Merton College MS. 159

Former shelfmark: L. 3. 1

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS; S. XIV in.

Language(s): Latin

Fols. ii, iii-iv blank. At the head of fol. ii^v, cropped by the binder, is an early note ‘Cor…e | Expositio super secundam quinquagenam psalterii’. On fol. iv^v is a title, s. xvii.

(fols. 1–250; 250v blank)

Commentary on the Pss. 52–100

Incipit: (Ps. 52: 1) ⟨D⟩ixit insipiens ...; Titulus in finem intellectus Dauid pro Amalec. Iste titulus alludit ystorie que habetur I Reg. xxx ubi dicit quod absente Dauid Amalach item irruentes in Sichelec ... Cum apparuerit uita uestra tunc et uos apparebitis cum Ipso

Explicit: Hoc opus est scriptum. Scriptor tenuit bene pactum.

Stegmüller, Bibl. 10196, this copy only. It is obviously the second of a 3-vol. set, and hard to imagine that it is something very uncommon. Augustine and the Gloss are frequently quoted. Copious marginal annotation mainly in one early anglicana hand reaches as far as fol. 71.

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: adhuc sunt

Form: codex

Support: Parchment

Extent: 256 leaves (iv + 251, incl. 90A)

Dimensions (leaf): 355 × 235 mm.

Dimensions (written): 265–90 × 160–85 mm.

Only the head retrimmed, the edges stained red.

Collation

A⁴(3 canc.), 1–12¹², 13–14⁸, 15–21¹², 22⁶, a bifolium (lacks 2); catchwords

Layout

Ruled with pencil in 2 cols of 40–7 lines.

Hand(s)

Several English hands, writing gothic rotunda bookhand with a few anglicana forms to fol. 78, thereafter anglicana.

Decoration

None: unfilled spaces for coloured initials and rubrics.

Binding

Standard Merton s. xvii; sewn on five bands. Fols. i and 251 are modern blank paper flyleaves. At the foot of the last parchment leaves are the marks of the large iron chain-staple. fol. ii was a pastedown in an earlier binding; the stub of the leaf once conjugate with fol. 250 is the remains of the other.

History

Origin: S. XIV in ; script of English appearance

Provenance and Acquisition

At the head of fol. 1 is ‘Liber domus scolarium de Mertone in Oxonia ex legato M. Iohannis Raynham sacre pagine professoris et quondam socii eiusdem domus.’ For Reynham (d. 1376), see MS 18.

On fol. ii^v ‘Istum librum fecit reparari Magister Iohannes Burbage sacre pagine professor.’ For Burbage, fellow 1411–35, see MS 3.

On fol. iv^v is ‘O. 5. 10. Art.’, s. xvii, canc. and replaced by ‘L. 3. 1 (CLIX)’ in red.

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. 65; Powicke, no. 356.

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

2019-07-02: First online publication

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