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MS. Laud Misc. 204

Summary Catalogue no.: 799

Book of Hours, Use of Sarum; Flanders (?Bruges), 15th century, second quarter

Contents

Language(s): Latin

(fols. 4r-142r)
Book of Hours, Use of Sarum

For added texts on pastedown and fols. 2r-3v see below, 'Added texts'. Laudian (?) table of contents on fol. 3v.

(fols. 4r-9r)
Fifteen O’s
Incipit: O domine Iesus Christe eterna dulcedo te amancium iubilus excedens
Explicit: te merear laudare cum omnibus sanctis tuis in eternum. Amen.

Ps.-Bridget of Sweden; pr. Revelationes selectae S. Birgittae, ed. A. Heuser (1851), 342-51, and Horae Eboracenses pp. 76–80. Fol. 4r was originally blank (fol. 4v is a miniature); text was added in England in the later 15th or the 16th century to supply the loss of the first 'O' on the folio originally preceding fol. 5.

Fol. 9v originally blank, for added prayer see below, 'Added texts'.

(fols. 10v/11r-23v)

Suffrages; fols. 10, 14, 16, 18, 21 are inserted miniatures, blank on the recto.

(fol. 11r-v)

St Thomas of Canterbury (Chevalier 26999)

Incipit: Gaude lux Londaniarum[sic] Thoma tutor animarum
Incipit: Deus qui beatum Thomam martirem tuum atque pontificem die martis pro ecclesia tua
(fol. 12r-v)

St George (cf. Chevalier 7242)

Incipit: Georgi martir inclite te decet laus et gloria
Incipit: Omnipotens sempiterne deus qui deprecancium uoces benigne exaudis
(fol. 13r-v)

St Mary Magdalen (Chevalier 6895, cf. Corpus Orationum 1370)

Incipit: Gaude pia Magdalena spes salutis uite uena
Incipit: Deus qui beate Maria Magdalene penitenciam ita tibi placitam gratamque fecisti
(fol. 15r-v)

St Margaret (Chevalier 7011)

Incipit: Gaude uirgo Margareta que nutricis gregem leta
Incipit: De precacionem nostram quesumus domine benignus intende
(fol. 17r-v)

St John the Baptist (Chevalier 26988)

Incipit: Gaude Iohannis baptista qui in uentris clausus cista
Incipit: Beate Iohanne Baptista Christi precursor atque preco redemptoris
(fol. 19r-v)

St Christopher

Incipit: Sancte Christofore martir Iesu Christi qui pro eius nomine penas pertulisti

AH 46 no. 207 (Chevalier 18445) followed by note on those looking at Christopher's image and a prayer to Christopher ('Concede quesumus omnipotens deus et misericors ut qui beati Christophori martiris tui memoriam ...')

(fol. 20r-v)

St Katherine (Chevalier 6991; Corpus Orationum 1521)

Incipit: Gaude uirgo Katherina qua doctores lex diuina
(fol. 22r-v)

St Barbara (Chevalier 6714)

Incipit: Gaude Barbara regina summa pollens in doctrina
Incipit: Omnipotens sempiterne deus trina et una inseperabilisque maiestas qui sanctissimam uirginem
(fols. 23v/24r-59v)
Hours of the Virgin with the Hours of the Cross worked in.
Rubric: Incipiunt hore beate Marie uirginis secundum consuetudinem Anglie

Fols. 23, 30, 41, 45, 48, 55 are inserted miniatures, the rectos blank except for added text on fol. 29v-30r, for which see below, 'Added texts'.

(fol. 31r)

Lauds, with suffrages of the Holy Spirit, Trinity, Holy Cross, St Michael, St John the Baptist, SS Peter and Paul, St Andrew, St Stephen, St Lawrence, St Thomas of Canterbury, St Nicholas, St Mary Magdalen, St Katherine, St Margaret, All Saints, Peace, each as pr. Horae Eboracenses 44-5 n. 2.

(fol. 42r)

Prime

(fol. 46r)

Terce

(fol. 49r)

Sext

(fol. 51r)

Nones

(fol. 53r)

Vespers

(fol. 56r)

Compline followed (fol. 58v) by Salve regina (troped with verses from 'Virgo mater ecclesie' and others) and prayer (incipit below), as pr. Horae Eboracenses 62-3

Incipit: Omnipotens sempiterne deus qui gloriose uirginis et matris Marie corpus

For added texts on fol. 59v see below, 'Added texts'.

(fols. 60r-71r)
(fols. 60r-64r)
Paraphrase of the Salve regina (Chevalier 18318)
Incipit: Salue uirgo uirginum stella matutina

Followed by prayer (Corpus Orationum 1518)

(fols. 64r-65r)
O intemerata (masculine forms)
(fols. 65r-67r)
Rubric: Alia oracio ad Mariam
Obsecro te (masculine forms)
(fols. 67v-68v)
Incipit: Ave mundi spes Maria

Chevalier 1974, Walther 1945, followed by versicle and prayer (cf. Corpus Orationum 203)

(fols. 69r-71r)
Seven Joys of the Virgin (Chevalier 21899) with indulgence of 100 days from Pope Clement [?IV]
Rubric: Quicumque hec septem gaudia in honore beate Marie uirginis semel in die dixerit centum dies indulgenciarum optinebit a domino papa Clemente qui ea septem gaudia proprio stilo composuit
Incipit: Virgo templum trinitatis

Fol. 71v blank.

(fols. 72r-79r)
(fols. 72r-74r)
Devotion of the Five Wounds
Rubric: Ad ymaginem Christi crucifixi
Incipit: Omnibus consideratis paradysus uoluptatis es Ihesu piissime
Explicit: quem Christus eripuit

John of Limoges, De passione domini (Chevalier 14081, Walther 13294, AH 31 no. 68) ending with addresses to the Virgin and John the Evangelist. Followed (fol. 74r) by versicles and prayer beginning:

Incipit: Omnipotens sempiterne deus qui unigenitum filium tuum dominum nostrum Ihesum Christum crucem coronam spineam et quinque vulnera subire voluisti

Wilmart p. 584 and p. 527 n.

Fol. 74v blank.

(fols. 75r-76r)
Devotion of the Seven Words with rubric
Rubric: Oracio uenerabilis Bede presbiteri de septem uerbis Christi in cruce pendencis quam oracionem quicumque cotidie deuote dixerit flexis genubus nec dyabolus nec malus homo ei nocere poterit nec sine confessione morietur et per triginta dies ante obitum suum uidebit gloriosam uirginem Mariam in auxilium sibi preparatam
Incipit: Domine Ihesu Christi qui septem uerba in die ultimo uite tue in cruce pendens dixisti
Explicit: epulari iocundari et commorari

Ps.-Bede, De septem verbis, PL 94.561-2.

(fols. 76v-77v)
Prayers to Christ
Incipit: Precor te piissime domine Ihesu Christi propter illam caritatem qua tu rex celestis pendebas in cruce
Explicit: propter magnum misericordiam tuam michi tribuere digneris. Amen.

cf. Leroquais, Heures, I. 111

Incipit: Deus qui voluisti pro redempcione mundi a Iudeis reprobari
Explicit: tui confessores. Qui uiuis et regnas […]

Cf. Horae Eboracenses p. 177

(fols. 77v-79r)
Prayers for mass
Incipit: Ave domine Ihesu Christi uerbum patris filius uirginis agnus dei
Incipit: Ave principium nostre creacionis

cf. Chevalier 2059 (here presented as including 'Ave verum corpus natum', Chevalier 2175)

Incipit: Ave caro Christi cara

Chevalier 1710

Incipit: Anima Christi sanctifica me

Chevalier 1090

Rubric: Omnibus confessis et contritis hanc oracionem dicentibus inter eleuacionem corporis Christi et tercium Agnus Dei Papa Bonifacius concessit duo milia annorum indulgenciarum ad supplicacionem Philippi regis Francie
Incipit: Domine Ihesu Christi qui hanc sacratissimam carnem
Explicit: periculis presentibus preteritis et futuris. Amen.

Fol. 79v blank.

(fols. 80r-95v)
(fols. 80v/81r-87r)
Penitential Psalms
Rubric: Incipiunt septem psalmi penitenciales

Fol. 80 is an inserted miniature, the recto blank.

(fols. 87r-88v)
Gradual Psalms (incipits only for Ps. 119-30)
Rubric: Incipiunt quindecim psalmi
(fols. 88v-95v)
Litany (including 'eswarde', fol. 90r, 'wallepaxte' and 'zwichine', fol. 90v) followed by 12 collects
Rubric: Incipit letania
(fols. 96r-125v)
(fols. 96v/97r-114v)
Office of the dead
Rubric: Incipiunt uigilie mortuorum

Fol. 96 is an inserted miniature, the recto blank.

(fols. 115r-125r)
Commendation of souls
Rubric: Incipiunt commendaciones animarum

Ps. 118, (fol. 123r) Ps. 138, and prayers ' Tibi domine commendamus ...', 'Misericordiam tuam domine sancte pater ...'.

Fol. 125v blank.

(fols. 126v/127r-130v)
Psalms of the passion (Pss. 21-30.6) (incipits only for Pss. 22-24, 26, 29)
Rubric: Incipiunt psalterium de passione

Fol. 126 is an inserted miniature, recto blank.

(fols. 131r/133r-142r)
'Psalter of St Jerome', the abbreviated psalter
Rubric: (fol. 133r) Incipit psalterium sancti Iheronimi

Lengthy introductory rubric ('Beatus vero Iheronimus in hoc modo psalterium istud disposuit ...', as Horae Eboraceneses 116 n. 7) and introductory prayer ('Suscipere dignes domine deus omnipotens hos psalmos consecratos quos ego indignus decantare cupio ...', masculine forms), fol. 131r-v; fol. 132 is an inserted miniature, the recto blank; main text fols. 133r-142r, as pr. Horae Eboracenses 116-22. For early additions on fols. 142v-143v see below.

Added texts:

(pastedown, fols. 2r-3v)

Added texts on paper endleaves from the mid-16th century binding, two hands (item (a) and items (b)-(e), the latter possibly Augustine Steward, see Provenance).

ia. (pastedown)
Incipit: God be in my hed and in my understondyng
Explicit: & at my departyng

'A prayer of St Richard of Chichester', DIMEV 1549 (this copy not listed), here 5 lines (as in STC 15917).

ib. (pastedown)
Incipit: O all myghty & most mercyfull father we haue erryd and strayd
Explicit: lyve a godly ryghtuys & sobyr lyfe to the glory of thy holy name. Amen.

The general confession from the Book of Common Prayer of 1552 and later

ic. (fol. 1r)
Incipit: O the depnesse of the habundant wisdom & knolage of god
Explicit: & for hym are all thynges to hym by glory for evyr & evyr. Amen.

Romans 11:33-6 in William Tyndale's translation

id. (fol. 2r)
Incipit: Adam disobedyens dammyd vs all
Explicit: ere we owyr selffes wrowt good

The marginal note on Romans 5.15 in Tyndale's 1534 New Testament. Fol. 2v blank.

ie. (fol. 3r)
Rubric: Tobia the iij chaptur
Incipit: O lord god thow arte Ryghtuous and all thy Iugymentes ar trew
Explicit: preys wald withowt ȝend. Amen.

Similar to the version in the Matthew Bible.

ii. (fol. 9v)

Originally blank, prayer added sixteenth century (same hand as item i(a)?):

Rubric: Audi benigne conditore
Incipit: O here vs most mercyfull makar
Explicit: May be profytabill servyng. Amen.

Couplets; not in DIMEV.

iii. (fols. 29v-30r)
Rubric: The preyere of Manascht(?) kyng of Iuda […]
Incipit: O lord all myghty god of our fathers
Explicit: to the belongythe glori wald without ȝend. Amen.

Same hand as item i(b)-(e) above.

iv. (fol. 59v)

Two added texts (the first Chevalier 7017), late 15th century or 16th century:

Incipit: Gaude virgo mater Christi que per aurem concepisti Gabriele nuncio. Guade quia deo plena
Incipit: Deus qui beatissimam virginem Mariam in conceptu et partu virginitate seruata duplici gaudio letificasti
v. (fols. 142v-143v)

Seven Joys of the Virgin (Chevalier 6810); added in England probably in the second half of the fifteenth century.

Incipit: Gaude flore virginali | Honoreque speciali
vi. (fol. 143v)

Responsory for St Andrew (cf. Cantus index 006451c) added around the same time as (v)

Incipit: Vir iste in populo suo mitissimus apparuit

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment
Extent: ii (early paper) + 140 + i (later paper) leaves
Dimensions (leaf): 200 × 138 mm.
Foliation: 2-143 in 19th century pencil, the last endleaf unfoliated.

Collation

1(6-1+1) (fols. 4-9: first original leaf wanting before fol. 5, miniature inserted (misbound) before fol. 5), 2 (thirteen) (fols. 10-22: fols. 10, 14, 16, 18, 21 are inserted miniatures), 3(8+2) (fols. 23-32: inserted miniatures before 1 (fol. 23) and after 6 (fol. 30)), 4(8+1) (fols. 33-41: miniature inserted after 8 (fol. 41)); 5(8+2) (fols. 42-51: miniatures inserted after 3 (fol. 45) and after 5 (fol. 48)), 6(8+1?) (fols. 52-60: miniature inserted after 3 (fol. 55)), 7(8) (fols. 61-8), 8(8) (fols. 69-76), 9(four) (fols. 77-80, fol. 80 is an inserted miniature), 10(8) (fols. 81-8), 11(8+1) (fols. 89-97, miniature inserted after 7 (fol. 96), 12(8) (fols. 98-105), 13(8) (fols. 106-113), 14(8) (fols. 114-121), 15(8+1) (fols. 122-130, miniature inserted after 4 (fol. 126)), 16(8+1) (fols. 131-139, miniature inserted after 1 (fol. 132)), 17(4) (fols. 140-3)

Layout

20 long lines; ruled space 103 × 70 mm. . Ruling in mauve ink, main framing lines the full width and height of the page, double horizontal lines at top and bottom of the text area.

Hand(s)

Formal textualis quadrata.

Decoration

Good miniatures, borders, initials. (Pächt and Alexander i. 315, pl. XXV)

Miniatures on inserted leaves in the style of the 'Gold Scrolls Group'. Miniatures for St George, St Mary Magdalen, Nones, Vespers presumably missing, miniatures perhaps also missing before fols. 60 and 115.

  • (fol. 4v) St John the Baptist (misplaced)
  • (fol. 10v) Murder of St Thomas of Canterbury (suffrage)
  • (fol. 14v) St Margaret (suffrage)
  • (fol. 16v) St Katherine with Maxentius (suffrage, misplaced)
  • (fol. 18v) St Christopher (suffrage)
  • (fol. 21v) St Barbara (suffrage)
  • (fol. 23v) Annunciation (Matins)
  • (fol. 30v) Betrayal (Lauds)
  • (fol. 41v) Christ before Pilate (Prime)
  • (fol. 45v) Flagellation (Terce)
  • (fol. 48v) Carrying the Cross (Sext)
  • (fol. 55v) Entombment (Compline)
  • (fol. 83v) Last Judgement (Penitential psalms)
  • (fol. 96v) Funeral service (Office of the Dead)
  • (fol. 127v) Christ as the Man of Sorrows (Psalms of the Passion)
  • (fol. 132v) St Jerome in his Study (Psalter of St Jerome)

Full borders of ivy leaf and luxuriant acanthus, with occasional human figures or grotesques (e.g. fols. 60r, 81r, 96v-7r, 115r) across each opening with a miniature, also on fols. 12r, 13r, 20r, 51r, 53r, 51r, 60r where the corresponding miniatures are missing or misbound; half-borders (centre of top and bottom margins) on fols. 64r, 69r, 72r, 75r.

Typically 6-line decorated initials with gold at the beginning of major sections, 2-line at minor sections.

Flourished initials at the beginning of verses, dark blue flourished in red or gold flourished in light blue.

Space left for 1- and 2-line initials on fols. 142v-143v, not filled in.

Binding

Mid-16th century blind-stamped binding by L. W. of Norwich; Oldham rolls 698 and 612. Rebacked.

Accompanying Material

Fragments of an unidentified Latin manuscript (England, 13th century) are in the binding.

History

Origin: 15th century, second quarter ; Flanders, probably Bruges

Provenance and Acquisition

Executed in Flanders for the English market as suggested by the script, decoration, and spellings in the litany; in England by the late fifteenth century as indicated by the additions on fols. 142v-143v. Suffrage for Thomas of Canterbury and miniature not defaced.

16th-century Norwich binding. ‘Pertinet Augustini Styward ald' Norwici Maiori. anno 1556.’, back pastedown; Augustine Steward, 1491-1571 of Norwich, on whom see History of Parliament.

William Laud, 1634 (fols. 5r, 12v)

Part of his first donation to the Bodleian, 1635.

Record Sources

Description by Matthew Holford, May 2022. Previously described in the Quarto Catalogue (H. O. Coxe, Laudian Manuscripts, Quarto Catalogues II, repr. with corrections, 1969, from the original ed. of 1858–1885).
Quarto Catalogue, col. 177
Quarto Catalogue, p. 551
Summary Catalogue, vol. 2, part 1, p. 34

Digital Images

Digital Bodleian (full digital facsimile)
Digital Bodleian (7 images from 35mm slides)

Bibliography

    Printed descriptions:

    S. J. P. van Dijk, Latin Liturgical Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, vol. 4: Books of Hours (typescript, 1957), p. 184

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Last Substantive Revision

2022-05: Description revised for publication on Digital Bodleian.