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

MS. Hamilton 28

Summary Catalogue no.: 24458

Contents

(fols. 1ra–317ra)
Jordanus de Quedlingburg, Sermones de sanctis

Schneyer III.843–64 (this ms. listed), nos. 352–569, here numbered 1–261 in arabic, the numbering corrected in several places. Schneyer no. 402 does not occur and is replaced (fols. 52va-53ra) by a sermon on the same theme also found in Graz, UB, 176 (Schneyer, VII.245, no. 246). Nos. 544, 550, 554 do not occur; no. 563 seems to be differently structured; and between parts 1 and 2 of no. 551 is an additional sermon (fols. 286vb-287vb, see below). The end of 496 (numbered 186 in ms.), nos. 497–500, and the beginning of 501 (numbered 193 in ms.) are missing due to loss of leaves between fols. 224 and 225.

(fols. 286vb–287vb)
Incipit: Egrediemini filie Syon […] Verba hec dupliciter exponi possunt, unomodo inde[sic] ingressu intellectuali(?) intelligenciarum uel intelligibilium spirituum a deo, alio modo de egressu spiritualis anime a mundo
Explicit: absque influencia dei. Rogemus […]
Language(s): Latin

There is a German gloss (turbacio, vorwerrunge) on fol. 112v.

Language(s): German
(fols. 317rb–323va)
Alphabetical subject index
Rubric: Registrum materiarum sermonum horum secundum ordinem alphabeti
Incipit: Abdicacionis rerum temporalium
Explicit: Zona pellicea mortificacionem signat 153d
Language(s): Latin
(fol. 323b, continuing on lower pastedown)

Scribal colophons (no details of the scribe or date) followed by theological notes, added later:

⟨The nine torments of hell⟩
Incipit: Ex auctoritate sacre scripture didicimus nouem esse speciales penas in inferno quas in persona ecclesie christus euasisse se gaudet
Incipit: Prima pena est ignis qui ita ardet ut si omnes ferrei essent et si ibi inmitterentur in ictu oculi liquescerent
Explicit: sine fine cruciantur. A quibus penis nos custodiat pater et filius et spiritus sanctus amen.
⟨The fifteen gradual psalms⟩
Incipit: Nota tytulus psalmorum 15. graduum est canticum graduum. Et ipsi 15 psalmi dicuntur cantica graduum eo quod in ascensu templi
Explicit: Et post gradus qui ducunt ad eternitatem, iure et merita ponitur alleluia, ut videlicet ecclesia \/ fruatur laudibus deo

Derived from the Glossa ordinaria to the gradual psalms.

Language(s): Latin

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Paper, folded in quarto. Watermarks: bull's head with six-pointed star, cf. Piccard vi.271–2 (1416–23); bull's head with six-pointed star, no close parallels found in Piccard; sword, cf. Piccard vii.416–8 (1421–2); bull's head with six-pointed star and circle, cf. Piccard vi.415 (1428–9); bull's head with seven-petalled flower, cf. Piccard xii.423–4 (1423–4)
Extent: 323 folios
Dimensions (leaf): 308 × 215 mm.
(Except for fols. 225–36, 290 × 215 mm. )

Collation

1(12)-10(12) (fols. 1–120); 11(10)-12(10) (fols. 121–140); 13(12)-27(12) (fols. 141–320; probably one quire missing between 19 and 20, after fol. 224); 28(6–3: 1–3 canc.) (fols. 321–3).

Layout

2 cols., c. 34–44 lines. Frame-ruled, ruled space 220–240 × 140–150 mm.

Hand(s)

Cursive; several hands.

Decoration

Three- to seven-line red or red-and-black initials, often with simple silhouette decoration.

Rubrication mostly lacking.

Additions: Occasional annotation, extensive in places.

Binding

Fifteenth-century binding of plain leather over boards; clasps lost; bosses on upper and lower boards lost. Contents label ('Jordanus de sanctis') and label with pressmark (C XXV) on upper board.

History

Origin: 15th century, first half, c. 1425–30 (watermarks) ; Germany

Provenance and Acquisition

Erased note, with name 'Nicol⟨aus⟩' on the upper pastedown; not recoverable under ultra-violet; the Summary Catalogue suggested the date 1435 might be present, but this is no longer legible.

Erfurt, St Peter's: ex libris, upper pastedown, with note '1470 datus est nobis'. J. Theele, Die Handschriften des Benediktinerklosters S. Petri zu Erfurt (1920), no. 212, pp. 173-4 and M. Eifler Die Bibliothek des Erfurter Peterklosters im spaten Mittelalter (2017), no. 270, II.882, interpreted this note as referring to the donation of the manuscript to St Peter's, but it may also refer to its later donation to the Erfurt Charterhouse (see below); if this is the case then 'Jordani sermones de sanctis' in the 1783 St Peter's catalogue (fol. 169, Theele p. 65) must be a different volume. Pressmark C XXV, C 25 (on upper pastedown and upper board) of St Peter's Erfurt (cf. Eifler II.1061).

Erfurt, Charterhouse: apparently given to the Charterhouse by St Peter's in 1470, see above, if the later statement about the manuscript's provenance in Bülow's 1836 catalogue is reliable (see below). Identified by Balázs Nemes as O.60 in the medieval catalogue of the Charterhouse ('Jordanus ... plura scripsit: ... Sermones de sanctis, O. 60', ed. P. Lehmann, Mittelalterliche Bibliothekskataloge Deutschlands und der Schweiz II, Bistum Mainz, Erfurt (1928), 559.34-6).

Friedrich Gottlieb Julius von Bülow, 1760-?1831: identifiable as 124 in the catalogue of part 3 of his sale, 10 Oct. 1836 ('JORDANUS De sanctis (a. 1470 Cartus. Erford. legatus)').

Sir William Hamilton, 1788–1856

Presented to the Bodleian Library by his sons and received in 1857.

Record Sources

Description by Matthew Holford (Oct. 2020, rev. Sept. 2022 with thanks to Balázs Nemes). Previously described in the Summary Catalogue.

Digital Images

Digital Bodleian (full digital facsimile)

Bibliography

Last Substantive Revision

2022-09: Provenance revised to include Erfurt Charterhouse.