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

MS. Fairfax 2

Summary Catalogue no.: 3882

Contents

Language(s): Middle English with Latin

Fols. i–ii are paper flyleaves, blank apart from modern notes.

1. (fols. 1r–385r)
Old and New Testaments in the Later Version of the Wycliffite Bible with prefatory epistles

New Testament has usual the Later Version of the Wycliffite Bible prologues, Old Testament has prologues in the Earlier Version of the Wycliffite Bible, apart from the prologues to Baruch and Isaiah which are in the Later Version of the Wycliffite Bible; lacks prologues to Jeremiah and Wisdom. Running titles in red on both rectos and versos, consisting of the titles of books preceded by blue paraphs. Brief notes summarising the contents of the text in the hand of the original scribe in the upper margin (such notes are largely absent in the part following the calendar-lectionary, see below). Chapter numbers, most consisting of ‘cᵐ’ followed by a Roman numeral. Rubrics in black, underlined in red. Alternative translations and crossreferences to other biblical books in the margins; glosses in the margins, indicating the subject matter, comparing the text to the Hebrew version and explaining individual words. Most text in the margins is in the hand of the main scribe, but some is in other contemporary hands. Added material within the text is occasionally underlined in red. Corrections by the main scribe and in a contemporary hand. Added drawings of pointing hands and ‘nota’ in the margins, as well as notes such as ‘mark wel þis booc’ (fols. 201r, 210r), late 15th century. Erasures of medieval or early modern inscriptions (e.g., fols. 279v, 303r, 388v); margins occasionally cut out presumably to remove the text they contained.

(fol. 1r)
Prefatory epistles
Rubric: Here bigynneþ þe pistel of seynt Ierom prest of alle þe bokis of goddis storie þat is clepid a prolog
Incipit: Broþer ambrose to me
Incipit: I haue taken desired epistles
(fol. 3r)
Genesis
Rubric: Here endeþ þe prolog now bigynneþ genesis
(fol. 18r)
Exodus
Rubric: Here endeþ genesis se now exodus
(fol. 30r)
Leviticus
Rubric: Heere endeþ exodus se now leuyticus
(fol. 39r)
Numbers
Rubric: Here endeþ Leuiticus see now þe book of Noumbre
(fol. 51v)
Deuteronomy
Rubric: Heere endeþ þe book of Noumbre & þe lawe Se now Deutronomy
(fol. 62r)
Prologue to Joshua
Rubric: Heere endeþ Pentaceucon se now þe prolog of Iosue
(fol. 62v)
Joshua
Rubric: Here endeþ þe prolog se now þe book of Iosue
(fol. 69v)
Judges
Rubric: Here endeþ Iosue se now þe book of doomes
(fol. 77r)
Ruth
Rubric: Here endeþ þe book of doomes Se now þe booc of Ruth
(fol. 78r)
Prologue to 1 Kings
Rubric: Her endeþ þe booc of Ruth Se now þe prolog of þe bokis foure of kyngis
Incipit: Forsoþe þe tonge
(fol. 78v)
1 Kings
Rubric: Her endeþ þe prolog Se now þe firste book of kinges
(fol. 88v)
2 Kings
Rubric: Here endeþ þe firste book of kinges Se now þe seconde
(fol. 97r)
3 Kings
Rubric: Here endeþ þe seconde book of kinges Se now þe þridde
(fol. 107v)
4 Kings
Rubric: Heere endeþ þe þridde book of kinges Se now þe fourþe
(fol. 116v)
Prologue to 1 Chronicles
Rubric: Heere eendiþ þe fourþe book of kinges Se now þe prolog bifore Paralipomenon
Incipit: If þe making of þe seuenti
(fol. 117r)
1 Chronicles
Rubric: Heere eendeþ þe prolog Se now þe firste book of Paralipomenon
(fol. 125v)
2 Chronicles
Rubric: Here endeþ þe firste book of Paralipomenon Se now þe seconde

Prayer of Manasseh (fol. 136v) without a rubric.

(fol. 137r)
Prologue to 1 Ezra
Rubric: Here endeþ þe seconde book of Paralipomenon Se now þe prolog of Esdre
Incipit: Wheþer it be hardere
(fol. 137v)
Commendation of Ezra
Rubric: Here folowiþ þe comendacioun of Esdre
(fol. 137v)
1 Ezra
Rubric: Here eendeþ þe prolog of Esdre Se now þe book
(fol. 140v)
2 Ezra
Rubric: Heere eendeþ þe firste book of Esdre See now þe seconde book of Esdre or Neemye
(fol. 145r)
Prologue to Tobit
Rubric: Here endeþ þe seconde book of Esdre or Neemye See now þe prolog of Tobie
Incipit: To cromacie
(fol. 145r)
Tobit
Rubric: Here endeþ þe prolog of tobie Se now þe booc
(fol. 148r)
Prologue to Judith
Rubric: Here endeþ þe book of Thobie Se now þe prolog of Iudith
Incipit: Anentis þe ebrues
(fol. 148v)
Judith
Rubric: Here endeþ þe prolog of Iudith Se now þe booc
(fol. 152v)
Prologue to Esther
Rubric: Here endeþ þe book of Iudith Se now þe prolog of hester
(fol. 152v)
Esther
Rubric: Here endeþ þe prolog of hester Se now þe book
(fol. 156v)
Prologue to Job
Rubric: Heere eendeþ þe book of hester Se now þe prolog of Ioob
Incipit: I am constreyned bi alle
(fol. 157r)
Job
Rubric: Here endeþ þe prolog of Ioob Se now þe booc

Gloss: ‘Iob was a verri man in kinde…’.

(fol. 165v)
Prologue to psalms
Rubric: Heere eendeþ þe booc of Ioob Se now þe prolog of þe sawter
Incipit: Whane it is knowen
(fol. 166r)
Psalms
Rubric: Here endeþ þe prolog of þe Sawter Se now þe booc

The psalms are laid out as prose, preceded by English titles and Latin incipits in black underlined in red. Psalm numbers in the margins in the original hand. Verses start with alternating 1-line red or blue initials. Title and other glosses in the margins of some psalms in a contemporary hand different from that of the main scribe. Liturgical divisions marked with larger initials at psalms 26, 38, 52, 68, 80, 97 and 109; ‘feria’ followed by a number added in the margins at liturgical divisions in a 16th-century hand.

2. (fol. 178r)
A list in English of weekly canticles: Confitebor tibi domine , Ego dixi , Exultauit cor meum , Cantemus domino , Domine audiui , Audite celi ; and daily canticles: Benedicite omnia opera, Benedictus dominus deus, Magnificat and Nunc dimittis.

The entries for weekly canticles consist of a note (2- to 4-lines long) describing the contents and the circumstances of composition of each canticle, a Latin incipit and a reference to a biblical book and chapter. The entries for daily canticles consist of a Latin incipit and a reference to a biblical source. At the end ‘Here endeþ þe book of salmes’ and, added in the hand responsible for the Athanasian Creed (see below), ‘blessed be þe holi trynite Amen amen’.

3. (fol. 187v)
Athanasian Creed

In a different hand and ink, preceded by a Latin incipit

Rubric: Se now Quicumque vult in engliȝssh þe wiche Attanasy a doctor of greke made
4. (fols. 188r–193v)
Sarum calendar-lectionary in English
Rubric: Se now þe kalender of alle Lessons Pistels & Gospels of al þe ȝeer aftir þe vse of Salisbury
Rubric: Ƿe effect of þis kalender is to knowe þe Lessons þe pistels & gospellis as þei ben red in þe chirche aftir þe vse of salisbiri ffirst here aboue bigynneþ þe sundai wiþ inne þe vtas of twelf day & þenne dominicals & ferials suyng after eeff & þenne þe feest of ascencion & þe sundai wiþ inne þe vtas. & þe vtas of ascencion & þenne dominicals & ferials suyng aftir þe trinite & þenne aduent wiþ hise dominicals and ferials suyng

Golden numbers and the dominical letters followed by the names of feasts and saints’ days, followed by the entries for readings consisting of an indexing letter and an abbreviated title and chapter number of a biblical book, without the opening or closing words of a reading. The major feasts are in red, including Augustine of Canterbury (26 May). Does not include David, Chad, John of Beverley, Winifred or Frideswide (promulgated in 1415 under archbishop Chichele; see Pfaff, R. W., The liturgy in medieval England: a history (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), pp. 440–1), which suggests that the manuscript pre-dates 1415 (see Provenance). The readings for the dominicals and ferials are listed at the end of each month. Contains all feasts characteristic of the Later Version of the Wycliffite Bible (Forshall, J. and Madden, F. (eds), The Holy Bible … in the earliest English versions made from the Latin Vulgate by John Wycliffe and his followers, 4 vols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1850), vol. 4, pp. 683, 690–6). The translation of Edward the Confessor is entered as ‘of edmund’ (13 October). Bertinus is added over an erasure in a contemporary hand (5 September, not in Forshall and Madden’s edition of the table of lections (1850), vol. 4, p. 694). Francis is added without readings (4 October), late 15th century. The feast of Thomas Becket and titles ‘pope’ are erased. Commemorations appear in the lower part of leaves containing October, November and December (fols. 192v–193r), in the following order: the Virgin Mary, Trinity, Holy Ghost, angles, peace, rain, ‘A man for him silf’, cross, ‘For briþern & sistres’, clear weather, ‘In time of batel’, ‘For pestilence of beestis’, pilgrims, weddings, sinners, sick, dead.

(fols. 194r)
Prologue to Proverbs
Rubric: Here bigynneþ þe preface of seint Ierome in þe book of prouerbis
Incipit: To cromacie

More than one-third of the first column is left blank on fol. 194r.

(fol. 194r)
Proverbs
Rubric: Here endeþ þe prolog of prouerbis Se now þe book
(fol. 201r)
Prologue to Ecclesiastes
Rubric: Here eendeþ þe booc of prouerbis Se now þe prolog in þe booc of ecclesiates þat is to seie booc of talkere to þe puple or to gidere calle
Incipit: Þis almost þe fifte
(fol. 201r)
Ecclesiastes
Rubric: Here endeþ þe prolog of ecclesiastes se now þe booc
(fol. 203v)
Song of Songs
Rubric: Here endeþ þe booc of ecclesiastes Se now þe book of song of songis
(fol. 205r)
Wisdom
Rubric: Here endeþ þe book of songis Se now þe booc of Sapiens or wisdom
(fol. 209v)
Prologue to Ecclesiasticus
Rubric: Here endiþ þe booc of Sapiens or wisdom Se now þe prolog of þe booc of Ecclesiastici
Incipit: Of manye and grete
(fol. 210r)
Ecclesiasticus
Rubric: Here endeþ þe prolog Se now þe booc
(fol. 223r)
Prologue to Isaiah
Rubric: Heere endeþ þe book of ecclesiastici Se now a prolog of Isaye þe profete
Rubric: Anoper prolog of Isayee and opere profetis
Incipit: As seynt Ierom seiþ

In spite of the rubric only the Later Version of the Wycliffite Bible prologue is included.

(fol. 223r)
Isaiah
Rubric: Here eendeþ þe prolog See now Isaie
(fol. 239r)
Jeremiah
Rubric: Heere eendeþ Isaye Se now Ieremye (fol. 238v)
(fol. 256r)
Lamentations of Jeremiah
Rubric: Heere bigynneþ þe lamentacion of Ieremye
(fol. 257r)
Prayer of Jeremiah
Rubric: Heere enden þe lamentacions Se now þe preier of Ieremye þe profete
(fol. 257v)
Prologue to Baruch
Rubric: Here endeþ þe book of Ieremie Se now þe prolog of Baruch
Incipit: Þis book wich is titled
(fol. 257v)
Baruch
Rubric: Here endeþ þe prolog of baruk se now þe booc
(fol. 259v)
Ezekiel
Rubric: Her endeþ Baruc Se now Ezechiel
(fol. 276r)
Daniel
Rubric: Here endeþ ezechiel þe prophete Se now danyel þe prophete
(fol. 283r)
Hosea
Rubric: Here endeþ daniel þe prophete Se now Osee þe profete
(fol. 285r)
Joel
Rubric: Here endeþ þe booc of þe profete Osee Se now Ioel þe prophete
(fol. 286r)
Amos
Rubric: Here endeþ Ioel þe profete see now þe book of þe profete Amos
(fol. 288r)
Obadiah
Rubric: Here endeþ Amos þe profete Se now Abdias þe profete (fol. 287v)
(fol. 288r)
Jonah
Rubric: Her endeþ Abdias þe profete Se now Ionas þe profete
(fol. 288v)
Micah
Rubric: Here endeþ Ionas þe profete Se now Micheas þe profete
(fol. 290r)
Nahum
Rubric: Here endeþ Micheas þe profete Se now Naum þe profete
(fol. 290v)
Habakkuk
Rubric: Here endeþ Naum þe profete Se now Abacuk þe profete
(fol. 291r)
Zephaniah
Rubric: Here endeþ Abacuk þe profete Se now þe booc of sophonye þe profete
(fol. 292r)
Haggai
Rubric: Here eendeþ þe booc of Sophonye Se now þe booc of Aggei þe profete
(fol. 292v)
Zechariah
Rubric: Here eendeþ þe booc of Aggei Se now þe booc of Zacharie þe profete
(fol. 295r)
Malachi
Rubric: Here endeþ of Zacarie þe booc Se now Malachie þe profete
(fol. 295v)
1 Maccabees
Rubric: Heere endeþ Malachie þe profete Se now þe firste book of Macabeus
(fol. 305r)
2 Maccabees
Rubric: Heere endeþ þe firste book of Macabeus Se now þe second book of macabeus
(fol. 312r)
Prologue to Matthew
Rubric: Heere endeþ þe secounde book of Macabeus and al þe oolde testament Se now þe newe testament | Heere bygynneþ þe Prolog of Ierom on Matheu
Incipit: Mathew þat was of Iudee
(fol. 312r)
Matthew
Rubric: Ierom in his prolog on Matheu seiþ þis pleinly
(fol. 321v)
Prologue to Mark
Rubric: Here eendeþ Mathew Se now þe prolog on Mark
Incipit: Mark þe gospeler was þe chosen seruaunt
(fol. 321v)
Mark
Rubric: Ierom in his prolog on Mark seiþ þis pleynli
(fol. 327r)
Prologue to Luke
Rubric: Here endeþ Mark Se now þe prolog on Luke
Incipit: Lvke was a man of sirie
(fol. 327r)
Luke
Rubric: Here endeþ þe prolog on Luke Se now þe book of Luk
(fol. 337v)
Prologue to John
Rubric: Here eendeþ Luke Se now þe prolog on Ioon
Incipit: This is Ioon euangelist
(fol. 337v)
John
Rubric: Ierom in his prolog on Ioon seiþ al þis Se now þe book
(fol. 345r)
Prologue to Romans
Rubric: Here endeþ Ioon Se now þe prolog to þe Romains
Incipit: Romains ben in þe cuntre
(fol. 345r)
Romans
Rubric: Ierom seiþ þis in his prolog to þe Romayns Se now þe book
(fol. 348v)
Prologue to 1 Corinthians
Rubric: Here bigynneþ a prolog of Ierom on þe firste pistle to Corinthies
Incipit: Corinthies ben
(fol. 348v)
1 Corinthians
Rubric: Ierom in his prolog seiþ al þis
(fol. 352v)
Prologue to 2 Corinthians
Rubric: Here eendiþ þe firste pistle to corinthies Se now a prolog on þe secunde pistle to corinthies
Incipit: Aftir penaunce
(fol. 352v)
2 Corinthians
Rubric: Ierom in his prolog seiþ al þis
(fol. 355r)
Prologue to Galatians
Rubric: Here endiþ þe seconde pistle to corinthies Se now þe prolog on þe pistle to Galathies
Incipit: Galathies ben grekis
(fol. 355r)
Galatians
Rubric: Ierom in his prolog to galathies seiþ al þis
(fol. 356r)
Prologue to Ephesians
Rubric: Here endeþ þe pistel to Galathies Se now þe prolog on þe pistle to Effesies
Incipit: Effecians ben men of Asie
(fol. 356r)
Ephesians
Rubric: Ierom in his prolog seiþ al þis
(fol. 357v)
Prologue to Philippians
Rubric: Here endeþ þe pistle to Effesies se now þe prolog on þe pistle to ffilipensis
Incipit: Filipensis ben of macedonye
(fol. 357v)
Philippians
Rubric: Ierom in his prolog seiþ al þis
(fol. 358v)
Prologue to Colossians
Rubric: Here endeþ þe pistle to filipensis se now þe prolog on þe pistle to colocensis
Incipit: Colocensis ben also laodicensis
(fol. 358v)
Colossians
Rubric: Ierom in his prolog seiþ al þis
(fol. 359r)
Prologue to 1 Thessalonians
Rubric: Here endeþ þe pistle to Colocensis se now þe prolog of þe firste pistel to Tessalonicensis
Incipit: Tessalonycensis ben macedonies
(fol. 359r)
1 Thessalonians
Rubric: Ierom in his prolog on þis pistle seiþ þis
(fol. 360r)
Prologue to 2 Thessalonians
Rubric: Here endeþ þe firste pistle to Tessalonicensis se now þe prolog on þe secunde pistle to Tessalonicencis
Incipit: Þe postle writeþ
(fol. 360r)
2 Thessalonians
Rubric: Ierom in his prolog on þis pistle seiþ þis
(fol. 360v)
Prologue to 1 Timothy
Rubric: Here endeþ þe secunde pistle to Tessalonicensis se now þe prolog on þe firste pistle to Tymothee
Incipit: He enfoormeþ and techiþ
(fol. 360v)
1 Timothy
Rubric: Ierom in his prolog on þis pistle seiþ þis
(fol. 361v)
Prologue to 2 Timothy
Rubric: Here endeþ þe firste pistle to Tymothe se now þe prolog on þe secunde pistle to Timothe
Incipit: He writeþ also
(fol. 361v)
2 Timothy
Rubric: Ierom in his prolog on þis pistle seiþ þis
(fol. 362r)
Prologue to Titus
Rubric: Here endeþ þe seconde pistle to Tymothe Se now þe prolog on þe pistle to Tite
Incipit: He warneþ Tyte
(fol. 362r)
Titus
Rubric: Ierom in his prolog seiþ þis
(fol. 362v)
Prologue to Philemon
Rubric: Here endeþ þe pistle to Tite se now þe prolog to ffilomen
Incipit: He makeþ familiar
(fol. 362v)
Philemon
Rubric: Ierom in his prolog on þis pistle seiþ þis
(fol. 363r)
Prologue to Hebrews
Rubric: Here endeþ the pistle to ffilomen se now þe prolog on þe pistle to Ebrewes (fol. 362v)
Incipit: First it is to seie
(fol. 363r)
Hebrews
Rubric: Ierom in his prolog on þis pistle seiþ þis
(fol. 365v)
Prologue to Acts
Rubric: Here endeþ þe pistel to ebrewes se now þe prolog on þe dedis of apostlis
Incipit: Lvke of antiochie
(fol. 366r)
Acts
Rubric: Ierom heere in his prolog seiþ þis
(fol. 375v)
Prologue to Catholic epistles
Rubric: Here enden þe dedis of apostlis Se now a prolog on þe pistlis of cristen feiþ þat ben seuene in ordre
Incipit: Þe ordre of þe seuene epistlis
(fol. 375v)
James
Rubric: Ierom in his prolog seiþ al þis Se now þe pistel of Iames
(fol. 376v)
1 Peter
Rubric: Here endeþ þe pistle of Iames Se now þe firste pistle of petre
(fol. 377v)
2 Peter
Rubric: Here endeþ þe firste pistle of petre Se now þe secounde
(fol. 378r)
1 John
Rubric: Here endeþ þe secunde pistle of petre se now þe firste pistle of Ioon
(fol. 379r)
2 John
Rubric: Here endeþ þe firste pistle of Ioon se now þe secunde
(fol. 379v)
3 John
Rubric: Heere endeþ þe seconde pistle of Ioon se now þe þridde
(fol. 379v)
Jude
Rubric: Here endeþ þe þridde pistle of Ioon Se now þe pistle of Iudas
(fol. 380r)
Prologue to the Apocalypse
Rubric: Here endeþ þe pistle of Iudas se now a prolog on þe apocalips
Incipit: Alle men þat wolen
(fol. 380r)
Apocalypse
Rubric: Ierom in þis prolog on þis apocalips seiþ þis

At the end, all in the hand of the main scribe: ‘Here endeþ þe apocalips’ and ‘Þe eer of þe lord M. CCC[followed by an erasure] & viii þis book was endid’. Also: ‘Turne ouer þis leef & se þere þe Table’.

5. (fols. 385v–388r)
Capitula -list for gospels, epistles and the Apocalypse
Rubric: Here bigynneþ a table of alle þe gospels and pistils and þe Apocalips

Fol. 388v is blank apart from an erased early modern inscription.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment, paper flyleaves; lower part of some leaves cut off in quires II, VII, XVIII, XXXIV, XL, XLIII
Extent: 392 leaves, c.
Dimensions (leaf): 426 × 285 mm.
; leaves were trimmed in rebinding, occasionally causing the loss of decoration and text in the margins
Foliation: modern in pencil: i–ii + 1–389 + unnumbered leaf

Collation

(fol. i–ii) paper flyleaves, the first conjoint with the upper pastedown | (fols. 1–72) I–IX (8) | (fols. 73–128) X–XV (8) | (fols. 129–168) XVI–XXI (8) | (fols. 169–184) XXII–XXIII (8) | (fols. 185–194) XXIV (10) quire containing the calendar-lectionary | (fols. 195–218) XXV–XXVIII (8) | (fols. 219–222) XXIX (4) | (fols. 223–286) XXX–XXXVII (8) | (fols. 287–290) XXXVIII (4) | (fols. 291–370) XXXIX–XLVIII (8) | (fols. 371–386) XLIX–L (8) | (fols. 387–388) LI (2) | (fol. 389 and an unnumbered leaf) paper flyleaves. Catchwords and leaf signatures survive. Collation does not support Dove’s suggestion (2001, p. 257) that the calendar-lectionary was the last item in vol. 1 of a two-volume bible, because it occupies a quire which also contains the beginning of the following text, the Proverbs.
Secundo Folio: ‘It is leueful’ (fol. 2r)

Layout

ruled in plummet for two columns with single vertical and horizontal bounding lines extending the full height and width of page, 60–1 lines per page; prickings survive; written space: c. 310 × 90–98 mm.

Hand(s)

textura, black and brown ink, probably the work of several contemporary scribes

Decoration

6-line gold initials on blue and pink background and three-quarters borders made of gold, pink and blue bars, decorated with foliage, at the beginning of prefatory epistles (fol. 1r) and Genesis (fol. 3r).

4- to 6-line blue initials decorated with red penwork at the beginnings of Exodus and other books.

3- to 4-line similar initials at the beginnings of prologues.

2-line blue initials decorated with red penwork at the beginnings of chapters.

2-line plain red or blue initials in the capitula -list.

Blue KL monograms, decorated with red penwork, and decorative penwork strips separating months in the calendar-lectionary.

Penwork initials are by two artists, the second more professional than the first. The first is responsible for fols. 1–72v (quires I–IX), 129r–168v (quires XVI–XXI), 187v–193v (calendar-lectionary, part of quire XXIV) and 371r–385r (quires XLIX–L); the second is responsible for fols. 73r–128v (quires X–XV), 169r–187r (quires XXII–XXIII and part of quire XXIV) and 194r–370v (part of quire XXIV and quires XXV–XLVIII) (see Collation and Provenance). The quire containing the calendar-lectionary and Athanasian Creed is the only quire that contains the work of both artists. One artist was responsible for the calendar-lectionary and Quicumque vult , and the other for the preceding and following texts.

Post-medieval drawings of a human figure pointing to the text (fol. 53v) and hands (fols. 75v, 77v).

Rubrics underlined in red; blue paraphs.

Binding

Brown leather over thick pasteboard, 17th century. Gilt fillet-line border with floral corner-pieces round the outer edge of both covers. Gild decoration at the centre of both covers. Re-backed in the Bodleian (note on the lower pastedown) with the original spine re-laid. Six raised bands on spine, framed by gilt fillet lines. Gilt floral strips at the top and bottom of the spine, and on the raised bands (mostly lost). ‘Fairfax | 2’ written in white paint on spine. Two decorated metal clasps. Laid paper pastedowns and flyleaves, and additional 19th-century paper flyleaves. Fol. 388 was probably a pastedown of a medieval binding; there is an erased note in an early modern hand on fol. 338v.

History

Origin: England ; 1408

Produced by a team that had access to the texts of the Earlier Version of the Wycliffite Bible and the Later Version of the Wycliffite Bible, or copied from an exemplar that already combined the Later Version of the Wycliffite Bible text with the Earlier Version of the Wycliffite Bible prologues. The capitula -list was added after the rest of the book was completed: it follows the colophon with the date and the initials lack flourishing unlike elsewhere in the manuscript. Marginal glosses and summaries of content which accompany the running titles are partly in the hand of the main scribe, and were probably all added in the original workshop as an afterthought. The margins are not ruled for glosses, the position of the summaries varies and they are largely absent in the part of the book following the calendar-lectionary. Some marginal notes may suggest an interest in Lollardy, for example ‘Of imagis in þe eende of þis chapitre & þe nexte swynge’ in the hand of the main scribe, fol. 208r, and another similar note on fol. 241v; ‘Loke at þe hond for prestes’ on fol. 274v which also has a drawing of a hand pointing to a passage on priesthood in Ezekiel, 44.

Dialect survey:

  • anye(2)any(6)/ony(2), ech(7)/eche(3), fijr(10), ȝofen(10), lijf(10), lijk(10), miche(10), siȝ(3)/saw(6)/sawȝ(1) (sg.), siȝen(3)/sawen(4) (pl.), silf(3)/self(7), sich(3)/siche(7), þouȝ(8), þorouȝ(7)/þruȝ(2)/þru(1)
  • -eþ(3)/-iþ(7) (pres.ind.3sg.), -en(10) (pres.ind.pl.), -ynge(3)/-inge(4)/-ing(3) (pres.part.), she(9)/sheo(1) (3sg.fem. pronoun, nom.), þei(10) (3pl.pronoun, nom.), hem(10) (3pl.pronoun, oblique), her(10) (3pl.pronoun, possessive)
Spellings such as biȝgge , liȝgge , iȝcching , periȝshe , fleiȝsshis , quyȝsshuns , angwiȝss , biheulde , leose , ȝife , ȝofe (‘given’) (Forshall, J. and Madden, F. (eds), The Holy Bible … in the earliest English versions made from the Latin Vulgate by John Wycliffe and his followers, 4 vols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1850), vol. 1, p. xlviii).

Provenance and Acquisition

The date on fol. 385r may have been altered to avoid censorship, but, according to Watson (1984), examination under UV light suggests that the scribe first wrote ‘M.ccc’ and the ‘and’ symbol, erased the later, wrote it in the right place, and then forgot to insert the fourth ‘c’.

Contains late 15th-century marginal additions, such as ‘nota’ and other comments, including ‘Of ymages in þis c’ [chapter] at Isaiah, 44, fol. 233v. The note may be in the hand that added ‘gerard’ in the lower margin of the psalter, fol. 169r.

Possibly in use in a secular church in the 15th and 16th centuries. St Francis is added to the calendar-lectionary, late 15th century. According to Pfaff (2009, p. 327), Frances is a unique example of a major friar-saint who became ‘widely present in English secular liturgy’. Notes ‘feria’, added in a 16th-century hand in the psalter, appear next to liturgical divisions according to secular use. Possibly still in use at Reformation when titles ‘pope’ were erased in the calendar-lectionary.

‘the 29th of Aprill 15(?)58’, 16th century (fol. 377v).

Thomas Fairfax (1612–1671); see Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

Bodleian Library: bequeathed by Thomas Fairfax in 1671.

Record Sources

Elizabeth Solopova, Manuscripts of the Wycliffite Bible in the Bodleian and Oxford College Libraries, Exeter Medieval Texts and Studies (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2016), no. 21. Previously described:

Bibliography

    Forshall, J. and Madden, F. (eds), The Holy Bible … in the earliest English versions made from the Latin Vulgate by John Wycliffe and his followers, 4 vols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1850), vol. 1, p. xlviii; sigla K; I – prologues to books from Genesis to Ecclesiasticus; K – prologue to 1 Chronicles.
    Deanesly, M., The Lollard Bible and other medieval biblical versions (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1920), p. 381.
    Madan, F. and Craster, H. H. E., Summary catalogue of western manuscripts in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, vol. 2, part I (collections received before 1660 and miscellaneous MSS acquired during the first half of the 17th century), nos. 1–3490 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1922), no. 3882.
    Fristedt, S. L., The Wycliffe Bible, 3 vols (Stockholm: Almquvist & Wiksells, 1953–73), vol. 1, pp. 12, 17.
    Hargreaves, H., ‘The Latin text of Purvey’s Psalter’, Medium Aevum 24 (1955), pp. 73–90 at p. 89 n. 27.
    Pächt, O. and Alexander, J. J. G., Illuminated manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, 3 vols (Oxford, 1966–73), vol. 3 (1973), no. 798.
    Rogers, T. D. (ed.), Sir Frederic Madden at Cambridge: extracts from Madden’s diaries 1831, 1838, 1841–2, 1846, 1859 and 1863 (Cambridge: Cambridge Bibliographical Society, 1980), p. 8 and n. 47.
    Watson, A. G., Catalogue of dated and datable manuscripts c.435–1600 in Oxford libraries, 2 vols (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984), vol. 1, no. 485, p. 76.
    Hudson, A., Lollards and their books (London: Hambledon Press, 1985), p. 148 n. 26.
    Lindberg, C. (ed.), The Middle English Bible, The Book of Judges (Oslo: Norwegian University Press, 1989), pp. 42, 70.
    Ogilvie-Thomson, S. J., Index of Middle English prose, 18 vols (Cambridge, 1984– ), Handlist VIII (1991), p. 75.
    Kuczynski, M. P., Prophetic song: the psalms as moral discourse in late Medieval England (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1995), p. 264 n. 17.
    Boitani, P. et al (eds), Lo spazio letterario del Medioevo. 2, Il Medioevo volgare, 5 vols. in 6 (Rome: Salerno, 1999–2005), vol. 2, p. 726.
    Lindberg, C. (ed.), King Henry’s Bible, MS. Bodley 277: the revised version of the Wyclif Bible, 4 vols (Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1999–2004), vol. 3, p. 5.
    de Hamel, C., The book: a history of the Bible (London: Phaidon, 2001), pp. 176, 177, 182, fig. 128.
    Scott, K. L., Dated and datable English manuscript borders, c.1395–1499 (London: British Library, 2002), pp. 40–1, pl. VII.
    Dove, M., The first English Bible: the text and context of the Wycliffite versions (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), pp. 257–9.
    Solopova, E., ‘Manuscript Evidence for the Patronage, Ownership and Use of the Wycliffite Bible’, in Poleg, E. and Light, L. (eds), Form and Function in the Late Medieval Bible (Leiden: Brill, 2013), pp. 333–49, pp. 336–7.

Last Substantive Revision

2023-03-24: Add Solopova description.