Durham University Library Archives & Special Collections Catalogue
A composite volume made up of five parts: (A) f.1-80, Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermones; (B) f.81-87, Nicholas of Amiens, Ars catholicae fidei; Costa ben Luca, De differentia spiritus et animae; (C) p.89-183, William de Montibus, Numerale; (D) p.187-229, Alan of Lille, Ars praedicandi; (E) p.231-282, Hugh of Saint-Victor, De arca Noe morali, De archa Noe mystica etc. Parts A, C, D, and E had evidently been brought together by 1392, as they share an entry in the Spendement library catalogue.
Early modern ink foliation then pagination: f.1-87 are foliated, the remainder of the book is then paginated 89-293 (pagination starts with 89 on f.88r (the unnumbered f.87v was evidently counted as page 88) and ends with 293 on f.190r.
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). Stains on p.294 from the turn-ins of an earlier binding. Rust-stained hole in p.289-294 from the clasp fixture on an earlier binding.
Pressmark: “F”, later 14th century, f.1r, top right. Recorded with this pressmark in Spendement catalogues of 1392 and 1416.
Parchment: modest to low quality; stout, glaring H/F contrast; follicle marks, edgecuts, flaws, mottled surfaces. Arranged: HF, FH. A parchment tab, inscribed “4”, is attached to f.55.
flyleaf, a singleton (glued at the gutter to both the 19th century flyleaf and to f.1). I-X8
Written area: 200 x 127 mm. Lines: from f.1r-73v, 41 (space, 5+; height of minims, 2 mm). From f.74r-80v, 43 (space, 5 mm; height of minims, 1 mm). Pricking: awl. Pricked in both side margins for the horizontal rulings. Prickings survive in all four margins. Ruling: ink. From f.1r-72v, double verticals flank the text-block; four pairs of horizontals are generally extended. From f.73r-80v, double verticals flank the text-block; only the first two and last two horizontals are always extended.
WrittenQuires I-VIII and all of quire IX bar its final leaf were written by a single scribe in Textualis semi-quadrata. A second hand contributed the final leaf of IX and the first of X in Protogothic. The rest of quire X was done by two Textualis semi-quadratahands in alternation, the first of which was responsible for corrections in the previous stints.
The general incipit is marked by a red initial, 8+ lines high, flourished in blue. All subsequent sermons, plus the major subdivisions within a few of them, are headed by a red, blue or green initial, flourished in blue, red and red respectively. Those in the stint of scribe 1 are 3+ lines high; those in the stints of scribes 2-4 are 2+ lines high.
Written in England, 12th/13th century.
f.1r-39r, sermons predominantly for the temporale; f.39r-76r, for the sanctorale; f.76r-78v, more for the temporale; f.78v-80v, for diverse occasions.
Parchment: modest to low quality with pronounced H/F contrast (yellow H sides) and propensity to curl.
I7 (=8 with leaf 8, blank, cancelled)
Written area: 204 x 128 mm. Two columns (width, 60 mm). Lines: 53 (space, 4 mm; height of minims, 1+ mm or 2+ mm). Pricking: awl. Pricking in both side margins for the horizontal rulings. Prickings survive in all four margins. Ruling: ink. Pairs of verticals at the outer edge of both columns, a single vertical at their inner edge (two in total in the intercolumnar space). First two and last two horizontals extended throughout.
Written in Textualis semi-quadrata by a single scribe.
(b) headed by a blue initial, 6 lines high, flourished in red and blue; a dragon with a foliate tail is drawn in the inner margin in blue ink as an extension. Subsections are headed by elongated capitals, generally 3+ lines high, alternately red then blue, occasionally enhanced with a single vertical stroked in the other colour. (c) headed by a red initial, 5 lines high, flourished in blue. The incipit proper is marked by a 3-line-high blue initial, the final subsection by a 2-line high red one.
Written in England, start of 13th century.
Sometimes incorrectly attributed to Alan of Lille. Some 40 copies known. Presented in a format akin to that of a glossed book of the Bible, with the propositions written in large script on every other line (and sometimes occupying only the left-hand half of a text column), the commentary written in smaller script on every line, sometimes starting beside the propositions (in the right-hand half of the column).
f.87r, col. 2 and all of 87v, blank.
Parchment: modest to low quality with noticeable contrast between H/F sides, some flaws and imperfections (including a large slit in p.115+116), prominent follicle marks. Mild cockling throughout.
I-IV12
Written area: 170 x 111 mm. Two columns (width, 48-52 mm). Lines: 37 (space, 4+ mm; height of minims, 2+ mm). Pricking: awl. Prickings survive in upper margin only. Ruling: ink and lead. Double verticals to either side of both text columns (two in total in the intercolumnar space); two further single verticals in both the inner and the outer margins. The first three and the last three horizontals extended. All horizontals run across the intercolumnar space but stop neatly at the innermost of the pairs of verticals.
Written in Textualis semi-quadrata by two or three scribes.
The general incipit is marked by a blue initial, 5 lines high, flourished in red and set against an ochre panel. Chapters are headed by 2-line-high initials, generally red then blue in alternation, floursihed in the other colour, but with examples in ochre flourished in red on p.100, 104 and 106; flourishing is rudimentary. Further subdivisons are marked by plain red initials, 1 line high, prefaced by a blue paraph. Entries in the capitula list are headed by 1-line-high initials, alternately red then blue. No rubrics were supplied on p.102-113 and 176-182; the others were the work of three hands. Sketches of monkey-like creatures were added, 15th/16th century, to the margins of p.90, 91 and 143. All are incomplete, qualitatively crude and faint. Juxtaposition and apparent parity of ink suggest that they are by the hand that made the addition in English and Latin to the margin of p.142.
Written in England, start of 13th century.
The capitula list is presented in ten blocks (one each for the chapters treating material for the numbers 1-9, with a final block for 10-12 collectively). Additions: lower margin of p.137; lower margin of p.142; lower margin of p.163; schedule added to the previously blank p.184, largely erased.
Parchment: modest to low quality with pronounced H/F contrast, follicle marks, major flaw (p.197-8) imperfections, propensity to curl. Arranged HF, FH. Mild cockling throughout.
flyleaf (p.185-6) a singleton, I10; II12
Written area: 178 x 111 mm. Two columns (width, 48 mm). Lines: 39 (space, 4 mm; height of minims, 2 mm). Pricking: awl. Prickings preserved only in the top margin. Ruling: ink, often now very faint. Double verticals flank both columns (three in total in the intercolumnar space); an extra vertical was intermittently supplied in both the outer and the inner margin. The number of horizontals extended varies. All horizontals run across the intercolumnar space; many project irregularly into the margins.
Written in Textualis semi-quadrata by a single scribe.
The incipit is marked by a blue initial, 5+ lines high, flourished in red, set against an ochre panel. Chapters are headed by 2- to 3-line-high initials, alternately red then blue, flourished in the other colour. On the recto of the flyleaf are the vestiges of a near-full-page 13th century drawing, done in lead, then erased; it may only have been a partial sketch when it was abandoned. Four concentric circles, drawn with the aid of a compass, were topped by the figure of a king.
Written in England, 12th/13th century.
A capitula list was added to the verso of the flyleaf (p. 186), 16th/17th century; the recto (p.185) bears an erased medieval sketch. A capitula list for section (E) was added to the originally blank parts of p.229 and 230, 16th/17th century.
Parchment: quires I-III, modest quality with pronounced H/F contrast, some imperfections; quire IV low quality with glaring H/F contrast, pronounced follicle marks; generally lower quality from p.265+6 onwards. Arranged HF, FH in quires I-III; HF, HF in quire IV. A rectangular area has been excised from the outer margin of p.233+4, perhaps to excise a flaw, possibly to remove a tab. Mild cockling throughout.
I-IV8
Written area: 172 x 102 mm. Two columns (width, 45-48 mm). Lines: 45 in quires I and III; 45 or 46 in quire II (space, 4 mm; height of minims, 1.5 mm); quire IV, 39 (space, 5 mm; height of minims 1 mm). Pricking: awl. Pricked in both side margins for the horizontal ruling in all quires. Prickings preserved in the side margins only. Ruling: lead and ink in quire I-III; ink in quire IV. In quires I-III, double verticals flank both columns (three in total in the intercolumnar space), with a further single vertical in the inner margin, and a pair of verticals in the outer margin. The number and choice of horizontals extended varies but generally includes one or more at the top, one or two towards the middle and one or more at the bottom.
Quires I-III ProtoGothic/Textualis semiquadrata: laterally compressed but with many rounded, as opposed to angular, elements. On many pages, the ascenders of letters in the top line are calligraphically extended. Quire IVProtogothic, small and compact. Ascenders are calligraphically extended only on p.279-280.
Item (f) is headed by a red initial, 8+ lines high, set against a blue panel and flourished in blue and red. Book III is headed by a red, green and ochre initial, 4 lines high, flourished in red and blue. Incipits for Books II and III and V and the individual chapters in Books I-IV are headed by 2+-line-high initials: in quire I these are, alternately red then blue, flourished in the other colour; in quire II, they are red, green or blue, flourished in one of the other colours; in quire III, they are red, blue, ochre or green, flourished in one of the other colours. The quality of the flourishing is rudimentary in quire I, becoming slightly more adventurous (though not more skillful) thereafter, and on p. 269 incorporates a couple of heads. At Book IV, chapter 12 (De quattuor gradibus ascensionum) (p.246), steps 1, 2 and 4 are flagged by an elaborately-boxed red ‘primus’, secundus’, ‘iiijus’ in the margin (‘Tertius’ has a red rubric within the text-block). Subsections within Book V are marked by small capitals, stroked in red, set in the margins. In the lower margin of p. 278 is a drawing of a figure with long hair , pointing at a quadruped in front of him; drawn in the ink of the text and coloured in the red and green of the initials, this appears contemporary with the writing and, as it coincides with the end of scribe 1’s stint, might represent his envoi. The spaces reserved for initials and rubrics in the stint of Scribe 2 remain unfilled (with the exception of a 2-line-high plain black ‘O’ that was supplied on p.280). A crude drawing of a quadruped with antlers was added to the lower margin of p.288 at an uncertain date.
Written in England, late 12th century.
A capitula list was added by a 16th/17th century hand, starting on p.229, col. 2, continuing on p.230, and ending on p.231, lower margin. 2.
11 pieces, including excerpts from Alexander of Canterbury Hildebert of Le Mans, Haymo of Halberstat. Text ends on p.293, column 1; column 2 and p.294, blank bar pen trials.
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]).
Goering, J., William de Montibus (c. 1140-1213) The schools and the literature of pastoral care , (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1992)
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)
Thorndike, Lynn and Kibre, P., A catalogue of incipits of mediaeval scientific writings in Latin (Cambridge, Mass.: Medieval Academy of America, 1963)