Smaragdus — Multiple dates; Northern France (the date and place of origin are those assigned by Bernard Bischoff, as cited by Joyce Hill, 'Authority and Intertextuality in the Works of Ælfric' , Proceedings of the British Academy, 131 [2005], p. 166, fn. 27)

Title

Smaragdus — Multiple dates; Northern France (the date and place of origin are those assigned by Bernard Bischoff, as cited by Joyce Hill, 'Authority and Intertextuality in the Works of Ælfric' , Proceedings of the British Academy, 131 [2005], p. 166, fn. 27)

Shelfmark

MS. Barlow 4

Date

The main text was written in the 9th century, third quarter;

the decoration was added in the early 11th century

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

parchment

Physical extent

vi + 486 leaves

Decoration

Good miniatures (marginal sketches with a pen and with a hard point, pp. 123, 450) added in the early 11th century

Binding

Stamped brown leather, English work, rebacked

Acquisition

Bequeathed to the Bodleian in 1691 by Thomas Barlow (Summary Catalogue, Vol. 2 Part 2, p. 1043)

Provenance

Worcester, Worcestershire, Benedictine cathedral priory of St Mary the Virgin( MLGB3)

Joyce Hill speculates that this manuscript was most probably imported into England in the Benedictine Reform in the 10th century (Joyce Hill, 'Authority and Intertextuality in the Works of Ælfric' [2005], p. 166, fn. 27)

Rosamond McKitterick argues that MS. Barlow 4 is the West Frankish exemplar for Worcester, Cathedral and Chapter Library F. 91, one of only three examples where both the Continental exemplar and its English copy have been identified ( 'Exchanges Between the British Isles and the Continent, c. 450 - c. 900', in The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain: Volume 1: c. 400–1100, ed. by Richard Gameson [Cambridge, 2001], p. 329. See also David N. Dumville, English Caroline Script and Monastic History: Studies in Benedictinism [Boydell, 1993], p. 49)

The format of Worcester, Cathedral and Chapter Library MSS. F.91–94 have points of commonality with MS. Barlow 4; e.g. the script on p. 6 (heading) can be compared to Worcester, Cathedral and Chapter Library F.92, fol. 231v ( MLGB3)

There is a 12th-century inscription 'q[u]ot sunt'

The names 'Thomas Grene' and 'Thomas Morer' have been scribbled in a 16th-century hand on p. v

On p. vi there is a note by Thomas Barlow that this is a Roman lectionary

Title

A lectionary for the whole year

Shelfmark

MS. Barlow 4

Summary

A lectionary for the whole year, headed in a mid-thirteenth-cent. English hand 'Collectio quedam omeliarum et sermonum per totum annum', and beginning with the vigil of Christmas, beg. 'Cernens ecclesia' (p. 9), preceded by a preface in a somewhat earlier hand (p. 1).

Date

Written in the 11th century on the Continent

Language

Latin

Physical facet

On parchment, in double columns. Rubricated binding, stamped brown leather, English work, rebacked

Physical extent

486 pages

Custodial history

The names Thomas Grene, and Thomas Morer have been scribbled in a 16th-cent. hand on p. v. There is a 12th-cent. inscription 'q[u]ot sunt' and a note by Barlow that this is a Roman lectionary on p. vi.