Merton College MS. 70

Former shelfmark: K. 2. 5

PERA PEREGRINI; 1472

Language(s): Latin

(fols. 1–523v)

Incipit: Abbas. Cum constitueretur Ioseph super Egiptum precessit eum preco

Explicit: Zelotipus. Mens mala zelotipa se non sinit esse quietam ...

Final rubric: Explicit tabula theologie que dicitur Pera peregrini compilata a quodam monacho Noui Monasterii anno Domini MCCCL; scripta per Magistrum W. Lyneham socium aule de Merton in Oxonia 1472 [pencilled near the foot of fol. 523v]

An alphabetical index of topics for sermons etc., each entry consisting of quotations from named classical, patristic and medieval sources (e.g. Cicero, Seneca, Valerius Maximus, Apuleius, Macrobius, Sidonius, Boethius, Origen, Jerome, Ambrose, Augustine, Cyprian, Prosper, John Chrysostom, Cassiodorus, Petrus Chrysologus, Isidore, Gregory, Bede, Anselm, Hildebert, Bernard, Hugh of St Victor, Peter Lombard). The author was a monk of the Cistercian house of Newminster (Northumbr.). Unpr.; Stegmüller, Bibl. 4464; Bloomfield 0045; Sharpe, Handlist , p. 244, citing this copy and extracts in Bodl. Libr., Laud. misc. 389 (s. xiv ex., Durham). An abbreviated version by John Felton (vicar of St Mary Magdalen, Oxford, d. 1434) is in Oxford, St John’s College, MS 109 (s. xv¹). Individual entries are followed by blank spaces to accommodate additional material; each alphabetical series usually begins on a new recto. As a consequence blank and partly blank leaves occur at the ends of alphabetical series: completely blank are fols. 48v, 112v, 264rv, 337v, 344–7, 393v-4v. Gaps also occur at the ends of quires. At the head of fol. 195v is pencilled ‘Hec est pera peregrini compilata a quodam albo monacho de nouo monasterio’.

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: qui eius uerba

Form: codex

Support: Parchment

Extent: 527 leaves (ii + 525)

Dimensions (leaf): 375 × 260 mm.

Dimensions (written): 280 × 180 mm.

The edges retrimmed and stained red.

Collation

1–13¹², 14⁴(lacks 4), 15–21¹², 22¹⁰, 23¹²(12 canc.), 24¹², 25⁶, 26⁴(4 canc.), 27–30¹², 31⁴, 32¹²(10–11 canc.), 33–5¹², 36¹²(12 canc.), 37¹², 38¹²(+ 1 after 6), 39¹²(+ a slip after 3), 40–1¹², 42¹²(+ a slip after 11), 43¹⁴, 44¹², 47⁴, 48–9¹²; catchwords and quire-letters. fol. 413 is an irregularly-shaped leaf, written on the recto only, formerly sewn in but now detached. It contains the end of the entry for ‘Sacerdos’.

Layout

Frame-ruled with pencil in 2 cols; written in c. 70–85 lines. Running heads between ruled lines.

Hand(s)

The hand of William Lyneham, a mixed anglicana-secretary of varying size and medium quality.

Decoration

Red and blue flourished initials; plain blue initials; red auctoritates , running heads, paraphs, underlining and highlighting.

Binding

Standard Merton s. xvii, rebacked and resewn on six bands; formerly chained from the usual position. fols. i-ii and 524–5 are paper binding leaves, the outermost from the same printed book as in MS 19. fol. 1 is stained and dirty, suggesting that the book was unbound for some time. At the foot of fol. 1 is the mark of an iron chain-staple.

History

Origin: 1472 ; England, Oxford

Provenance and Acquisition

For William Lyneham, fellow 1426/7–1473, when he died, see MS 55.

Inside the front board is a sheet of paper with contents, s. xvii, and ‘N. 6. 4. Art:’, canc. and replaced with ‘K. 2. 5 (LXX)’ in red. The College bookplate. ‘4’ is inked on the foredge.

Record Sources

R. M. Thomson, A descriptive catalogue of the medieval manuscripts of Merton College, Oxford (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer), 2009.

Availability

For enquiries relating to this manuscript please contact Merton College Library.

Bibliography

Coxe, p. 43; Powicke, no. 940.

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

A catalogue of Western manuscripts at the Bodleian Libraries and selected Oxford colleges