MS. Bodl. 771

Summary Catalogue no.: 2553

Language(s): Middle English with Latin

1. (fols. 1r–3v)

[item 1 occupies quire I]

Table of lections of Type I based on Oon of Foure

Rubric: Her bigynneþ a kalender of alle þe gospels þat ben rad in chirche

The entries for readings consist of the name of the liturgical occasion, a reference to a part (in red) and chapter (in black) of Oon of Foure, followed by the first letter of the reading. The opening or closing words are not included. The table consists of the temporal, sanctoral (with a rubric ‘Here bigynneþ þe sanctorum’) and commemorations. The sanctoral is similar to those in the manuscripts of the Later Version of the Wycliffite Bible (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, pp. 683–97) and has larger red initials at Andrew’s day and eve, Conception of our Lady, Candlemas, Matthew the apostle, Annunciation, Philip and Jacob, ‘Hooly rode’ in May (Invention of the Cross), ‘Midsomer day’, John and Paul, Peter and Paul, Mary Magdalene, Lawrence, Assumption, Bartholomew, Nativity of our Lady, ‘Hooly rode’ in September (Exaltation of the Cross), Matthew, Michaelmas, Luke, Simon and Jude, All Saints. Commemorations are in the following order: Our Lady, Trinity, Cross, Holy Ghost, angels, ‘at masse for breþeren’, peace, king and queen, ‘to gete þe hooli gost’, a man for himself, ‘to axe þe grace of þe hooly gost’, ‘ffor synnes & repentours’, ‘ffor tribulacioun of herte’, the sick, rain, ‘forr clerete of eyr’, ‘ffor tyme of bateil’, ‘ffor him þat is in boondis’. ‘Weddings’ added after ‘Amen dico’ at the end.

2. (fols. 4r–79v)

[items 2–3 occupy quires II–XVI]

Oon of Foure

Starting with a Prologue with a rubric ‘þe prolog on a book maad of þe four gospelers’ (ed. Smith (1985)). Includes a list of chapters in twelve parts of Oon of Foure with their contents briefly described (fol. 4r–8r), followed by ‘Here endeþ þe table of þe chapitres And biginneþ þe firste chapitre of þe firste part’ (fol. 8r). Part and chapter numbers in red. Running titles in red containing part numbers, usually as Roman numerals. Corrections by the original scribe in the margins. References to chapters in the gospels by the original rubricator at the beginning of each chapter, and sometimes elsewhere in the text. The beginnings of readings are marked in red in the text, and the first letter of each reading is written in the margin in red. A gloss within the text is underlined in red on fol. 94v; no marginal glosses.

Final rubric: here endiþ oon of foure þat is o book of alle foure gospeleris gaderid schortli into o story bi clement of lantony blessid be þe holy trinite amen

A leaf is missing after fol. 55 (part 8, chapter xiii).

3. (fols. 80r–118v)

A personal collection for reading (?), consisting of extracts from most epistles, followed by extracts from Deeds (fol. 96vb), one short extract from the Apocalypse (fol. 97va) and extracts from the Old Testament (fol. 97va) in the Earlier Version of the Wycliffite Bible

Includes some very short passages (one or two lines long), as well a complete book (1 Timothy, fols. 85v–88r). The extracts from epistles follow the order of epistles in the New Testament, whereas the extracts from the Old Testament have a thematic organisation. The focus of the Old Testament extracts seems to be on the moral and religious law, covering such subjects as the ten commandments (fols. 97va–102ra), including the worship of images (fols. 97va–8ra, 104ra), the fear of God (fols. 102va–b), kingship (fols. 102vb–103va), false gods (fols. 103va–104ra), priesthood (fols. 105va–106va), offerings (fols. 106va–107rb), sins (fols. 108ra–111ra), and wealth, poverty and alms (fols. 115vb–116ra). There are no extracts from the gospels, which suggests that the collection was designed for this copy or its archetype, and was meant to complement Oon of Foure. Notes in Latin in a 15th-century hand in the margins, some simply saying ‘nota’, others drawing attention to the content of the passage, e.g., ‘nota de sepulcris’, ‘de superbia’. Fragments of parchment bookmarks throughout.

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: parchment, paper flyleaves

Extent: 124 leaves, c.

Dimensions (leaf): 260 × 118 mm.

Foliation: modern in pencil and ink, i–iii 1–121

Collation

Secundo Folio: ‘bootes wiþ’ (fol. 2r)

Layout

ruled in plummet for two columns with single vertical and horizontal bounding lines extending the full height and width of page; 37 lines per page; written space: c. 178 × 112 mm.

Hand(s)

very informal textura, black and brown ink; the table of lections is by a different scribe

Decoration

3- to 4-line red roughly drawn initials, some with penwork, at the beginning of parts of Oon of Foure; 2- to 3-line similar initials at the beginning of chapters.

Rubrics and paraphs in red ink.

Binding

Speckled brown leather over pasteboard, late 17th or 18th century. Blind fillet-line border round the outer edge of both covers; blind rectangular frame with floral decorations and floral corner-pieces on both covers. Five raised bands on spine. Laid paper pastedowns and flyleaves. Fols. ii and 120 were the pastedowns of a medieval binding of wood boards sewn on five double cords. ‘771’ written in dark ink on the edge of textblock.

History

Origin: England ; 14th century, end or 15th century, early

Made for a member of a monastic community (?): commemoration ‘at masse for breþeren’, instead of a more usual ‘For Bretheren and Sisters, and good doers/salus populi’ (see 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. 4, p. 697). Less professional appearance than is characteristic of many other manuscripts of the Wycliffite Bible; includes what appears to be a personal collection of extracts from the Earlier Version of the Wycliffite Bible designed for this copy or its archetype.

Dialect survey, Oon of Foure:

any(10)/ony(1), ich(5), fyr(7), ȝouun(8)/ȝouen(2), lyf(10), lyk(10), miche(9)/ myche(1), siȝ(9)/saiȝ(1) (sg.), siȝen(7)/saiȝen(1) (pl.), self(3)/silf(7), sich(1)/ siche(2), þouȝ(1), houȝ(10) (‘how’), nouȝ(5) (‘now’)
-iþ(1)/-eþ(9) (pres.ind.3sg.), -en(10) (pres.ind.pl.), -ynge(3)/-inge(7) (pres. part.), she(10) (3sg.fem. pronoun, nom.), þei(8)/þey(2) (3pl.pronoun, nom.), hem(10) (3pl.pronoun, oblique), her(10) (3pl.pronoun, possessive); -z is occasionally used to represent the plural inflection of nouns

Provenance and Acquisition

Letters of the alphabet in red in a medieval hand at the top of fol. ii verso.

Franciscan convent in Shrewsbury (?) (Ker, N. R., Medieval libraries of Great Britain, a list of surviving books, 2nd edn (London, 1964)): ‘Couintre. conuentus. Fratrum Minorum Salopie…’, 15th century (fol. iii verso). The inscription can be compared with inscriptions in two other manuscripts attributed by Ker to the Franciscan convent in Shrewsbury: ‘Iste liber pertinet comunitate [? abbreviated and modified by the original hand] Fratrum Salopie’ (Oxford, University College MS. 41, fol. 2v) and ‘de communitate fratrum minorum Salopie’ (Oxford, University College MS. 77, fol. 2r). The two inscriptions are in different hands, both probably of the 15th century, neither of which is the main hand of the manuscript. ‘Couintre’ may be a personal name. See also MS. Rawl. C. 258.

Thomas Rydway (also on fol. 120r), Thomas Hawys, Wyllyam Welat, Rycardus Lyne, Wylyam Justyes, Wylyam Lyne, Maryun Leypil, Aneys Colle, early 16th century (fol. ii verso).

In London in the 16th century (?): ‘Rygt trusty and wellbelouyd frynd I grete yow well wyt all my hert desyryng to here of yowre welfere pryyng to here of myne prayng you to send me IX s by Iakys the caryar to londvn no more to yow all thys but all myty Iesu haue yow in hys kepy’ (fol. iii recto).

Thomas Cardiff, 16th century (fol. 1r), who owned other MSS currently in the Bodleian (Madan, F. and Craster, H. H. E., Summary catalogue of western manuscripts in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, vol. 2, part I (collections received before 1660 and miscellaneous MSS acquired during the first half of the 17th century), nos. 1–3490 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1922)).

Bodleian Library: the MS. first appears in the Bodleian lists about 1655 (Madan, F. and Craster, H. H. E., Summary catalogue of western manuscripts in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, vol. 2, part I (collections received before 1660 and miscellaneous MSS acquired during the first half of the 17th century), nos. 1–3490 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1922)). Earlier shelfmark: ‘Sup. A. Art. 58’ (fol. 1r); ‘58’ (fols. ii verso, iii recto, 1r, 120v).

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. 8. Previously described:

Summary Catalogue, vol. 2, part 1, p. 424

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. xlvii.

Madan, F. and Craster, H. H. E., Summary catalogue of western manuscripts in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, vol. 2, part I (collections received before 1660 and miscellaneous MSS acquired during the first half of the 17th century), nos. 1–3490 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1922), no. 2553.

Ker, N. R., Medieval libraries of Great Britain, a list of surviving books, 2nd edn (London, 1964), p. 179.

Smith, P. M., ‘An edition of parts I–V of the Wycliffite translation of Clement of Llanthony’s Latin gospel harmony Unum ex Quattuor known as Oon of Foure (PhD thesis, University of Southampton, 1985).

Ogilvie-Thomson, S. J., Index of Middle English prose, 18 vols (Cambridge, 1984– ), Handlist VIII (1991), p. 18.

Scott, K. L. (gen. ed.), An index of images in English manuscripts from the time of Chaucer to Henry VIII, c.1380–c.1509: the Bodleian Library, Oxford, 3 vols (Turnhout: Harvey Miller Publishers, 2000–02), vol. 1, p. 73, no. 297.

Dove, M., The first English Bible: the text and context of the Wycliffite versions (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), pp. 52 n. 78, 54, 299.

Raschko, M., ‘Oon of Foure: harmonizing Wycliffite and Pseudo-Bonaventuran approaches to the Life of Christ’, in Johnson, I. and Westphall, A. F. (eds), The Pseudo-Bonaventuran Lives of Christ: exploring the Middle English tradition (Turnhout: Brepols, 2013), pp. 341–73 at 364–5.

Online resources:

MLGB3: Medieval Libraries of Great Britain

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Last Substantive Revision

2023-03-24: Add Solopova description.

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