MS. Laud Misc. 207

Summary Catalogue no.: 929

Language(s): Middle English with Latin

Fols. i–1 are parchment and paper flyleaves, originally blank (see Provenance).

(fols. 2–129r)

Matthew–Mark in the Later Version of the Wycliffite Bible

With usual prologues and rubrics, e.g., ‘Here endiþ þe gospel of mathew and bigynneþ þe prolog of mark’ (fol. 82r); ‘Ierom in his prolog on mark seiþ þis | here bigynneþ þe firste capterie’ (fol. 83v). Running titles in red, only on the rectos, not including the chapter numbers. Chapter numbers as Roman numerals, usually in the form ‘xxi cº’. Frequent corrections in the original and contemporary hands. No marginal glosses; added material within the text is not underlined. Indexing letters occasionally mark the beginnings of readings; the ends of readings are marked with double strokes in the margins and sometimes within the text. Fols. 129v–131v are blank apart from early modern and modern sketches and notes.

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: parchment, paper flyleaves

Extent: 136 leaves, c.

Dimensions (leaf): 198 × 105 mm.

Foliation: modern in pencil, i–ii + 1–57 + 58a + 58b + 59–94 + 95a + 95b + 96–117 + 118a + 118b + 119–131

Collation

(fols. i) fol. i is a paper flyleaf conjoint with the upper pastedown; fols. i–1 are parchment flyleaves (a bifolium (?)) | (fols. 2–17) I–II (8) | (fols. 18–20) III (3) no loss of text | (fols. 21–28) IV (8) | (fols. 29–35) V (7) fol. 32 is a singleton, no loss of text | (fols. 36–127) VI–XVII (8) | (fols. 128–130) XVIII (4–1 (?)) missing 4. Catchwords survive; quire signatures run consecutively a–s.

Secundo Folio: ‘hood Ion’ (fol. 3r)

Layout

ruled in purple (fols. 2–48) and brown (fols. 49–130) ink for a single column, with single vertical and double horizontal bounding lines extending the full height and width of page; prickings survive; 19 lines per page; written space: c. 121 × 82 mm.

Hand(s)

textura, black ink; variations in the size of script independent of textual or codicological boundaries (e.g., fols. 14v–15r)

Decoration

4-line ‘puzzle’ initials in red and blue, with red and purple penwork, at the beginnings of gospels.

2-line blue initials with red penwork at the beginnings of prologues and chapters.

Added drawing on fol. 49r: a profile head of a man, 15th century (?). Added sketches on fol. 129r–v, early modern (?).

Rubrics in red ink.

Binding

Brown leather over pasteboard, 16th century. Double blind fillet-line border round the edge of both covers. Gilt coat of arms of Laud on both covers. Four raised bands on spine framed by blind fillet lines. Three paper labels on spine containing: ‘Euan…lia | secundu(m) Ma… | et(?) Marcum… | M. S.’ (handwritten); ‘Laud. | E | 6.’ (typewritten) and ‘Laud | 207’ (typewritten). Laid paper flyleaves. Two fabric ties on each cover.

History

Origin: England ; 15th century, first quarter

Dialect survey:

ony(10), eche(9)/ech(1), fier(10), gouen(10), lijf(9)/lyf(1), lijk(8)/lik(2), myche(9)/miche(1), siȝ(7)/siȝe(1) (sg.), saien(2)/siȝen(4) (pl.), silf(10), sich(2)/ siche(3), þouȝ(5), þoru(1)/þorow(1)/þorouȝ(1)/þorwȝ(1)/þorowȝ(1)
-iþ(9)/-eþ(1) (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

Erased inscription, presumably medieval on fol. 2r.

Christopher Watson Deiragrantus (i.e., ‘of Durham’) (1545/6–1580/81), historian and translator; see Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: ‘Christopher Watson Deiragirantus, 1574 Ætat suæ 29’; added coat of arms (fol. 1v). Probably rector of Bircham Newton, Norfolk, in 1573; deacon at Norwich in 1574; and rector of Beachamwell in Norfolk. Theological notes on fols. 8r, 29r, 74r, 103v, 105r, 118b (?).

Joseph Maynard, fellow of Exeter College, Oxford, 1625–1653, and Rector 1662–1666 (Foster, 1891–92, p. 995) (fol. 2r).

William Laud (1573–1645); see Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: ‘Liber Guilielmi Laud Archiep(iscop)i Cantuar’: et Cancellarij Vniuersitatis Oxon. 1635’ (fol. 3v).

Bodleian Library: second donation from Laud, 16 June, 1636. Earlier shelfmark: ‘E 6’ (upper pastedown, binding)

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. 33. Previously described:

Quarto Catalogue, col. 180

Summary Catalogue, vol. 2, part 1, p. 39

Bibliography

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. 1, p. xlvi (listed as ‘Laud 507’).

Coxe, H. O., Catalogi codicum manuscriptorum Bibliothecae Bodleianae pars secunda codices Latinos et Miscellaneos Laudianos complectens (Oxford, 1885), reprinted with corrections, additions and an introduction by R. W. Hunt (Oxford: Bodleian Library, 1973), no. 207.

Ogilivie-Thomson, S. J., Index of Middle English prose, 18 vols (Cambridge, 1984– ), Handlist XVI, p. 27.

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, pp. 85–6, no. 653.

Dove, M., The first English Bible: the text and context of the Wycliffite versions (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), p. 301.

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