PIERRE BERSUIRE; S. XIV 3/4

Title

PIERRE BERSUIRE; S. XIV 3/4

Shelfmark

Merton College MS. 298

Place of origin

France

Date

S. XIV 3/4

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

Parchment

Physical extent

413 leaves (ii + 410, incl. 343A) The edges retrimmed and spattered with red. Fols. i-ii of thick, stiff parchment.

Hands

A single French scribe writing expert littera textualis sine pedibus.

Decoration

On f. iiv is a substantial setoff from decoration on the original f. 1, showing that it had a full vine-leaf border, framed miniature with a group of persons including a standing cardinal, and a large initial with foliage in a square frame. On f. 1 is a setoff from the verso of the original f. 1, with a large initial and vine-leaf border running down the intercolumnar space and into the upper and lower margins.

Handsome 14-line initials filled with vine-leaf foliage in colours on a square ground, with 3-sided vine-leaf borders, on fols. 179, 194v, 295, 373.

Champe initials.

Red or blue paraphs; red underlining.

Borders: see above.

Binding

Standard Merton s. xvii, sewn on eight bands; formerly chained from the usual position. f. 410 is a paper binding leaf, made from two flattened bifolia from the same printed book as in MS 272. f. i was formerly a pastedown in an earlier binding.

Provenance

Made in France.

At the head of f. iiv is ‘Liber domus de Merton ex dono magistri Henrici Seuer sacre pagine professoris ac custodis eiusdem incathenatus ad communem usum in libraria studere uolencium anno Domini CCCCLXVI’. For Sever, warden 1455–71, see MS 6.

Inside the front board is a sheet of paper with contents, s. xvii, and ‘Q. 2. 14. Art:’, canc. and replaced with ‘O. 2. 8’ in red ink. Also pencilled ‘No CCXCVIII’; the College bookplate.