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

MS. Laud Lat. 118

Summary Catalogue no.: 1597

Martianus Capella, etc.

Contents

1. (fols. 1r-90r)
Martianus Capella, De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii
Rubric: Martiani Minei Felicis Capellae Afri Kartaginiensis de nuptiis philologiae liber primus incipit
Incipit: Tu quem psallentem thalamis
Explicit: nate ignosce lecticans
Final rubric: Martiani Minei Felicis Capellae Afri Cartaginiensis de armonia explicit liber nonus
Gloss on Martianus Capella, De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii

See Glossae aeui Carolini in libros I-II Martiani Capellae De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii, ed. S. O'Sullivan, CCCM 237 (2010), lxxix-lxxx; principally from the 'oldest gloss tradition', ed. ibid., with the ms. siglum O.

Language(s): Latin with some Greek words
2.
(fol. 90r)
Macrobius, ⟨In somnium Scipionis⟩ II.i.14-25
Rubric: Ambrosii Macrobii de sumphoniis musicae
Incipit: Ex innumera varietate numerorum pauci et numerabiles
Explicit: et fit ex quadruplo
(fol. 90r)
Rubric: De interuallis septem planetarum
Incipit: Inter terram et lunam tonum esse pronuntiant quod est cxxv stadiorum spatium
Explicit: inde et signiferum toni duo et semissis

Cf. Schriften zur Komputistik im Frankenreich von 721 bis 818, ed. A. Borst, MGH QQ 21 (2006) III.1280-1 (Libri computi V.11)

(fol. 90r)
Rubric: Item de septem planetarum interuallis
Incipit: Intervalla eorum quę ad terra[sic] multi indagare
Explicit: quam diapason armoniam uocant

Cf. ibid. III.1263-4 (Libri computi V.4)

Language(s): Latin
3. (fols. 90v-93r)
⟨Servius⟩, ⟨De centum metris⟩
Incipit: Clarissimo Albino Seruius grammaticus salutem. Tibi hunc libellum praetextatorum decus
Explicit: pretium uoluntatis[sic] exsoluat
Language(s): Latin
4. (fols. 93r-95r)
⟨Servius⟩, ⟨De finalibus syllabis⟩
Incipit: ⟨S⟩eruis Honoratus Marius salutem. Ultimarum sillabarum naturas sicut proposueras
Incipit: ⟨Q⟩uamquam rationem littere et sillabe in Donati artibus
Explicit: Haec in omnibus partibus orationis obseruandae[sic] sunt, exceptis his quae aut diptongo aut positione longę sunt

Followed directly by the opening words only of another text (?): ‘Greca lingua diuisa est in quinque partibus id est caenet attica, dorica, eolica, ionica greca’.

Language(s): Latin

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment (HFFH)
Extent: iii (paper) + 96 + iii (paper)
Dimensions (leaf): 292 × c. 240 mm.
Foliation: i-iii, 1-35a, 35b-98 in 19th-century pencil (fols. 35b foliated, and 35a refoliated, 2021).

Collation

1(8)-12(8); quires numbered in roman on the final verso

Condition

Part of the margin of fol. 35b has been excised.

Layout

Ruled with a hard point for a central ruled area of 205 × 145-50 mm. and for a surrounding ruled area approximately of width 25mm. (gutter) and 32 mm. (foreedge) and height 23mm. (upper margin) and 32 mm. (lower margin); 1 col., 27-8 lines.

In quires 6-12 the central ruled space is 240-50 × 160-5 mm. ; 1 col., 33 lines.

Hand(s)

Caroline minuscule by several hands.

Rubrics in uncial.

Rubrics in rustic capitals.

Musical Notation:

Aquitanian neums, fols. 11v, 12r.

Decoration

Coloured red initials.

History

Origin: 9th century, middle (Bischoff) ; French, Loire area, perhaps Auxerre or Ferrières

Provenance and Acquisition

For discussion of origin see O'Sullivan, pp. lxxvii-ix: localized by Lobrichon to Auxerre, and related to other manuscripts from that centre; tentatively localized by Bischoff to Ferrières, and T. A. M. Bishop is said to have identified a scribal hand of the present manuscript in other manuscripts associated with Lupus of Ferrières.

‘Liber Arnal’, fol. 95v, 9th century (?).

Shelfmark ‘iicxxxiiii’ from an unidentified collection whose distinctive shelfmarks are also found among the manuscripts of Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal de Richelieu (1585-1642) (Quarto catalogue, pp. xvi-xvii).

William Laud, by 1633: inscription, fol. 1r.

Part of his first donation to the Bodleian, 1635

Record Sources

Description by Matthew Holford (Sept. 2021). 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).

Bibliography

Last Substantive Revision

2021-09: Description revised with reference to manuscript and published literature.