PETER THE CHANTER; S. XIII1

Title

PETER THE CHANTER; S. XIII1

Shelfmark

Merton College MS. 212

Place of origin

script of French appearance.

Date

S. XIII1

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

Parchment

Physical extent

158 leaves (ii + 156)The edges heavily retrimmed and stained yellow.

Hands

A small expert French early gothic bookhand. At the head of fol. 153v are the words ‘Liber collatus’.

Decoration

On fol. 6 are two large initials, the first red and blue, flourished in both colours, the second blue flourished in red; plain red or blue initials; marginalia in red; red underlining of lemmata.

Binding

Standard Merton s. xvii, repaired and rebacked; sewn on six bands; formerly chained from the usual position. Fols. i-ii and 155–6 are modern paper binding leaves. On fol. 154, formerly a pastedown in an earlier binding, are the marks of the large iron chain-staple, and of two brass strap-pins.

Provenance

On fol. 152v ‘Liber collatus M. Thome Chace ad terminum uite sue per executores Magistri Thome Leyntwardyne ad orandum specialiter pro anima eiusdem et animabus parentum suorum et domini Roberti Braybrok ac omnium aliorum benefactorum suorum pro quibus ipse tenebatur orare, sub condicione tamen quod dictus Magister Thomas Chace post decessum suum relinquet istum librum alteri sacerdoti materiem predicabilem amplectenti. Et ipse sacerdos sub eadem condicione relinquet eundem librum tercio sacerdoti et sic de uno sacerdote ad alium quamdiu durauerit iste liber, condicione predicta semper seruata.’ Followed by ‘non obstante scriptura precedente inuentus erat iste liber uendendus London’ in Pater Noster Rewe quem emit Henricus Seuer’, autograph. Thomas Lentwardyn (BRUO 1131–2) was provost of Oriel (d. 1421), Robert Braybrooke (BRUO 254–5) bishop of London 1381–1404, Thomas Chace (BRUO 379–80) master of Balliol (d. 1428).

On fol. 5v: in large formal script, ‘Iste est liber Magistri [Henrici Sever over er.] continens glosam .4. ewangeliorum collectam et excerptam cum labore super unum ex quatuor per Petrum Cantorem Parisiensem’; ‘Liber domus scolarium de Mertone ex dono Magistri Henrici Seuer sacre pagine professoris ac custodis eiusdem incathenatus ad communem usum in libraria studentis uolencium Anno Domini M. CCCC lxviii’; ‘B lier .21us’ in the usual hand (see above, MS 60). For Sever, warden 1455–71, see MS 6.

At the foot of fol. 154 is ‘prec’ xxvi s. viii d.’, s. xv.

At the head of fol. 6 is the James no. ‘144’, s. xvii.

Inside the front board is a sheet of paper with a table of contents and ‘F. 5, 6’ (canc.), s. xvii, and ‘P. 1. 9. Art:’, canc. and replaced with ‘N. 1. 6 (CCXII)’ in red; the College bookplate.