THOMAS AQUINAS; S. XIV in.

Title

THOMAS AQUINAS; S. XIV in.

Shelfmark

Merton College MS. 78

Place of origin

England

Date

s. xiii in.

S. XIV in.

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

Parchment

Physical extent

160 leaves (iv + 156) The edges retrimmed and spattered with red.

Hands

One English gothic rotunda bookhand using pale ink.

Decoration

Red and blue initials flourished in both colours and with partial borders; red or blue initials flourished in the other colour; red or blue paraphs; running heads in red and blue capitals; red highlighting.

Binding

Standard Merton s. xvii, recently rebacked; sewn on four bands; formerly chained from the usual position. fols. i and 156 are modern paper blanks; fols. i-iii, 154–5 are paper binding leaves of s. xvii, the outermost from the same printed book as in MS 66.

Provenance

At the head of fol. i, cropped by the binder, ‘Cicestrie quem emit a domino Thoma Tryllek’ episcopo Roffensi. Oretis igitur pro utroque. Thomas de fide catholica contra gentiles. Mertone 3.’ At the foot of fol. 1, over erasure, ‘Liber scolarium de genere uenerabilis patris domini Willelmi tercii episcopi Cicestrie Oxon’ successiue studencium ex dono uenerabilis patris predicti per custodem et rectorem domorum de Merton’ et Stapelton’ in Oxon’ uel per earum librarios eisdem scolaribus iuxta facultates et merita ipsorum cuiusque ad tempus sub caucione iuratoria prouide liberandus.’ For William Reed, fellow from 1344 until at least 1357, d. 1385, see MS 8. This was probably part of his bequest and would have come to the College in or soon after 1400 (the date of UO35, the indenture delivering the equivalent books to Exeter College).

At the head of fol. 2 is the James no. ‘14’ (also in MS 79), s. xvii in. Inside the front board is a sheet of paper with contents and ‘D. 4, 10’ (canc.), s. xvii, and ‘N. 6. 12. art:’, canc. and replaced with ‘I. 1. 17 (LXXVIII)’ in red; the College bookplate.