William of Jumièges — c. 1100; France, Normandy . Cleaver suggests, on the basis of its script and style of decoration, that the manuscript might have been produced at Jumièges, Benedictine Abbey( 'The Circulation of History Books in Twelfth-century Normandy', p. 57)

Title

William of Jumièges — c. 1100; France, Normandy . Cleaver suggests, on the basis of its script and style of decoration, that the manuscript might have been produced at Jumièges, Benedictine Abbey( 'The Circulation of History Books in Twelfth-century Normandy', p. 57)

Shelfmark

MS. Bodl. 517

Date

c. 1100

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

parchment

Physical extent

ii + 34 leaves

Decoration

Style of initials as in manuscripts from Lyre, now at Évreux

Good initials, mutilated. The only major initial that has survived is on folio 26v; sketched but not coloured, it contains two dragons biting foliage, 'motifs that were popular in Normandy' (Cleaver, 'The Circulation of History Books in Twelfth-century Normandy' , p. 57, with a picture of this initial on p. 58) Cleaver observes that the initials are in the same ink as the text, which is an indicator of 'less expensive volumes'. Even so, the addition of the initials seems 'to have been treated as a separate phase of work, as spaces have been left for them. It is probable that the maker of the volume intended to add rubrics and colour throughout, and notes have been left in the margins for the rubricator indicating the text to be added in red paint, but this stage was never completed' (Cleaver, Illuminated History Books in the Anglo-Norman world, 1066-1272 [2018], p. 43)

Maniculae written below the bottom line appear on fols 7, 7v, 10, 13, 22 (Cleaver, Illuminated History Books in the Anglo-Norman world, 1066-1272 [2018], p. 43)

Acquisition

Presented by Thomas Twyne in 1612

Provenance

On fol. i, in John Twyne's hand, is 'Dudo ut opinor' (Andrew Watson, 'John Twyne of Canterbury (d. 1581) As a Collector of Medieval Manuscripts' , The Library, 8 [1986], p. 151)

Title

Raudat-alsaphâ

Shelfmark

MS. Bodl. 517

Summary

Short extracts from the Raudat-alsafâ.

Date

n.d.

Language

Persian

Physical extent

14 Leaves