MS. Douce 236
Summary Catalogue no.: 21810
Contents
Part of the Middle English romance of Merlin, in rhymed verse, imperfect at both ends
Begins 'After his fader deying' and ends with 'the to helpen with al here power'
There is also a gap after fol. 23
The manuscript contains c. 1300 lines, about 26 being lost at the beginning. The whole poem should be c. 2380 lines
Physical Description
Layout
For comments on the layout of this manuscript and speculation about why it has not been ruled, see Daniel Wakelin, Immaterial Texts in Late Medieval England: Making English Literary Manuscripts, 1400–1500 (2022), pp. 134 and 136. See also, Wakelin, Designing English: Early Literature on the Page (2018), p. 54
Hand(s)
Anglicana
History
Provenance and Acquisition
A note on fol. 14r (cf. 22) shows that the book was owned by Robert Jones at Tolpuddle in Dorset in the 17th century (see Eleanor Lawson, 'Studies in the Dialect and Palaeographical Materials of the Medieval West Country' [thesis, Glasgow, 2002], p. 95, for a reproduction of the inscription by Robert Jones and for discussion of the potential localisation of the manuscript to Tolpuddle)
'Edw. Lhwyd' or 'Lhuyd', c. 1700 CE
Bequeathed to the Bodleian in 1834
Record Sources
Digital Images
Digital Bodleian (3 images from 35mm slides)
Bibliography
Abbreviations
View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.
Last Substantive Revision
2024-08-23: Description revised to incorporate all the information in the Summary Catalogue (1897)