THOMAS OF WALES, LACTANTIUS, PETRARCH; S. XV1

Title

THOMAS OF WALES, LACTANTIUS, PETRARCH; S. XV1

Shelfmark

Merton College MS. 31

Place of origin

England, Oxford (?)

Date

S. XV1

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

Parchment

Physical extent

226 leaves (ii + 224)The edges lightly retrimmed and stained yellow. fols. i-ii and 224 are of thick, stiff parchment.

Hands

Art. 1 is in a skilled Continental hybrida influenced by humanistica. Arts. 2–5 are in the elegant bastarda of Nicholas Voocht, who apparently wrote at Oxford.

Decoration

Uniform throughout; large red and blue initials; smaller red or blue initials. Both types were probably intended for flourishing, not carried out. Art. 1 has red or blue paraphs.

Binding

c. 1500, repaired by Maltby; bare oak boards with broad chamfers and slightly projecting squares, resewn on seven bands; rebacked with vellum. Formerly two straps from shallow recesses in the front board to catches on the rear. Near the foot of the foredge of the front board is the mark of a chain-staple. Near the foot of the rear board are four parallel holes from the large brass chain-staple. The outermost leaves were formerly pastedowns.

Provenance

At the head of fol. iiv‘Liber domus scolarium de Merton’ ex dono magistri Henrici Seuer sacre pagine professoris ac custodis eiusdem incathenatus ad communem usum sociorum in libraria studere uolencium Anno Domini MCCCCLXVI.’ For Sever, see above, MS 6.

At the head of fol. 1 is the James no. ‘169’, s. xvii in. ‘5’ is inked on the foredge. On fol. ivis a sheet of paper with a table of contents , s. xvii. Above is ‘N. 3. 5. Art:’, s. xvii, canc. and replaced with ‘A. 3. 5 (XXXI)’ in red. The College bookplate is on fol. iiv.