MS. Rawl. B. 503
Summary Catalogue no.: 11850
Contents
Annals in Irish and Latin, now beginning with Abraham, but with two leaves lost at the beginning; ending in 1326 C.E. but with a few marginal additions extending to 1450. Text is missing before fol. 1, after fol. 6, after fol. 36, after fol. 44, and after fol. 50.
The origin of the annals to 1092 is disputed, with scholars suggesting both Emly and Lismore; from 1092 onwards Mac Airt suggested that the annals were continued perhaps at Lismore (to 1130), thereafter further west in Munster, by at least the late thirteenth century at Innisfallen. See D. McCarthy, The Irish Annals: Their Genesis, Evolution and History (Dublin, 2008), 211-16, with references to earlier literature. The somewhat misleading description of the manuscript as 'The Annals of Inisfallen' goes back to its seventeenth-century owner James Ware (see Provenance).
Ed. and tr. Seán Mac Airt, The Annals of Inisfallen (MS. Rawlinson B. 503) (1951): electronic edition CELT: The Corpus of Electronic Texts, in four sections: (1) text to 433; (2) translation to 433; (3) text from 433; (4) translation from 433
Ogam script is used on fol. 40va for a Latin proverb, Walther Prov. 19188 (Ó Cuiv, p. 205)
Physical Description
Collation
Layout
Written space c. 205–15 × 150 mm. overall; c. 27-37 lines.
Fols. 1r-11v, 37r-v, 38v-46v (part), 47r-57v: two columns.
Fols. 12r-36v: three columns.
Fol. 38r and 46v (part): one column.
Hand(s)
Mostly in Irish minuscule with some later entries (notably fols. 55r-57v) in textualis. Scribal stints identified by Mac Airt and Best, as summarized by Ó Cuiv (pp. 202-5, with a full table):
One scribe to fol. 29r col. 3 line 29 (end of 1092)
Twenty-eight contemporary scribes, fols. 29r-44v(b31), covered 1092-1214.
Ten further scribes on fols. 45r-57v, covering 1214-1326.
Further scribes (not distinguished by Ó Cuiv) contributed additions and marginal entries.
Decoration
Coloured initials.
Binding
17th-century brown leather on pasteboards, with Sir James Ware's armorial crest in gilt on both covers; rebacked, Bodleian, 19th century.
Former limp parchment binding, with Sir James Ware's title 'Annales coenobii Inisfallensis' and pressmark ('Vol. XXVI'), preserved as fols. i and 58 and the front and back pastedowns.
Accompanying Material
Engraving of 'Hiberna Antiqua' (by Hollar) pasted on to the back pastedown.
Modern notes by John O'Donovan and R. Twigge (dated 1900) pasted to fol. i recto.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Sir James Ware, 1594–1666 (William O'Sullivan, 'A finding list of Sir James Ware's manuscripts', Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy: Archaeology, Culture, History, Literature 97C/2 (1997)), libri historici XXVI.
Henry, Earl of Clarendon; pressmark 'Volumen 18.s(?)' on the back pastedown (cf. O'Sullivan, 75-6).
His sale 1709; acquired by James Bryges, Duke of Chandos.
His sale, 1747.
Bequeathed to the Bodleian in 1755
Record Sources
Availability
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Digital Images
Digital Bodleian (full digital facsimile)
Digital Bodleian (122 images from 35mm slides)
Bibliography
Printed descriptions:
Abbreviations
View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.
Last Substantive Revision
2023-01: Description revised with reference to Watson and published literature as cited.