JOHN OF SALISBURY; S. XIV

Title

JOHN OF SALISBURY; S. XIV

Shelfmark

Merton College MS. 290

Place of origin

England, Oxford

Date

S. XIV

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

Parchment

Physical extent

138 leaves (iv + 135)The edges retrimmed and spattered with red.

Hands

A gothic rotunda bookhand of university type, heavily influenced by anglicana.

Decoration

Books open with champe initials in colours and gold: fols. 2, 22, 30, 48, 65v, 92v. Blue initials flourished with red; capitula have smaller red or blue initials flourished in the other colour, or the red flourished with violet.

Binding

Standard Merton s. xvii, sewn on four bands; formerly chained from the usual position. Fols. i-ii, 134–5 are paper binding leaves, the outermost from printed books, f. i from the same book as in MS 84, f. 135 from the same book as in MS 78. f. iii, formerly a pastedown in an earlier binding, has marks of two foredge straps, and of a chain-staple at the foot.

Provenance

Doubtless made in Oxford; at the College by 1556: UO65. 198.

It may have been the copy with secundo folio ‘in quo’ given by John Wymark (BRUO 2119–20) on 18 Sept. 1498 (Registrum, p. 225).

Inside the front board is a sheet of paper with ‘F. 6, 2’ (canc.) and a title, s. xvii, and ‘Q. 2. 6. Art:’, canc. and replaced with ‘K. 1. 4 (CCXC)’ in red; the College bookplate. ‘6’ is inked on the foredge. ’J’, cropped, is at the head of f. 1. This is presumably James no. 212, ‘Liber Theologicus incerto auctore. Pr. Rusticanum & forte offelli prouerbium est lib. 8’, the incipit being the start of bk. 2. In that case the book was already lacking its early leaves.