Durham University Library Archives & Special Collections Catalogue
I-IV Kings, glossed. Richard of Saint-Victor, Benjamin minor, written in England in the later 12th century.
Parchment: stout and suede-like, relatively even-toned; some flaws (including holes amid the text-block); imperfect areas made good with extra parchment, probably at an early date. Arranged: HF, FH. F.124-153 were strategically cut at the fore-edge to remove damp-damaged areas. Parchment tab, labelled “9” attached to f.79.
Modern pencil foliation
(flyleaf) a singleton, I-XVII8, XVIII10, XIX7 (=8 with leaf 8, possibly blank, excised).
Written area: 255 x 157 mm. Item (e) 250 x 162 mm in two columns (width, 73 mm).
49 ruled lines, used for up to 25 lines of biblical text, and up to 49 of gloss (both written above top line). Space: 6 mm. Height of minims: 3+ mm (biblical text), 2+ mm (gloss). Item (e): 40 lines (space, 6-7 mm; height of minims, 2+ mm).
Written in Transitional - Protogothic to Textualis. Probably one hand throughout (writing to a smaller gauge for (e) than for (a) to (d)). The writing, which has a slight tendency to be backwards-leaning, is generally placed above rather than on the horizontal rulings. The final gloss on f.100r and the start of one on f.107r were written with the greatly extended “f” and “s” of a contemporary Documentary script.
Fine arabesque initials head the biblical texts of I, II and IV Kings ((a) - f.4v; (b) f.37r; (d) -f.105r and the incipit of (e) - f.136r, 38, 24, 34, and 8 lines high respectively, done in red, green and blue plus (in the case of that for II Kings only) gold. A decorated initial, 11 lines high, was designed for III Kings (f.64v): composed of tubes ending in foliate curls and with two beast-head terminals, it was fully delineated in brown ink but remained uncoloured.
Simple arabesque initials, 3 lines high, head items (a1) and (a2), the general Preface and the Capitula list (f.2r, 2v), done in red and blue, and green and red respectively. Each chapter within (e) is headed by a coloured capital, red, green or blue, 2+ lines high; three examples (on f.136r, f.139r and f.147v) are embellished with one or both of the other colours. Many sentences within the biblical texts of (a) to (d) are headed by coloured capitals, red, green or blue, 1+line high; ink guide letters for these capitals survive in many margins.
A diagram of the Temple, contemporary with the text, done in brown ink with parts outlined in green, occupies the bottom of the text-block and much of the lower margin on f.79r (accompanying the description of it in III Kings 6-7).
Standard Tuckett binding, mid 19th century full brown calf over thick wooden boards (Charles Tuckett, binder to the British Museum, rebound many Durham manuscripts in the 19th century)
Written in England, later 12th century.
Inscription: “Liber sancti Cuthberti de Dunelmo”, 12th/13th century, f.2r, upper margin.
Pressmark:
“.D.” plus note of content (“In isto uolumine continentur quatuor libri regum in parte glosata et quidam libellus de studio sapiencie et eius commendacione”), mid 14th century, f.1r, upper margin. The designation of (e) corresponds to its rubric.
“.D.” twice, ?14th/15th century; “Quatuor libri regum glosati”, start of 15th century, f.2r, top right. “In le Sendement”, added below it, start of 15th century.
Probably the “Liber Regum glosatus” in the late 12th century book-list; in the Spendement catalogue of 1416.
Prefaces, capitula list and text with glosses. No original chapter divisions; the 31 standard chapters were subsequently (? 13th century) indicated by the addition of a Roman numeral immediately beside the line in question and repeated in the upper margin as a heading, the first word itself being flagged by a lead paraph.
No original chapter divisions; the 24 standard chapters were subsequently (? 13th century) indicated by the addition of a Roman numeral immediately beside the line in question and repeated in the upper margin as a heading, the first word itself being flagged by a lead paraph.
No original chapter divisions; the 22 standard chapters were subsequently (? 13th century) indicated by the addition of a Roman numeral immediately beside the line in question and repeated in the upper margin as a heading, the first word itself being flagged by a lead paraph.
No original chapter divisions; the 25 standard chapters were subsequently (? 13th century) indicated by the addition of a Roman numeral immediately beside the line in question and repeated in the upper margin as a heading, the first word itself being flagged by a lead paraph.
There are major disjunctions in the order of the text which runs: chapters 1-30, start of ch. 31 conflated with end of chapter 55, chapters 56-82, start of chapter 83 conflated with end of chapter 31; chapters 32-52, chapter 53 conflated with the start of 54, the end of chapter 54 presented as a chapter in its own right; the start of chapter 55 conflated with the end of chapter 83, chapters 84-87.The chapters are unnumbered. The disjunctions were evidently taken over from an exemplar that was itself disordered. Omissions through eye-skip on f.139v, f.142v, f.144r, f.153r, and f.154v, by contrast, may be attributed to our scribe; all were made good in neighbouring margins, mainly on supplementary ruled lines, and boxed with a decorative red line.
Catalogi veteres librorum Ecclesiae cathedralis
dunelm. Catalogues of the library of Durham cathedral, at
various periods, from the conquest to the dissolution, including
catalogues of the library of the abbey of Hulne, and of the mss.
,
Surtees Society 7, (London: J.B. Nichols and Son, [1838]).
de Hamel, Christopher, Glossed books of the Bible and the origins of the Paris book
trade , (Woodbridge, Suffolk, England: Boydell Press,
1984)
Mynors, R.A.B., Durham Cathedral
manuscripts to the end of the twelfth century. Ten plates in
colour and forty-seven in monochrome. With an introduction
[including a list of all known Durham manuscripts before
1200] ,
(Durham: 1939)
Stegmüller, F., Repertorium biblicum medii aevi , (Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1950-1961)