St John's College MS. 154
Ælfric and Ælfric Bata, grammatical texts
Contents
Language(s): Old English and Latin
‘donatus anglice scrip⟨....⟩ que […] ’ ’ (s. xiv), with the remainder illegible along the worn upper edge, i.e. ÆLFRIC, Grammar and Glossary (Sharpe, 26–7 [no. 53]), ed. from this copy by Julius Zupitza, Ælfrics Grammatik und Glossar (Berlin, 1880; rept. 1966). Our MS is described by Ker, Cat 436–7 (no. 362).
a further Latin colloquy with frequent Old English glosses (almost all in the text hand, others s. xi ex.); ed. Stevenson and Lindsay, 67–74, and Napier, 223–8 (nos. 73–338).
ÆLFRIC and ÆLFRIC BATA, another Latin colloquy, with frequent Old English glosses (some drypoint) from fol. 207; ed. Stevenson and Lindsay, 75–101, and Napier, 228–30 (nos. 339–435).
another Latin colloquy, separated from the preceding only by a red capital; ed. Stevenson and Lindsay, 21–6. About half of fol. 221v and 222v blank (but ruled).
Added text:
3:1–53 only, ed. Stevenson and Lindsay, 103–8 (from the analogous text in BL, MS Harley 3271, with collations from this copy). The text is written in caroline, the gloss, in fact a prosifying into Old English of the Latin, in insular minuscule (with caroline g and h), all in a half-sized script, two lines to a ruled line, the Latin text with a continuous Old English gloss above it. Punctuation by medial point only. On the text, see Patrizia Lendinara, ‘The third book of the Bella Parisiacae Urbis by Abbo of Saint-Germain-des-Près and its Old English gloss’, Anglo-Saxon England 15 (1987), 73–89, with a reference to our MS at 85–6.
Physical Description
Collation
Layout
In long lines, 22 lines to the page. Prickings, especially early; bounded and ruled in stylus.
Hand(s)
Two hands, fols. 1–116v written in insular square minuscule; succeeded by a second scribe in the same, but writing fols. 160v–221v in caroline. Punctuation by medial point (scribe 1); by medial point and occasional punctus versus (scribe 2, in his insular portions); by point, medial point, punctus elevatus, and punctus versus (scribe 2, in his caroline portions).
Decoration
At the fullest, headings in red in rustic capitals and 2- or 3-line red initial capitals.
After fol. 73, rubrics simply in text ink. Rustic capitals for first lines of sections.
In items 2–4, red capitals for initia fols. 160v–7, 206v–end only, with guide letters visible (two unfilled, one supplied in text ink fol. 210v, the second fol. 220v blank).
Also red-slashed capitals at heads of sentences fols. 163v–6, 189v–90, 197v–8 (with headings in red rustic capitals and red capitals at major divisions), 205v–6.
Fairly frequent marginal corrections and occasional bits of Old English through all texts (for the Old English in item 1, s. xi ex., see Zupitza passim ).
Binding
The manuscript was rebound in 2014, as discussed here.
The following is a description of the previous binding: A modern replacement. Sewn on five thongs. At the front, a marbled paper leaf and a modern paper flyleaf; at the rear, a modern paper flyleaf and another marbled leaf (iii–iv).
History
Provenance and Acquisition
‘liber sancti Cuthberti de Dunelmo’ [Durham Cathedral] (s. xii ex.), with an addition by a later hand, ‘et de armario prece⟨n⟩toris qui alienauerit ab eo anathema si⟨t⟩’. Preceded by an illegible reading above the shelfmarks ‘2a 7i N’ and ‘E’ (all fol. 1). In the Durham catalogues of 1391 and 1416 as ‘Librari grammatice’ E: ‘Donatus Anglice, ii fo., “i. de’or hoc milite” ’; see [James Raine (ed.)], Catalogi veteres librorum ecclesiae cathedralis Dunelm., Surtees Society 7 (1838), 33, 111 (Ker, MLGB 75; Watson, Suppl. 32).
‘istum librum’ at the end of an otherwise defaced line (s. xi) and ‘librum’ beneath in another hand (fol. 222v).
The old shelfmark ‘Abac: ij.—No. 2’ (fol. 1, lower margin and the top of fol. 1v; cf. fol. 2v ‘No. 2’).
‘Liber Collegii Sancti Iohannis Baptistae Oxon ex dono Christopherj Coles Artium Bacchalaurej ejusdem Collegii conuictoris 1611o’ (fol. 2); a further notation of college ownership (s. xvii) appears on fol. 220v.
Record Sources
Availability
For enquiries relating to this manuscript please contact St John's College Library.
Digital Images
Digital Bodleian (full digital facsimile)
Bibliography
Funding of Cataloguing
Conversion of the printed catalogue to TEI funded by the Thompson Family Charitable Trust
Abbreviations
View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.
Last Substantive Revision
2023-03: First online publication