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

MS. Add. A. 42

Summary Catalogue no.: 30149

Contents

Exhortation addressed to Mary and Anne and other nuns of the convent of Amesbury
Rubric: Mary and Anne with all the other devo3th dyscyples of the scale of cryste in youre monastery of Amysbury
Incipit: My dear susterys Mary and Anne

Extracts from the vow of profession show that Christiana was then prioress

Yvonne Parrey, "‘Devoted disciples of Christ’: Early Sixteenth-Century Religious Life in the Nunnery at Amesbury", Historical Research, 67 (1994) 240-248
Language(s): English

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment
Extent: iii + 33 leaves
Dimensions (binding): 7.75 × 5.125 in.

Condition

Imperfect and in places stained and injured by damp. One or more sheets of ten leaves appear to be missing after fol. 10

History

Origin: 16th century, first half ; England

Provenance and Acquisition

Amesbury, Wiltshire, Priory (cell of Fontevrault) and later abbey of Sts Mary the Virgin and Melior, of Benedictine nuns (?)

Owned by Cornelys Johnston in 1590 (fol. 18v; cf. 4, 5v, 11, 13v)

Probably acquired before 1860

Record Sources

Description adapted (May 2025) by Stewart J. Brookes from the Summary Catalogue (1905)

Bibliography

Last Substantive Revision

2025-05-29: Description revised to incorporate all the information in the Summary Catalogue (1905) and other printed sources