LUKE AND JOHN, GLOSSED ; S. XIII1

Title

LUKE AND JOHN, GLOSSED ; S. XIII1

Shelfmark

Merton College MS. 211

Place of origin

script of French appearance.

script of English appearance.

Date

s. xiii ex.

S. XIII1

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

Parchment

Physical extent

143 leaves (i + 142) The edges retrimmed and spattered with red.

Hands

A single, expert early gothic bookhand of the type usual in glossed books, probably French.

Annotations in English hands, and in a neat Italian hand, perhaps that of Nicholaus de Velleio.

Decoration

Unfilled spaces for major initials; red or blue initials flourished in the other colour; conspicuous red or blue paraphs with flourishing in both colours, extending into the margins with pretty leaf, fruit and daisy motifs; running heads in capitals of both colours.

Binding

Standard Merton s. xvii; sewn on four bands; formerly chained from the usual position. The first and last leaves were pastedowns in an earlier binding with wooden boards. fol. 141, glued to fol. 140v, appears to have been a pastedown, perhaps from another book. On fol. i are the marks of two foredge straps and of a brass chain-staple at the foredge near the foot. Rust-marks near the foot of fols. 140 and 142 are probably from another chain-staple.

Provenance

On the upper half of fol. iv are many erased or part-erased inscriptions, mostly pledge-notes: ‘Magister Nicholaus de Velleio recepit xx. solidos super librum istum in die S. Benedicti’; ‘Magister Nicholaus de Velleio recepit xx. solidos super librum istum in crastino S. Bernardi’; his name occurs in other erased notes; ‘Liber Hugonis de Stauntone emptus de Willelmo Horn’; ‘Prec’ 1 marca’. At the foot of fol. 1v is pencilled ‘Martyn Halle’ and, at the end of a long erasure, ‘M. Hugonis de Stantone’. Given or bequeathed by Hugh Staunton (BRUO 1768), fellow in 1324–5, still in 1346, still alive in 1349: UO47. 75. Nothing is otherwise known of Horne.

Redeemed by the College from the Rede chest on 7 Dec. 1493, restored to the library on 2 Aug. 1494 (Registrum, pp. 178, 184). It had been pledged by John Blackman (BRUO 194–5), fellow c. 1439–1443, d. 1495.

At the head of fol. 141, s. xv, ‘Crpxbk (cipher for Croxby?) Oxonia’.

On the mutilated fol. 142 is the remains of a ?stationer’s mark, and an erased inscription showing that it was in an electio: ‘iius de sorte Walpull et [gone]’. This was presumably John Walpole (BRUO 1968–9), fellow in 1398, still in 1416.

At the head of fol. 2 is the James no. ‘191’, s. xvii in.

Inside the front board is a sheet of paper with a title and ‘P. 1, 8 art:’, s. xvii, ‘P. 1. 8. Art:’ again, canc. and replaced with ‘N. 2. 9 (CCXI)’ in red. The College bookplate.