Merton College MS. 144
Former shelfmark: M. 1. 12
NICHOLAS BYARD &c.; S. XIII ex.
Contents
Language(s): Latin
fol. 1 is filled with distinctiones and notes in tiny anglicana hands of s. xiii, including one on the necessity of masses for the dead, with a story concerning Bishop Theodolus, and another ‘contra adulteros’, quoting a Life of S. Germanus and a story of two nuns. On fol. 1v is a note on the number of years from Creation to the Incarnation, and 7 lines of verse, beg. ‘Qui plus expendit quam lucri summa reprehendit’ (WIC 15605).
On fol. 2rv a sermon on ‘Adam ubi es?’ in an early anglicana hand, beg.:
Table of the Gospels and epistles for the Sundays of the year cross-referenced to the capitula
capitula arranged alphabetically
A later hand adds ‘Expliciunt distinctiones Parisiensis’. 133 chapters; Bloomfield 1841; pr. Paris 1512 &c. At the head of fol. 7, cropped, is ‘Distinctiones Parisiensis’, s. xv, below, ‘Distinctiones Parisienses Bonauenturae’, s. xvii. Some later annotation; the distinctio-numbers added as running heads.
A contemporary anglicana hand heads it ‘Incipit Tractatus Hugonis de sancto Victore super sacramentis ecclesiae’, the author’s name cancelled and ‘Bonauenture’ substituted by a slightly later hand.
Unpr.; Bloomfield 2748, citing two English copies, not this one.
fol. 138rv filled with notes and sermons as fol. 2rv, much effaced on the verso. One sermon beg.:
Physical Description
Collation
Layout
Ruled with pencil in 2 cols of 40 lines.
Hand(s)
One English gothic rotunda bookhand for art. 1, another for its prefatory matter. Art. 2 is in a comparatively old-fashioned bookhand, smaller and using a thinner pen.
Decoration
Red initials, paraphs, highlighting and underlining. The work is rather rough.
Binding
Standard Merton s. xvii; sewn on four bands; formerly chained from the usual position. The last leaf was formerly a pastedown.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
On fol. 2v ‘Liber domus scolarium de Mertone ex dono M. Roberti Wyght’. For Whyte, fellow c. 1424, no longer in 1433, see MS 20.
At the head of fol. 7 is the James no. ‘164’, s. xvii in., cropped.
Inside the front board is a sheet of paper with ‘D. 5, 6’ (canc.), and contents, s. xvii, ‘O. 3. 16. Art:’, canc and replaced with ‘M. 1. 12 (CXLIV)’ in red; the College bookplate.
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
2019-06-20: First online publication