Merton College MS. 281
Former shelfmark: O. 3. 1
COMMENTARIES ON ARISTOTLE, ASTRONOMICA; S. XIV in., XIV
Contents
Language(s): Latin
Fols. iv-iiv blank.
Physical Description
Collation
Binding
Standard Merton s. xvii; sewn on five bands, formerly chained from the usual position.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Apparently still two separate volumes in 1556 (UO65. 277–8) and 1600 (I appears as James no. 155).
Both volumes were given to the College by William Reed, the first in 1374 (UO49. 14), the second as part of his legacy. In the lower margin of f. 1 is ‘Liber domus scolarium de Merton’ in Oxon’ in communi libraria eiusdem et ad usum communem sociorum ibidem studencium cathenandus. Ex dono uenerabilis patris domini Willelmi tercii episcopi Cicestrensis. Oretis igitur pro eodem et benefactoribus eiusdem ac fidelium animabus a purgatorio liberandis’, in the hand of Walterus Roberti.
Closer to the foot, in tiny writing, is ‘Isti 8. quaterni sunt magistri …’.
II: on f. 151, in the hand of the index, is ‘Tradatur iste liber Waltero de Rutona et mittatur fratri Thoma de Bures apud Schelmeresford sicud rogauit frater Iohannes Kenelme [a line and a half erased]’. These men were Dominicans, presumably from the convent at Chelmsford (Essex): Thomas de Bures was ordained subdeacon and deacon at Banbury and Dunstable in 1294 (A. B. Emden, A Survey of Dominicans in England [Rome, 1967], p. 122). Rutona is presumably Ruyton in Shropshire. Beneath, in the same hand, is ‘P(e)r(tin)et p(at)r(i) Iohan. de Elham preden’.
At the foot of f. 150v is a mutilated caucio: ‘Caucio I. Han… exposita in cista regine die conuersionis sancti Pauli pro vii s. anno Domini M. CCC?X | et habet supplementum unum librum medicinalem cum commento Haly super …’. Perhaps John Hanneye or Henney ( BRUO 867, 909), occ. 1299, 1300, 1305.
At the head of f. 151v is ‘Liber I. Gilden pro quo habet textum philosophie.’ John Gilden (BRUO 768–9) was fellow of Merton 1344-at least 1347/8, d. by Dec. 1390.
Below are two erased single-lines notes, and three partly-erased cautio notes, all of ‘Magister Iohannes Lok’ in the Lincoln chest, 1394–5. John Lok or Luke (BRUO 1175–6) was fellow in 1390, no longer in 1399, canon of Salisbury, d. by Aug. 1435.
In the lower margin of f. 149v, autograph, is ‘Liber magistri Willelmi Red ex dono magistri Nicholai de Sandwich. Oretis igitur pro utroque’, with a table of contents.
At the head of f. 152 ‘Liber domus scolarium de Merton’ ex legato Magistri Willelmi Reed episcopi Cicestrie ad communem usum sociorum dicte domus.’ For William Reed, fellow from 1344 until at least 1357, d. 1385, see MS 18.
At the head of f. i is ‘Coll. Mert. Donavit venerabilis vir Willielmus Reade Episcopus Cicestrensis olim Socius’ and the James no. ‘155’, s. xvii in.
Inside the front board is a sheet of paper with two tables of contents, s. xvii, ‘Q. 1. 13’, s. xvii, canc. and replaced with ‘O. 3. 1’ in red ink and ‘(CCLXXXI)’ in pencil, and (3) the College bookplate. On f. 1 is ‘103’ (canc.), and on f. 151v ‘4’, both s. xvii. They are probably James numbers, in which case both are wrong.
Merton College MS. 281 – Part IA (fols. 1–40v)
Contents
Language(s): Latin
Pr. Venice 1496, 1551; Glorieux, Théol. 400u; Lohr, p. 334. Annotation of s. xv.
The complete work ed. Salamanca 1497; Lohr, pp. 338–9, not this copy.
Pr. with Magninus Mediolanensis, Regimen Sanitatis (n. d. or p., Hain *10482), fols. 98v-104v.
eTK 0750BPhysical Description
Layout
Ruled with pencil in 2 cols of 44 lines.
Hand(s)
A single anglicana hand.
Decoration
Unfilled spaces for initials and rubrics.
History
Merton College MS. 281 – Part IB (fols. 41–149v)
Contents
Language(s): Latin
Unpr.; eTK 1496J, ; Lohr, pp. 407–8, this copy only; C. J. Ermatinger, ‘Notes on some early 14th century scholastic philosophers’, Manuscripta 4 (1960), 29–34.
Annotated at the beginning, s. xv. On f. 77 is a note, s. xiv, that ‘Hic deficit a medio commenti 12 3i libri usque ad primum sexti.’ The original catchwords to quires 12 and 13 do not correspond and have been amended at a later date; nonetheless quires seem to be missing.
Physical Description
Collation
Layout
Ruled with crayon in 2 cols of 61 lines.
Hand(s)
A single anglicana hand, except for fols. 110vb line 49 – 149v, in a gothic rotunda bookhand of university type.
Decoration
Unfilled spaces for initials and rubrics.
History
Merton College MS. 281 – Part IIA (fols. 150–232v)
Contents
Language(s): Latin
Fols. 150–1, though hooked around the previous quire, were originally the front pastedown and flyleaf of part II when it existed independently. f. 150 is blank; a large tear in the middle of the foredge probably marks a central strap, and at the foot, near the foredge, is the mark of a small iron chain-staple, apparently replaced by a brass one near the foot of the foredge.
s. xiv ex., to part II, including two items no longer at the end: ‘Albertus super librum metheorum def.’, ‘Questiones super methora et alia notabilia’, followed by an erased line.
ARISTOTLE, Meteora, lemmata only, with the commentary of ALEXANDER OF APHRODISIAS, transl. WILLIAM OF MOERBEKE
, ,Text, to appear, AL 10/2; eTK 0386L.
Comm. ed. M. Hayduck, Commentaria in Aristotelem Graeca 3. 2 (Berlin, 1899); eTK 0219P, 0726A, ; Catalogus Translationum et Commentariorum 1, ed. P. O. Kristeller et al. (Washington DC, 1960), pp. 96–7.
Circular diagrams in the lower margins.
Ed. R. Foerster, Scriptores Physiognomici 1 (Leipzig, 1893), pp. 5–91.
eTK 1274JOn f. 184 is a large unfinished circular diagram in ink of text. On f. 184v is a list of books which ‘pro forma inceptarum audientur’, s. xiv (Pl. 36): ‘Liber celi et mundi / Liber metheororum / Liber geometrie / Liber arsmetrice Boecii / Liber methafisice / Liber ethicorum / Liber polleticorum et / duo de paruis libris animalibus’.
Physical Description
Layout
Ruled with pencil in 2 cols of 57 lines.
Hand(s)
A single anglicana hand.
Decoration
Unfilled spaces for initials and rubrics.
History
Merton College MS. 281 – Part IIB (fols. 185–216v)
Contents
Language(s): Latin
A break in the text occurs at f. 213; 213v is blank.
Pr. Venice 1515; Carmody, pp. 91–2; Diaz 972.
eTK 0615M, 1013KPr. Venice 1493 (Hain *13544), fols. 122v-38; Carmody, pp. 40–3.
eTK 0459F, 1411APhysical Description
Layout
Ruled with crayon in 2 cols of 70 lines.
Hand(s)
A single anglicana hand.
Decoration
Unfilled spaces for initials and rubrics.
History
Merton College MS. 281 – Part IIC (fols. 217–232v)
Contents
Language(s): Latin
Pr. Augsburg 1489 (GW 840); ed. R. Lemay, Kitab al-madkhal al-kabir ila ibn ahkam al-nujum. Liber introductorii maioris ad scientiam iudiciorum astrorum (Naples, 1995–6), vols 7–8; Carmody, 89–90.
eTK 0116Bf. 232v is blank but for a pen-trial of s. xiv ‘Diligite sciencias Aristoteles in libro de pomo’.
Physical Description
Layout
Ruled with crayon in 2 cols of 59 lines.
Hand(s)
A single anglicana hand.
Decoration
Unfilled spaces for initials and rubrics; some underlining in red.
History
Additional Information
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
2019-10-14: First online publication