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MS. Laud Misc. 520

Summary Catalogue no.: 1194

Contents

(fols. 1r–62v)
Commentary on Matthew
Rubric: \Glosa super textum Mathei/ [later hand]
Incipit: Cum post ascensionem domini spiritus sanctus discipulorum corda illustrasset et illos ad predicanda que Christus fecit et docuit [Act. 1:1] promouisset quatuor ex omnibus specialiter segregati sunt […] Illorum vero quatuor primus fuit Matheus
Incipit: Liber generationis Iesu Christi. Hoc exordio satis ostendit se generationem Christi carnalem uelle narrare
Incipit: (fol. 2ra33) Sequitur Abraham genuit Ysaac. Ab initio cui primum facta est promissio
Incipit: (fol. 6ra25) Cum natus esset Iesus etc. De natiuitate domini in Bethlehem Matheus Lucas consentiunt, sed quomodo et qua causa ad eam uenerunt Ioseph et Maria Lucas exposuit, Matheus uero pretermisit. Et cetera similiter usque ad circumcisionem sicut econtra de aduentu magorum, Lucas tacet, Matheus exponit
Explicit: quemadmodum uidistis eum euntem in celum [Acts 1:11].

The prologue ends at fol. 1v, col. 2, line 14 from the bottom; the text continues without break.

Stegmüller, Bibl. 7899 cites the present manuscript as containing a commentary on Matthew by (Ps.-?) Stephen Langton. That text seems to be the same as Stegmüller, Bibl. 2604, attributed to Geoffrey Babio. This is the commentary printed in PL 162.1228–1500 (there attributed to Anselm of Laon), and most usefully discussed by B. Smalley, 'Some Gospel Commentaries of the Early Twelfth Century', Recherches de théologie ancienne et médiévale 45 (1978), 147–180, esp. 166–70.

It seems that Stegmüller's identification is incorrect, and that the text in the present manuscript is an earlier commentary (on which 'Babio' drew heavily) also found in Alençon BM 26 fols. 91ra-198vb and Paris, Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, MS. 87 fols. 1ra-59vb, and discussed by Smalley, op. cit., pp. 161–6. This text is recorded in Stegmüller, Bibl. as no. 1359, but with an explicit that does not reflect the text as found in the manuscripts listed above.

A few lemmata start on a new line with an enlarged initial, e.g. Matt. 1:18 (‘Cum esset desponsata’, fol. 5r) and 2:1 (‘Cum natus esset Ihesus’, fol. 6r); others have somewhat enlarged initials and/or paraphs. Church Fathers mentioned in the main text are often noted in the margins: ‘Aug.’/‘Au’, ‘B’/’Be.’, ‘Gr.’, ‘Hy’, ‘Io.’, ‘Or.’, especially from fol. 19v onward.

Language(s): Latin

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: usque ad ipsius
Form: codex
Support: parchment (sheepskin?), of uneven quality, with occasional holes and other flaws
Extent: i (paper) + i (parchment) + 62 + i (parchment) + i (paper)
Dimensions (leaf): 205 × 140 mm.
Foliation: i–ii, 1–64 in 19th-century pencil

Collation

1(8) (fols. 2 and 6 are singletons); 2(8)–7(8), 9(6); quire signatures in ink in roman numerals in the middle of lower margins of the first recto of all quires but the first (fols. 9r, 17r, 25r, 33r, 41r, 49r, 57r).

Layout

Ruled in plummet for 2 columns of 46 lines; prickings often survive close to the written area in all three outer margins. Written above top line. Ruled space 175 × 120–5 mm.

Hand(s)

Written in a small, cramped, often highly-abbreviated, angular script, with a somewhat cursive aspect, reminiscent of a charter hand. Some passages are in distinctly different scripts, closer to a formal bookhand, e.g. fol. 24r, near the middle of col. 2, and fol. 35r, most of col. 2.

Decoration

None

Binding

Sewn on three bands, with three(?) other earlier sewing-stations in limp undecorated parchment, with vestiges of ties at the fore-edge. The top of the spine inscribed ‘Anon: | Glossa | super | Euang: | S. Mat: | M. S.’, above printed paper labels: ‘Laud. | G. | 29.’ and ‘Laud | 520’.

History

Origin: 12th century ; Germany (?)

Provenance and Acquisition

Script attributed to Germany by R. W. Hunt in the revised Quarto catalogue, 1969.

A 14th-century reader added a small number of marginalia, including a few headings e.g. ‘Glossa super textum Mathei’ (fol. 1r), and ‘Ductus est Ihesus in desertum’ (fol. 10v).

Medieval provenance unknown; Hunt, in the revised Quarto catalogue, p. xxiv, suggested this was one of the volumes acquired for Archbishop Laud in Germany. It is not identifiable in the catalogues of the Mainz Carthusians or the Cistercian abbey of Eberbach.

William Laud: with the usual Laudian inscription, dated 1638 (fol. ii verso, there not being enough space in the lower margin of fol. 1r).

Part of his third donation to the Bodleian, 28 June 1639. Former Bodleian shelfmarks: ‘Laud 520’ (next to ‘Laud 519’, effaced) and ‘G. 29’ (front pastedown; cf spine labels).

Record Sources

Summary description (March 2021) by Peter Kidd, edited by Matthew Holford. 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. 376
Summary Catalogue, vol. 2, part 1, p. 51

Digital Images

Digital Bodleian (full digital facsimile)

Bibliography

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Last Substantive Revision

2020-03-17: Revised description for Polonsky German digitization project.