HISTORIA SCHOLASTICA; S. XIII 2/4

Title

HISTORIA SCHOLASTICA; S. XIII 2/4

Shelfmark

Merton College MS. 120

Place of origin

England

Date

S. XIII 2/4

Language

Latin

Middle English (1100-1500)

Contents

Form

codex

Support

Parchment

Physical extent

175 leaves (ii + 173)The edges retrimmed affecting running heads and marginalia, and spattered with red.

Hands

An excellent English formal early gothic bookhand of ‘type monastique’.

Decoration

Large red and blue flourished initials, with foliage tinted green and dull pink; red or blue initials flourished in the other colour; red highlighting and underlining.

Binding

Standard Merton s. xvii, sewn on five bands; formerly chained from the usual position. fol. i was a pastedown in an earlier binding.

Provenance

Made in England, a monastic book. On fol. 165v are at least two erased inscriptions, one seeming to include the word ‘abbatia’, the other very short, perhaps only a title.

On fol. 172 ‘Caucio M. Thome Chace exposita in cista Turvyll [pertinenti uniuersit. Oxon’ added above the line] decimo die Augusti anno Domini M. CCCC trecesimo primo pro xxvi. s. viii. d. et habet unum supplementum 2º fº nora patrem et impignoratur pro caucione Upton’. Chace (BRUO 379–80) was master of Balliol College, d. 1449. Nicholas Upton (BRUO 1933–4) was fellow of New College 1415–26, DCnL in 1439, d. by Feb. 1457.

At the head of fol. 1 ‘Liber domus scolarium de Mertonhalle in Oxonia ex dono magistri Iohannis Burbache doctoris in theologia et quondam s[ocii eiusdem domus] ut incatenetur in libraria communi ad perpetuum usum studencium ibidem.’ For Burbage, fellow 1411–35, see MS 3. Burbage probably bought it from the chest.

At the head of fol. 1 is the James no. ‘56’. Inside the front board is a sheet of paper with a title, s. xvii, and ‘O. 2. 4. Art:’, canc. and replaced with ‘M. 2. 4 (CXX)’ in red; the College bookplate. ‘4’ is inked on the foredge.