also gave UO47. 166, no longer extant, and to Exeter Cathedral Bodl. Libr., Bodl. 335.

On f. 368 are two thoroughly erased inscriptions, probably cautiones since the second is accompanied by a stationer’s mark.

On f. 368v a third erased inscription can be partially read: ‘Caucio M. Walteri de Burtone exposita in cista Warwik anno Domini M. trescesima in sescentesima prima.’ Walter de Burton (BRUO 321) occ. as fellow of Merton in 1312, until 1328, still alive in late 1334, prob. d. by April 1335.

On the front pastedown are: ‘Li iius’, s. xv, showing that the book was then part of a College electio; ‘N. 1. 1. Art:’, s. xvii, canc. and replaced with ‘A. 2. 1’ twice, in purple ink, s. xix; near the head, ‘M. A. 5’, s. xvii; modern ‘No I.’ in red; ‘Liber Coll. Merton.’, s. xvii or xviii; the remains of the College bookplate.

On f. 368v, perhaps s. xviii, ‘Hosoboby’ or ‘J. Cosoboby’ and ‘Augustinus / Mert. Coll.’