London, British Library, Harley 4733
| England |
| London |
| British Library |
| Harley 4733 |
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| s. xvmed |
| English |
| Scribe 1: Scribal dialect: Worcestershire. Linguistic Atlas Grid Reference: 391 277, LP 7600 (McIntosh, Samuels and Benskin 1986, p. 249). Scribe 2: Scribal dialect: Warwickshire. Linguistic Atlas Grid Reference: 410 262, LP 4681 (McIntosh, Samuels and Benskin 1986, p. 244).
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A mid fifteenth-century manuscript (c. 1460) containing texts of a moralizing nature (Guddat-Figge 1976, p. 207, n. 1).
Item: 1| ff. 3r-30r |
| Cato Major and Cato Minor (IMEV 3955 and IMEV 854) |
| 'Whan y aduertyse in my remembraunce'. |
| 'naught can seth but simpelnes of witt'. |
| 'Liber catonis compositus per magistrum benedictum burgh, vicarium de malden'.'Explicit liber catonis compositus per magistrum benedictum burgh vicarium de malden'. |
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Item: 2| ff. 30r-40r |
| Proverbs of Prophets, Poets and Saints/ Proverbs of Old Philosophers (IMEV 3501) |
| 'The wyse man in his boke'. |
| 'and god that made all thynge ?eve vs all good endyng'. |
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Item: 3| ff. 40v-127r |
| Titus and Vespasian (IMEV 1881) |
| 'Listneth alle şat ben alyve'. |
| 'And god graunt us alle there to be amen amen per charite'. |
| 'Explicit hic sedes et obsidium de civitate ierusalem'. |
| F. 127v was originally blank but now contains various pen trials etc. |
Herbert 1905.
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Item: 4| ff. 128r-v |
| Brut (fragment) |
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| This leaf is part of the end flyleaves and is both cropped and placed sideways. |
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| Codex |
| Parchment and paper. The outer and central bifolia of quires are vellum whilst the others are paper. |
| 210 x 120 mm |
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112, ff. 3r-14v; 2?; 312, ff. ?- 39v; 412, ff. 40r-51v, catchword in scroll; 510, ff. 52r-61v, catchword in scroll; 612, ff. 62r-73v, catchword in scroll; 712, ff. 74r-85v, catchword; 812, ff. 86r-97v; 912, ff. 98r-109v; 1012, ff. 110r-121v; 1112?, ff. 122r-127v, last six leaves missing, first and last leaf of quire.
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| Pricking holes on outer margins visible, some very close to edge others c. 15 mm in; round holes and slits. Writing space of 150 x 85-95 mm. Single columns with 26-34 lines. Lines and frame ruled in drypoint which is now grey. |
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Scribe 1 copying ff. 3r-40r, 52r-127r writing in a small and regular Anglicana with strong influence of Secretary, regular use of tall decorated ascender on the first line of writing especially for emphatic letters such as l, h, w and minims traced continuously especially in the second part of the manuscript. Double compartment and single compartment a used regularly; diamond shaped lobe d with rounded ascender curving 45 degrees from the left to the right, ending with a stroke towards the right which closes itself in a rounded loop; 8-shaped
g with rounded head, the descender closes into a lobe, attached to the head. Straight thick descender with a tail on the top of the backstroke on the left of p, rounded head with shaft starting attached to the back stroke and finishing half way past the descender; distinctly different from the almost upright backstroke of ş with a little tail attached on the left of the backstroke and an elongated head. Long and short r are used regularly in medial position; long s used regularly in initial and medial position; rounded s used mainly in final position; closed w with the first stroke extending in an
otiose hairline which almost closes in a small loop towards the right and the second back stroke turns towards right and terminates with a closed loop. Two closed lobes like a B-shape finish the letter on the right side. One form of & used occasionally an L-shape stroke with a prolonged hairline on the left of the back stroke turning and towards and extending beyond the line of writing with a horizontal stroke, Z-shaped ? with a long descender which extends below the line of writing used mainly in initial position. Body height: 2 mm.
Scribe 2 copying ff. 40v-51v writing in a small and regular Secretary hand with influences of Anglicana, with regular use of elaborate pen-ink ascenders and descenders which usually decorate both the header and the footer of the page. Thick backstrokes often extending above and below the level of writing. Single compartment a used regularly; diamond shape lobe d with squashed ascender curving 45 degrees from the left to the right, ending with a stroke towards the right which closes itself in a loop; diamond shape head g with rounded open ascender turning on the left and extending without closing in a loop. Slightly bent descender with a serif on the top of the back stroke on the left of p, rounded head with shaft starting attached to the back stroke and finishing half way past the descender; similar to the almost upright back stroke of ş with a little tail attached on the left of the back stroke and an elongated head. Short r is used regularly in initial and medial position; long s used regularly in initial and medial position; B-shaped s used always in final position; closed w with the first stroke extending in an otiose hairline closing on the second back stroke, which turns towards right and terminates with an almost closed loop. One closed lobe like a B shape finishes the letter on the right side. One form of & used occasionally an L-shaped stroke with a prolonged hairline on the left of the back stroke turning and towards and curving beyond the line of writing with a detached right stroke as head. Use of y for ?. Body height: 2 mm.
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In red: Latin lines in first text; one-line initials until f. 51; red 'titles' in margin.
One three-line blue initial with red flourishes on f. 3r.
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Not medieval. Size: 215 x 135 mm. Covered in brown leather mitred and pasted onto pasteboard with 'marbled' pattern on pastedown. Five raised bands across spine. Front cover carries a gold stamp in middle of shield with angels either side.
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| ff. iii + 128 + i. |
| Fragment of a thirteenth century French Brut, f. 128r used as binding.
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| Good |
| Unknown |
| Various owners have entered their names: f. 2v 'Master John Penyngton schole master of Wurcestur ys possessoro_ of thys book' .
: seventeenth/eighteenth century - , 'This is John/ bland---', f. 1r (really f. ivr); 'John blandus', f. 1r (really f.ivr); 'Libre Johannis Blandi', f. 127r; 'Johannes Blandus', f. 127v; : f. 1v - 'John lyenell'; : eighteenth century - f. 1v, 124v, 127v - 'John Russel'; eighteenth/nineteenth century - f. 1r, 1v, 2r, 127v - 'John pygyn'; : eighteenth/nineteenth century - f. 3r - 'John legus'; and : eighteenth/nineteenth century - f. 62r - 'Brampton'. See London, British Library, MS Harley 2386/II.
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Catalogued and encoded: Rebecca Farnham, University of Birmingham, August 2003.
- Casley D., Hocker, W., Morton, C., index by Astle T., 1801-1812. A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum, 1808-1812, 4 vols., London: G. Eyre and A. Strahan, 1. Commenced by H. Wanley, and successively continued by D. Casley, W. Hocker, C. Morton, index by T. Astle, vol. 3, p. 197.
- Guddat-Figge, G. 1976. Catalogue of Manuscripts Containing Middle English Romances, München: Wilhelm Fink Verlag, pp. 207-208.
- Herbert, J. A., ed, 1905. Titus and Vespasian, or The Destruction of Jerusalem: in rhymed couplets: edited from the London and Oxford Manuscripts, London: Printed for the Roxburghe Club by J. B. Nichols.
- McIntosh, A., Samuels, M. L. and Benskin, M. 1986. A Linguistic Atlas of Late Medieval English: County Dictionary, 4 vols, Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press, 4.
- Owst, G. R. 1961. Literature and Pulpit in Medieval England, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 183 n.
