FLORUS OF LYONS, PART I; S. XV 3/4

Title

FLORUS OF LYONS, PART I; S. XV 3/4

Shelfmark

Merton College MS. 173

Date

S. XV 3/4

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

Parchment

Physical extent

143 leaves (iv + 139)The edges stained yellow.

Hands

Written in the elegant Continental cursive of Gosmer (quite similar to the hand of MSS 150–1), who is otherwise unknown. Lemmata are in red. The works of Augustine excerpted are identified in the margins.

Decoration

On fols. 1 and 96 9-line Ps in colours with foliage on a square ground, with acanthus-leaf borders, the first full, the second 3-sided; blue initials flourished in red; red or blue paraphs for the running heads. At the foot of fol. 136v, in tiny writing, ‘De paragraffis 355 De litteris biss’ flor’ 822’.

Binding

s. xix, sewn on five bands. Fols. i-iii and 137–9 are paper endleaves from this binding.

Provenance

On fol. ivv‘Ex dono magistri Ricardi Fitz James sacre theologie professoris nuper Cicestrensis episcopi et custodis istius Collegii de Mertone cuius anime propicietur Deus amen’, in the usual hand, which annotates (fol. 37v) and adds chapter-numbers in the margin and as running heads. For Richard Fitzjames, warden 1485–1507, see MS 9. His arms are added in the border on fol. 1. The usual label under horn with his title, ex dono and arms, formerly on the rear board, is now mounted inside the front.

On fol. ivv is ‘O. 7. 1. Art:’, s. xvii, and the College bookplate. At the head of fol. 1 is the James no. ‘221’, s. xvii in. ‘13’ is inked on the foredge. Inside the front board is another bookplate with ‘O. 7. 1’ (s. xix), canc. and replaced with ‘K. 3. 1 (CLXXIII)’ in red.