JOHN SHARPE, ANTONIUS ANDREAE; S. XV in.

Title

JOHN SHARPE, ANTONIUS ANDREAE; S. XV in.

Shelfmark

Merton College MS. 251

Place of origin

England

Date

S. XV in.

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

Parchment

Physical extent

158 leaves (iii + 156) The edges savagely retrimmed, damaging running heads, decoration and marginalia, and spattered with red.

Hands

The small, neat anglicana of Wyke, including the material on f. iiiv.

Decoration

On fols. 1 and 89 are initials and full borders in colours but yellow instead of gold; blue initials flourished in red; red or blue paraphs.

Binding

Standard Merton s. xvii, sewn on four bands; formerly chained from the usual position. f. i is a letter from Neil Ker to H. W. Garrod, dated July 26 1942, identifying Bodl. Libr., MS. Digby 77, fols. 150–97, as part of this MS. On f. ii are the marks of two foredge straps.

Provenance

On f. iiivis a formal inscription, partly erased, and table of contents: ‘Hunc librum prouidit dompnus Iohannes h de Wed solum et suis beneuolis sacre theologie baculaur’ anno Domini m. cccc. xxv quem qui alienauerit uel eius titulum hic aut alibi deleuerit anathema sit, predicti Iohannis fortuna prosperitatis non uariata seu ipso non affirmante.’ On f. 89 the decoration includes ornamental words at the head, cropped by the binder, and at the foot, erased. Those at the top seem to make ‘IHOHANNES’, at the foot ‘DICTUS WETH’’.

This may be the book given to the College in 1449 by John Whethamstede (BRUO 2032–4), abbot of St Albans 1420–40, 1450–64 (Appendix B, no. 97), and the copy of ‘Antonius in metaphisica’ bound and chained in 1454–5 (ibid., no. 106). It was certainly there by 1556 (UO65. 264). The destination of the partly erased ex dono will then have been St Albans Abbey itself. In 1563 the relevant part of Digby 77 was in the possession of Thomas Allen (who so inscribed it).

At the head of f. 1, cropped by the binder, is the James no. ‘181’, s. xvii in. Inside the front board is a sheet of paper with titles, s. xvii, and ‘P. 4. 2. Art:’, canc. and replaced with ‘C. 1. 13 (CCLI)’ in red; the College bookplate. ‘2’ is inked on the foredge.