MS. Laud Misc. 361

Summary Catalogue no.: 1346

Language(s): Middle English with Latin

(fols. 1–221v)

New Testament in the Later Version of the Wycliffite Bible

With usual prologues and usual rubrics in red, e.g., ‘Here endiþ þe gospel of matheu and here bigynneþ þe prologe on mark’; ‘þis seiþ Ierom in prologe on mark’, fol. 30r. Running titles on both rectos and versos, most consisting of abbreviated titles of biblical books and chapter numbers above each column, in black, each preceded by a red or blue paraph. Chapter numbers in red as Roman numerals, usually in the form ‘cᵐ xi’. Prologue to 1 Timothy is omitted and added in the margin by the original scribe (fol. 145v). Red paraphs at the start of sections within the text. Many corrections in the original or contemporary hands, with dittographic repetitions crossed out in red ink. No marginal glosses; added material within the text is usually not underlined (an exception on fol. 123v); lections are not marked. Added cross-references to Old Testament books at the beginning of Matthew, 15th century. Fols. 222–223 are ruled but originally blank (see Provenance); fol. 224 is a blank parchment flyleaf.

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: parchment

Extent: 224 leaves, c.

Dimensions (leaf): 229 × 157 mm.

; leaves were trimmed in rebinding, occasionally causing the loss of text in the margins

Foliation: modern in pencil, 1–224

Collation

(fols. 1–216) I–XXVII (8) | (fols. 217–223) XXVIII (8–1) missing 8 | (fol. 224) parchment flyleaf conjoint with the lower pastedown. Catchwords survive; two sets of quire signatures, medieval (fragmentary) and contemporary with the present binding, both appear to run consecutively.

Secundo Folio: ‘þou schalt’ (fol. 2r)

Layout

ruled in ink for two columns, with single vertical and horizontal bounding lines extending the full height and width of page; 37 lines per page; prickings occasionally survive; written space: c. 178 × 104 mm.

Hand(s)

textura, black ink

Decoration

5- to 6-line ‘puzzle’ initials in red and blue, with red and purple penwork, at the beginnings of Matthew and John; 4-line similar initials at the beginnings of other books (3-line initials at the beginnings of Mark and most Catholic epistles).

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

Rubrics in red ink.

Binding

English roll stamped binding, c. 1530(?). Worn brown leather over wood boards. Blind roll border round the outer edge and blind roll rectangular decoration at the centre of both covers. Includes Oldham CH. c. (6). Fittings of two clasps, now missing on both covers. Three fragmentary paper labels on spine, with typewritten ‘Laud | I | 6.’ and ‘Laud’. Parchment pastedowns.

History

Origin: England ; 15th century, first quarter

Dialect survey:

ony(10), ech(9)/eche(1), fier(10), ȝouun(10), liyf(10), liyk(9)/lik(1), myche(10), si3(6)/say(1) (sg.), saien(5)/sien(1) (pl.), silf(10), sich(2)/siche(8), þouȝ(8), þorouȝ(3)/þorou(7)
-iþ(9)/-eþ(1) (pres.ind.3sg.), -en(10) (pres.ind.pl.), -ynge(9)/-inge(1) (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

Added cross-references to Old Testament books in the margins, 15th century.

‘ffoxe Elzabeth C your own owne…’ (?), ‘William Cutler’ (?), 16th century (fol. 222r); George Leveret (‘Georgius Leveretus’), Richard Hall (‘Ricardus Hall’), 16th century (fol. 223v).

William Laud (1573–1645); see Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: ‘Liber Guilielmi Laud Archiep(iscop)i Cantuar’: et Cancellarij Vniuersitatis Oxon. 1633’ (fol. 1r).

Bodleian Library: first donation from Laud, 22 May 1635. Earlier shelfmark: ‘J 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. 34. Previously described:

Quarto Catalogue, col. 271

Summary Catalogue, vol. 2, part 1, p. 58

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.

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. 1346.

Oldham, J. B., English blind-stamped bindings (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1952).

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. 361.

Ogilivie-Thomson, S. J., Index of Middle English prose, 18 vols (Cambridge, 1984– ), Handlist XVI, p. 41.

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. 88, no. 664.

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