Alexander de Villa Dei — 14th century, late (palimpsest of material from 12th - 14th centuries); Italian

Title

Alexander de Villa Dei — 14th century, late (palimpsest of material from 12th - 14th centuries); Italian

Shelfmark

MS. Holkham misc. 38

Place of origin

Italian

Date

14th century, late (palimpsest of material from 12th - 14th centuries)

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

parchment

Physical extent

ii (modern paper) + 180 + ii (modern paper).

Hands

Average quality rounded bookhand, in three sizes: text, rubrics, and commentary.

Decoration

Good initials. (Pächt and Alexander ii. 205)

Binding

Sewn on five cords and bound in typical Holkham binding of polished brown leather over pasteboards, each cover framed in gilt, the centre of the upper cover stamped in gilt with the Coke crest; the spine, much damaged, lettered in gilt 'COMMENTUM | SOPRA | DOCTRINALE | ALEXANDRI | DE | VILLA DEI' the bottom compartment with the Holkham MS. number '412'.

Provenance

The first 88 leaves, and some others, are re-used in palimpsest from a volume at least twice the size of the present book (each original leaf is re-used sideways to form a bifolium), handsomely written in a 12th-century (?) caroline in two columns (it was thus perhaps a Bible; see e.g. fol. 130); many of the remaining leaves appear to be re-used from 13th/14th-century texts written in much smaller more cursive hands, clearly visible in many places (see e.g. fol. 177v).

With the gilt oval booklabel of 'THOMAS WILLIAM COKE', formerly Norfolk, Holkham Hall, MS. 412.