NICHOLAS GORRAN; S. XIV

Title

NICHOLAS GORRAN; S. XIV

Shelfmark

Merton College MS. 166

Place of origin

England, Oxford.

Date

S. XIV

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

Parchment

Physical extent

333 leaves (iv + 328, incl. 15A) The edges heavily retrimmed, affecting marginalia, and spattered with red.

Hands

William of Nottingham (for whom see MS 168), in this case writing a neat formal anglicana. He corrects his own work in the margin. On fols. 16 and 39v are notes by Thomas Gascoigne (Ball, Gascoigne, p. 137, but correcting his folio-numbers).

Decoration

Red and blue flourished initials with 1-sided bar borders; blue initials flourished in red; red or blue paraphs, red and blue running heads and marginal chapter-numbers.

Binding

Standard Merton s. xvii; sewn on seven bands, as the previous binding; formerly chained from the usual position. Fols. i-ii, 327–8 are paper binding leaves, the outermost from the same printed book as in MS 11. Previously rebound in 1436–7 (Appendix B, no. 95). The mark of an iron chain-staple at the foot of fol. i, which was the pastedown in an earlier binding.

Provenance

Made in Oxford.

Given to the College by William Reed in 1374: UO49. 90. The first of a set of ten volumes of which eight survive: the others are MSS 168–72. On fol. iiiv: a table of contents, headed ‘In hoc uolumine sunt Postille Nicholai Gorham uidelicet super ...’, the author’s name apparently over another, which may have been ‘Nicholai de Lyra’; probably in the same hand, ‘Liber M. Willelmi Reed episcopi Cicestrensis quem emit a uenerabili patre domino Thoma Tryllek’ episcopo Roffensi. Oretis pro utroque’; ‘Liber domus scolarium de Merton’ in Oxon’ in communi libraria eiusdem et ad usum communem sociorum ibidem studencium cathenandus. Ex dono uenerabilis patris domini tercii episcopi Cicestrie. Oretis igitur peo eodem et benefactoribus eiusdem ac fidelium animabus a purgatorio liberandis. Walterus Robertus’; ‘Orare eciam dignemini pro Waltero Roberti scriba et notarius dicti uenerabilis patris, qui suprascriptos titulos et titulos aliorum 99 librorum per dictum patrem eidem domui datorum ad emendacionem librarie eiusdem inscripsit et circa eosdem libros et alios quam plures per diuersa collegia uniuersitatis Oxon’ per ipsum uenerabilem patrem distributos diligenter insudauit.’ For William Reed, fellow from 1344 until at least 1357, d. 1385, see MS 8.

Inside the front board is a table of contents, s. xvii, and, on a sheet of paper, ‘F. 3, 3’ (canc.), s. xvii and ‘O. 6. 6. Art:’, canc. and replaced with ‘A. 1. 6 (CLXVI)’ in red; the College bookplate. ‘6’ (corr. from ‘8’) is inked on the foredge.