MS. Douce 236

Summary Catalogue no.: 21810

Arthur and Merlin (DIMEV 1886-1, NIMEV 1162)

Incipit: After his fader deyng / Sothe to say withouten blame, / Moyne was that childres name, / The other children were of gret renoun, / That on hi3te liter, that other Pendragon

Explicit: And buth at Wynchestre almast / Tharfore sende aboute in gret hast / To all thy frendes fer and ner, / The to helpen with al here power

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

Language(s): Middle English

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: parchment

Extent: i + 37 leaves

Dimensions (binding): 6.75 × 5.125 in.

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

Origin: 15th century ; England, Dorset (? See eLALME)

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

Francis Douce, 1757–1834

Bequeathed to the Bodleian in 1834

Record Sources

Description adapted (August 2024) by Stewart J. Brookes from the Summary Catalogue (1897) and the Catalogue of the Printed Books and Manuscripts Bequeathed by Francis Douce, esq. to the Bodleian Library (1840), with additional reference to published literature as cited

Summary Catalogue, vol. 4, p. 564

Printed Books and Manuscripts Bequeathed by Francis Douce, p. 38