MS. Eng. poet. d. 200

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

South English legendary

(fols. 1–7, 10–12v)

South English Legendary. (fragments of 12 leaves)

(fol.1)

James the Great, ed. E.E.T.S.235, pp.334 1.213–341

(fol.3)

Seven Sleepers. Pr. from MS. Ashmole 43 by C. d'Evelyn, ‘The Legend of the “Seven Sleepers of Ephesus” in the South English Legendary’ in Studies in language and literature in honour of Marret Schlauch, Warsaw, 1966, pp.86–91

Incipit: Seve slepers wer' wile men

(fol.5)

St. Lawrence, ed. E.E.T.S.236, pp.358–364

(fol.7v, continued on fol.10v)

Rubric: Assumcio Sancte Marie

ed. loc. cit., pp.365–73

(fol.12v)

St. Bartholomew, ends imperfect, ed. loc. cit., pp.373–41.1–24.

Explicit: yat hem to hele brozte||

Language(s): Middle English

(fols. 8–9)

Ipolite (ed. E.E.T.S. O.S. 87, pp. 481–3). Fol. 9v is blank. Fols. 8–9 are smaller leaves inserted in the 15th century.

Language(s): Middle English

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: bor(?) is soule

Form: codex

Support: parchment

Extent: 12 leaves

Dimensions (leaf): 242 × 165 mm.

Dimensions (written): 181–5 × 110 mm.

Collation

1(10) (5 and 6 are singletons; 2 leaves later inserted after 7). Catchwords: none visible. Leaf signatures: oblique red dashes survive at the bottom edge of fols. 4r and 5r.

Layout

40 long lines in original MS. Ruling not visible/present.

Decoration

Red initials and paragraph marks.

Binding

Loosely sewn, and contained in a modern paper wrapper. A record of the structure, made before the addition of the wrapper, is kept in Duke Humfrey's Library, at REFS. LVI.6.

History

Origin: 14th century, second half; additions, 15th century ; English

Provenance and Acquisition

Written in a dialect which has been attributed to Gloucestershire; originally part of London, B.L., Egerton MS. 2810 see Manfred Görlach, The textual tradition of the South English Legendary (Leeds Texts and Monographs N.S.6), 1974, pp. 107–8.

Fols. 8–9 were added in the 15th century, in a dialect attributed to Cheshire; a 15th-century list of contents was subsequently added on fol. 3v of Egerton MS. 2810.

? Henry de Wele, of Weston, near Muggington, Derby, early 16th century: inscribed on fol. 188v of Egerton 2810: 'Henry de Wele dwellyng in Weston in ye parache of Mogyngton in the counte of Derbe'; it is quite possible that the present MS. still formed part of the parent MS. at this date, but that it was separated by the time George Allen of Darlington (1736–1800) had the parent volume bound.

William Thomson, archbishop of York (1819–90): found among his personal correspondence.

Bought, 1974

Record Sources

Typescript description by Bodleian Library staff, revised by Peter Kidd, late 1990s.

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Last Substantive Revision

2017-07-01: First online publication.

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