MS. Hamilton 39
Summary Catalogue no.: 24469
Canon law; A-D Germany (mostly Leipzig), 15th century, first half (mostly 1421)
Physical Description
Binding
15th-century binding of blind-ruled and stampted leather over boards, rebacked. Tabs. The stamps are rosette of six leaves (Einbanddatenbank m002438; rosette of four leaves.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Dated on fols. 46, 69v, 76v, 101, 126v, 165, 261; the undated sections are contemporary except for short texts added later in the fifteenth century. Fols. 262–274 not dated, but the watermark is compatible with a date of c. 1421 or perhaps a little later.
Erfurt, Carthusian abbey: identifiable as A23(2) in the late-fifteenth-century catalogue (ed. P. Lehmann, pp. 253–4).
Friedrich Gottlieb Julius von Bülow, 1760-?1831, probably identifiable as 234 in the catalogue of part 3 of his sale, 10 Oct. 1836.
Sir William Hamilton, 1788–1856
Presented to the Bodleian Library by his sons and received in 1857.
MS. Hamilton 39 – Part A (fols. 1–129)
Contents
Language(s): Latin
Here attributed to an unidentified 'Bernardus' or 'Bernardus graecus' (not the work of Bernard of Compostella or Bernard of Parma). For apparently similar texts see J. Fliege, Die Handschriften der ehemaligen Stifts- und Gymnasialbibliothek Quedlinburg in Halle. (1982), 234, on Qu. Cod. 131, fols. 121r-156v (on Liber extra books 1–2 only); S. Heyne, Die mittelalterlichen Codices Erfordenses in der Universitäts- und Forschungsbibliothek Erfurt / Gotha (2005) 61–2, on CE 8o 22, fols. 1r-132v (similar only in Liber extra bks. 1–2); and more generally Schulte II.492–4.
For the ending cf. Augsburg UB Cod. II. 1. 4o 71 art. 5 (also followed by Regulae iuris); elsewhere seems to be abbreviated from Johannes Andreae, Apparatus ad Sextum
The text only.
A later hand adds notes from the Stella clericorum, the Speculum exemplorum attributed to Johannes Busch, and the Revelations of St Bridget.
Helen Feng, 'Devil's Letters: Their History and Significance in Church and Society, 1100–1500' (PhD, Northwestern University, 1982), 450–455 (listing this ms.)
Cf. Wiesbaden, Nassauischen Landesbibliothek, Hs. 25 fol. 339v; (in part) BnF, Latin 8931, fols. 256–257v.
Fol. 129v blank.
Physical Description
Layout
2 cols., c. 36–42 lines, column space 225–30 × 65–75 mm.
Hand(s)
Cursive.
Decoration
Art. 1: 4–7 line red initials with simple silhouette decoration at the beginning of books.
Elsewhere 2–3 line red initials.
MS. Hamilton 39 – Part B (fols. 130–165)
Contents
Language(s): Latin
A text which combines a vocabulary of civil law, the 'Epitome exactis regibus', with vocabularies of canon law. The resulting text is divided into 234 numbered sections, which form the basis of an alphabetical index. The same or a very similar compilation in Jena, MS. G. B. f. 18a fols. 29ra-72vb (prov. Erfurt, St Peter's).
Here sections 1–170
Followed immediately by three other alphabetical vocabularies all presented as one continuous text:
Sections 171–234
Alphabetical index of terms
Added in a different hand.
Pr. USTC 805942, vol. 15/2, fols. 558ra-559vb. Rest of fol. 165r blank; fol. 165v blank.
Physical Description
Layout
2 cols., c. 46 lines, column space 230 × 65–85 mm.
Hand(s)
Cursive.
Decoration
Art. 1: 4–7 line red initials with simple silhouette decoration
Coloured red initial at the beginning of art 2.
MS. Hamilton 38 – Part C (fols. 166–261)
Contents
Language(s): Latin
The final lemmata are:
Rest of fol. 261rb blank; fol. 261v blank.
Physical Description
Layout
2 cols., c. 38–40 lines, column space 220 × 60–70 mm.
Hand(s)
Cursive.
Decoration
10-line flourished initial in red and black at the beginning of art. 1; 6-line red initial with silhouette decoration, fol. 168vb
MS. Hamilton 38 – Part D (fols. 262–274)
Contents
Language(s): Latin
Pr. GW 1692 etc. The 'arbor' on fols. 267v-268r.
Also in Berlin, SB, Theol. lat. fol. 141 (Rose 534), fol 389v. Cf. Dessau, Stadtbibliothek, Georg Hs. 265. quart, attributed to Johannes Cald⟨erinus⟩, but ending differently.
Acknowledgement by Nicholaus Wilberg of the sale to the 'archipresbyter' of Wetzlar (Wesflariensi) of a Liber decretalium and a Speculum humanae salvationis in 1471
Fragment of a document mentioning 'Swalbach' (Schwalbach (Schöffengrund?)) perhaps relating to gifts to the parish church ('... dat ad fabricam et plebano ...'). Mistakenly described as a German-language document in the Summary Catalogue.
Physical Description
Layout
(fols. 262ra-270rb) 2 cols., scribe A c. 38–40 lines, scribe B c. 49 lines, column space 225–30 × 70–5 mm.
(fols. 270v-273v) 1 col., c. 47–9 lines, written above top line, ruled space 215 × 155 mm.
Hand(s)
Cursive by three scribes: fols. 262ra-265ra, 265ra-270rb, 270v-273v
Decoration
6-line red initial at the beginning of art. 2; elsewhere smaller red initials.
Arbor consanguinitas, fols. 267v-268r.
MS. Hamilton 38 - endleaf (fol. ii)
Contents
Language(s): Latin
Document concerning a benefaction to the church of Uelzen ('Vltzen'); issued by 'Turibius episcopus Tuden(sis)' [Tui-Vigo, Spain; occ. 1403, P. M. Baumgarten, Von der Apostolischen kanzlei (1908), 37] in the second year of his pontificate.
Physical Description
History
Additional Information
Record Sources
Digital Images
Digital Bodleian (full digital facsimile)
Bibliography
Abbreviations
View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.
Last Substantive Revision
2020-09-25: Finalize description for Polonsky German project.