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

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MS. Bodl. 814

Summary Catalogue no.: 2683

Contents

William Langland, Piers Plowman

The titles of the divisions are, after the prologue, 'Visio Petri le Ploughman' (fol. 3v); 'Dowel' (fol. 31v); 'Dobet' or 'Debet' (fol. 60v); 'Dobest' (fol. 87v)

Language(s): Middle English

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment
1 (pastedown; a sermon) + iv (paper) + 92 + 2+ iv (paper) + 1 (pastedown) leaves.
Dimensions (binding): 258 × 177 × 33 mm.
Dimensions (leaf): 251 × 173 mm.

Layout

187 × 125 mm.

Hand(s)

One, possibly two, hands in a brown ink. Littera cursiva antiquior.

Decoration

Flourished initials in red and blue ink. Letter height between three and eleven lines in height, but with long extending flourishes. Found on fols. 1r, 3v, 6v, 9v, 14r, 16r, and 35v.

Alternating red and blue pilcrows on fols. 1r–8v.

Latin text regularly underlined in red.

Instructions left for initials, headings, and pilcrows from fol. 22v.

Various manicula and marginal notes on fols. 2r (ink: 'Idolatry'), 2v (ink), 3r (ink), 13r (ink), 13v (ink), 19r (crayon), 21r (crayon), 31r (leadpoint), and 35r (leadpoint).

History

Origin: 15th century, first half ; England

Provenance and Acquisition

'This booke apartanithe vntoe Thomas Hobsun', 16th century

There are scribbles on fols 92v-94, including 'Henrye Heyghte'

Presented by Sir Richard Worseley in 1607

MS. Bodl. 814, flyleaves

Contents

Sermons

Parts of two leaves of Latin sermons are in the binding. See MS. Auct. F. 5. 30, MS. Bodl. 177 and MS. Bodl. 489

Language(s): Latin

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Parchment

History

Origin: 13th century (?)

Additional Information

Record Sources

Description adapted (January 2023) by Stewart J. Brookes from the Summary Catalogue (1922)
Summary Catalogue, vol. 2, part 1, p. 491
Summary Catalogue, vol. 2, part 1, p. 492

2025-05-16: Additional data collected by Barnaby Cox and Lia Neill as part of the 'Big Data' and Medieval Manuscripts workshop held at the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford on 22nd May 2025. Data encoded in TEI-XML by Sebastian Dows-Miller on 28th May 2025.

Bibliography

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Last Substantive Revision

2025-05-16: Additional data collected by Barnaby Cox and Lia Neill as part of the 'Big Data' and Medieval Manuscripts workshop held at the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford on 22nd May 2025. Data encoded in TEI-XML by Sebastian Dows-Miller on 28th May 2025.