Lapidary in prose. — 15th century, second half; English
MS. Eng. misc. e. 558
Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
Description
From Medieval manuscripts in Oxford libraries
This is an extract only. For more information, see the catalogue record in Medieval manuscripts in Oxford libraries.
Medieval manuscripts in Oxford libraries contains descriptions of all known Western medieval manuscripts held in the Bodleian Libraries, and of medieval manuscripts in selected Oxford colleges. Learn more.
Title
Lapidary in prose. — 15th century, second half; English
Shelfmark
MS. Eng. misc. e. 558
Place of origin
English
Date
15th century, second half
Language
Middle English (1100-1500)
Contents
Form
codex
Support
Paper, watermarks bunch of grapes (nearest Briquet 13037), ring (Briquet 689).
Physical extent
ii (modern paper) + 10 (paper) + viii (modern paper) leaves.
Hands
Written in a competant anglicana script.
Decoration
Headings in red, supplied only as far as fol. 6r, somewhat larger and more formal than the script of the main text; the first rubric with calligraphic ascenders and other flourishes.
Red initials, supplied only as far as fol. 6r; guide-letters visible.
Binding
Sewn on four(?) bands, with kettle-stitching; and bound in early 19th-century 'diced russia' leather with a single gold fillet framing each cover; the edges of the boards and turn-ins roll-tooled; fine marbled endleaves; the binding of MS. Eng. hist. d. 138, another Mostyn MS., is very similar; rebacked, with the shelfmark 'MS. ENG. MISC. e. 558' in gilt running upward from the base of the spine; the repair signed by the Bodleain bindery in blue ballpoint in the bottom left corner of fol. 18r: 'W 20–11-63', and the job number written in pencil on fol. i verso: '63/1211'.
Acquisition
Given to the Bodleian by F. E. Norris, 1963.
Provenance
Unidentified English owner, 15th/16th century: inscribed (fol. 10r) 'he that vrot(?) thys boke he has not the soore(?) yn the head', below another, mostly illegible line, and a tiny sketch of a human head.
Mostyn Library (Mostyn Hall, Flintshire), MS. 225; Edward Lloyd-Mostyn, 2nd baron Mostyn: with his circular armorial seal bookplate, with shield, helm, crest, and mantling, and the motto 'a domino - Auxilium meum'; and inscribed in ink with Mostyn numbers: 'MS. | No. | 225' (fol. i verso), and '(113)' (fol. 2r) (see 'Notes on the manuscripts of the Right Honourable Lord Mostyn at Mostyn Hall', Fourth report of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts (George Edward Eyre and William Spottiswoode, London, 1874), 347–63, at 359); and the shelfmark 'H | 4 c'
Mostyn sale, Sotheby's 13 July 1920, lot 68, bought by Tregaskis for £10 10s.
View full record in Medieval manuscripts in Oxford libraries
