PROJECT RESOURCES / MANUSCRIPT DESCRIPTION
Princeton University Library, MS Taylor 11
Described by: Ryan Perry from microfilm analysis.
Source:
Revision Date: June 1st, 2010
Heading
Northern English miscellany containing Speculum Vitae, 'Middle English Meditatines de Passione Christi' and a fragmentary copy of The Siege of Jerusalem, late C14 to C15.Condition of the MS
Described by Hanna and Lawton as "rather worn throughout, with substantial water damage at front and rear" (xiv).Number of Items
3
Title(s) of Pseudo-Bonaventuran Text(s)
'Middle English Meditatines de Passione Christi'Incipit
Item 2 (MEMPC): The text begins under the rubric, "Here begynnes a tretis of cristes passione∼∼∼∼∼∼∼ ".
The text opens: " The tyme neghand and comand of þe rutes and mercyes of þe lorde in whilk tyme he ordeynde to make his pepill safe".Colophon
N/ASecundo Folio
Item 1: "all þat es nedefull for þis lyfe here".
Item 2 (MEMPC): "in to heuen and sittes on þe faders right hande", fol. 98r.
Item 3: "Calde Nero be name þt þaim noye wroght", fol. 105r. Explicit
MEMPC: "for he has visited and made redempcion of his pepill þat reghnes with þe fader and þe haly gaste by all worldes of worldes; þe whilke thurgh his mercyfull grace brynge vs to blisse. Amen." Languages of the MS
All items in English, although Speculum Vitae has Latin headings and side-notes.Detailed Description of Contents
Item 1: Speculum Vitae, fols 1ra-96vb.
Item 2: 'Middle English Meditatines de Passione Christi', fols 97ra-104va, concludes 5-lines into column (the rest of which is left blank).
Item 3: The Siege of Jerusalem, fols 104vb-110vb, ends "fragmentarily at line 1143, with most of the last page illegible, even under ultra-violet light." (Hanna and Lawton, p. xiv). Estimated Date of Production
Hanna and Lawton suggest a date in the late C14, although Don Skemer suggests the MS might be C15.Writing Support
Vellum.Foliation
i (modern) + 112 fols + i (modern); fol. 35 occurs twice and 59 on three occasions, whilst 95 is omitted- the foliation thus runs to only 110 in the book.Dimensions of Page and Writing Space
Leaf size: 350 x 275 mm (approx.)
Writing Space: 275-80 x 190-200 mm (approx.) Collation
1-212, 310, 412, 5 14, 6 10,
712, 88, 912, 1010.
Hanna and Lawton note that the last leaf has been used as a pastedown in a previous binding, however it is likely that the text of the Siege continued on now lost leaves in the original production.Layout
2 columns, 42 lines; frames and lines ruled (in pencil and infrequently in red ink) with some signs of pricking.Rubrication/ Ordinatio
- Initials: 4-line blue initials with red pen-work flourishes at the beginning of each item and 2-line initials at the beginning of sections (such as each of the Hours of the Passion)
- Titles, Headings, Rubrics: Item 1 has "[e]laborate running titles...to indicate the septenary subjects" (Hanna and Lawton, p. xiv). Chapter headings and other rubrics penned in red ink, as are the scribal side-notes that accompany item 1; red paraphs provide textual subdivisions in items 1 (marked in margin against text) and 2 (marked within the text in this prose item), but are not used in item 3. There are a great many nota symbols (in red?) are set against the text of Speculum Vitae and may be either a facet of the original production or of a latter user of the text.
- Other: Catchwords are sometimes enclosed in a functional box but are often unadorned, there are no signs of quire signatures.
Illustration
N/ANumber of Scribal Hands
1 (despite minor differences between the execution of forms, this appears to be the work of a single hand).Style of Hands
Anglicana Formata.Estimated Date of Hands
Dated to the end of the C14 by Hanna and Lawton although Don Skemer cautiously suggested an uncertain date in the C15.Scribal Annotation
Item 1 has many scribal side-notes and nota marks which may be attributable to the producers of the manuscript. The 'passus' (ii-vj) are recorded in the margins of the Siege. No scribal annotation of the MEMPC.Notable Dialect Features
The dialect of Speculum Vitae has been profiled in LALME, vol. I, p. 154; vol. III, pp. 651-2, LP 598. Grid 366 492 (in the extreme North West of the West Riding, "near Sedburgh, Westmorland" [Hanna and Lawton, p. xv]); the MEMPC is not profiled in LALME (although it is confirmed as being North West Yorkshire), however, I found the dialect to be matched with the Speculum Vitae. Localisable on Google Earth
(click markers to view sample dialect forms)
Annotation and Marginalia
If the large number of nota marks beside the text of Speculum Vitae are not scribal, it would suggest this text was studied in great detail, and perhaps used for pastoral instruction.Graffitti
N/ANames recorded, signatures, ex libris marks
The opening folio is completely illegible from microfilm, and is apparently not much more legible if viewing the MS directly. On the first folio the ex libris 'liber beate Marie de Bolton in C[ ]', the last word having been identified by Ker as 'Craven', linking the book with the Augustinian Priory of Bolton in Craven (the priory church being dedicated to St. Mary); however, Doyle cast doubt on this identification with the information that Ker had originally read 'in Tower'. (Hanna and Lawton, xv). Nevertheless, as both the Speculum Vitae and The Siege of Jerusalem are Augustinian texts the attribution to Bolton Priory seems sensible.Notes
If Hanna and Lawton are correct then this is the oldest extant manuscript of the MEMPC, predating Love's initial completion of the Mirror by perhaps a decade. It is interesting that the oldest version of the text occurs in this markedly Northern copy when Salter characterised the MEMPC as a "terse southern" text. It is possible that the text is northern in its origins, and perhaps, like the other two texts in this manuscript, was a production attributable to Augustinian canons. It is certainly interesting that we can find some evidence that this work was disseminated through Augustinian houses if the ascription of this manuscript to Bolton Priory is accepted and added to the certain knowledge that Gonville and Caius College MS 669/*646 was produced by an Augustinian canon.
References and Other Resources
Ralph Hanna, "Contextualizing The Siege of Jerusalem", YLS, 6 (1992): pp. 109-122 p
___, "Augustinian Canons and Middle English Literature", The English Medieval Book: Studies in Memory of Jeremy Griffiths (2000) pp. 27-42.
___, and David Lawton, The Siege of Jerusalem, EETS (2003).
Heading
Northern English miscellany containing Speculum Vitae, 'Middle English Meditatines de Passione Christi' and a fragmentary copy of The Siege of Jerusalem, late C14 to C15.
Condition of the MS
Described by Hanna and Lawton as "rather worn throughout, with substantial water damage at front and rear" (xiv).
Number of Items
3
Title(s) of Pseudo-Bonaventuran Text(s)
'Middle English Meditatines de Passione Christi'
Incipit
Item 2 (MEMPC): The text begins under the rubric, "Here begynnes a tretis of cristes passione∼∼∼∼∼∼∼ ".
The text opens: " The tyme neghand and comand of þe rutes and mercyes of þe lorde in whilk tyme he ordeynde to make his pepill safe".
The text opens: " The tyme neghand and comand of þe rutes and mercyes of þe lorde in whilk tyme he ordeynde to make his pepill safe".
Colophon
N/A
Secundo Folio
Explicit
Languages of the MS
All items in English, although Speculum Vitae has Latin headings and side-notes.
Detailed Description of Contents
Estimated Date of Production
Hanna and Lawton suggest a date in the late C14, although Don Skemer suggests the MS might be C15.
Writing Support
Vellum.
Foliation
i (modern) + 112 fols + i (modern); fol. 35 occurs twice and 59 on three occasions, whilst 95 is omitted- the foliation thus runs to only 110 in the book.
Dimensions of Page and Writing Space
Collation
1-212, 310, 412, 5 14, 6 10,
712, 88, 912, 1010.
Hanna and Lawton note that the last leaf has been used as a pastedown in a previous binding, however it is likely that the text of the Siege continued on now lost leaves in the original production.
Hanna and Lawton note that the last leaf has been used as a pastedown in a previous binding, however it is likely that the text of the Siege continued on now lost leaves in the original production.
Layout
2 columns, 42 lines; frames and lines ruled (in pencil and infrequently in red ink) with some signs of pricking.
Rubrication/ Ordinatio
- Initials: 4-line blue initials with red pen-work flourishes at the beginning of each item and 2-line initials at the beginning of sections (such as each of the Hours of the Passion)
- Titles, Headings, Rubrics: Item 1 has "[e]laborate running titles...to indicate the septenary subjects" (Hanna and Lawton, p. xiv). Chapter headings and other rubrics penned in red ink, as are the scribal side-notes that accompany item 1; red paraphs provide textual subdivisions in items 1 (marked in margin against text) and 2 (marked within the text in this prose item), but are not used in item 3. There are a great many nota symbols (in red?) are set against the text of Speculum Vitae and may be either a facet of the original production or of a latter user of the text.
- Other: Catchwords are sometimes enclosed in a functional box but are often unadorned, there are no signs of quire signatures.
Illustration
N/A
Number of Scribal Hands
1 (despite minor differences between the execution of forms, this appears to be the work of a single hand).
Style of Hands
Anglicana Formata.
Estimated Date of Hands
Dated to the end of the C14 by Hanna and Lawton although Don Skemer cautiously suggested an uncertain date in the C15.
Scribal Annotation
Item 1 has many scribal side-notes and nota marks which may be attributable to the producers of the manuscript. The 'passus' (ii-vj) are recorded in the margins of the Siege. No scribal annotation of the MEMPC.
Notable Dialect Features
Localisable on Google Earth
(click markers to view sample dialect forms)
Annotation and Marginalia
If the large number of nota marks beside the text of Speculum Vitae are not scribal, it would suggest this text was studied in great detail, and perhaps used for pastoral instruction.
Graffitti
N/A
Names recorded, signatures, ex libris marks
The opening folio is completely illegible from microfilm, and is apparently not much more legible if viewing the MS directly. On the first folio the ex libris 'liber beate Marie de Bolton in C[ ]', the last word having been identified by Ker as 'Craven', linking the book with the Augustinian Priory of Bolton in Craven (the priory church being dedicated to St. Mary); however, Doyle cast doubt on this identification with the information that Ker had originally read 'in Tower'. (Hanna and Lawton, xv). Nevertheless, as both the Speculum Vitae and The Siege of Jerusalem are Augustinian texts the attribution to Bolton Priory seems sensible.
Notes
If Hanna and Lawton are correct then this is the oldest extant manuscript of the MEMPC, predating Love's initial completion of the Mirror by perhaps a decade. It is interesting that the oldest version of the text occurs in this markedly Northern copy when Salter characterised the MEMPC as a "terse southern" text. It is possible that the text is northern in its origins, and perhaps, like the other two texts in this manuscript, was a production attributable to Augustinian canons. It is certainly interesting that we can find some evidence that this work was disseminated through Augustinian houses if the ascription of this manuscript to Bolton Priory is accepted and added to the certain knowledge that Gonville and Caius College MS 669/*646 was produced by an Augustinian canon.
References and Other Resources
Ralph Hanna, "Contextualizing The Siege of Jerusalem", YLS, 6 (1992): pp. 109-122 p
___, "Augustinian Canons and Middle English Literature", The English Medieval Book: Studies in Memory of Jeremy Griffiths (2000) pp. 27-42.
___, and David Lawton, The Siege of Jerusalem, EETS (2003).