ORIGEN, HOMILIES ON O.T. BOOKS, VOL. II; S. XII ex.

Title

ORIGEN, HOMILIES ON O.T. BOOKS, VOL. II; S. XII ex.

Shelfmark

Merton College MS. 4

Place of origin

England

Date

S. XII ex.

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

Parchment

Physical extent

125 leaves The edges retrimmed and stained yellow.

Hands

One expert English protogothic bookhand.

Decoration

Large plain red, blue, green or buff initials, except for a 5-line D on f. 30v, blue on a pink ground, with foliage in yellow and orange. Red tituli, diples, and running heads on a separate ruled line.

Binding

Late medieval: square-edged oak boards with slightly projecting squares, bared and backed with modern vellum; sewn on four bands. Formerly two narrow straps from recesses in the front board to pins in the back, replaced with catches. Formerly corner bosses on both boards. Rivets and marks of the large iron chain-staple near the foot of the rear board and pastedown. Formerly brass chain-staples at the foredge of the front board, near head and foot. Rust-marks at the foot of the front pastedown and early leaves, near the foredge, may be from a chain-staple used with a previous binding.

Provenance

Doubtless made in an English religious house.

On the front pastedown, s. xv, ‘Liber domus scolarium de Merton’ in Oxon’ ex dono magistri Walteri Rommesbury inceptoris theologie, precentoris in ecclesia Herefordensi, ac quondam prefate domus consocii. Oretis igitur, &c.’. Rammesbury (BRUO 1544–5), fellow in 1360, still in 1381, canon of Hereford from c. 1368, d. before Nov. 1406. He gave new desks to the library in 1394, and MSS 5, 15, 92–3. Also ‘N. 1. 4. Art:’, s. xvii, canc. and replaced with ‘A. 2. 4’ in purple ink, s. xix, and modern ‘(IV.)’ in red; the College bookplate. At the head of f. 1 is the James no. ‘25’ (recte 251), s. xvii in. ‘4’ is inked, upside down, on the foredge.