WILLIAM OF AUVERGNE, HUGH OF ST CHER; S. XV (partly 1412)

Title

WILLIAM OF AUVERGNE, HUGH OF ST CHER; S. XV (partly 1412)

Shelfmark

Merton College MS. 155

Place of origin

Continental

Date

S. XV (partly 1412)

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

Parchment

Physical extent

457 leaves (i + 456) Fols. i and 456 are of thick, stiff parchment.

Hands

Proficient, formal Continental cursive hands; the scribe from fol. 512vb line 18 until the end writes fere humanistica.

Decoration

Variable and often lacking: on fol. 1 a 7-line red and blue flourished initial; otherwise plain red or blue initials and paraphs, red highlighting and underlining. Running heads sometimes in red with blue paraph, sometimes in ink of text with red or blue paraphs.

Binding

Late medieval; flush, bevelled oak boards, now bared and rebacked with brown goatskin; sewn on six bands. Two straps of tawed skin from recesses in the front board to catches in the back, the lower strap now gone. Near the foot of the back board are the marks of the large iron chain-staple; near the top of the foredge is the mark of the usual post-medieval chain-staple.

Provenance

Probably made on the Continent.

The chain-staple suggests that it was at the College before the Reformation.

On fol. iv is a table of contents, s. xvii, and ‘O. 5. 6. Art:’, canc. and replaced with ‘M. 3. 6 (CLV)’ in red, partly canc. and replaced with ‘P. 1. 1’ in pencil. Below is the College bookplate. ‘6’ is inked on the foredge.