MS. Bodl. 480
Summary Catalogue no.: 2020
Contents
Middle English version of James of Milan (Ps.-Bonaventure), Stimulus amoris, perhaps by Walter Hilton .
The first leaf has been almost entirely cut out, and its place supplied by a 16th cent. transcript on three pages, which begins 'Stimulus Amoris. How a man shall have Christis Passion in minde ...Al forwonderid of our selffe'. Similarly fol. 25 is a later substitute.
On fol. 64v a 16th cent. hand has written two English stanzas on the book (beg. 'Thowgh some thing in thys booke')(DIMEV 5884, NIMEV 3706.6), a Latin sentence, and then ‘S. and B. belonges to me; ijs’: the stanzas are over some older English lines, of which the first two are 'Who so euer on me doth loke | I am my w .... ladys boke' (DIMEV 6623, NIMEV 4138).
The first verses identified as being in the hand of Stephen Batman (M. Parkes, 'Stephen Batman's manuscripts', in id., Pages from the past: medieval writing skills and manuscript books, no. 16).
Physical Description
Decoration
Good initials.
Additions with historiated initial of 16th century, second half.
Contemporary notes on the illumination, fol. 64v. (Pächt and Alexander iii. 951)
Binding
Plain white sheepskin on bevelled boards, 15th cent. English work, repaired.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
'My lady Marques Dorsettes booke. Ihesus Maria': dated to c. 1400 by Parkes (op. cit.) and tentatively identified by him with Margaret (Holland) (-1439) wife of John Beaufort (-1410).
Stephen Batman (-1584) ; see fol. 64v.
Presented by sir Walter Cope in 1602.
Record Sources
Abbreviations
View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.
Last Substantive Revision
2020-04-20: Description revised to include all information from SC.