Merton College MS. 311
Former shelfmark: H. 3. 11
CICERO, PALLADIUS; S. XII 3/4, XII ex.
Contents
Language(s): Latin
f. 1 is blank but for some pen-trials of s. xii and xiv.
On f. 1v is a list of the contents of I, c. 1200, followed by Reed’s ex libris (see below), and table of contents, art. 6 being an addition to it though probably in the same hand. f. 2 is blank.
Physical Description
Collation
Binding
Standard Merton s. xvii; sewn on four bands; formerly chained from the usual position. On f. 1 is the mark of a central strap. Fols. 1 and 136 were formerly pastedowns in an earlier binding; on 136 are the marks of a large iron chain-staple (2 holes).
History
Provenance and Acquisition
On f. 1v: a smudged-out ex libris of s. xiv, beg. ‘Liber’; s. xiv ‘Liber M. Willelmi Reed episcopi Cicestrensis quem emit a domino Thoma Tryllek episcopo Roffensi. Oretis igitur pro utroque’; s. xv ‘Liber domus scolarum de Merton in Oxonia in communi libraria eiusdem et ad usum communem sociorum ibidem studencium ex dono uenerabilis patris domini Willelmi tercii episcopi Cicestrie Oretis igitur pro eodem et animabus omni fidelium defunctorum’; s. xiv ‘xix uolumen’. For William Reed, fellow from 1344 until at least 1357, d. 1385, see MS 8. Thomas Trillek was bp. of Rochester 1364–1372. This book was part of Reed’s legacy.
On f. 2v is a table of contents, s. xvii, and ‘Q. 3. 13. Art:’, canc. and replaced with ‘H. 3. 11 (CCCXI),’ in red; the College bookplate.
On f. 135 ‘Liber domus scolarium de Merton’ in Oxon’ &c.’, s. xv.
On fols. 1 and 2 is the James no. ‘6’ (wrongly), s. xvii in. ‘13’ is inked on the foredge.
Merton College MS. 311 – Part I (fols. 3–100v)
Contents
Language(s): Latin
Ed. M. Winterbottom (Oxford, 1994).
At the head of f. 3, in a small hand c. 1200, ‘Proemium Ciceroni script’
Followed by a series of notes on Cicero, in an anglicana hand of s. xiv in., on f. 38rv: ‘Tulius hic situs est uenerabile nomen in euum ... Seruicio pressam destituit Priam’ (30 lines; SK 16603); ‘Libri Ciceronis qui et Marcus Tullius’; extracts on Cicero from Valerius Maximus, Pliny, Nat. Hist., and Augustine, De Civ. Dei.
Cited as O by the editors, a descendant of the now-defective Österreichische Nationalbibl. 189: ed. A. S. Pease (Cambridge, MA, 1955); see espec. i. 67.
Ed. W. Ax (Leipzig, 1938).
f. 80v blank, but for the title of art. 5 in a humanistic hand.
Ed. P. Fedeli (Leipzig, 1982).
Part I is heavily annotated throughout in a Continental cursive hand, probably Italian, s. xiii ex. On f. 100v is a list, in this hand, cropped at the head, of members of an ?episcopal household (fratres, minores, domicelli, camerarii, garciones in panetria et hotelaria, in stabulo, in coquina), many with obviously French or Italian names.
Physical Description
Layout
Ruled with crayon in 36 lines, in 2 cols except for art. 1; not pricked in the inner margins.
Hand(s)
Written throughout in an expert protogothic bookhand of English appearance.
Decoration
Handsome arabesque initials in red and green, sometimes also blue, open works and their subdivisions.
History
Provenance
I was apparently made in England, but seems to have been in southern France or Italy c. 1300, before returning by the mid 14th cent.
Merton College MS. 311 – Part II (fols. 101–36v)
Contents
Language(s): Latin
Ed. R. H. Rodgers (Leipzig, 1975), not using this copy.
f. 116v blank. Faint notes in pencil on f. 135rv. f. 136rv blank.
Physical Description
Layout
Ruled with plummet in 2 cols of 36–50 lines, pricked in the inner margins.
Hand(s)
Written in several Continental protogothic bookhands, of which the first (fols. 101–5va line 14), with some notehand features, is particularly striking and probably French. In both parts a large anglicana cursive hand of s. xiv med. (like that of John Grandisson, bishop of Exeter), responsible for the notes on f. 38rv, writes titles and running heads.
Decoration
Very frequent large, plain red or green initials, and some red underlining.
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
2019-11-05: First online publication