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MS. Don. e. 247

Summary Catalogue no.: Not in Summary Catalogue (late accession):

Devotional compilation; The Chastising of God's Children. England, mid-15th century.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment
Extent: 102 leaves
Dimensions (leaf): 170 × 125 mm.

Collation

No signatures; regular catchwords.

Condition

Some lower margins cut away

Layout

In 23 long lines to the page; writing area 130 × 80–5 mm.

Hand(s)

Written in textura rotunda, probably more than one similar professional hand, although item 3 a single one.

Binding

Brown calf, s. xix.

History

Origin: 15th century, middle ; English

Provenance and Acquisition

Signatures s. xvi/xvii of Sampson ⟨Trallop(?)⟩ (cut off at the page-foot, fol. 31) and Anthonye Trallopp/Trolloppe (fols 50v, 53v) as owner; possibly a Sampson Trollope of Eden Dene, County Durham

17th-century inscriptions, including a ditty ‘The time of youthe sore / I repent ⟨re⟩membering how / I have it spente gree / my Lorde God omnipotent’ tentatively attributed to Sir John Fethy.

Alistair Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 9th Marquess of Londonderry

Sold by his executors, Christie's, 21 May 2014 lot. 11

Acquired by the Bodleian with the assistance of the Friends of the Bodleian.

MS. Don. e. 247, booklet I (fols. 1-14)

Contents

Language(s): Middle English

1. (fols. 1–6v)
Devotional compilation

Comprised of excerpts from the Middle English 'IX Points', 'Stimulus amoris' and 'Form of Living, followed by a hortatory conclusion. Printed in full, M. Cré and R. Rohrhofer, 'An introduction to Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Don. e. 247', Journal of the Early Book Society (2018), at 190-208.

(fol. 1r–v)
The Nine Points

Jolliffe I.26, IPMEP 11; final section only

(fol. 1v–6v)
Stimulus amoris maior

(extracts in English translation)

Incipit: For encheson þt loue maye alle do wt any mysdo
2. (fols. 6v–14v)
Richard Rolle, The Form of Living

Excerpt, ed. Ogilivie-Thomson lines 267-486.

Incipit: At þe firste begynnynge torne enterelich to þi lorde ihesu crist

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment

Collation

1(8) (lacks 1, 2) 2(8)

Decoration

Textual divisions usually red-slashed capitals, infrequent red paraph.

MS. Don. e. 247, booklet II (fols. 15-102)

Contents

3. (fols. 18–102)
The Chastising of God's Children,

ed. Bazire-Colledge, preceded (fols. 15-17v) by a table of chapters. The text is incomplete, lacking a quire's worth of material after fol. 70 and breaking off incomplete with a catchword in ch. XXVII

Explicit: If panne afterward in tyme of seieng his hert||
Language(s): Middle English

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment

Collation

3(8)-9(8) [missing quire], 10(8)-13(8)

Decoration

Headings in red. Segments introduced by two-line unflourished red lombards. The text is divided by red paraphs, biblical citations underlined in red.

Additional Information

Record Sources

Adapted from an unpublished summary description by Ralph Hanna, c. 2017, and from the sale catalogue, with additional reference to published literature as cited.

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Last Substantive Revision

2022-10: Revised with reference to Hanna description, sale catalogue and published literature.