Homilies and lives of saints; England, s. xii 2

Title

Homilies and lives of saints; England, s. xii 2

Shelfmark

MS. Bodl. 343

Place of origin

England(origin unknown)

Date

12th century, second half

Language

Latin

Old English (ca. 450-1100)

Middle English (1100-1500)

Contents

Form

codex

Support

parchment

Physical extent

v + 205 leaves.

Hands

(fols 1–170)Probably in one hand, but there is some change in style after fols 64, 154. A small clear minuscule. a is Caroline. dis rounded, of the same size and shape as ð. In Latin d is mainly upright. e is Caroline. f is Caroline. Insular gis used for the spirant and caroline gfor the stop. A diagonal hair-line is attached to the base of Caroline and insular forms of g. h is Caroline r is Caroline. sis Caroline, but sometimes it descends below the line, especially when doubled and before t. descendersturn to the left, except p. accentsare used abundantly on both long and short vowels. Abbreviation for n or mis marked by a superscript bar, usually straight but occasionally hooked. cw with a superscript bar denotes cwæð. discipˉlis denotes discipulis. A superscript bar over the t in drihtdenotes drihten. A crossbar through the ascender of h in heteȝædenotes heretoȝæ A superscript bar over m denotes men. A superscript bar over the c in scsdenotes sanctus. A crossbar through þ denotes þæt. A hooked d is used for de. The tironian nota is used for and.

(fols vi–xxxix verso)The scribe uses a type of minuscule characteristic of the mid second half of the twelfth century. The aspect is upright and engrossed. The hand extends below or above the line of writing in a proportionate way. The scribe mixes Caroline and insular letter forms, and a number of gothic features are also present. f is insular. g is insular. h is insular. r is insular. s is insular. ascenders are slightly wedged. descendersare occasionally tapered to the left.

(fols x, 64v, 154v and the last two lines of 170.) s. xii/xiii. Hybrid forms of f and F. Insular g is used beside Caroline g. descendersare occasionally tapered to the left. ascenders are slightly wedged.

Decoration

Initials are mainly red, green, or black. The ornament consists often of red or black circles surrounded by dots. Titles are red or black in the script and hand of the text (Ker 1957, p. 375). Numerous decorated run over words on fols 1-170.

Drawing added, 13th century (?), fol. 173. (Pächt and Alexander iii. 182)

Musical notation

Music on a four-line stave, fol. x recto, fol. x verso, 64v

Binding

Bound, s. xviii.

Acquisition

sir Robert Cottongave 'Catholici Sermones lingua et charactere Saxonico' to the Bodleian in 1601: the writing on the first leaves, but not the rest, could be called 'Saxon'. Wanley 1705, p. 15'.

Provenance

It has been suggested that the manuscript has a West Midlands provenance (Ker 1957 p. 375, referring to fols. iii, 173), although Kitson offers the Hereford area as an alternative on the base of some of the dialectal features (for a recent discussion, see Kitson 1992, p. 34 and Wilcox 2008, p. 71 and Conti 2011).