CONSTANTINE THE AFRICAN ; S. XIV

Title

CONSTANTINE THE AFRICAN ; S. XIV

Shelfmark

Merton College MS. 232

Place of origin

script of Italian or southern French appearance.

Date

S. XIV

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

Parchment

Physical extent

150 (i + 149) leaves The edges savagely retrimmed, affecting the running heads, and spattered with red.

Hands

An Italian or southern French gothic rotunda bookhand using pale ink.

Decoration

Red and blue flourished initials; red or blue initials, the red flourished in violet, the blue in red; red or blue initials for capitula, red or blue paraphs; running heads in red and blue capitals.

Binding

Standard Merton s. xvii, resewn on three bands and rebacked by Maltby in 1953; formerly chained from the usual position. A rust-mark, perhaps from a chain-staple, is at the foot of the early leaves, near the foredge. A similar mark is at the middle of the foot of f. 148, but not of 149. Fols. i and 149 were pastedowns in an earlier binding.

Provenance

At the foot of f. 1 is ‘Liber medicum legatus collegio de Marton halle Oxonie per magistrum Willelmum Duffeld nuper socium eiusdem.’ At the foot of f. 2, in a similar hand, is ‘Liber Constantini qui dicitur viaticus continens sex (corr in the marg. to septem) libros cum comento magistri Geraldi Bytuniensis archidiaconi legatus collegio de Mertonhalle Oxon’ per M. Willelmum Duffeld nuper socium eiusdem.’ For Duffield, fellow in 1398, no longer in 1422, d. 1453, see MS 91.

Inside the front board is a sheet of paper with titles of s. xvii, ‘P. 2. 15. Art:’, s. xvii, canc. and replaced with ‘H. 2. 6’, in red; the College bookplate. ‘15’ is inked on the foredge.