Trinity College MS. 93

Language(s): Middle English

(fols. i–v)

Paper and parchment flyleaves (see Provenance).

(fols. 1r–200v)

Summary of the Bible in English from Genesis to the beginning of James

Not known from any other sources. Everything after the opening lines of the summary of James is missing because of the loss of leaves. 2 Maccabees is missing because of a lacuna after fol. 150. Further lacunae in the summaries of Genesis (after fol. 1), 1 and 2 Chronicles (after fol. 21), 1 Maccabees (after fol. 150), Matthew (after fol. 153), 2 Thessalonians and 1 Timothy (after fol. 189) (see Collation). The order of books is that of the Later Version of the Wycliffite Bible, but includes 1 Ezra, ‘Neemy’, ‘ij Ezdre’ (i.e., 3 Ezra), and 4 Ezra subdivided into ‘iij Ezdre’ (4 Ezra, 1–2, in 6 chapters), ‘iiij Ezdre’ (4 Ezra, 3–14, in 34 chapters) and ‘v Ezdre’ (4 Ezra, 15–16, in 14 chapters) (see Ker (1960)). The summaries of Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiasticus are longer than average, and the summaries of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel are particularly long. Lamentations of Jeremiah appear as a separate item. The summaries of the gospels are short, whereas the summaries of 1–2 Corinthians and Hebrews are considerably longer than average. Commentary, most attributed to Lyra, appears in psalms and occasionally in other summaries. Agrees in wording with both the Earlier Version of the Wycliffite Bible and the Later Version of the Wycliffite Bible, but is largely independent and is not particularly close to either.

Psalms are individually summarised, with entries largely consisting of commentary attributed to Lyra and the Glossa Ordinaria. The entries are preceded by Latin incipits. Larger initials at psalms 26, 38, 52, 68, 80 and 109. Psalm numbers in Arabic numerals are written in the margins by the main scribe.

Running titles in brown ink, in English or Latin, on both rectos and versos consisting of abbreviated titles of biblical books. Chapter numbers as Arabic numerals in the margins. Large spaces corresponding to 3–10 lines of text are left blank between the summaries of individual books, presumably intended for rubrics but not filled in.

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: parchment, paper flyleaves

Extent: 210 leaves, c.

Dimensions (leaf): 206 × 138 mm.

; cropped in rebinding, occasionally with a loss of marginal text, particularly running titles

Foliation: modern in pencil: i–v + 1–205

Collation

(fols. i–v) paper and parchment flyleaves | (fols. 1–7) I (8–1) missing 2 | (fols. 8–15) II (8) | (fols. 16–21) III (8–2) missing 7, 8 | (fols. 22–149) IV–XIX (8) | (fols. 150) XX (single leaf from a missing quire) | (fols. 151–157) XXI (8–1) missing 4 | (fols. 158–189) XXII–XXV (8) | (fols. 190–196) XXVI (8–1) missing 1 | (fols. 197–200) XXVII (4) | (fols. 201–205) parchment and paper flyleaves. Catchwords and quire signatures occasionally survive (‘g iii’ on fol. 48 is the first to be seen and ‘p iii’ on fol. 113 is the last).

Secundo Folio: ‘Iacob duelled’ (fol. 2r)

Layout

ruled for a single column with single vertical and horizontal bounding lines extending the full height and width of page (see fol. 194v); 35–9 lines per page; written space: c. 159–169 × 115–125 mm.

Hand(s)

Anglicana influenced by Secretary

Decoration

2-line plain blue initials at the beginnings of books.

1-line alternating red or blue initials and paraphs at the beginnings of sections within the text.

Binding

Marbled paper and red leather over pasteboard, 19th century (1808 (?)). Red leather spine with gilt decoration. Gilt lettering on spine: ‘TREVISA’S COMM | ON THE BIBLE’ and ‘M.S.S ANT.’. Marbled paper pastedowns; paper and parchment flyleaves.

History

Origin: England ; 15th century, early

The treatment of the books of Ezra suggests that the summaries were made from a Latin Bible of English origin and not from the ‘Paris’ text (cf. Ker (1960)). The author compared and made use of the Earlier Version of the Wycliffite Bible and the Later Version of the Wycliffite Bible. Contains some northern linguistic forms.

Dialect survey:

any(2), ich(5), fire(1)/fir(2), gyuen(3), life(9)/liue(1), like(6), mych(4)/ mycle(6), self(10), such(7), þorw(4)
-es(10) (pres.ind.3sg.), -en(10) (pres.ind.pl.), -ing(10) (pres.part.), she(10)
(3sg.fem.pronoun, nom.), þey(10) (3pl.pronoun, nom.), þem(8)/hem(2) (3pl. pronoun, oblique), þeir(8)/her(2) (3pl.pronoun, possessive) Also: luf (‘love’), are (‘are’).

Provenance and Acquisition

Many marginal inscriptions and pen trials in 16th-century hands, including: ‘John Bewleye’ (fol. 58r), ‘This is William Daunce book Record of Thomas Shawe and of many more of his fellowes I beare wytnes to the same William Daunce is my name’ (fol. 60v), ‘John Nott is a knave by mee William Daunce 1576’ (on specially ruled lines, fol. 34v), ‘Thomas pim is m[y] name’ (fol. 103r). Most inscriptions are by Thomas Shawe.

Belonged to James Dalloway, scholar of Trinity College, Oxford (MA, 1784), and was given by him in 1808 to James Ingram (1774–1850), Old English scholar and antiquary (see Oxford Dictionary of National Biography), with the expression of their joint wish that it should remain forever at Trinity College: ‘Iacobo Ingram | Coll: S: Trin: apud Oxon: Soc: | hoc opus MS: | D.D. | Iacobus Dallaway M.B. | eiusd: coll: olim scholaris | quod ibidem | perpetuo adseruandum | voluerunt ambo | qui clepserit | aut alio quocumque modo | fraudem faxit | deae fidei sacer esto | MDCCCVIII’ (fol. v verso). Notes by Ingram on fols. iii verso–iv recto, 201r–203r, ascribing the summary to Trevisa.

Trinity College, Oxford: presumably bequeathed by Ingram, president of Trinity from 1824 until his death in 1850.

Record Sources

Elizabeth Solopova, Manuscripts of the Wycliffite Bible in the Bodleian and Oxford College Libraries , Exeter Medieval Texts and Studies (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2016), no. 62. Also described in Richard Gameson, The medieval manuscripts of Trinity College, Oxford: a descriptive catalogue (Oxford: The Oxford Bibliographical Society, 2018) ; catalogue images reproduced by kind permission of the author and of Trinity College.

Bibliography

Ker, N. R., ‘A Middle-English summary of the Bible’, Medium Aevum 29 (1960), pp. 115–18.

Fowler, D., ‘A Middle English Bible commentary (Oxford, Trinity College, MS. 93)’, Manuscripta 12 (1968), pp. 67–78.

Ker, N. R., Piper, A. J., Watson, A. G. and Cunningham, I. C., Medieval manuscripts in British libraries, 5 vols (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969–2002), vol. 3, p. 713.

Dove, M., The first English Bible: the text and context of the Wycliffite versions (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), pp. 52, 303.

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Last Substantive Revision

2024-04-03: Added Solopova description.

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