JEROME etc. ; S. XV ex.

Title

JEROME etc. ; S. XV ex.

Shelfmark

Merton College MS. 26

Place of origin

English and Continental

Date

S. XV ex.

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

Parchment

Physical extent

223 leaves (v + 218)The edges retrimmed, affecting marginalia of s. xvi in., and stained yellow.

Hands

A single Continental archaizing bookhand, also found also MS 25.

Decoration

English: fol. 1 has a full floral border and 8-line initial in colours and gold; at the bottom are the arms of Fitzjames of Dorset and Somerset, not an integral part of the border but painted over it. Art. 5 opens with an initial and 3-sided floral border in colours and gold. Arts 2, 3, 4, prols. and commentary on each book in arts 6 and 7, open with large champe initials. Blue initials flourished in red.

Binding

s. xv ex.: brown polished leather over wide-bevelled wooden boards with slightly projecting squares, repaired; sewn on five bands, raised and outlined with string. Straps with clasps, now lost, from recesses in the front board to catches at the back, of which the lower remains. Nail-holes show that Fitzjames’ label, 160 × 70 mm., was once on the rear board. The marks of post-medieval chain-staples at the foredge of each board, near the foot at the front, near the head at the back.

Provenance

On fol. vvis ‘In presenti uolumine continentur opera beati Hieronimi sequentia Ex dono domini Ricardi Fitzjames nuper Cicestrensis episcopi ac Custodis istius Collegii Cuius anime propicietur Deus amen ...’, in the usual untidy secretary hand. For Fitzjames see MS 9. On 31 Dec. 1498 and 14 Jan. 1499 he pledged it to the College in return for the loan of two separate copies of the Decretum, redeeming it on 29 Nov. (Registrum, pp. 227–8, 238).

On the front pastedown: ‘quere titulos folio 5’, s. xvii; ‘N. 2. 14. Art:’, s. xvii, canc. and replaced with modern ‘B. 3. 4 (XXVI)’ in red. ‘14’ is inked on the foredge.