Composite anthology of Middle English verse and prose in two parts, partially the work of John Shirley

Title

Composite anthology of Middle English verse and prose in two parts, partially the work of John Shirley

Shelfmark

MS. Ashmole 59

Place of origin

English, London

English

Date

16th century, second half

1447 – 1456

Language

Middle English (1100-1500)

No linguistic content

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Physical extent

x (modern end leaves, paper) + ii (fifteenth-century bifolium, parchment, containing table of contents, unfoliated) + 1-134 (fifteenth-century, paper) + 135-184 (sixteenth-century, paper) + iix (modern end leaves, paper)

Binding

Late seventeenth-century calf binding over pasteboards, with raised sewing supports and gold-tooled laurel wreath design on spine, typical of Elias Ashmole's collection.

Acquisition

The manuscript was kept in the Ashmolean until 1860, when the collection was transferred to the Bodleian Library.

Provenance

The manuscript consists of three codicological units which were produced separately and later joined, and which appear to be unrelated to each other. Provenance for each part has been recorded separately, and the provenance of the composite manuscript in its current state is recorded here.

The two composite parts were likely compiled together by Elias Ashmole, who bequeathed the complete manuscript to the Ashmolean Museum in 1692, in one volume, as part of his donation of 1,100 printed books and 600 manuscripts. The first composite part was likely acquired from the poet William Brown(e) (1590-c. 1640) after his death, from whom Ashmole also acquired other manuscripts (now MS Ashmole 40 and MS Ashmole 767). It is uncertain how or where Ashmole procured the second composite part.