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MS. Hatton 50

Summary Catalogue no.: 4112

Contents

Brut Chronicle to 1419, abbreviated version
Rubric: A book callyd Brute of the Croniculys of Englonde
Incipit: (prologue) This book tretith & tellith
Incipit: (prologue) The prologg of this book declarith
Incipit: Som tyme in the nobill londe of Surr
Explicit: set in rewle and governaunce

Headings and notices of foundations of religious houses have been supplied in a neater late 16th-cent. hand.

Language(s): Middle English

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment
132 + 1 leaves
Dimensions (binding): 292 × 210 × 24 mm.
Dimensions (leaf): 305 × 229 mm.
Foliation: Modern pencil foliation.

Collation

Generally quires of 8 folios.

Layout

198–200 × 115–132 mm.

Hand(s)

Three apparently contemporary scribes, all littera cursiva antiquior, in brown ink.

Fols. 2–17, 84v–107, and .

Fols. 18–25 and 80–84v.

Fols. and .

Decoration

Pächt and Alexander iii. 933: Good border. Good initials.

Foliate border in red, green, and blue on fol. 2r.

Decorated initial in red, blue, and gold on fol. 2r.

Flourished gothic-style initials in red and blue of two lines in height throughout, following rubrication and marking the beginning of a new section. These are consistent in hand across the whole text.

Rubrication throughout.

Consistent use of catchwords in the same hand and ink as the text.

Binding

White parchment with gilt ornament, English early 17th-cent. work.

History

Origin: 15th century, second quarter ; English

Provenance and Acquisition

A former owner, William Amondesham (d. 1564), has added strongly Protestant comments in the margins and the births of his children (1543-60) and some verses on foll. 130v-1v. 'Wylliam Awnsham, God helpe', early 16th cent. (fol. 6v).

Christopher, first Baron Hatton (d. 1670)

Bought in 1671 by the Bodleian through the London bookseller Robert Scot (b. in or before 1632, d. 1709/1710); see Summary Catalogue, vol. 2, part 2, p. 801

Record Sources

Description adapted (2025) from the Summary Catalogue (1937). Decoration, localization and date follow Pächt and Alexander (1973).
Summary Catalogue, Vol. 2 Part 2, p. 845

2025-06-05: Additional data collected by Rachel Maxey and Kelly Yu as part of the 'Big Data' and Medieval Manuscripts workshop held at the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford on 5th June 2025. Data encoded in TEI-XML by Sebastian Dows-Miller on 9th June 2025.

Bibliography

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Last Substantive Revision

2025-06-05: Additional data collected by Rachel Maxey and Kelly Yu as part of the 'Big Data' and Medieval Manuscripts workshop held at the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford on 5th June 2025. Data encoded in TEI-XML by Sebastian Dows-Miller on 9th June 2025.