MS. Holkham misc. 38
Summary Catalogue no.: Not in SC (late accession): no detailed description available
Contents
with commentary. Palimpsest of earlier MSS., including a Bible (?) of the 12th century (?).
Physical Description
Layout
49 written lines per page; in 2 columns.
Hand(s)
Average quality rounded bookhand, in three sizes: text, rubrics, and commentary.
Decoration
Good initials. (Pächt and Alexander ii. 205)
Binding
Sewn on five cords and bound in typical Holkham binding of polished brown leather over pasteboards, each cover framed in gilt, the centre of the upper cover stamped in gilt with the Coke crest; the spine, much damaged, lettered in gilt 'COMMENTUM | SOPRA | DOCTRINALE | ALEXANDRI | DE | VILLA DEI' the bottom compartment with the Holkham MS. number '412'.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
The first 88 leaves, and some others, are re-used in palimpsest from a volume at least twice the size of the present book (each original leaf is re-used sideways to form a bifolium), handsomely written in a 12th-century (?) caroline in two columns (it was thus perhaps a Bible; see e.g. fol. 130); many of the remaining leaves appear to be re-used from 13th/14th-century texts written in much smaller more cursive hands, clearly visible in many places (see e.g. fol. 177v).
With the gilt oval booklabel of 'THOMAS WILLIAM COKE', formerly Norfolk, Holkham Hall, MS. 412.
Record Sources
Abbreviations
View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.
Last Substantive Revision
2017-07-01: First online publication.