BERNARD, ?WILLIAM OF AUVERGNE; S. XV

Title

BERNARD, ?WILLIAM OF AUVERGNE; S. XV

Shelfmark

Merton College MS. 42

Place of origin

Continental

Date

S. XV

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

Parchment

Physical extent

174 leaves The edges retrimmed with loss of marginalia and stained yellow.

Hands

A single practised Continental scribe, writing cursive, except for fols. 170v-3, added in a rough secretary hand, c. 1500. The same hand, almost certainly Hammond Haydok’s, wrote the index on fols. ii-iii of MS 48, and the list on fol. ivvof MS 189. At the foot of fol. 170 is a note by the main scribe: ‘quat’ – prec. 1d ob / - script’ 13 d’.

Decoration

Blue initials flourished in red. The running heads are accompanied by red or blue paraphs.

Binding

s. xv, heavily restored in modern times; cushion-bevelled oak boards with slightly projecting squares, now bare, rebacked with modern vellum; sewn on five bands. Two straps from recesses in the front board to pins in the back, all gone. Chain-staples formerly near the foot of the foredge of the front board, and in the middle of the foot of the back board. No flyleaves or pastedowns.

Provenance

At the end of art. 1 on fol. 46 the scribe has written ‘Magister Hamound’. This could be Hammond Haydok (for whom see MS 16), and would suggest that the book was made for him.

At the College by c. 1500, certainly by 1556: UO65. 175. At the head of fol. 1 is the James no. ‘235’, s. xvii. Inside the front board is a sheet of paper, with a table of contents and ‘N. 4. 3. Art:’, s. xvii, canc. and replaced with ‘C. 1. 3 (XLII)’, in red; the College bookplate. ‘3’ is inked on the foredge.