ARISTOTLE, ANIMALIBUS &c.; S. XIII ex.

Title

ARISTOTLE, ANIMALIBUS &c.; S. XIII ex.

Shelfmark

Merton College MS. 270

Place of origin

script of French appearance.

Date

S. XIII ex.

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

Parchment

Physical extent

187 leaves (ii + 185) The edges drastically retrimmed, affecting running heads and marginalia, and spattered with red. Much of f. 185 excised.

Hands

Practised gothic rotunda bookhands of French appearance.

Decoration

Art. 1 opens with a 9-line initial in colours and gold with 3-sided ivy-leaf border. Art. 2 opens with a red and blue flourished initial. Art. 1 has red and blue flourished initials, red or blue initials flourished in the other colour, red or blue paraphs, red and blue running heads. Art. 2 has plain blue initials flourished in red and plain red or blue initials. Unskilful marginal drawings in pencil, s. xiv, on fols. 109v, 124.

Binding

Standard Merton s. xvii, rebacked and resewn on four bands; formerly chained from the usual position. f. 185 was probably a pastedown in an earlier binding.

Provenance

On f. iv, s. xiv, ‘Liber domus scolarium aule de Merton’ in Oxonia quem legauit Magister Iohannes de Osemyngtone quondam socius dicte domus ad incathenandum in libraria communi ad communem usum sociorum.’ Osmyngton (BRUO 1408) was fellow in 1312, rector of Fuggleston (Wilts), in 1333.

On fols. i and 1 is the James no. ‘89’, s. xvii. Inside the front board is a sheet of paper with a table of contents, s. xvii, and ‘Q. 1. 2. Art:’, canc. and replaced with ‘No. CCLXX’ and ‘O. 3. 2’, in red; the College bookplate. ‘2’ is inked on the foredge.