JOHN DUMBLETON; S. XIV (after 1321)

Title

JOHN DUMBLETON; S. XIV (after 1321)

Shelfmark

Merton College MS. 306

Place of origin

England, probably Oxford

England, probably Oxford.

script of English appearance.

Date

S. XIV (after 1321)

s. xiv1

s. xiv ex.

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

Parchment

Physical extent

125 leaves (ii + 123) The edges heavily retrimmed and stained yellow. Made from rough parchment with the natural edge of the skin often visible on fore- and lower edges. Early foliation, 1–119.

Hands

Written throughout in a single anglicana hand.

Decoration

Probably Oxford work; blue initials flourished in red; red or blue paraphs.

Binding

Standard Merton s. xvii; sewn on four bands; the post-medieval chain-staple formerly near the foot of the foredge of the front board. The outermost leaves were pastedowns in an earlier binding. At the head of f. 123 is the mark of an iron chain-staple.

Provenance

Probably made in Oxford.

On f. 122v many notes have been erased or washed off. What can still be read are: ‘Laurenz’, ‘Iohannes Laurenz’ (erased), ‘Liber Simonis de Lambourne prec’ iii s.’ (erased), and an erasedcautio of John Risborough (see MS 113) in the Rede chest, 1391, ‘et habet supplementum uiz. Summam Occam’.

On f. 123 are five partly-erased cautiones of the same man, ‘exposita in cista Vaghan et Huse’, dated 1379–85, and ‘Liber Iohannis Laurenz ex dono Magistri Simonis Lambourne’. Risborough (BRUO 1577–8) was chaplain to the College in 1364, fellow 1373–97. For Lambourne, fellow 1347–61, see MS 71, which he left to the College. John Laurenz is probably too late to be the man (pace BRUO 1108) who pledged Balliol Coll. 118–19 in 1325.

John Bale saw the book at Merton (Appendix C, no. 19). Inside the front board is a sheet of paper with a table of contents, s. xvii, and ‘Q. 3. 8. Art:’, canc. and replaced with ‘H. 3. 7 (CCCVI)’ in red; the College bookplate. ‘8’ is inked on the foredge.