MS. Hatton 115
Summary Catalogue no.: 5135
Homilies, &c. , s. xi2; xiimed; xiiex; xiiiin
Contents
Fol. 46r/3-16 are unique to this manuscript. The passage is printed in Pope 1967-68, p. 752 (no. XXIV)
Ends imperfectly due to the loss of six leaves from the manuscript after fol. 86. One of these leaves is Kansas, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, Pryce MS C 2.2
The homily begins imperfectly due to the loss of six leaves from the manuscript. Lines 85r/5-17 are a supplementary passage by Ælfric on the Antichrist.
" dritnes nome; is helend. þ(æt) is ih(esus) c(hristus). ˥ þe bit on helendes nome; þe þet bit; þ(æt) þ(æt) bilimpeþ to soþre hæle. ȝif eni bit þ(æt) þ(æt) him nout ne freomeþ. ne bit he nout on þæs helendes nome "
Written by the Tremulous Hand
" fordwinaþ. Euanescit "
Written by the Tremulous Hand
" adyt occidit "
Written by the Tremulous Hand (in pencil)
Physical Description
Collation
Layout
Double bounding lines on both margins 9 mm apart with pricking for ruling on the outer margin. Ruling on hair side (fols 1-64, 66-139, 148-151). Fols 140-147 soiled probably, ruled 23 lines, double bounding lines both side of the frame with ruling on flesh side. Fols 151-155 ruled in brown crayon on the flesh, double bounding lines both side of the writing frame.
Hand(s)
Fols 1-64v, 66-139v are in one hand; fols 140-7 in another; the inserted fol. 65 contains two hands; the final booklet is written by one hand except fols 154-55v, which are blank except for some lines by the Tremulous Hand and by another hand of s. xiiex.
Fols 1–64v, 66–139v: A round and regular insular script with occasional Caroline features, undistinguished through script, 'not like the hands of other Anglo- Saxon manuscripts from Worcester' (Ker 1957, p. 403). This hand also shares some similarities with Royal 15.B.xxii, perhaps through training. ‘a’ is Caroline in the combination ‘æ’. Long ‘s’ is regular initially and medially but not finally. The cross-bar of ‘ð’ is usually nearly horizontal and sometimes inclines slightly downwards from left to right. Tall tapered ascender curving to the left ‘descenders’: tapered descenders with a serif which turns to the left, except ‘p’, which ends with a flat foot. The mark of ‘abbreviation’ is cup-shaped. Words omitted in error from the text and added in the margin are marked by a triangle of dots which corresponds to a triangle of dots in the main text. s.xi2 Also writes British Library MS. Cotton Faustina A. x, fols 3-101 (see also Ker 1957, p.403).
Fols 65r–65v/14: A round, small English Vernacular hand. ‘d’: similar to ‘ð’, but with short ascender which slightly curves to the right. Long ‘s’ with a hooked top, and a back which extends below the line of writing. The cross-bar of ‘ð’ extends from the middle of the ascender to the right. ‘ascenders’: wedged, usually more prominent to the right. Probably s. xiex.
Fol. 65v/17–21: ‘d’: similar to ‘ð’, but with short often tapered ascender, at times with hook protruding to the left. Long ‘s’ with a hooked top, and a tapered back which extends below the line of writing. The cross-bar of ‘ð’ is median, ending with a dot to the right of the cross-bar. ‘ascenders’: wedged, usually more prominent to the left. Probably s. xiex.
Fols 140–7: A round, thick hand, 'quite different and perhaps rather earlier type' (Ker 1957, p. 403). ‘c’: horned. ‘d’: similar to ‘ð’, but with a long thick ascender curving occasionally to the right at the top. Long and low forms of ‘s’ are used indifferently and round ‘s’ also occurs. The long ‘s’ has a hooked top, and a tapered back which extends below the line of writing curving to the left. ‘d’: similar to ‘ð’, but with a long thick ascender curving occasionally to the right at the top. ‘ascenders’ are tall and clubbed. s. ximed
Fols 148–53v: A clear upright, 'pointed hand' mixing Caroline and insular letter forms(Ker 1957, p. 403) ‘a’: regularly Caroline. ‘d’: round back with a tapered ascender to the right. ‘f’ is Caroline. ‘h’ is Caroline. ‘r’ Caroline and insular. ‘ð’ is of the same size and shape as ‘d’. The cross-bar ends with a dot to the left of the cross-bar ‘y’ is rounded and dotted. The combined ‘de’ with ‘e’ attached to the top of the rounded back of ‘d’ occurs. s. xiimed
Extensive glosses, corrections and alterations by the Tremulous Hand. The scribe also copies four lines on fol. 154r and adds to the table of contents. The Tremulous Hand does not annotate fols 148-53 (Franzen 1998, p. 46) xiii1
Fol. 155r: A hand with predominantly Caroline letter forms, but retaining insular features. ‘þ’ is used. ‘ð’ is used. ‘ƿ’ is used. s. xiiex
Decoration
Fols. 1–64, 66–139a, decorated initials in green and in red. Capital letters beginning sentences and titles are in red. Red is also used for the first line of text on fols 58r, 59v, 60r, 61v, 63r, 66r, as is the title on fol. 70v. Occasional pen decoration in red on the ‘AMEN’ at the end of sermons (Franzen 1998, p. 45-46). fol. 65 Red decorated initials and capitals. fols 148–155 Red decorated initials.
On fol. ivr, a sixteenth century inscription, now erased, says ‘Liber ecclesie Wygorn’. On fol. 82v, on the bottom margin, a seventeenth century hand wrote ‘Deficit .2. fol’, and a different hand added ‘De virginibus’ in the upper margin of fol. 83r. On fol. vr, a hand writes ‘Saxon Homiles tom:2’, the same hand added other headings in some Hatton manuscripts (Franzen 1998, p. 45-46 and Ker 1957, p. 403).
Binding
Brown leather binding, s. xvii/xviii. There are rust marks on fols iv, v, 155 perhaps from the strap-and-pin fastening on the medieval binding. Ker (1957) notes that the manuscript was bound at the same time as Hatton 20, Hatton 76 and Hatton 116, probably soon after they were obtained by the Bodleian Library (pp. 16-17).
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Worcester, Worcestershire, Benedictine cathedral priory of St Mary the Virgin: Erased Worcester inscription: "Liber ecclesiae Wygorn" (fol. iv recto). ".xxii." (cf. Hatton 114). (MLGB3: evidence from an ex-libris inscription or note of gift to an institution). The manuscript must have been in Worcester by s. xiii, as the extensive glossing by the Tremulous Hand can be dated to s. xiii is dated xiii1 (on a possible Worcester provenance, see also Tinti 2010, n. 297). Treharne suggests 'a south-eastern origin', and considering that at least some of the parts were copied by the same scribe who wrote Cotton, Faustina A. x (fols 3-101), it may be possible to suggest that some parts of this manuscript may have a south-east provenance perhaps from Rochester or Christ Church, Canterbury (see also, Treharne 1998, pp. 232-233 ). As noted above, Tremulous Hand does not annotate all the manuscript, so booklet four and five may have been separate to the rest of the manuscript in s. xiii1 (see, also Franzen 1998). The manuscript remained in Worcester until after 1623, as it is mentioned in Young's catalogue (Atkins and Ker 1944, no. 317)
Christopher, Lord Hatton: borrowed by him before August 1644.
Given to the Bodleian by Hatton's son in 1675.
Record Sources
Digital Images
Digital Bodleian (9 images from 35mm slides)
Surrogates
Christine Franzen, Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts in Microfiche Facsimile (Tempe, AZ: Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 1998), vol. 6: Worcester Manuscripts
Bibliography
Online resources:
Printed:
Abbreviations
View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.
Last Substantive Revision
2025-04-22: Sebastian Dows-Miller. Corrected typo in dimensions type.