Merton College MS. 44
Former shelfmark: C. 1. 5
PENITENTIAL WORKS, HONORIUS AUGUSTODUNENSIS, &c. ; S. XIII, XIV 1/4
Contents
Language(s): Latin with a very little Anglo-Norman (accompanying material)
fols. i-iiv blank.
Physical Description
Collation
Binding
Standard Merton s. xvii, sewn on five bands; formerly chained from the usual position; fols. 180–1 are blank paper binding leaves. fol. i, formerly pasted down in an earlier binding, has the mark of a brass chain-staple at the foredge near the foot.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
II was at the College by 1556: UO65. 183.
At the head of fol. 166 is a smudged and erased inscription: ‘[?Pertinet ad magistrum ... Chynnge]’. Perhaps John Chynnge (BRUO 421), recorded as MA in 1449.
It is not clear when the rest of the book came to the College, prior to s. xvii in. Inside the front board is a sheet of paper with a table of contents s. xvii, and ‘N. 4. 5. Art:’, canc. in red. The College bookplate. ‘5’ is inked on the foredge.
Merton College MS. 44 - fragment (fol. 1)
Contents
Language(s): Latin
A waste leaf from a much larger book containing part of a quaestio ‘de intellectu’
fol. 1v is blank.
Physical Description
Hand(s)
Written in a small, neat gothic rotunda bookhand, probably Italian.
History
Merton College MS. 44 – Part I
Contents
Language(s): Latin
In tabular form.
Thomson, Grosseteste, no. 103; ed. J. Goering and F. C. Mantello (Toronto, 1984); Bloomfield 5982.
Physical Description
Layout
Written space 230 × 140 mm. , roughly ruled with pencil in c. 65 long lines, but the writing does not necessarily observe the lines.
Hand(s)
Small, informal early gothic bookhands.
Decoration
Red highlighting and paraphs.
History
Merton College MS. 44 – Part II
Contents
Language(s): Latin
unpr.; Sharpe, Handlist , p. 449, citing two copies, not this one; there were three more at Dover Priory in 1389.
Unauthentic. unpr.; Lambert 615, citing six copies, four of them English, though the earliest of the six (Milan, Bibl. Ambros. L. 28. Sup., s. x), is presumably Italian.
unpr.; Schulte 2. 533; Bloomfield 2625.
unpr.; Bloomfield 5020. This is apparently the only English copy of the summary.
Physical Description
Layout
Written space 215 × 140 mm. , ruled with crayon in 2 cols of 30–4 lines.
Hand(s)
A large and handsome anglicana formata.
Decoration
Rather rough red initials, tituli , paraphs, highlighting and underlining.
History
Merton College MS. 44 - fragment (fol. 89)
Contents
The half-leaf fol. 89 was reused from an account roll. The original text on fol. 89v, sideways to the present book, is accounts of food (cod, ling, mackerel, whelks, herrings, salmon, stockfish, lampreys, ginger, galingale, rice, mustard), drink and household items purchased at Salisbury, in Latin and French. One entry ends ‘per Rogerum clericum’.
In the blank spaces between entries pen-trials, including a whole alphabet, have been written in a large gothic quadrata bookhand. One pen trial is ‘Thomas Dei gratia’.
On the originally blank remainder of fols. 88v and 89 (formerly the dorse of the roll) an index of the chapters of arts 3, 5–6 was added in an anglicana hand.
Physical Description
Hand(s)
In an anglicana hand.
History
Merton College MS. 44 – Part III
Contents
Language(s): Latin
Capitula fols. 90–1v, ending ‘Expliciunt capitula librorum anachoritarum.’
A version of Ancren Riwle, ed. C. D’Evelyn, EETS o.s. 216 (1944); Sharpe, Handlist, p. 614. Ends in bk. 7 as the copy in BL Roy. 7 C. x, fol. 124.
Physical Description
Layout
Written space 185 × 115 mm. , ruled with crayon in 28 long lines.
Hand(s)
A large gothic rotunda bookhand with many anglicana forms, of the character usually associated with vernacular texts; ‘corr’ at the end of quires.
Decoration
Unfilled spaces for coloured initials; highlighting in yellow.
History
Merton College MS. 44 – Part IV
Contents
Language(s): Latin
PL 172. 1109–59; Y. Lefèvre, L’Elucidarium et les lucidaires (Paris, 1954), pp. 361–446.
Physical Description
Layout
Written space 190 × 120 mm. , ruled with crayon in 2 cols of 46 lines.
Hand(s)
An expert English gothic rotunda bookhand, using pale brown ink.
Decoration
On fol. 168 a 6-line initial S in colours and gold on a square ground, enclosing a master teaching a student, with a 1-sided border, a goldfinch at the foot. Otherwise blue or red initials flourished in the other colour; red or blue paraphs, red highlighting. The remains of a handsome small book.
History
Additional Information
Record Sources
Availability
For enquiries relating to this manuscript please contact Merton College Library.
Bibliography
Funding of Cataloguing
Conversion of the printed catalogue to TEI funded by the Warden and Fellows of Merton College .
Abbreviations
View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.
Last Substantive Revision
2018-08-01: First online publication