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

MS. Lat. liturg. d. 41

Summary Catalogue no.: Not in SC (late accession)

Contents

Language(s): Latin, with additions in Middle English

Psalter

With antiphons added in lower margins in a slightly later hand.

(fol.1v)
Texts on excommunication

Two pieces, including decretal of Clement IV beg: Sepe accidisse percepimus, dated ‘viiº Kl. Julii…anno iiº’ [25 June 1266].

Early 14th cent. addition.

(fol.2–3)
Hubert (d. after 1253), De vita beati Roberti quondam Lincoln’ episcopi

Verses pr. R.W. Hunt in Medievalia et Humanistica N.S.1 (1970), 246–51.

Contemporary addition.

(fol.138)

Canticles, O.T. and N.T.

(fol.148v)

Quicumque

(fol.150v–4)

Litany and collects

Added in a different contemporary hand which rewrote the end of the Quicumque on fol.150. The litany (from which a leaf is missing) includes Sts. Alban, Thomas Becket, Ethelbert, Oswald, Alphege and Kenelm.

(fol.155)

Office of the dead, Use of Sarum (noted)

(ends fol.162)
(fol.162)
Confession
Incipit: O misericordissime pater, dolendus peccator ad te venit

With other material on fols. 162–6, an addition apparently written by the original hand.

(fol.164)
Sermon (?) on the Last Judgment (part)
Incipit: Erit cum evidencius apparebit

Early 14th cent. addition.

(fol.166v)
Rubric: Clausula obligacionis contra N.
Incipit: Renunciavimus et renunciamus specialiter regie prohibicioni, privilegio crucesignatorum

Early 14th cent. addition.

(fol.166v)
Verses
Incipit: Swete Jhesu mercy to the

51 lines. Cf. IMEV 3233

15th cent. addition.

Language(s): Middle English
(fol.167–70)

Office of the Dead, further collects

15th cent. addition.

(fol.171v)
Verses
Incipit: Marie so fre

IMEV 2121.5

15th cent. addition.

Language(s): Middle English

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: a nobis(main text, present f. 4)
Form: codex
Support: parchment
Extent: 171 leaves (fol.1–3, 171 are flyleaves)
Dimensions (leaf): 258 × 180 mm.
Dimensions (written): 170 × 108 mm.

Collation

1(4)(pastedown and flyleaves), 2(10 (1 missing), 3(10), 4(10) (2 cut out), 5(10), 6(10)(7 missing), 7(10)–8(10), 9(8)–11(8), 12(4) (4 cut out or canc.), 13(10) (1 cut out), 14(10)–16(10), 17 (6 outside leaves of original quire remain, 6 further leaves, of which the third is missing (fol.150–4) were inserted in the middle), 18(8), 19(2) (2 canc.)?, 20(6) (1 canc.)

Layout

19 lines

Decoration

Mutilated and defaced. Pächt and Alexander iii. 489:

Good borders.

Good historiated initials.

  • (fol. 36v) Ps. 38: David looking up at God (badly rubbed)
  • (fol. 48r) Ps. 51: Saul commiting suicide (?)
  • (fol. 60v) Ps. 68: God above, Jonah in the mouth of the fish below
  • (fol. 76v) Ps. 80: Monk playing bells
  • (fol. 91v) Ps. 97: Monks singing at a lectern

Good other initials.

Penwork line endings.

Binding

Medieval binding. Sewn on seven split alum-tawed cords, laced into wood (beech?) boards with cushioned edges, and covered with tawed skin stained pink (very faded); with traces of two pairs of strap-and-pin fastenings at the fore-edge of the upper board and the middle of the lower board; rebacked; the spine inscribed 'LIBER | PSALMORVM | MS', and '63' towards the bottom; traces of fore-edge painting

History

Origin: 13th century, end; additions, early 14th century and 15th century ; English

Provenance and Acquisition

'Iste liber pertinet ... domus sive hospitalis ... London ... comodavit ... in nativitate S. Kenelmi anno domini millesimo quadringentesimo qu[ ]' (fol. 171)

Monogram incorporating letters E R N O I S (fol. 171, 16th-17th cent.)

Other deleted 16th-17th cent. names on fol. 170v, 171

'Inspexi' on front pastedown (18th cent.)

'63' on spine

Major Charles Fellowes

Bought at Sotheby's 6 July 1964, lot 231.

Record Sources

Typescript description by Bodleian library staff, revised by Peter Kidd, late 1990s.

Last Substantive Revision

2017-07-01: First online publication.