Durham University Library Archives & Special Collections Catalogue
Manuscript codex written in England in the mid 15th century containing a B group copy of John Mirk's Festial which, according to the editor, “may have been prepared for an important client”. Owned by John Cosin before the Civil War and donated by him to Bishop Cosin's Library.
Parchment for outermost and innermost bifolia of all quires and endleaves; other leaves paper, quarto; all with watermark of lombardic R with cross above on chain line, cf. Briquet, no. 8941 (dated 1467, but less well formed), with variants from southern Europe (1459-71); all edges trimmed.
foliated in ink 16th/17th century, i, 1-163, with 72, 91, 95 and 121 repeated.
1-208, 216 wants 5 (blank ?)
Pricking in outer margins only, mostly cropped away. Written space 193 x 112 mm, or 186 x 109 mm (quire 9), or 185 x 112 mm (quire 10), or 198 x 108 mm (f.72*r, 79v: 111,8), or 180-190 x 112 (112-7), or 198 x 112 mm (f.160r-v); ruled in sharp or soft brown plummet, with lines generally invisible, and with the first and last pair of horizontals extended across margins. 32 long lines, the first above the top ruled line, or 31 lines (quire 9), or 33 lines (quire 10), or 34 lines (f.72*r, 79v, 160r-v).
Written in a setsecretary, expertly, by one hand, with a few enhanced ascenders in top lines and elaborated descenders in bottom lines, and some variation in size and currency; unlooped d and w indicate a date after c. 1430 and the script could be as late as the third quarter of the century. Punctuation by paraph, virgule, psalm colon and point. Dialect placed in Leicestershire, LALME, I, 87
Latin phrases and English names written in red. Text capitals stroked with red, f.1r and 9r. Paraphs, in alternating red and blue, or, to sermon rubrics, in blue. Initials: (i) to sermons, 3 line, blue; (ii) to item (1), 6 line, in blue and red, enclosing a figure (frontal view of a cleric in a blue habit or cope(?) standing with hands together in prayer within a hexagonal pulpit decorated with two tiers of blind arcading, and bearing a deep pink fall decorated with gold, and standing on grass decorated with yellow, against a deep pink background decorated with groups of three hatched circles and three crows feet in yellow) set in a square of red flourishing. According to Scott 1996, II, 282-3, “may possibly be attributed to illustrator A (of BL MS. Royal 18.D.II) ... active in the late 1450s and early 1460s”. With a double frame on all sides of the text block, the inner blue and the outer a cascade or J-border composed of alternately red and blue sections each 25-40 mm long, with sprays of red flourishing at the corners and centre-points.
The word “pope” is erased on f.125r-126v, also the name of St Thomas (of Canterbury) sometimes, f.75v, 76r, 79r, 80r-v; the latter is rewritten in mid 16th century secretary, on f.75v, perhaps by the hand responsible for the contents list, f.161*r. On f.114r the rubric for his Translation is cancelled and the first five text lines, his Christian name on f.114v and “Pope Alisaunder” on 115v. The Latin theme for Quadragesima Sunday (f.13r) has been supplied by the later 16th century humanistic hand partly responsible for item (3). Lengthy English annotations (many cropped) expressing Protestant attitudes in a current later 16th century secretary hand, with underlining or bracketing of the relevant text in the same ink. “Sherthursday”, f.29r, “a fair punt” f.76v, and “Legenda aurea”, f.154v, in 16th/17th century italic, refer to phrases in the text, underlined in the same ink.
Lightly inked impressions of a piece of printing type, in the lower margins of f.71r (seven, one upside down) and 72r (one): a textura h, identified by Dr L. Hellinga and Dr D. Shaw as from a face, 111G, used by the Paris printers Higman and Hopyl up to 1507, and also in Antwerp, Ghent and Harderwijk (Vervliet 1968, T12a), and later by T. Berthelet (1524-55) in London (114 Textura). None of the 26 or more recorded editions of item (1) between 1483 and 1532 are from the printers known to have used this type, and none of a number examined are based on this version of the text, which has no obvious signs of casting off, although some smudges of what might be printer's ink; perhaps it was used for an edition which has not survived in any copies or was not set up, or for the correction of an edition from another source.
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). Hole in centre of f.163, perhaps from pin of early fastening; stains on endleaves from previous turn-ins.
Written in England, mid 15th century.
Marginalia include “be yt knowyn vnto all men that I Antony smythe”, f.124r right margin, earlier 16th century, in a sprawling secretary. “wyllyam northe thomas northe”, f.142v left margin; “Thomas morthe” [sic], f.154r right margin; “Wyllyam northe cetesyne of london and of cawntiberye”, f.157r; “Wyllyam northe thomas northe”, f.161v amongst various earlier 16th century pen trials.
“mastore heryng item fore iij skyns of parchment vi d.
mastere garite [four entries, scratched out, ... the last:] fore wax iiij d. master gareate Item fore askyn of parchmente ij d. Item fore paper ij d. Item fore wax iijj d.”, f.161r, earlier 16th century, in a small hand resembling that of some of the pen trials and “Northe” inscriptions. Pen trials also on f.iv: “hurgh the blissing of his blissid moder”, “The helpe and the grace of almyty gode” (imitating the first line of the text), partly repeated; and f.162-3, in 15th/16th century secretary hands.
The title on f.ir, is in the early large italic hand of John Cosin, c. 1620-40; this manuscript is entered in the list at Peterhouse Cambridge of the books that he left there, c. 1644, and in Durham University Library Cosin MS B.i.23, f.94r, the classified catalogue of his Durham library by William Flower, c. 1668/9. Robert Harrison's hand, identified here by James Raine, occurs in various Cosin manuscripts; he apparently acted as custodian of the Episcopal Library, to judge from lists of printed books in his hand now inserted in MS B.i.23.
A group B manuscript of the Festial sermon cycle. With a prefatory prayer - “The helpe and the grace of almighty god thurgh the blissing of his blissid modir Marie. be with vs at oure begynyng” and prologue. This copy comprises 61 sermons, lacking Barnabas, Winifred and Alkmund, also the concluding Formacio necessaria capellanis and exposition of points of doctrine. It also differs in various details: the opening and closing sentences for Advent 1 and in the Temporale up to Corpus Christi, Sexagesima, Lent 1, the end of Passion (Palm) Sunday; Trinity and Corpus Christi lack the conclusions, as in the Sanctorale do Andrew, Nicholas (different exempla), Conception of B.V.M. (additional exempla), and John evangelist. The narratio de morte Neronis is absent from Peter & Paul; the Assumption lacks the verses (NIMEV, no. 462); Nativity of B.V.M. ends about St Joseph, not with tales; Katherine is extended, with a different tale at the end; Dedication omits mention of Lilleshall in the final tale of an abbot.
Written by the same hand as pen trials repeating phrases from the beginning and end of the item (1), f.iv and 156v, and probably the liturgical phrases “homo natus est”, “benedictus qui venit”, “in nomyny domyny”, etc., f.161v-163r, parchment endleaves. f.158-160 are of the original paper, and f. 160r-v is ruled uniformly with the main text; all originally blank, but 160r-v now has a list of the contents of item (1) in the hand of Robert Harrison, died c.1806 as stated here by James Raine (died 1858).
Written three times, and the first line a fourth time, in various scripts, by at least two hands
Written twice, first in a small neat secretary hand, second by a more awkward imitative hand, possibly that of (4b) and other pen trials
The first couplet also on f.80r (erased) and 162v-163r.
C.-M. Briquet, Les filigranes: dictionnaire historique des marques du papier dès leur apparition vers 1282 jusqu'en 1600 
(Amsterdam: Paper Publications Society, 1968)
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]).
John Mirk's Festial , ed. Powell, S., Early English Text Society os 334-335 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009-2011)
A linguistic atlas of late mediaeval English , ed. Macintosh et al. (Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press, 1986)
A new index of Middle English verse , ed. J. Boffey & A. S. G. Edwards (London: British Library, 2005)
Ringler, W. A., Bibliography and index of English verse in manuscript, 1501-1558 (London: Mansell, 1992)
Scott, K. L., A survey of manuscripts illuminated in the British Isles. 6, Later gothic manuscripts. 1390-1490 (London: Harvey Miller, 1996)
Vervliet, H. D. L., Sixteenth century printing types of the Low Countries (Amsterdam: Menno Hertzberger, 1968)
Walther, H., Proverbia sententiaeque latinitatis medii aevi. Lateinische Sprichwörter und Sentenzen des Mittelalters in alphabetischer Anordnung (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1963-86)