Bede, Historia ecclesiastica, etc.; England, north (?), early 12th century

Title

Bede, Historia ecclesiastica, etc.; England, north (?), early 12th century

Shelfmark

MS. Fairfax 12

Place of origin

England

English, North (?)

Date

12th century, beginning

16th century

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

parchment

Physical extent

149 leaves

Decoration

Fine initials in two styles. Good initials. (Pächt and Alexander iii. 73, pl. VIII)

Acquisition

Bequeathed by him to the Bodleian in 1671.

Provenance

Selby, York, Benedictine abbey of St Mary the Virgin and St German: 17th-cent. inscription states it belonged to Selby priory. 'Cronica XII'. 'Liber Sancti [...] de Saleby' (s. xv) on front cover (now fol. 2), outside. (MLGB3: evidence from an ex-libris inscription or note of gift to an institution).

'W. Santclair of Roislin, knight' (d. c. 1582), with the date 2 Jan. 1591/1592 added later (H J Lawlor, 'Notes on the Library of the Sinclairs of Rosslyn', Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 32 (1898), 109-10)

Walter Cant, advocate, of Edinburgh; given by him in 1650 (fol. 2v) to:

Charles Fairfax (1597–1673), antiquary. There are Latin lines dedicated to Fairfax, subscribed 'Sam. Colvile Scotus' (fol. 2v). By descent to his nephew:

Thomas Fairfax, third Lord Fairfax of Cameronunlocked (1612–1671)

Title

The Ecclesiastical History of Bede

Shelfmark

MS. Fairfax 12

Summary

The Ecclesiastical History of Bede, styled O5 by Plummer in the Oxford edition, i (1896), p. cxxi:

The prefatory letter, beg. 'Gloriosissimo regi Coeluulfo Beda famulus' (fol. 4)

Followed by the table of chapters (fol. 5)

The text beg. 'Britannia insula cui quondam Albion' (fol. 6)

Followed by the letter of Cuthbert to Cuthwin on Bede's death: beg. (after the salutation) 'Munusculum quod misisti' (fol. 140v)

Followed by the passion of st. Edmund by Abbo of Fleury: beg. 'Domino sancto Dorobernensium ecclesie archiepiscopo Dunstano' (fol. 142)

Text beg. 'Asciti aliquando in Britanniam' (fol. 142v) and ends imperfectly

Charles Fairfax has added (as fol. 144) a leaf containing a 16th-cent. copy of Latin verses on king Oswald: beg. 'Ad magni regis gloriam'

Date

Written by several scribes in the 12th century in England

Language

Latin

Physical facet

On parchment, fol. 8-end are in double columns. With illuminated capitals, etc.

Physical extent

149 Leaves

Custodial history

This MS. is stated in a 17th-cent. inscription on fol. 4 to have been owned by Selby priory. Its 14th-cent. press-mark was Cronica xii (fol. 2). 'Anno 1591, 2 Januarii' the book was in the possession of 'W. Santclair of Roislin, knight' (fol. 4, cf. MS. Fairfax 11), and was given to colonel Charles Fairfax in September 1650 by Walter Cant, advocate of Edinburgh (fol. 2v). There are Latin lines dedicated to Fairfax, subscribed 'Sam. Colvile Scotus' (ib.). On fol. 2 are some illegible inscriptions.