Durham University Library Archives & Special Collections Catalogue
Manuscript codex containing English translations of two psuedo-Bonaventuran texts, written in England at the start of the 15th century. Owned by George Davenport and given by him to Bishop Cosin's Library around 1670.
Parchment, a few flaying flaws, marginal tears repaired f.53 and 64, both by blue thread; quires with flesh-side outermost), roughly trimmed.
foliated, i-ii, 1-66, iii-iv, 1952
18, 28 wants 7 (blank ?) after f.14; 3-88, 9 three.
Evidence of prickings in outer margin not cropped away on f.2-7 and 49-51. Written space c. 180 x 115 mm; framed in sharp brown, with ruling across margin for first and some penultimate lines of writing, and also, in quire 1 only, for each line of writing. 39-43 long lines.
Written, including rubrics, in anglicana proficiently, by one hand, with single and double virgules. Changes of ink and size f.57r-v, and ink f.60r. Medial and final v for u occurs sometimes (“avngel”, “grovnd”, “hov”, “nov”, “ʒov”), but not consistently. LALME I, 87, III, 310-11, IV, 339, analyse the dialect of f.2-20 as Norfolk (west). The spellings of the rest are compatible with a similar provenance (“feland”, “mekil”, “swilk”, “whilk”), and north-east midland origins of both items.
Virgules in red, and text capitals stroked with red, f 1r, 3r, 4r-5r, 57v-59r and 60r. Lemmata underlined in red, f.57v-59r and 60r, i.e. from start of chapter 36 of item (2), where there is a change of ink and perhaps of pen. Red line-filling with rubrics. Paraphs in red, f.21v-27r and 31v-33r, cf. side notes. Initials: (i) 2 or 3 line, blue, with infilling and flourishing in red, sometimes with distinctive details (e.g. f.29v, 52v, 60v); (ii) to item (2), 4 line F, 20 x 20 mm, in gold, filled with green, and on a pink blue ground decorated with white, the top bar of the letter supporting the figure of the crucified Christ with hair and halo as in miniature, f.1r. Miniature: f.1r, 26 x 24 mm, in a 5 line space, meant for initial Q (?), Christ, with chestnut hair and halo in dark blue decorated with gold circle and dots and crossed in deep pink, in a blue grey garment carries a T cross over his right shoulder and faces the viewer, walking to the right on green ground with sky in gold; four daisy-heads, in green, gold and red, at the upper corners.
Original English side notes, f.17r, 23-24, 25-27, and numbers ij-x, f.32v-33r, in red or black rectangles, mostly coinciding with breaks in the text marked by red paraphs. On f.40r “Decime” in lighter ink without obvious relevance.
Bound in Durham by Hutchinson, mid 18th century, slightly speckled calf with double blind framing fillets and a pair about 30mm vertically from spine; Hugh Hutchinson's roll F blind along spine hinges, and roll B gilt on board edges; stains of turn-ins from this or earlier binding on f.ir and ivv; spine replaced, mid 19th century, with new endpapers and one clasp.
Written in England, start of 15th century.
Illegible inscription up the outer edge of f.15v, in soft brown, 2 lines, about 6-8 words, the first beginning T, the last S, early-mid 16th century. The faded 16th/17th century inscription “Jo. Feldum (??)”, f.1r top, is the same as in three Cotton manuscripts and printed books in the Harsnett Library and elsewhere (including one in Durham UL), identifiable as John Field, Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge from 1593 (see Carley 2002, 214). Inscription: “Geo.Davenport. 1664.”, in cut out window in front pastedown; his list of contents, f.iir. Usual ex-libris and shelf-mark by Thomas Rud on f.iir.
Translation in 20 divisions of chapters 74-92 of the pseudo Bonaventuran Meditationes Vitae Christi, varying somewhat but clearly the same version as Lincoln Cathedral MS 91 (copied by Robert Thornton of East Newton, E. Yorks.). Other copies are Cambridge Trinity College, MS B.10.12, with pictures, and Yale Univ., MS 660 (formerly Bute: Sotheby's 13 June 1983, lot 9), which has the opening rubric of item (2) below prefixed to this text, presumably by confusion of the two peudo-Bonaventuran translations. f.15r-v blank; recto with frame ruling.
English version of the pseudo Bonaventuran Stimulus Amoris, lacking last few lines of cap. 38 (= ed. 39). There is a very close relationship between this copy and University of Pennsylvania MS Eng.8 (formerly Stonor). The attribution here to Walter Hilton is found in two other manuscripts; the Stonor MS has the same initial rubric as here, and it is also found with item (1) in the Yale manuscript, see above. Offsets of two flourished initials on inner margin of f.66v, as if from a table of chapters or the start of another work on the lost next leaf following the end of item (2).
Carley, J., "Religious controversy and marginalia: Pierfrancesco Di Piero Bardi, Thomas Wakefield, and their books" "Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society", vol. 12, no. 3 (2002), 206-245
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]).
Horstmann, C., Yorkshire writers: Richard Rolle of Hampole an English father of the church and his followers (London: Swan Sonnenschein and Co., 1895-96)
Kane, H., The prickynge of love (Salzburg: Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik, 1983)
A linguistic atlas of late mediaeval English , ed. Macintosh et al. (Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press, 1986)