MS. Fairfax 21

Summary Catalogue no.: 3901

Language(s): Middle English with Latin

Fols. i–ii are parchment flyleaves ruled for a table of lections, but originally blank (see Provenance).

1. (fols. 1r–4v)

[item 1 occupies quire II]

Table of lections of Type I

Rubric: Here bigynneþ a rule þat telliþ in whiche chapitris of þe newe testament ȝe may fynde þe pistlis þat ben rad in þe chirche after þe vss of salisbiri markid with lettris of þe a b c.at þe bigynnynge of þe chapitris. toward þe myddil or ende. after þe ordre as þe lettris stonden in þe a b c. first ben sett sundaies and ferialis to gidre. & after þe sanctorum comyn & propre to gidre of al þe ȝeer first is writen a clause of þe bygynnynge þerof & a clause of þe eendinge þerof also

Another rubric introduces the sanctoral:

Rubric: Here enden þe domynycals & ferialis & bigynneþ þe rule of þe sactorum[sic] boþe propre & comyne (fol. 3r)

Includes the temporal and proper, but no common, in spite of the rubric, and no commemorations. Includes only the feasts that have the readings from epistles, Acts and the Apocalypse. Larger blue initials mark the Conversion of St Paul, St Peter’s Chair (‘Chairinge of peter’), Lammas Day and Halloween. The readings consist of the name of a liturgical occasion in red, abbreviated reference to a book and chapter of the Bible, an indexing letter in red, the opening words of a reading, ‘end’ in red, the closing words of a reading and double strokes in red. Includes 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. 683–98).

2. (fols. 5r–167r)

[item 2 occupies quires III–XXIII]

Romans–Apocalypse in the Later Version of the Wycliffite Bible with usual prologues and a second prologue to Romans

Incipit: Romaynes ben þei þat of jewes

(see Dove, M., The first English Bible: the text and context of the Wycliffite versions (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), p. 206).

Usual rubrics in red starting with Philippians on fol. 54v (e.g., ‘Here endiþ þe pistle to filipencis & biginneþ þe prolog on þe pistle to colocencis’; ‘Ierom on his prologue on þis pistle seiþ al þis’, fol. 58r). The wording and presentation of rubrics before fol. 54v is variable. The rubrics for books simply say ‘Ierom seiþ þus’. The rubric for 2 Corinthians is in black in the hand of the main scribe, underlined in black; the rubric for 1 Corinthians is added in the margin; the prologue to Romans does not have a rubric. Running titles in red on both rectos and versos, consisting of an abbreviated title of a biblical book. Chapter numbers in red, as Roman numerals or words. Corrections in the margins and over erasures in the original or contemporary hands, including the insertions of the definite (e.g., fols. 56v–57r) and indefinite (fol. 68r) articles. No marginal glosses; added material within the text is occasionally underlined in red or black. Indexing letters in the margins, entered at the beginnings of lections, rather than consistently; the ends of lections are often marked with double strokes in the margins and within the text.

Pointing hand at a passage on preaching in foreign languages in 1 Corinthians 14:6: ‘but now briþeren if I come to ȝou and speke in langagis what schal I profete to ȝou…’ (fol. 32r).

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: parchment

Extent: 170 leaves, c.

Dimensions (leaf): 196 × 130 mm.

, trimmed in rebinding

Foliation: modern in pencil, i–ii + 1–168

Collation

(fols. i–ii) I (2) single bifolium, ruled for a table of lections | (fols. 1–4) II (4) | (fols. 5–137) III–XIX (8) | (fols. 138–143) XX (6) no loss of text | (fols. 144–167) XXI–XXIII (8) | (fol. 168) single leaf. Catchwords and quire signatures survive in quires III–XI (fols. 5–90) and XXI–XXIII (fols. 151–168); quire signatures run a–l (fols. 5–90) and a–c (fols. 151–168).

Secundo Folio: ‘tewis day’ (fol. 2r)

Layout

Ruled for two columns; single vertical and triple horizontal bounding lines extending the full height and width of page on fols. 7–143; single vertical and double horizontal bounding lines on fols. 5–6 and 144–167. Written space varies from quire to quire (e.g., fols. 20v–21r, 28v–29r, 36v–37r, 105v–106r); c. 132–150 × 90 mm. on fols. 5r–137v and c. 155–160 × 100 mm. on fols. 138r–167r. The number of lines per page varies from quire to quire: 26–31

Hand(s)

textura, the work of at least four different scribes; the first scribe is responsible for fols. 5r–50ra, the second scribe takes over on fol. 50ra, the third is responsible for quire XX (fols. 138r–143) and the fourth for quires XXI–XXIII (fols. 144–167). The last scribe may have also copied the table of lections. The size of script varies from quire to quire (e.g., fols. 28v–29r).

Decoration

2-line blue initials with red penwork at the beginnings of prologues and chapters; 2- to 4-line similar initials at the beginnings of books.

Rubrics in red.

Binding

Brown leather over pasteboard. Blind fillet-line border round the outer edge of both covers; medallion with blind interlace design at the centre of both covers. Fragments of two ties made of yellow fabric. Four raised bands on spine, framed with blind fillet lines; blind criss-cross design at the top and bottom of spine. Paper label on spine with handwritten ‘M.S. | Fairfax | 21’. Sewn on four cords.

History

Origin:

The table of lections was edited to fit the contents of the volume. The feasts of Peter and Paul are given larger initials in the table of lections. The presentation of texts is variable, with little effort to match scribal style, the size of script or the pattern of ruling.

Dialect survey (Romans–Galatians):

ony(10), ech(3)/eche(7), fier(2), ȝouen(10), lif(5)/lyf(4)/lijf(1), lik(3)/like(2), myche(8)/mych(2), say(1)/saie(1) ( sg ), siȝen(1) ( pl ), silf(8)/self(2), siche(10), þouȝ(10), þorou(3)/þrouȝ(1)/þoru(2)/þorouȝ(2)/þoruȝ(1)
-iþ(9)/-eþ(1) (pres.ind.3sg), -en (pres.ind.pl.), -ynge(9)/-inge(1) (pres.part.) sche(10) (3sg.fem. pronoun, nom.), þei(10) (3pl.pronoun, nom.), hem(10) (3pl.pronoun, oblique), her(10) (3pl.pronoun, possessive)

Provenance and Acquisition

Thomas Fairfax (1612–1671); see Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: ‘Sir Thomas fairfax of Denton, knight’ (fol. ii recto); ‘This auncient monument of the translating of the scriptures in olde tyme into Englishe, belongeth to the right worshypfull, Syr Thomas Fairefax knight’ (fol. 167v).

Bodleian Library: bequeathed by Fairfax in 1671. Earlier shelfmark (?): ‘20’ written in ink on fol. ii verso and the fore-edge of textblock.

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. 23. Previously described:

Summary Catalogue, Vol. 2 Part 2, p. 782

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, pp. xlviii.

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. 3901.

Dove, M., The first English Bible: the text and context of the Wycliffite versions (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), pp. 59 n. 116, 61 n. 124, 300.

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Last Substantive Revision

2023-03-24: Add Solopova description.

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