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Oriel College MS. 80

Contents

Language(s): Middle English with Latin

1. (fols. 1r–12r)

[item 1 occupies quire I]

Table of lections of Type II
Rubric: Here bigynneþ a rule þat telliþ in whiche chapitres of þe bible ȝe mown fynde þe lessouns pistlis & gospels þat ben rad bi al þe ȝeer aloute in holy chirche after þe vss of Salisbiry

Includes the temporal, a short sanctoral, common and commemorations. The entries consist of the name of a liturgical occasion in red, abbreviated reference to a book and chapter of the Bible, an indexing letter in red, the opening words of a reading, ‘eende’ in red, the closing words of a reading and double strokes. The only non-biblical saints are Thomas Becket, Nicholas, George, Lawrence and Clement. Commemorations are in the following order: the Virgin Mary, Trinity, Holy Ghost, cross, angels, ‘ffor briþeren & sistren & salus populi’, peace, clear weather, rain, ‘In tyme of batels’, ‘ffor him silf’, ‘ffor pestilence of beestis’, ‘ffor weifering men & pilgrims’, weddings, dead, sick and sinners.

Final rubric: Here eendiþ þe table of þe temperal of þe propre sanctorum & vpon þe common sanctorum of pistlis, lessouns & gospels þat ben rad in holy chirche þoru þe ȝeer & þe cotations where þei schulen be founden

Fol. 12v is blank.

2. (fols. 13r–90v)

[item 2 occupies quires II–XI]

Matthew–Luke 20:32 in the Later Version of the Wycliffite Bible with usual prologues

Missing Matthew 23:22–24:16 due to the loss of one leaf after fol. 38; and Mark 11:22–12:24 due to the loss of one leaf after fol. 58. Imperfect at the end because of the loss of quires, ending with ‘þe womman is deed þerfor’ and a catchword ‘in þe’. Running titles on both rectos and versos, consisting of book titles and chapter numbers on pages containing the beginnings of chapters. Usual rubrics in red, e.g., ‘Here eendiþ þe gospel of matheu & bigynneþ þe prolog of mark’; ‘þis seiþ ierom in his prolog on mark & begynneþ þe gospel of mark’ (fols. 45v–46r). Chapter numbers in red as words or Roman numerals. Indexing letters in the margins entered at the beginnings of lections rather than consistently; double strokes in the margins at the ends of lections. The beginnings and ends of lections are also highlighted with yellow wash. Added material within the text is occasionally underlined in red (e.g., fols. 28v, 31r, 75v). Red paraphs at the start of sections within the text. Corrections in the original hand.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment, paper flyleaves
Extent: 98 leaves, c.
Dimensions (leaf): 185 × 128 mm.
Foliation: modern in pencil, i–vi + 1–92

Collation

(fol. i–vi) paper and parchment flyleaves | (fols. 1–12) I (12) | (fols. 13–36) II–IV (8) | (fols. 37–43) V (8–1) missing 3 | (fols. 44–51) VI (8) | (fols. 52–58) VII (8–1) missing 8 | (fols. 59–90) VIII–XI (8). Catchwords survive; quire signatures survive and run consecutively a–k (fols. 13–90).
Secundo Folio: ‘fo cristmasse’ (table of lections, fol. 2r); ‘bigat ezechie’ (gospel, fol. 2r)

Layout

ruled for two columns with single vertical and horizontal bounding lines extending the full height and width of page, and a further set of double bounding lines in all margins; 29 lines per page; written space: c. 120 × 85 mm.

Hand(s)

textura, the table of lections may be in a different hand

Decoration

5-line red and blue ‘puzzle’ initials with purple penwork and full penwork borders at the beginnings of gospels.

2-line blue initials with red penwork at the beginnings of prologues and chapters.

Rubrics in red; red and blue paraphs.

Binding

Brown leather over pasteboard. Double blind fillet lines round the outer edge of both covers. Blind fillet-line and roll rectangular decoration with floral corner-pieces on both covers. Five raised bands on spine; stamped floral decoration on the panels between the bands. Burgundy leather label with gilt lettering on spine: ‘WICKLIFFE’S | TRANSL: | OF N:TES | M.S. IMPER’. Fragments of another label at the top of the spine. Edges of textblock speckled red. ‘21’ written in ink on the fore-edge of textblock. Pastedowns and flyleaves made of laid paper.

History

Origin: England ; 15th century, first quarter

Dialect survey:

  • ony(10), ech(10), fier(10), gouun(10), lijf(10), lijk(10), myche(10), sai(6) (sg.), saien(6) (pl.), silf(10), siche(4)/sich(2), þouȝ(6), þoru(9)
  • -iþ(8)/-eþ(2) (pres.ind.3sg.), -en(10) (pres.ind.pl.), -ynge(2)/-inge(8) (pres. part.), sche(10) (3sg.fem.pronoun, nom.), þei(10) (3pl.pronoun, nom.), hem(10) (3pl.pronoun, oblique), her(10) (3pl.pronoun, possessive)

Provenance and Acquisition

Inscriptions in several early modern hands on fol. vi recto; date ‘1560’.

John Warter, 1608 (fols. v recto, vi recto).

Oriel College, Oxford.

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. 59.

Bibliography

    Forshall, J. and Madden, F. (eds), The Holy Bible … in the earliest English versions made from the Latin Vulgate by John Wycliffe and his followers, 4 vols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1850), vol. 1, p. lii.
    Coxe, H. O., Catalogus codicum mss. qui in collegiis aulisque Oxoniensibus hodie adservantur, 2 vols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1852), vol. 1, Codices MSS. Collegii Orielensis, p. 28.
    Ogilvie-Thomson, S. J., Index of Middle English prose, 18 vols (Cambridge, 1984– ), Handlist VIII (1991), p. 76.
    Dove, M., The first English Bible: the text and context of the Wycliffite versions (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), p. 302.

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Last Substantive Revision

2023-03-26: Add Solopova description.