MS. Hatton 48
Summary Catalogue no.: 4118
Rule of St Benedict
Contents
The oldest surviving copy of the Rule of St Benedict, and the only manuscript of this text written in uncial script.
Language(s): Latin
Added notes by Bulkeley Bandinel, on an observation of this manuscript by Jean Mabillon; and by W.D. Macray.
Marginal scribbles added in the ninth or tenth century.
"cnih"
"cniht ic drink"
Physical Description
Collation
Layout
Ruled in dry point, two at a time (cf. fols. 41r, 65r). 2 columns of 22 lines, ruled space 210 × 155–160 mm.
Hand(s)
Main text written in uncial script, probably by a single scribe. Uses scriptio continua , with word divisions added later.
Headings written in a smaller, less formal hand.
Corrected extensively in a smaller uncial hand. Lowe suggests that the main scribe, the corrector, and the rubricator are all the same person, in spite of differences in script.
At least four later correctors modified the manuscript through the 13th century.
Two lines of Insular minuscule, fol. 40v.
Decoration
Fine initials in red and black, surrounded by red dots; sometimes with horizontal lines (fols. 47r, 50r). (Pächt and Alexander iii. 1, pl. I)
Chapter headings rubricated.
Binding
White leather on boards, English 12th-century work. Rebacked and repaired. A fragment of the old back, bearing traces of the title, is laid down on the inside of the front cover.
History
Lowe suggests Canterbury as the manuscript’s place of origin, but later scholars have not accepted this. Farmer (pp. 22–26) speculates on an origin in Mercia such as Worcester, putting Wilfrid (died 709/10) forward as a possible patron.
Provenance and Acquisition
Worcester, Worcestershire, Benedictine cathedral priory of St Mary the Virgin. A catalogue of Worcester Cathedral manuscripts from 1622/3 by Patrick Young describes the manuscript, no. 216, as ‘Regula Benedicti Ausculta o fili præcepta Magistri liber scriptus maiusculis characteribus, vetus fol. bon.’ See Neil R. Ker, ‘The Provenance of the Oldest Manuscript of the Rule of St. Benedict’, Bodleian Library Record 2, no. 7 (1941): 28–29.
Inscribed, ‘ægelmær’, ?10th century (fol. 44v).
Inscribed, ‘Thomas bryne’, early 16th century (fol. 9r). (MLGB3)
Christopher Hatton (1605–70): one of at least five manuscripts from Worcester in his collection.
Bought in 1671 from the London bookseller Robert Scot.
MS. Hatton 48 – fol. 77
Contents
Language(s): Latin
Physical Description
Layout
Ruled in dry point; 30 long lines, ruled space 200 × 130 mm.
Hand(s)
Caroline minuscule.
History
Comparable to other examples of writing from Worcester. See Neil R. Ker, ‘The Provenance of the Oldest Manuscript of the Rule of St. Benedict’, Bodleian Library Record 2, no. 7 (1941): 28–29.
Provenance
Pen trials, later sixteenth century.
Additional Information
Record Sources
Availability
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Digital Images
Digital Bodleian (83 images from 35mm slides)
Bibliography
Abbreviations
View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.
Last Substantive Revision
2023-03-07: Andrew Dunning Revised with consultation of original.