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MS. Douce 119

Summary Catalogue no.: 21693

Contents

(fols. 1ar–69v)
Nicholas Trevet, Chronicles
Incipit: (fol. 1b) ⟨P⟩urce qe nous sumes auisez de ceux
Explicit: Richard Roi dengleterte le filz Henry||

Text begins on fol. 1a, breaking off unfinished in the first chapter, to begin afresh on fol. 1b. The chapter on Alexander the Great breaks off at the end of fol. 24v, beginning afresh on fol. 25. The chapter on Tiberius breaks off unfinished at fol. 37r, with part of 37r blank and 37v blank (not ruled), the ending of the text corresponding to MS. Rawl. B. 178, fol. 18v, which is the end of a quire. Fol. 38r begins mid-sentence in the chapter on Constantine, corresponding to the opening words of MS. Rawl. B. 178, fol. 36r. These correspondences seem to confirm the suggestion of an early owner, on a note pasted to the upper board, that the Douce manuscript was copied at least in part from the Rawlinson manuscript. The text breaks off presumably unfinished, fol. 69v, in the chapter for 1183. Fol. 70r-v blank (ruled).

Marginal headings as far as fol. 35r, thereafter added by a later hand.

Language(s): Anglo-Norman

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: (fol. 1br) purce que nous
Secundo Folio: (fol. 2r) fuit puny
Form: codex
Support: parchment
i + 71 (foliated 1a, 1b, 2–70) + 1 (fol. 71, former pastedown) + i
Dimensions (leaf): 230 × 160 mm.

Collation

Often uncertain; leaves were rearranged by Douce. A tentative collation is: 1(8)-4(8) (fols. 1a-31), 5 (six leaves, fols. 32–37), 6(8)-7(8) (fols. 38–53), 8 (six leaves, fols. 54–59), 9 (six leaves, fols. 60–65), 10 (five leaves, fols. 66–70). Catchwords fols. 23, 45, 53, 59

Layout

Written space 170–80 × 120 mm. Ruled in leadpoint, occasionally with ruling for running-heads at top and bottom. c. 36–42 long lines, varying in different sections of the manuscript, as follows: fols. 1b-7: 42 lines, written above top line; fols. 8–24: 37 lines, written above top line; fols. 25–31: 36 lines, written below top line; fols. 32–37: 37 lines, written above top line; fols. 38–45: 37 lines, written mostly above top line; fols. 46–53: 39 lines, written above top line; fols. 54–65: 36–40 lines, written above top line; fols. 66–69: 38–9 lines, written above top line.

Hand(s)

Secretary with some anglicana forms, probably by one rather variable scribe.

Decoration

Spaces for initials left blank; spaces for rubrication left blank; space for geneaological diagram (?) left blank.

Binding

Seventeenth-century with armorial gilt decoration (see provenance)

Rebacked.

History

Origin: 15th century, first quarter ; England

Provenance and Acquisition

‘Mr Harman’, ‘Katrin Harman’, 16th century, fol. 1a recto: unidentified.

‘Quo quid antiquius eo melius | G: Buggyn’, fol. 1a recto: probably William Buggin (d. 1618) (see Quarto catalogue of Laudian Manuscripts, p. xiii).

Ley family (arms on the binding, as baronets): probably Sir James Ley (baronet 1619, d. 1629)

Henry Spelman (d. 1641) (signed, fols. 1ar, 66r)

E⟨dward⟩ Umfreville (d. 1786, see ODNB) (note by him, pasted to upper board)

Francis Douce, 1757–1834: bookplate on upper board, and note by him

Bequeathed to the Bodleian in 1834

Record Sources

Description by Matthew Holford, November 2019. Previously described in the Summary Catalogue (1897).
Summary Catalogue, vol. 4, p. 527
Summary Catalogue, vol. 4, p. 528

Digital Images

Digital Bodleian (full digital facsimile)

Bibliography

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Last Substantive Revision

2019-11-22: Description revised for publication on Digital Bodleian.