Not in M. R. James' Catalogue. Contains: 1) Calendar [with some entries relating to Florence]; 2) Hours of the Blessed Virgin Mary; 3) Office of the dead; 4) The penitential Psalms; 5) Office of the Passion; 6) Office of the Cross.
On the first leaf is an introductory statement describing Lyde's career, his residence in Palestine and death in 1860. The mss. received by bequest were listed by Major Grant Stephen of St Catherine's College. The list that follows (2 pp.) is headed: "List of Oriental books presented to college by Rev S Lyde Oct. 1858."; a note at the end says that it was drawn up by Grant Stephen for G. E. Corrie.
Stephen, GrantThe cover title concludes with the comment that this was "The first opening after the great repairs and restorations". A variant title on the first page includes the comment that Thomas Attwood Walmisley was B.A. of Jesus College, 1838, and that the singers in 1849 were Frederick Leete, William Neale, Jesse Frisby and Edmund Bilton. The music includes a solo, two, three and four parts, all with organ, and sets Psalm 5 verses 1, 2, 3, 7, 12 and 13. The text begins "Ponder my words, O Lord".
Walmisley, Thomas AttwoodLists books seen by John Clarke as well as those he owned; the latter were donated to the College by Clarke's mother in 1790.
A transcript of an inquiry into the Porteous Riots
Sermon preached at St John's College, Oxford, by Ambrose Bonwicke [linked with Elijah Fenton].
By Dr Ashton; compare his annotations to edns in the Old Library (1686 and 1718, E.6.42 and C.5.7/1)
Ashton, Charles (1665-1752), Master of Jesus College, CambridgeLecture notes [on metaphysics]; M. R. James's no. 37. Contains: 1) In generalia Philosophiae Theoremata vulgo dicta Metaphysica Praefatio dictata a Magistro Gulielmo Paterson et a me Francisco Stirling conscripta; 2) Axiomata Mori de immortalitate animae (in English), with names of constellations and 3 pp. of Theses
Lecture notes [on logic], headed Structura supplementum, dictated to Francis Sterling by master William Paterson; M. R. James's no. 39. At the end are four pages of notes.
Notes on "Proverbs", "Ars Artium", "Scaliger's Apothegms", "Declamations", etc., with dates of birth and death of the compiler's family.
By John Dod, vicar of Fawsley.
A Premonstratensian ordinal; M. R. James's no. 55. There is an explanatory preface. Two parchment flyleaves at either end have been cut from a roll which had been taken round to various monasteries (in the Midlands and northern England) to solicit their prayers for William Yorke, abbot of the house to which the book belonged.
A medical miscellany; M. R. James's no. 72. Contains: 1) recipes in English and Latin; 2) Incipiunt notabilia distinctiones textus distinctiones librorum de anima extracte, with three books "De anima" following; 3) memorial verses, in Latin; 4) recipes in Latin and scribbled notes; 5) Utrum logica sit scientia; 6) Hic incipiunt distincciones et notabilia extracta a questionibus super primum librum phisicorum Aristotelis; 7) recipes in Latin and scribbled notes, including a hymn; 8) Hic incipiunt notabilia extracta ex tercio de anima secundum Alexandrum; 9) recipes in Latin; 10) [by Albertus], Primo est sciendum secundum M. henricum de mandavilla quod eodum modo operatur cecus in ligno et cirurgicus in corpore cuius anothomiam ignorat; 11) recipes; 12) Armaldus de nova villa de gradibus; 13) recipes; 14) a separate book fo recipes for parts of the body, incipit: Conferunt cerebro ; 15) Contenta magistri Walteri Agulini de urinis; 16) recipes
Moral tracts with letters of Seneca; M. R. James's no. 32. Contains: 1)Quadripartitus apologeticus B. Cyrilli Episc. [wanting book 1]; 2) Libellus de iv virtutibus [incipit: Quatuor virtutum species]; 3) Tract. de doctrina dicendi atque tacendi [incipit: Si fore uis sapiens]; 4) diagram of hands marked with subjects for meditation; 5) Epistolae Senece ad Lucilium numero lxxxv, ending at Ep. lxxxiv with the last words in a 17C hand.
A dictionary of canon law; M. R. James's no. 7. Runs from "Abbas" to "Zelus"; James terms the writing "rough" and "ugly".
The daily offices according to the use of York; M. R. James's no. 77. Imperfect at the beginning. The flyleaves come from a 14C ms. of a historical and homiletical nature.
Letters of Poggio [Bracciolini] and others; M. R. James's no. 63. James lists the individual writers or recipients (most but not all are by Poggio). David Rundle (see publication note) says this volume "includes a series of Poggio letters not otherwise known to have had an English circulation" and "was clearly made for private use by someone whose name is Thomas Armin (reading the code at fol.27v)", of whom nothing further is known. The work is followed by a tract: Dilucidarium lemonocensis [= John Lemovicensis] de sompno pharaonis, consisting of 20 letters supposed to be written by actors in or observers of the story of Joseph and Pharaoh; it is dedicated to Theobald, King of Navarre. At the end of the volume are some domestic accounts, mentioning William Fairwether and servant Thomas Marcer, and the copy of a letter to Francis Tyrwhitt about a lawsuit involving "my brother Thomas Fairwether".
A legal formulary; M. R. James's no. 18. Spine title: Forma Compositionum Cartarum Obligacionum Acquietanciarum Indenturarum Libellorum et Appellacionum cum aliis pro studio Abbatis. Includes wills dated 1399 and 1403. The first quire is missing. The flyleaves come from one or two unfinished musical service-books (14-15C), one leaf containing antiphons for the feast of the Assumption.
Bible; M. R. James's no. 9. It is slightly incomplete, ending with "Sadduci" in the additional matter "Interpretationes nominum". With decorative borders and initials "of rough English work" (e.g. a ship and fish for Jonah, a dove for Acts).
John Chrysostom's Homilies on Matthew; M. R. James's no. 10. There is an interruption to the text at sig. Q5b (Homiliy 55). James terms the writing "ugly and the initials of the plainest". At each end are four 15C leaves of advent music.
Lawyer's formulary; M. R. James's no. 19. James supplies a detailed list of the contents.
John Mandeville's Itinerary (in Latin) and a copy of Gesta Romanorum; M. R. James's no. 35. With Latin and English notes on the power of God (ff. ii -iv). The Gesta contains 58 stories (with some resemblance to Harleian ms. 2270); James lists the subjects treated.
A medical miscellany; M. R. James's no. 43. Contains: 1) notes of apothecaries' weights; 2) a Latin treatise on materia medica, chiefly taken from Isidore and Pliny; 3) Liber de infirmitatis et venenis; 4) accounts of various substances; 5) De passionibus oculum; 6) a treatise De urinis, in English; 7) Secreta mulierum, in English; 8) Materia medica, in English, followed by notes on plants and on "makyng of oyles"; 9) Dicta ypocracii; 10) a series of short passages, mostly in English: De quatuor infirmitatibus corperum, On the nine pulses, To wete & to knowe the veynes of blode letynge, On the pure complexions, De numeris ossium; 11) a treatise by John of Burdews [also de Burgall] "for medysyn ageyn the pestlens evylle" of 1390; 12) a Latin tract on medicines. Recipes appear passim. The flyleaves contain records of legal cases.
Speculum Christiani ("The Mirror of a Christian", a 14C devotional work): M. R. James's no. 51.
A collection including "De fide et legibus" by William of Paris; M. R. James's no. 59. Contains: 1) In principio librorum biblie et quot capita quibus libris continentur; 2) Meditacio cuiusdam sapientis de custodia interioris hominam; 3) Notule excerptae de diversis Doctoribus [inc. one from Ricardus heremita de Alvernia Episc.]; 4) Willelmus Parisiensis de fide et legibus, in 5 books; 5) Dialogus de deo et anima ex Trismegisto (incipit: Asclepius iste pro solo); 6) extract: anime non ex traduce procreantur; 7) Confessio Joh. Wickliff de sacramento altaris; 8) extract: Omnes debemus laudare dominum; 9) De sacerdotum begligentia in divinis officiis celebrandis; 10) Excerpta e Patribus de oratione; 11) 'Alureudus' (Ailred of Rievaulx), De anima; 12) Tractatus de mundo fugiendo; 13) extracts: de peccato originale. In the binding are two double leaves of a 13C psalter with parts of Psalms 88-142.
A fragment of a Sarum processional; M. R. James's no. 62. The leaves are bound in complete disorder and one is missing. There is no decorative work.
Not in M. R. James' Catalogue. Incipiunt (f. 1a): hore de eterna sapientia. Anima mea desideravit te. Text enclosed in floriated border, with decorated initials; believed to be of North German provenance.
A commentary by William de Conches (Guillaume de Conches) on Boethius' De consolatione philosophiae; M. R. James's no. 74. Latin title: Commentum Willelmi de conches super boecium de consolacione philosophiae. Includes a few domestic and personal memoranda, in English.
Rubric on proof; M. R. James's no. 2. A law text by Andreas Siculus [variously known as Andreas Barbatius, Andrea Barbazza or Andreas Bartholomaei de Sicilia]. James judged the script to be "almost certainly" Italian; initials are lacking. Incipit: Continuatus sic. Visum est de confessionibus per quas aduersarius relevatur ab onere probandi. The early quires have guards cut from a 14C ms., others have guards cut from a 10C ms.
Customary of the Carthusian order; M. R. James's no. 12. In three sections. The main text is preceded by a table of and note on reading the statutes and followed by extracts on disputed points (1494-1517).
Metaphysical questions; M. R. James's no. 17. "Questions" on books i-x and xii of Metaphysics, with a table of those on books i-vii and a short prologue addressed to a Pope as dedicatee (incipit: Cum cetere sciencie ad cognicionem summi boni conferant, sanctissime pater). The unnnamed author speaks of himself as a Dominican. The volume is imperfect: ending in book 12. The final quire is in a different hand from the rest.
On the rule of princes, by Aegidius Columna (Aegidius Romanus); M. R. James's no. 26. James identifies it as English work. The text is ornamented fleur-de-lys and demi fleur-de lys, and at f. 1 is a miniature showing the Descent of the Holy Spirit as a dove; there is a coat of arms in the lower margin. James judges this miniature of inferior quality and it has been partially erased. Some marginal notes appear.
Poems by John Lydgate; M. R. James's no. 56. A collection of 27 poems, in English with some Latin titles; James lists these and first and last lines. Appended is a table of contents by W. Aldis Wright, Vice-Master of Trinity College.
Isidore's encyclopaedic "Etymology" in twenty books; M. R. James's no. 8. It is lavishly decorated: "The ornaments and initials at the beginnings of the books are exceedingly good and characteristic English work".
Repertorium on the Speculum Historiale of Vincent de Beauvais [Vincentius Bellovacensis]; M. R. James's no. 45. There is a prologue by John haut furey, priest, addressed to Simon, Cardinal of S. Prisca [Simon D'Archiac]. At the end are lists of headings and of the extracts contained in the Speculum Historiale. The first leaf has a decorated border.
A collection of errors, etc.; M. R. James's no. 57. Contains: 1) Collectio errorum in anglia et parisius condempnatorum (A collection of errors condemned in England and Paris) by brother Robert de Kyluarby [Kilwardby], archbishop of Canterbury, AD 1276, with a confirmation and additions made by John Peckham, archbishop of Canterbury, 1286; 2) De malo, by Thomas Aquinas, also entitled: Questiones de malo cum titulis questionum previis; 3) a list of books sold by Thomas de Wyniston of Oxford (which James transcribes); 4) Tractatus de peccato mortali, also entitled: Tractatus bonus de peccato mortali et veniali et ceteris peccati speciebus cum titulis questionum et tabula vocali in fine. The ms. is of English workmanship.
A medical compendium; M. R. James's no. 60. Contains: 1) an index of diseases; 2) Prognostics of Hippocrates; 3) Recipes - balsamum, aqua aromatica; 4) contents table to 5) a medical compendium, arranged alphabetically; 6) recipes in English and Latin; 7) Practica Mag. Bernardi de villa nova Cathalani; 8) Tractatus brevis et utilis Bernardi de Gordonio; 9) verses on medicine; 10) two indexes; 11) recipes. Some scribbles on the final flyleaf include a little Greek.
Robert Grosseteste's commentary on Boethius' De Consolatione Philosophiae, and other works; M. R. James's no. 70. Contains: 1) Roberti Grosthead Commentum in Boetium de Consolatione Philosophiae; 2) Recapitulacio metrorum consolacionis philosophice Anicij mallij Severini boecij exconsulis ordinarij; 3) Ambrosius de bono mortis; 4) Libellus hugonis de S. Victore de virtutibus et vicijs; 5) Libellus Magistri hugonis de S. Victore de consciencia; 6) Lucij annei senece ad callionem de remedijs fortuitorium; 7) P. ovidii Nasonis de Vetula liber tercius; 8) Incipit tractatus et causa quare singula volumina sua composuit iste ovidius; 9) Sequiture eciam prefacio leonis prothonotarij que preponitur isti libello ut cercius appareat quod ovidius erat eius auctor; 10) a page of writing in a different hand, the beginning of "Uestra nouit intentio. De scolarium disciplina compendiosum postulare tractatum" (a pseudo-Boethian tract).
A compendium of canon law by Bartholomew of Pisa; M. R. James's no. 4. It runs from "abbas" to "zelum", in a hand that James says is "probably English", with initials in red and blue. The prologue begins: Quoniam ut ait Gregorius super Ezechielem.
Extracts from the constitutions of Clement V', made up of "De summa trinitate et fide catholica R. Clemens vus" and "De rescript. R. - Abbates aut alii religiosi"; M. R. James's no. 29. Colophon: "Nomen scriptoris est thomas plenus amoris/ Iste liber constat Petro de Abyngdon/ Stephano". James notes that Thomas "plenus amoris", probably translatable as "Fullalove", is a name that commonly appears in Oxford mss.
Robert of Lincoln's Summa Justicia, in ten parts; M. R. James's no. 36. [Presumably this is a work by or atributed to Robert Grosseteste.]
The priest's prosody: a table of all the words in the readings, for the whole year, in which mistakes in prosody were likely to be made; M. R. James's no. 42. In the part concerning saints days, the usua; Sarum English saints appear, with special emphasis on Friedeswide. There follows a Chronology of national events from 1370 to 1443, in a different hand.
Wycliffite texts, principally Miracles of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke (imperfect), in English; M. R. James's no. 30. The first volume contains: 1) an unidentified fragment, imperfect at both ends; 2) "xii capituli" [12 chapters], imperfect at the start; 3) Bernardus de dignitate clericorum; 4) De uita b. M. virginis [incipit: "Circa uirginem uero ex qua incarnacio facta fuit"]; 5) "Incipiunt quedam miracula de S. Maria"; 6) Hic incipiunt meditaciones de passione. Both 5) and 6) are in a 15C hand. The second volume contains the Gospels of Saints Matthew, Mark and Luke, in a small hand of early 15C date, ending at the 9th chapter of Luke, verse 24.
Sermons on the Virgin and saints; M. R. James's no. 13. Contains: (1) sermons on the Virgin, the second of which contains English verses and a story about an image in Cyclopes, India; (2) sermons on the saints from St Andrew to St Katherine, numbered 62 to 126; (3) "sermones de tempore", numbere from 1 to 53 and followed by a table; (4) a sermon in single lines, in another hand; (5) sermons in double columns of 49 lines, foliated from 1 to 33, incipit: Reuertar in principio cum Tobia; (6) sermons in another hand, 43 lines to a page, foliated 34 to 149; (7) a table to this last set of sermons.
A Wycliffite New Testament; M. R. James's no. 47. Complete apart from the loss of one leaf containing text from the end of 1 John to the start of 3 John; includes high-quality ornamentation. The text consists of: 1) a table of "matters" of each gospel; 2) a lectionary, after the use of Salisbury; 3) the text of the New Testament, including prologues; 4) "Here eendith the apocalips of Jon ... And bigynneth the lessouns and pistlis of the olde testamente that ben red in the chirche bi al the yeere".
Rule of St Benedict; M. R. James's no. 6. Contains: 1) flyleaves ff. 1-8 made up of parts of 15C Durham account rolls; 2) table to the following; 3) Regula S. Benedicti; 4) appendix in another hand; 5) a table to no 7); 6) Articuli super quibus in visitacione foret inquisicio facenda ("in a later hand"); 7) a tract headed "C.R.D.A.", known as Liber "Abbas vel prior", in 20 chapters with a prologue; 8) another table; 9) a circular letter from a gaggle of abbots to the Benedictines of England; 10) similar from the Abbot of St Albans; 11) Rubrica de modo et forma procedendi in eleccione ... ; 12) an explanation of the system of Arabic numerals; 13) a note: Utrum liceat prelato absque consensu sui conventus observanciarum dispensaciones sive mutaciones facere.
A Durham gradual; M. R. James's no. 22. Contains Graduals and Tracts for the year. Numerous additions have been made to the names of saints in the Proprium de sanctis. The flyleaf at the beginning has a verse in English; there are two flyleaves at the end from service-books with music, the second containing a hymn to St Oswald.
Boethius' De consolatione philosphiae; M. R. James's no. 48. "Quinque libri boecij de consolacione philosophie cum tabula" and "Exposicio super quinque libros predictos satis certe notabilis". That is, Boethius' On the Consolation of Philosophy, with marginal and interlinear glosses and at the end a table of contents; there follows a commentary on the work by Nicholas Trivet (incipit: Explanacionem librorum boecij de cons. phil. Aggressurus) . There are some decorative borders and a few diagrams.