MS. Junius 29

Summary Catalogue no.: 5141

Language(s): Middle English with Latin

Fols. i–iv are paper and parchment flyleaves, mostly blank (see Provenance).

1. (fols. 1r–12r)

[item 1 occupies quire I]

Table of lections of Type I

Fols. 5 and 6, originally the first and second leaves of the table, are misbound. Rubric: ‘[…] ffro þe bigynnyng of aduent til newe ierris day. Here bigynneþ a rule þat telliþ in what chapitris of þe bible ȝe schulen fynde þe lessouns pistils & gospels þat ben rad in þe chirche þoru þe ȝeer after þe vse of Salisbury’ (fol. 5r; preceded by a blank space). Includes all feasts characteristic of the Later Version of the Wycliffite Bible (Forshall, J. and Madden, F. (eds), The Holy Bible … in the earliest English versions made from the Latin Vulgate by John Wycliffe and his followers, 4 vols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1850), vol. 4, pp. 683, 690–6), apart from Giles (1 September). Consists of the temporal, commemorations and proper (no common in spite of the rubric). Commemorations are in the following order: our Lady, Trinity, the feast of relics, Holy Ghost, cross, angels, ‘briþeren & sistren & salus populi’, peace, clear weather, rain, ‘in tyme of batels’, ‘a man for him silf’, ‘ffor pestilence of beestis’, pilgrims, weddings, sinners, sick and dead. Corrections by the original scribe (e.g., fol. 6r). The entries for readings consist of the name of the liturgical occasion in red, abbreviated reference to a book and chapter of the Bible, an indexing letter in red, the opening words of a reading, ‘eende’ in red, the closing words of a reading and double strokes. Translation of Thomas Becket (7 July, fol. 9v) and titles ‘pope’ are smudged. Fol. 12v is blank.

2. (fols. 13r–198r)

[item 2 occupies quires II–XXV]

New Testament in the Later Version of the Wycliffite Bible with usual prologues

Running titles on both rectos and versos, most in red, consisting of abbreviated titles of biblical books and chapter numbers. Usual rubrics (e.g., ‘Here eendiþ þe gospels of mathew & bigynneþ þe prolog on marke’; ‘þis seiþ Ierom in his prolog on marke And here begynneþ þe gospels of marke’, fol. 36r). The rubric at 2 John is not filled in. Chapter numbers in red, most as words in English in the gospels (e.g., ‘þe sixte chapitir’) and as Roman numerals in the epistles, Acts and the Apocalypse. Several errors in chapter numbering (e.g., Luke 4–5); some chapter numbers are not filled in by the rubricator. Fols. 47–50 are misbound; the correct order is 46, 49, 50, 47, 48, 51. Imperfect at the end because of a missing quire, ends at Apocalypse, 21:20. Completed in an early modern hand from the Geneva Bible (fols. 197r–198r). Indexing letters, entered at the beginnings of readings, rather than consistently, are in the margins within specially ruled columns. The beginnings and ends of readings are highlighted with yellow wash; the ends are usually marked with double strokes. A large number of corrections in a contemporary hand, often insertions of text omitted by the scribe or cancellations of dittography. No marginal glosses; glosses within the text are very occasionally underlined in red.

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: parchment, paper flyleaves

Extent: 204 leaves, c.

Dimensions (leaf): 260 × 182 mm.

Foliation: modern in pencil, i–iv + 1–200

Collation

(fols. i–vi) paper and parchment flyleaves | (fols. 1–12) I (originally a quire of 12 leaves (?); fols. 5–6, originally the first two leaves of the quire, are misbound) | (fols. 13–196) II–XXIV (8) | (fols. 197–200) XXV (4) | unnumbered paper flyleaf at the end. Fols. 47–50 (quire V) are misbound; the correct order is 46, 49, 50, 47, 48. Catchwords survive; quire signatures run consecutively a–q up to fol. 140 (quires II–XVI) and possibly afterwards (cf. fragmentary signature on fol. 184).

Secundo Folio: ‘þursday Ioon’ (table of lections, fol. 2r); ‘bisili of hem’ (New Testament, fol. 14r)

Layout

ruled in plummet for two columns, with single vertical and single or double horizontal bounding lines extending the full height and width of page; a further set of double bounding lines in the right, left and lower margins on most leaves up to fol. 159v; prickings survive; 35–8 lines per page (varies within the quires and from quire to quire); written space: variable, c. 182–196 × 120–127 mm.

Hand(s)

textura; the work of several scribes; the spacing of letters and the appearance of script often change (e.g., end of the second column on fol. 65r; second column on fol. 70r)

Decoration

5-line gold initial on blue and pink background and penwork border at the beginning of Matthew; 3- to 6-line blue initials with red penwork and penwork borders at the beginnings of other books.

2- to 4-line blue initials with red penwork at the beginnings of prologues and chapters. Capitals that follow the initials are decorated with human faces or geometric designs.

Rubrics in red ink.

Binding

White vellum over pasteboard, 17th century. Blind and gilt fillet-line border round the outer edge of both covers; stamped gold initials ‘E G’ on both covers. Fragments of two ties. Five raised bands on spine framed with gilt fillet lines; gilt floral decoration at the top and bottom of spine. ‘MSS. Junii.’, ‘29’, and ‘New Testam:’ written in brown ink on spine. ‘25’ written in ink on the front cover. Pastedowns made of laid paper with watermarks.

History

Origin: England ; 15th century, first quarter

Dialect survey:

eny(10), ech(9)/eche(1), fier(10), ȝoue(2)/ȝouen(8) (ȝouun in a correction at Matthew 14:9, fol. 23r), lijf(8)/lif(1)/lyif(1), lijk(8)/lijke(2), myche(10), saien(4)/sien(2) (pl.), siȝ(1)/sai(4) (sg.), silf(10), such(2)/suche(5)/siche(1), þouȝ(8), þorouȝ(7)/þorow(1)/þorowe(1)/þorou(1)
-iþ(9)/-eþ(2) (pres.ind.3sg), -en(10) (pres.ind.pl.), -ynge(10) (pres.part.) sche(10) (3sg.fem.pronoun, nom.), þei(10) (3pl.pronoun, nom.), hem(10) (3pl.pronoun, oblique), her(10) (3pl.pronoun, possessive)

Provenance and Acquisition

Translation of Thomas Becket and titles ‘pope’ are smudged in the table of lections, presumably at Reformation.

‘ɛʋλαβοʋ αναγνώστης’, ‘reader beware’, late 16th century (?) (fol. 13r). An equivalent of the Latin phrase ‘Caveat anagnostes/Caveat lector’, perhaps deliberately translated back into Greek. The Apocalypse completed from the Geneva Bible. ‘Nouum Testamentum’ and ‘Tabula’ on fols. iv verso and 1r; short notes elsewhere in the MS.

17th-century binding with initials ‘E G’.

Francis Junius (1591–1677); see Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

Bodleian Library: bequeathed by Junius.

Record Sources

Elizabeth Solopova, Manuscripts of the Wycliffite Bible in the Bodleian and Oxford College Libraries, Exeter Medieval Texts and Studies (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2016), no. 27. Previously described:

Summary Catalogue, vol. 2, part 2, p. 972

Bibliography

Madan, F. and Craster, H. H. E., Summary catalogue of western manuscripts in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, vol. 2, part I (collections received before 1660 and miscellaneous MSS acquired during the first half of the 17th century), nos. 1–3490 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1922), no. 5141.

Hudson, A., ‘Lollard book production’, in Griffiths, J. and Pearsall, D. A. (eds), Book production and publishing in Britain 1375–1475 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989), pp. 125–42, p. 140.

Scott, K. L. (gen. ed.), An index of images in English manuscripts from the time of Chaucer to Henry VIII, c.1380–c.1509: the Bodleian Library, Oxford, 3 vols (Turnhout: Harvey Miller Publishers, 2000–02), vol. 2, p. 61, no. 574.

Dove, M., The first English Bible: the text and context of the Wycliffite versions (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), p. 300.

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Last Substantive Revision

2023-03-24: Add Solopova description.

A catalogue of Western manuscripts at the Bodleian Libraries and selected Oxford colleges