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MS. Tanner 10

Summary Catalogue no.: 9830

Contents

(fols. 1r-139v)
Bede, Historia ecclesiastica (in Old English translation)
The Old English version of Bede's Ecclesiastical history of the English people, ed. T. Miller, EETS OS 95 (London, 1890)

The text begins imperfectly towards the end of bk. 1 at the word 'sume' (Miller 54/2). Bk. 2 begins on fol. 6r, bk. 3 on fol. 25 (the Interrogationes Augustini (Miller 64-88) occupying 9 leaves, fols 58r-66v, at the end of this book), bk. 4 on fol. 68r and bk. 5 on fol. 115v. Bk. 5 ends imperfectly at the word 'unwillsumlice' (Miller 442/23). Fol. 66v/18-27 and fol. 67r are blank. Fol. 2rv is missing, except for a small fragment. Single leaves missing after fols 5, 19, 24, 26, 86. (cf. Miller 56/14-58/29, 92/17-96/8, 134/1-136/18, 150/20-152/22, 158/23-162/10, 304/7-306/19. A passage in bk. 3 (Miller 206-8/4) is omitted as in CCCC 41. The scribe also omitted a long passage near the end of bk. 4, passing from ‘þæs ylcan myn[stres abbodesse]' (Miller 358/30), the closing words of fol. 104v, to [ðæs ilcan myn]stres abbod' (Miller 382/20), the opening words of fol. 115r. Later, s. x med., the missing text was added on ten leaves inserted after fol. 104r: it extended only to l. 19 on fol. 114v and in order to make an exact join the 23 lines on fol. 115r were erased (lines 24-29 were blank at the end of the book) and rewritten on fols 114v/19-115/21 in shorter lines. A continuous numeration of the chapters of bks. 1 and 2 has been erased, but numbers running from XI to XVIII in bk. 1 and from IX to XXI in bk. 2 can be made out and appear to be contemporary. The present chapter-numbers and the running titles were added in s. xiv and Latin glosses (fols 1r-7r, 58v-60r) and notes are also of this date. The name 'GODMÆR' is in the margin of fol. 83r.

Language(s): Old English

Later added glosses in Latin, 14th century.

Language(s): Latin

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment, generally arranged in the insular fashion (HFHF) except in quire 16 (Gameson, 1992, pp. 194-5)
i + 139 + i leaves
Dimensions (leaf): 250 × 162 mm.
Foliation: (i), 1-139, (140). An older foliation followed by the editors is one behind from fol. 2v and two behind from fol. 86v. fols (i, 140) are paper leaves of the date of binding.

Collation

Gameson (1992) divides the manuscript into three sections: fols. 1-99, by the main scribe; fols. 100-4 and 115-139, written by the main scribe and three other scribes on parchment of inferior quality; fols. 105-114, a quire added to replace a gap in the text around the middle of the tenth century. Collation of fols 1r-139r (see Gameson 1992, with diagrams): [probably three quires missing] 1(8-1) lacks leaf 6 after fol. 5v, 2(8), 3(8-1) (lacks leaf 5 after fol. 19, leaves 3 and 6 singletons), 4(8-2) (lacks leaf 3 after fol. 24v and 6 after fol. 26v), 5(8)-7(8), 8(8) (3 and 6 are singletons), 9(8)-11(8), 12(8-1) (lacks leaf 3 after fol. 86v), 13(8), 14(8) (fols 100r-4r, 115r-17r) + a quire of 8+1 leaf after 6 and 1 leaf after 7 (fols 111r, 113r) inserted after fol. 104v (fols. 105-114), 15(6) (1 and 3 are singletons) (fols. 118-123), 16(8) (1 and 6 are singletons) (fols. 124-131), 17(8) (fols. 132-9) [probably two quires missing]. Two set of quire-signatures, both probably slightly later, (1) in Caroline minuscule (2) in Roman capitals. (1) beginning with c on the last leaf of quire 1 (fol. 7v) and ending with y on the first leaf of quire 11 (fol. 77r), each quire being normally signed twice, once on the first recto and again, with the next letter of the alphabet, on the last verso, but g, i, l, m, n, o, r, s are not now visible, and P appears instead of q on 8 1(fol. 53r). (2) M-S on the first recto of quires 11-17, but R, S have been erased and are doubtful.

Condition

Damaged by water in 1731 when Tanner's collections were submerged in the Thames (Gameson, 1992, p. 177).

Layout

Fols. 1r-99v: ruled in drypoint after folding (Gameson, 1992, p. 177 and diagrams). 26-28 long lines. Written space c. 175 × 110 mm.

Fols. 100r-104v, 115r-117v (quire 14a): 29 lines. Fols 105r-114v (quire 14b), 24 lines. Fols. 118-123 (quire 15): 26-8 lines. In quires 14-15, verticals ruled before folding, horizontals after (Gameson, 1992, p. 195).

Fols 124-39r (quires 16-17): 22-24 lines. Quire 17 all ruled before folding (Gameson, 1992, p. 195).

Hand(s)

Divisions of the scribes from Gameson, 1992, p. 196; descriptions from Ker.

Scribe 1, main hand (fols 1r-102v, 104r/7-104v; 116v/13 (word 6}-17; 116v/1-12. "Revived Insular minuscule" (Gameson). The high e ligatures include ea, ec, eo, but in the ligatures eg and et the e is of normal height, the join being achieved by making the headstrokes of g and t with an upward slope: a is square in the ligature ea, but elsewhere more or less rounded : the tall i is used in the word in: the three forms of s are used, but long s is never used finally and round s is infrequent: y is rounded and without dot: at a line-end the second stroke of n and h is often prolonged downwards: descenders are long and tapering: abbreviations include ō (on or ond), n3 (nus, in proper names) : the writing extends to the outer of the two bounding lines.

Scribe 2: 103r-104r/5; 115v-116r/13 (word 5); 116r/17 - the bottom of the folio; 116v/13-117v/I3 (word 2). "Early Square minuscule" (Gameson). Features of hand (2) which alternates with the main hand on fols 103r, 104r, 115r-17r are the square, straight-topped a, the use of ae for æ often, the outward twist to the end of the curve of final t, and the doubling of long vowels (doomes, haam, uut)

Scribe 3: is of a skilled mid-tenth-century type, Caroline minuscule, rather like that of Tib. A. vi: it occurs only on the inserted quire, fols 105r-14r, and on the rewritten page which follows it (fol. 115r).

Scribe 4, "poor" (Ker). 117v/13 (word 3}-126r; 132r-139v. A deeply split low s and makes frequent use of a ‘horned’ a, in which the 'horn' is little more than a dot on a level with the top of the letter on the right side

Scribe 5, fols. 126v-131v. Slopes and has an exaggeratedly tall form of the high e.

Decoration

Fine initials. (Pächt and Alexander iii. 22, pl. II)

A lively zoomorphic initial in red, green, and brown begins each paragraph throughout quires 1-14, except on the inserted leaves 105-14, where spaces for initials have been left blank, and on fols 58r-66r (Interrogationes Augustini), where the initials are alternately red and black. The decoration of fols 117r-39r is crude and incomplete. For further description and analysis see R. Gameson 'The decoration of the Tanner Bede', Anglo-Saxon England (21) 1992, 115-159; for analysis of pigments, R. Gameson et al., The Pigments of British Medieval Illuminators (London, 2023), 115.

Additions:

Running headings, chapter numbers (referring to the Latin text), marginal titles and interlinear Latin glosses added, 14th century

Binding

Late 18th- or early 19th century binding, repaired 1898, rebacked 1954, kept separately with the manuscript.

Disbound and repaired at the Bodleian, 1975-9; further treatment including rebinding, 1996-2003 (conservation documentation is available).

Accompanying Material

The medieval binding-leaves, kept separately since 1898 as MS. Tanner 10*, are from the mortuary roll of William, abbot of Thorney, probably William Yaxley (d. 1293): the blank dorse of the roll was used to record loans from the book closet at Thorney 1324-30 (see K. W. H[umphreys] in Bodleian Library Record, ii (1948), 205; and R. Sharpe, 'Monastic Reading at Thorney Abbey, 1323–1347', Traditio 60 (2005), 243-278).

History

Origin: 10th century, first quarter to middle ; England (place of origin unknown)

Provenance and Acquisition

Thorney, Cambridgeshire, Benedictine Abbey of Saint Mary the Virgin and St Botolph: former binding leaves are from a mortuary roll of William abbot of Thorney (now Tanner 10*), cf. Royal 15 A.x. (MLGB3: evidence from binding or elements of a binding typical of a particular library, or pastedowns bearing evidence of provenance).

Thomas Tanner, 1674–1735

Bequeathed by him to the Bodleian in 1735.

Record Sources

Adapted by Matthew Holford (2025) from the following sources with additional reference to published literature as cited:
R. Gameson, 'The fabric of the Tanner Bede', Bodleian Library Record 14/3 (1992), 176-206 (collation, physical description, script)
N. Ker, Catalogue of Manuscripts Containing Anglo-Saxon (Oxford, 1957), no. 351 (contents, script, decoration, binding, provenance)
Previously described: A. Hackman, Catalogi codicum manuscriptorum Bibliothecæ Bodleianæ pars quarta codices viri admodum reverendi Thomæ Tanneri, S.T.P., episcopi Asaphensis, complectens, Quarto Catalogues IV, repr. 1966, with corrections, from the ed. of 1860).
Summary Catalogue, Vol. 3, p. 82
Quarto Catalogue, Col. 11

Availability

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Digital Images

Digital Bodleian (26 images from 35mm slides)

Microfilm

Microfilm available in the open shelf collections in the Weston Library (R. Films 101)

Bibliography

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Last Substantive Revision

2025-09: Revised description from printed catalogues, digital images and published literature.