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

MS. Top. Devon d. 5

Summary Catalogue no.: Not in SC (late accession): no full description available

Contents

Cartulary of Newenham Abbey
Language(s): Latin
(fols. 104v–110r)
Livere de reis de Brittanie
Language(s): Anglo-Norman

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment
Extent: 127 leaves
Dimensions (leaf): 265 × 180 mm.
Foliation: Foliated in early modern ink arabic numerals, 1–122, omitting endleaves and the first three leaves of text; these are foliated in modern pencil i-iv, and 123–125.

Layout

34 lines per page.

Hand(s)

Gothic script with secretary features

Decoration

Plain blue initials.

Binding

Original sewing on seven split thongs, entering the original wood boards through their outer faces, the boards with cushioned edges; the upper and lower pastedowns show evidence of a pair of strap-and-pin clasps, the pins towards the middle of the lower board; the boards coverd with polished brown leather, blind-tooled with simple fillets; the spine with a 20th-century black leather title piece lettered in gilt 'M. S. S. | NEWENHAM | ABBEY | DEVON', and with an uncharacteristic 19th-century paper label inscribed with the Phillipps number: '+25088'

History

Origin: c. 1347 ; English

Provenance and Acquisition

Added notes relating to Adam Molens, bishop of Chichester (fol. 122v), also mentioning David Moleyns, esquire, John Hembury, vicar of Axminster, John Pery, and Henry Bony.

Erased inscription on fol. 123v.

Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792–1872), his MS. 25088, with this number on the upper pastedown and spine, and with his reference number ‘a.52.1179’ pencilled on fol. i recto.

Sold at Sotheby's, 1 December 1947, lot 32; bought by the Bodleian.

Record Sources

Draft description by Peter Kidd, late 1990s

Bibliography

    Printed descriptions:

    A. Watson, Catalogue of Dated and Datable Manuscripts in Oxford Libraries (1984), no. 707

Last Substantive Revision

2017-07-01: First online publication.