Merton College MS. 246

Former shelfmark: O. 3. 8

PIERRE BERSUIRE; S. XV

Language(s): Latin

Fols. i-ii blank. On f. ii^v are titles and notes on the contents in hands of s. xv ex.-xvii.

(fols. 1–258v; 259rv blank)

PETRUS BERCHORIUS, Reductorium Morale super totam Bibliam

Incipit: Cum iam per opacam nature siluam

Incipit: Deus in mundi creacione ante omnia

Explicit: ubi de duodecim mensibus inuenies aliter expositum amen.

Final rubric: Explicit liber Apo. moralizatus et sic est finis xvi. libri reductorii moralis in quo moralizantur omnes figure Biblie et cetera. Explicit liber Reductorii moralis quod in Auinione fuit factum Parisius uero correctum et tabulatum anno Domini millesimo trecentesimo quadragesimo secundo. Deo gracias .ix.

Pr. Antwerp 1609; Stegmüller, Bibl. 6426.

Followed, in a rough Continental cursive hand, by the prologue to an index: ‘Precedens liber s. reductorium morale seu repertorium biblie nominatur distinguitur in libros 31 super quod quidam frater de ordine carmelitarum sequentem tabulam conpilauit ...’. The index itself does not appear. In the margins throughout are chapter-numbers and alphabetical letters, probably in the same hand, for such an index. The same hand supplied book numbers as running heads.

On the rear pastedown is written, in an anglicana hand, ‘Petrus Berchorii ordinis sancti Benedicti monachus in Pictauico solo natus’.

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: uel dic

Form: codex

Support: Parchment

Extent: 259 leaves (ii + 257)

Dimensions (leaf): 350 × 235 mm.

Dimensions (written): 230 × 145 mm.

The edges retrimmed, affecting marginalia and running heads, and lightly spattered with red.

Collation

A⁴(1 pastedown; 3 canc.), 1–23⁸, 24⁶, 25–32⁸, 33⁴(1 and 4 half-leaves, 4 pastedown); catchwords for all leaves in the first half of the quire, placed centrally in quires 1–23; quire-signatures of the usual late medieval form.

Layout

Frame-ruled with crayon; written in c. 55 long lines.

Hand(s)

Two expert French cursive hands: fols. 1–190v (OT), 257–8v; fols. 191–256v bastarda.

Decoration

Large and handsome blue and red flourished initials with 3-sided borders; blue initials flourished in red; red and blue paraphs.

Binding

s. xvii, speckled calf, sewn on six bands; formerly chained from the middle of the foredge of the front board and, in an earlier binding, from nearer the foot. On the back pastedown is the mark of the large iron chain-staple.

History

Origin: S. XV ; script of French appearance.

Provenance and Acquisition

At the head of f. ii^v is ‘Liber domus scolarium de Mertone ex dono magistri Henrici Seuer sacre pagine professoris ac custodis eiusdem incathenatus in libraria ad communem usum ibidem studere uolencium anno Domini M. CCCC lxviii.’ For Sever, warden 1455–71, see MS 6. Below is ‘B li^er .15.^us’, in the usual hand (see above, MS 60).

Further down is ‘P. 3. 13. Art:’, s. xvii, canc. and replaced with ‘O. 3. 8’ and ‘No. CCXLVI’ in red. Inside the front board appear a table of contents and the same shelf-mark, s. xvii, and the shelf-marks in red again; the College bookplate.

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, pp. 95–6; Powicke, no. 955.

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

2019-10-01: First online publication

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