Merton College MS. 204
Former shelfmark: N. 2. 1
SPECULUM HUMANAE VITAE &c; 1446–9
Contents
fol. 1 blank; on the verso is an early table of contents.
Incorporates ADAM THE CARTHUSIAN, Speculum Spiritualium, bks 2–6: pr. Paris 1510; Bloomfield 5934; Allen, Richard Rolle, pp. 405–6; Sharpe, Handlist, pp. 8–9.
Ed. Bibl. Francisc. Ascetica Medii Aevi 4 (Quaracchi, 1949), pp. 6–122, but this version varies much from the printed text; Bloomfield 4159.
An adaptation of Caesarius, Serm. 80, common in English MSS; another seven copies are in Römer 1. 383.
PL 40. 901–9. The copy in CUL Dd. 1. 21 (s. xiv) ends at the same point.
Followed by three notes: ‘De anima peccatrice’, ‘De continua meditatione Christi’, and ‘Nota de cane natante per aquam cum osse quod ore portauit uidens umbram ossis in aqua aperuit os suum ad capiendum umbram sic amisit utrumque. Versus Os canis ore gerit umbram uidit irrita querit | Irritus os aperit os cadit umbra perit. Explicit.’
Pr. Naples 1476 (GW 592), &c.; Bloomfield 1076, many copies; on the authorship, M. C. O’Connor, The Art of Dying Well (New York, 1942), pp. 48–60.
Ed. P. Künzle, Heinrich Seuses Horologium sapientiae, Spicilegium Friburgense 23 (1977), pp. 527 line 15–540 line 11; Bloomfield 5416; Kaeppeli 1852.
Lines 1–32, ed. J. Furnivall, EETS o.s. 24 (1867), 15–16; C. Brown, Religious Lyrics of the Fifteenth Century (Oxford, 1939), no. 64 and p. 313; IMEV 1727.
Part of art. 10, beg. as the copies in Longleat 30, fol. 20, and Huntington Libr., HM 142, fol. 16v. Followed by two paragraphs: 'There was a woman called Veronica which metyng wt our lord goyng toward his passion and swetyng for grete anguysse delyuered him a clothe to clense his face wherin after he had wyped hym remayned the verrey figure of his face which is called the vernycle wher aftir this figure is made’, and ‘Ther beth girdils of saint Rose, which lith hole to this day at Vitarbe and enport special remedy both for wemen laboryng in childe and also agenst the feueres if yᵉ pacient be girde wt oon of hem. J. Gisburgh.’ IMEP, p. 52.
fols. 211v, 212v blank. On fol. 212 is a short note and an early table of contents.
Physical Description
Collation
Layout
Frame-ruled with pencil in 2 cols; written in c. 50–5 lines.
Hand(s)
Begun in 1446 and completed on 30 Jan. 1449 by John Gisburgh, who writes a proficient bastard secretary hand.
Decoration
Large red and blue initials flourished and with partial borders in both colours; large blue initials flourished in red; red or blue paraphs, red highlighting and underlining. Red running heads with blue paraphs.
Binding
Standard Merton, s. xvii; sewn on seven bands; formerly chained from the usual position. fol. i is a paper binding-leaf from the same printed book as in MS 19. Fols. 1 and 212 were formerly pastedowns in an earlier binding. At the foredge of fol. 1, near the foot, is the mark of a brass chain-staple.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Made in England; it is not known when it entered the College prior to s. xvii.
Inside the front board is a table of contents and ‘G. 2, 3’ (canc.), s. xvii, and ‘P. 1. 1. Art:’, canc. and replaced with ‘N. 2. 1 (CCIV)’ 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
2019-07-31: First online publication