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

MS. Rawl. poet. 32

Summary Catalogue no.: 14526

Fifteenth-century anthology made up of composite parts, comprising poems on good manners and religious devotion, the Brut chronicle, and the Libelle of English Policy

Physical Description

Composite: in five parts, A || B || C || D || E , produced seperately and bound in the fifteenth century
Form: codex
Extent: ii (modern endleaves, paper, with two unfoliated notes) + 1-2 (fifteenth-century endleaves, parchment) + 3-205 + i (modern endleaf, paper, foliated 206)
Dimensions (leaf): 280 × 195 mm.
Foliation: Uniform modern pencil

Collation

12 (fols. 1r-2v), 28 (fols. 3r-10v), 38 (fols. 11r-18v), 412-1 (fols. 19r-29v, seventh folio excised), 58 (fols. 30r-37v), 68 (fols. 30r-45v), 78 (fols. 46r-53v), 820-1 (fols. 54r-72v, second folio excised), 920 (fols. 73r-92v), 1020 (fols. 93r-112v), 113+18 (fols. 113r-133v: fols. 113-115 are the first three leaves of a quire of six leaves, with the corresponding stubs after fol. 133; fols. 116-133 are a quire of 18 leaves inserted in the middle of this first quire), 1218-1 (fols. 134r-150v, eighteenth folio excised), 1320-2 (fols. 151r-168v, nineteenth and twentieth folios excised), 1426-1 (fols. 169r-193v, twenty-third folio excised), 158 (fols. 194r-201v), 164 (fols. 202r-205v). Many leaf signatures still visible.

Condition

Extensive wormholes throughout, especially on flyleaves and corners of pages.

Binding

White parchment binding over pasteboards, c. seventeenth century [?].

History

Origin: 15th century, second half ; English

Provenance and Acquisition

Fol. 2r contains a table of contents in a near-contemporary hand, suggesting that although the composite parts were produced seperately they were bound into one volume soon after in the fifteenth century.

Fol. 205r bears the ownership mark ‘ Rychard Turnowre’ in a c. 1500 hand.

The whole volume identifiable as item 34 in the 1577 catalogue of the books of John Thynne at Longleat (Kate Harris, 'An Augustan Episode in the History of the Collection of Medieval Manuscripts at Longleat House;,English Medieval Book, ed. A.S.G. Edwards, et al. (British Library, 2000), 233-247 at 234)

The manuscript was owned by Thomas Thynne, Viscount Weymouth (1640–1714); listed in the Longleat catalogue of 1702 (Harris, op. cit., 234). The shelfmark ‘IX. D. 69’ on fol. 2r is in the hand of George Harbin (1665-1744), Thomas Thynne's librarian, who shelfmarked many other manuscripts in the collection at Longleat. Harbin was a librarian from 1699, and died in 1744..

It was then owned by Richard Rawlinson (1690–1755).

From this period, there is a letter on fol. 1r by E. U[mfreville] (1702?-86), who annotated many of Rawlinson's manuscripts, dated 25 March 1750 containing information about the contents of the manuscript.

Bequeathed to the Bodleian in 1755 by Richard Rawlinson on his death.

MS. Rawl. poet. 32 - pastedown and endleaf (fols. 1-2)

Contents

Language(s): Middle English

(fol. 1r)

Formerly pastedown.

(fol. 1v)
Prose note on the geography of the British Isles

Fifteenth-century hand.

(fol. 1v)
Incipit: Ther ben(n)e yn yngelande xxxv sch(e)rys þ[ ] | And v m(ll) & xj p(ar)ich cherches
Explicit: þ(t) ys CCC xxij li | vjs viij d
(fol. 1v)
Prophecy
Incipit: Whanne faith faileth saw | And willes of lordis b(e) ld
Explicit: Thanne shall þis lond Albio[n] | Be brought o confucion
DIMEV 6299

Sometimes attributed to Chaucer, for instance by Caxton, 1477[?].

(fol. 1v)
Be cleanly clad
Incipit: Be clenly clad hym of | Passe nat thi dis kepe thi
Explicit: Wherfore pursue peas in all thi life | Loue thi neighboures & gete þe a good name
DIMEV 754

This is the only recorded source of this poem.

(fol. 1v)
The Abuses of the Age
Incipit: A yong man a rewler recheles | A olde man(ne) a lechowr loueles
Explicit: A womman a rebawde shameles | Thes v shall neuer thrif blameles
DIMEV 2994
(fol. 2r)

Table of contents for the whole volume, in a fifteenth-century hand.

(fol. 2v)

Blank except for pen trials.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Parchment

MS. Rawl. poet. 32 – Part 1 (fols. 2-37)

Contents

Language(s): Middle English

1. (fols. 3r-29v)
Benedict Burgh, Cato Major
Rubric: S I deus est animus no⟨⟩ | hic tibi precipue s⟨⟩
Incipit: ffor why that god is inwardly the wit⟨⟩ | Of man and yeueth hym vnderstond⟨⟩
Explicit: Bi too & too my metre for to knyt | Nat causith me but simplenesse of wit
Final rubric: Explicit hic Cato dans castigami(n)a nato | Isto Cato orat(or) vnus vij prudencium Rome | Cato et Plato et cetera | Detur pro penna scriptori pulcra pu
Language(s): Middle English text, Latin rubrics

Outer half of fol. 2r excised. Written below the explicit on fol. 29v are ‘G. E.’ and ‘J. Tþ’.

DIMEV 1418
2. (fols. 30r-31v)
John Lydgate, Stans puer ad mensam
Incipit: M I dere child first thi sylue enabill | With alle hyn hert to vertuous disciplyne
Explicit: Yf ougth be amys in word sillable or dede | Put al defaute apon(e) Iohn Lidgate
Final rubric: Explicit
DIMEV 3588
3. (fols. 31v-32r)
John Lydgate, A prayer upon the cross
Incipit: [A] pon a crosse naylid I was for the | Suffred deth to pay thi raunson
Explicit: Now for thi modrys meke meditation | At this request be to vs merciable
DIMEV 6132
4. (fols. 32v-35r)
Erthe upon Erthe
Incipit: Whanne life is most louyd | And deth is most hatid
Explicit: So that erthe for the erthe | Stye vp to thi holy hille
Final rubric: Amen
DIMEV 6369
5. (fols. 35v-37v)
The xxx virtues of the mass
Incipit: xxx vertewis schal haue he | what wolle the masse hire or se
Explicit: And louyth the masse with alle yo(ur) mynde | And god wolle sende you a gode ende
DIMEV 5651

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Paper. One watermark throughout, not fully visible due to position.

Layout

Frame ruled in graphite, in 23-28 long lines. Ruled space 175 × 155 mm.

Hand(s)

One hand in a secretary script with elaborate ascenders and descenders.

Decoration

Fol. 3r opens with a four-line blue initial with red flourishing.

Cato Major, fols. 2r-29v, contains Latin subheadings in red.

Fol. 30r, beginning Stans puer ad mensam, contains a three-line red Lombardic capital. All lines across fols. 30r-31v underlined in red.

Fol. 32v, beginning Erthe upon Erthe, opens with a two-line space for a decorated initial ‘W’ but lacks initial. All lines across fols. 32v-35r have the first letter of each line in red, and brackets in red.

Fols. 35v-37v, containing The xxx virtues of the mass, have the first letter of each line in red, and brackets in red.

History

Origin: 15th century, second half ; English

MS. Rawl. poet. 32 – Part 2 (fols. 28-53)

Contents

Language(s): Middle English

1. (fols. 38r-53v)
John Lydgate, Fabula duorum mercatorum
Incipit: ⟨I⟩N Egypt whilom as I reede and fynde | ther dwellid a marchaunt of hih and gret estat
Explicit: Rith in to Egipt he is gon a geyn | Of heer freendschip what shold y you more seeyn

Ends imperfectly. MS Rawl. Poet contains 128 of 130 stanzas in rhyme royal. The catchword at the foot of fol.53v reads ‘I say you platly’ (the first line of stanza 129), suggesting the text was originally complete but the last leaf has been lost. Between fols. 53 and 54 survives a stub in parchment.

DIMEV 2490

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Parchment.

Layout

No ruling. 28-32 long lines per page. Ruled space 190 × 115 mm.

Hand(s)

A formal secretary script with elements of Anglicana Formata.

Decoration

Fol. 38r, beginning Fabula duorum mercatorum, opens with a five-line decorated initial in red with black flourishing.

History

Origin: 15th century, second half ; English

MS. Rawl. poet. 32 – Part 3 (fols. 54-168)

Contents

Language(s): Middle English

1. (fol.54r)

blank.

2. (fols. 54v-55r)
Proverbs
Rubric: This ffolowyng ben the P(ro)u(er)bis of Wysdom
Incipit: ⟨T⟩he wyse ma(n) sayd to his sonnes | Thynke on the p(ro)u(er)bis, þ(a)t aft(er) comys
Explicit: God that syttyþe In Trynyte | On vs al haue m(er)cy & pyte
DIMEV 5530
3. (fol. 55r)
The ten commandments
Rubric: This folowyng be(n) the x comandmente(s)
Incipit: All false goddis þu shalt forsak | His name nott yn Idell take
Explicit: Couete þ(o)u no ma(n) is wyff | Nor(e) no þy(n)g þ(a)t to hy(m) lyeþ(e)
DIMEV 323

This is the only recorded witness of this poem.

4. (fol. 55r)
Who of plenty will take no heed
Incipit: Myspend we nott fyve and fle we seven | Kepe we wel x & com to heve(n)
Explicit: Whe(n) ma(n) hath what wyll is | Then shewyth he whatt he is
Final rubric: Expliciunt vulgaria | prudentum
DIMEV 6554

Untitled in the manuscript and written under the same heading as the previous text.

5. (fols. 55v-56v)
Table of the kings described in the Chronicle of England (Brut Chronicle) to 1461
Rubric: Here ffolowyth the tabyll of all the kyngs that eu(er) raignid | yn Englonde begynnyng fro the fyrst that ys to say fro(m) Brute
Incipit: Brute the fyrst kyng that eu(er) | was yn Englond Raygnyd xxx yer(es)
Explicit: Henri the v Raygnd ix yer(es) | Henri the vi Raygnyd xxxx yer(es)

Index to the following item.

6. (fols. 57r-168r)
Chronicle of England (Brut Chronicle) to 1461
Rubric: [H] Ere begynneth a boke which | is called Brute the cronacle of | England
Incipit: [T]his boke treteth techeth and telleth of | kyngis and of pryncipall lordis that ...
Explicit: lyfe we may come to the euerlastyng lyfe in the blisse of heuen Amen

Prose. From Brut to Edward IV's accession, A.D. 1461, interrupted at AD 1066 (fols. 115v-116r).

The text opens with an elaborate decorated initial T on fol. 57r containing 3 banderoles which read ‘me gra(tia) | plena | d(omin)us tec(um)

Lister M. Matheson, The Prose Brut: The Development of a Middle English Chronicle, Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies (1998).
7. (fol.168v)

blank.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Paper. Contemporary foliation i-iiiixxxiiij (fols. 57-150) Four watermarks: 'Chien' (Briquet, 3626), 'Licorne' (Briquet, 10211), ‘Anneau’ (Briquet, 689), similar to 'Armoires sans pieces' (Briquet, 841).

Layout

Fols. 54v-56v in two columns, unruled, with 32-42 long lines. Written space c. 210 × 140 mm.

Fols. 57r-168r in one column, unruled, with 33-39 long lines.

Hand(s)

Four scribes, all writing in a Secretary script (fols. 54-56v, 57r-68v, 68v-115v, 116r-168r).

Decoration

Fol. 54v, beginning Proverbs, opens with a two-line space for a decorated initial ‘W’ but lacks initial.

All lines across fols. 54v-55r have the first letter of each line in red, and brackets in red.

Fols. 55r-56v,The ten commandments and the table of kings from the Brut Chronicle, have rubricated title and explicit, the first letter of each line in red, and brackets in red.

Fol. 57r opens the Brut Chronicle (fols. 57r-168r) with a ten-line cadel initial containing banderoles.

Flourished ascenders on the top line.

Rubricated lombardic capitals throughout, with occasional red underlining. Titles and explicits in red.

History

Origin: 15th century, second half (after 1480, see Matheson, p.276) ; English

MS. Rawl. poet. 32 – Part 4 (fols. 169-193)

Contents

Language(s): Middle English with (art. 3) marginal apparatus in Latin

1. (fol.169r)

blank.

2. (fols.169v-172v)
The Fifteen O's of Christ
Incipit: O Ih(es)u Crist of euerlastyng(e) swetnes | Thow god in thi godhed this to begyn
Explicit: And I to be made so worthy fro alle filthes infernall | Amonge thy Saynt(es) to prayse the w(i)t(h) thaym p(er)petuall
Final rubric: Aman w(i)t(h)out mercy of mercy shall mysse | He shall haue mercy that mercyfull ys

Thirty-four stanzas in rhyme royal. Ends with two provers written in red.

DIMEV 3941
3. (fols. 173r-193r)
Libel of English Policy
Rubric: H ere begynneth the Prologe of the processe of þe bible of | Englishe Polycy exortyng alle Engelond to kepe the See ...
Incipit: T he trew processe of Engelond pollecye | Of Owteward to kepe this Realme in reste
Explicit: I offre the them to be gracious | To thyne excuse fare well myn owne trete
Final rubric: Explicit libellus de polecia | conseruatiua maris
DIMEV 5509
4. (fol.193v)

blank.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Paper.Two watermarks: 'Corounne' (Briquet, 4639), ‘Anneau’ (Briquet, 689 - of part 3).

Layout

Fols. 169v-172r: no ruling, 24 long lines consistently, written space 225 × 130 mm.

Fols. 173r-193r: frame ruled, with 29-31 long lines per page, ruled space 200 × 120 mm.

Hand(s)

One hand in a scretary script with elaborate ascenders and descenders.

Decoration

Fol. 169v opens The Fifteen O's of Christ with a four-line flourished initial in black ink. Other first initials are flourished over fols.169v-172v.

Final rubric in red.

Fol. 173r opens Libel of English Policy with two-line red Lombardic capitals, also on fols. 190v and 191v. Fol. 190r has a two-line space for a missing Lombardic capital.

Across 173r-193r, the first letter of each line is in red until fol. 189v, and glosses are signalled in red, with occasional red underlining.

History

Origin: 15th century, second half ; English

MS. Rawl. poet. 32 – Part 5 (fols. 194-205)

Contents

Language(s): Middle English

1. (fols. 194r-204r)
Stephen Scrope, Dicts and sayings of the philosophers
Incipit: S edechias was the ffryst phylyzopher(e) by whom as ...|
Explicit: And thys suffysyth of the translacion of the morall sayy(n)gles | off phylyzophowr(es) etc.
Final rubric: Hic est finis libri de moralib(us) | philosophorum R T

R. T. could refer to Richard Turnowre, whose name appears on fol. 205r.

Abbeviated version; this text pr. EETS o.s. 211, pp. 295-320.

2. (fol. 204v)
The age of the worlde
Incipit: ⟨T⟩he first age of the worlde was from adam to Noye | The secund from Noye to Abraham
Explicit: In the begynnyn(n)g of the viij shalbe reysyng of all þ(a)t | ben dede and a reward[?] ffor good and euill
Final rubric: Q(uo)d
3. (fol. 205r)
Teeth, Bones, and Veins
Incipit: XXXII teth that beþe full kene | CC bonys and Nyntene
Explicit: CCC vaynys syxty and fyve | Eu(er)y man haþe that is a lyve
DIMEV 5650
4. (fol. 205r)

Note containing dimensions of St Paul's Cathedral, London.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment

Layout

No ruling. 34-38 long lines per page. Ruled space 230 × 150 mm.

Hand(s)

Three hands in a secretary script (fols. 194r-204r, 204v, 205r.

Decoration

Fol. 194v, beginning A processe of philosophers, opens with a four-line red Lombardic capital. Also on fol. 197r.

Paraphs rubricated across 194r-204r. Rubricated explicit.

Fol. 204v, containing The age of the worlde, rubricates the first words of each section and line breaks.

Teeth, Bones, and Veins, fol. 205r, in red.

History

Origin: 15th century, second half ; English

Additional Information

Record Sources

Description by Charlotte Ross, Sept. 2022. Previously described in the Summary Catalogue (1895).

Digital Images

Digital Bodleian (2 images from 35mm slides)

Bibliography

    Online resources:

    Printed descriptions:

    Kate Harris, 'An Augustan Episode in the History of the Collection of Medieval Manuscripts at Longleat House',English Medieval Book, ed. A.S.G. Edwards, et al. (British Library, 2000), 233-247

Last Substantive Revision

2022-09-16: Charlotte Ross Revised with consultation of original.