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2.6 Medieval history

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MS 727

  1. FULCHER OF CHARTRES: HISTORY OF THE FIRST CRUSADE, 1095-1106
  2. GESTA TREVERORUM, THE HISTORY OF TRIER FROM CA. 2000 BC TO 1032 AD
  3. FRECULPHUS: CLASSICAL CHRONICLE, EXCERPTS: PTOLEMAIOS PHILADELPHUS, HERODUS ANTIPAS, TROYAN WAR, FOUNDATION OF ROMA, HISTORIES OF EPHESOS, BABYLON, CARTHAGO, CORINTH, NUMIDIA AND JERUSALEM
  4. ST. BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX: DE MONACHIS CLAUSTRIBUS & OBEDENTIALIBUS
  5. WILLIAM OF MALMESBURY: DE REBUS GESTIS REGUM ANGLORUM. THE HISTORY OF THE KINGS OF ENGLAND FROM THE ANGLO-SAXONS TO HENRY 1
  6. QUOTATIONS FROM POPE CELESTINE, SS. ISODORUS, HIERONYMUS, AUGUSTINUS, BERNARDUS, HILARIUS, GREGORIUS, ORIGEN, CYPRIANUS, BASIL, ETC.
  7. SENECA, QUOTATION
  8. HUGH OF ST.-VICTOR: DE CLAUSTRO NON MANUFACTO QUID EST IN CELIS
  9. HUGUES DE FOUILLOY: DE MEDICINA ANIMAE ET CORPORIS

ms727

MS in Latin on vellum, Cambrai, Belgium, ca. 1160-70, 183 ff. (complete), 30x20 cm, 2 columns, (23x13 cm), 31-34 lines in a very handsome late Romanesque book script of good quality by 4 scribes, 245 large painted initials in red and green, many with elaborate leafy and scrolling flourished decoration, elaborated marginal drawing on f. 57 of a plant surmounted by a cross.

Binding: France, ca. 1700, calf gilt over pasteboards, sewn on 5 cords, red mottled edges.

Context: For another MS of the First Crusade, see MS 1275/06.

Provenance: 1. Premonstratensian Abbey of Bonne-Esperance, Cambrai, Belgium (ca. 1170-ca. 1800); 2. Longman cat. (1816):6347; 3. Thomas Thorpe cat. III(1823):16359; 4. Sir Thomas Phillipps, Cheltenham, Ph 237, (1822-1872); 5. Katharine, John, Thomas & Alan Fenwick, Cheltenham, (1872-1946); 6. Robinson Bros., London (1946-1978); 7. H.P. Kraus cat. 153(1979):19; 8. Sam Fogg cat. 14(1991):2.

Commentary: An eyewitness account of the first crusade in a MS made during the 2nd crusade. Text 2 is the 5th oldest MS. Text 5 is among the 5 earliest extant MSS and within a decade of the author's lifetime. Text 9 is known only in 3 MSS, this MS is within the author's lifetime.
Text 4 copied only ca. 10 years after the author's death, and about the time he was canonised.

Exhibited: 1. University of Oslo. Domus Bibliotheca, 6-15 May 1996: European medieval manuscripts from The Schøyen Collection; 2. Oslo Katedralskole 850 år, Jubileumsutstilling 10. - 14. March 2003.





MS 033



ms033 ms 033 - 2
  1. TOPOGRAPHY, HISTORY AND CHRONOLOGY OF ENGLAND FROM 3980 BC TO 1200 AD
  2. CHRONICLE OF THE KINGS OF ENGLAND FROM THE DEATH OF KING LEAR TO THE REIGN OF VORTIGERN AND FROM THE DEATH OF GRATIANUS TO THE DEATH OF ARTHUR
  3. IN WELTH IS NO SEKERNES, A MACARONIC VERSE
  4. GEOFFREY OF MONMOUTH: HISTORIA REGUM BRITANNIAE BOOKS 7:3 - 12:8 (PROPHETIA MERLINI)
  5. KING EDWIN'S WARS, IN PENTAMETER VERSES
  6. CHRONICLE OF THE KINGS OF ENGLAND, FROM THE DEATH OF EDWIN TO THE ACCESSION OF HENRY 3
  7. CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF THE KINGS OF ENGLAND, FROM ALFRED TO THE DEATH OF HENRY 5
  8. CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF THE KINGS AND QUEENS OF ENGLAND AND OF THE POPES AND ROMAN EMPERORS FROM KING ARTHUR TO EDWARD THE ELDER, PARTLY AS A CONTINUATION OF BEDE'S HISTORIA ECCLESIASTICA FROM 1225
  9. METRICAL CHRONICLE OF THE KINGS OF ENGLAND FROM WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR TO EDWARD 3
  10. MNEMONIC FOR THE ORDER OF THE REIGNS OF ENGLISH KINGS FROM WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR TO EDWARD 3
  11. DESCENT OF THE FRENCH CROWN TO EDWARD 3, A DIAGRAMMATIC TABLE AND EXPLANATORY TEXT
  12. BERNARD OF GRAVES: THE DEATH OF EDWARD 3 AND ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF EDWARD THE BLACK PRINCE, VERSE
  13. LETTERS BY WHICH KING JOHN RESIGNED THE THRONE TO INNOCENT 3, COPIED FROM A DOCUMENT DATED DOVER 15 MAY 1213
  14. HOMAGE OF 1325 TO KING CHARLES 4 OF FRANCE BY KING EDWARD 2, AS DUKE OF GUYENNE
  15. ACCOUNT OF THE DESCENT OF EDWARD 3, FROM A DOCUMENT SUBMITTED TO PARLIAMENT BY THE DUKE OF YORK
  16. HISTORY OF BORDEAUX IN ANCIENT TIMES, BASED ON A TEXT COPIED BY VITALIS DE ST. SEVER IN THE CHRONICLES OF THE CHURCH OF VIENNE, RHONE VALLEY. TRANSCRIPT FROM A COPY BY RAYMUNDUS GUILLIM DE PUY
  17. BEDE (PS.): IMAGO MUNDI
  18. OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY FROM NOAH TO DAVID
  19. JOHN OF GARLAND: ALIUD COMPOTUM METRICUM
  20. MNEMONIC CALENDAR VERSES
  21. ALEXANDER DE VILLA DEI: CARMEN DE ALGORISMO
  22. JOHANNES DE SACROBOSCO: TRACTUS DE SPHERA
  23. HISTORY OF BRITAIN FROM CAESAR TO GUTHLAC, POSSIBLY EXCERPTED FROM BEDE'S HISTORIA ECCLESIASTICA
  24. BEDE: HISTORIA ECCLESIASTICA, 1 - 3
  25. POLITICAL PROPHECY AND SATIRE IN THE REIGNS OF EDWARD 1, 2 AND 3, LOSELY BASED UPON GEOFFREY OF MONMOUTH: PROPHETIA MERLINI
  26. DE ADVENTU BRITONUM INISTAM INSULAM
  27. DESCRIPTION OF THE RULE OF GASCONY BY THE ENGLISH FROM 1220 - 1259
  28. LETTER OF KING EDWARD 3 TO POPE CLEMENT 6 CONCERNING PAPAL PRIVILEGES IN THE REALM OF ENGLAND, DATED WESTMINSTER 10 SEPTEMBER 1343
ms 033 - 5 ms 033 - 4 ms 033 - 3

MS in Latin (texts 2-9, 12-14, 16-26,28), Middle English (texts 1, 3, 10, 15), French (text 11, 14) and Gascon (text 27) on vellum, England, ca. 1325-1430, 180 ff. (-3), 21x15 cm, generally 2 columns (17x10 cm), occasionally single column, (16x8 cm), 39-41 lines in Anglicana book script of varying formality and quality by Bernard of Graves (texts 11,16,27) and 15 further scribes. Headings in red, initials throughout in blue with red penwork with flourishes and yellow wash, one large illuminated initial with white penwork, 13 portraits of English kings in red, blue or gold frames with diapered ground, one is a contemporary portrait of the Black Prince, one large illuminated miniature of a university classroom scene, and one 3/4-page miniature of the White Ship showing the drowning of the sons of Henry I, 3 royal armorial crests tricked in gold and full colours. The miniatures are by 5 artists reflecting styles associated with Cambridge in the 1340's and London in the 1390's.

Binding: England, early 18th c., mottled calf with blind-tooled border, sewn on 4 bands.

Provenance: 1. Bernard of Graves, London (ca. 1375-1400); 2. Possibly King James VI of Scotland (16th c.); 3. John Napier of Merchistoun, Scotland (17th c.); 3. David, Earl of Huntingdon, Scotland (17th c.); 4. Colonel Robert Graham of Grahamstown, South Africa (19th c.); 5. Christie's 25.6.1986:208; 6. H.P. Kraus, New York.

Commentary: Probably a Royal MS, which has accompanied kings on their travels to France. Text 19 has a colophon that records 4 stages in the transmission of the text from its discovery in the Church of Vienne, naming both places and scribes until at last copied by Bernard of Graves, giving a quite extraordinary insight to the process of transmission in manuscripts.
Portrayals of Edward the Black Prince and of King Richard II are extremely unusual. The artist may be identified with the illustrator of the Belknap Hours and of Bodleian Library MS Bodley 581 Liber Geomancie, possibly owned by King Richard II.

Exhibited: University of Oslo. Domus Bibliotheca, 6-15 May 1996: European medieval manuscripts from The Schøyen Collection.




MS 038

SOZOMENUS DE PISTOIA: CHRONICA, AB ORIGINE MUNDI AD ANNUM 1292

ms038 ms 038 - 2

MS in Latin on vellum, Pistoia, Italy, 1460-70, 2 vols., 343 + 333 ff. (complete), 39x27 cm, single column, (25x16 cm), 50 lines in humanistic book script, vol. 1 by Filippo de Nanni de'Batini, vol. 2 by an unidentified scribe. Title of vol. 1 illuminated with a 10-line initial in Padovan style of interlaced strapwork in colours on a gold background and with three-quarter border by an unidentified artist, further a pen-and-ink diagram of the Temple of Solomon. Vol. 2 with title in gold capitals, 11-line illuminated initial and full border in Florentine style of white-vine stems in colours pierced by 2 gold frames and with putti, birds, deer, insects and leopards by a prolific, but yet unnamed collaborator of Francesco d'Antonio del Chierico.

Binding: Italy, ca. 1470, 2 vols. in pink velvet over wooden boards, sewn on 6 thongs.

Context: Listed in the rare printed catalogue which the discalced Augustinians at Lyon produced of their manuscript book library around 1700, as follows: <Nos.>46-47 Chronica Sozomeni, presbierti Pistoiensis, en 2 vol. in folio. Manus, sur le velin d'un très beau caractère. Sozomène[..etc..].

Provenance: 1. Geronimo Zurita, Aragonia, Spain (1551-80); 2. Carthusian Monastery of Aula Dei, Zaragossa, Spain (1580-1626); 3. Gaspar de Guzman, Count-Duke of Olivares, Spain (1626-1645); 4. Gaspar de Haro y Guzman, marqués de Eliche y Carpio, Spain (1645-1687); 5. Convento del Angel de los Carmelitos Descalzos, Sevilla, Spain (after 1687); 6. Convent des Augustins déchaussées, Lyon, France (before 1715); 7. Thomas Hobart, England (1715-); 8. Llewelyn Nevill Vaughn, Lord Mostyn, Mostyn Hall, Cheshire, MSS 209 and 210 (1874-1920); 9. Sotheby's 13.7.1920:110; 10. Edmund Hunt Dring, Surrey (1920-1928); 11. Edmund Maxwell Dring, Surrey (from 1928); 12. H.P. Kraus cat. 165(1983):15.

Commentary: The text is unpublished. Sir Sydney Cockerell to E.M. Dring in 1946: "You should keep this as it is of Museum quality".

Published: Texts 1 and 11: The Index of Middle English Prose. Handlist X. Irma Taavitsainen: Manuscripts in Scandinavian Collections. Cambridge, Brewer, 1994, p. 29.

Mentioned: Paul Oskar Kristeller: Iter Italicum, vol. VI, Norway - Addenda Norvegica. London and Leiden 1992.

Exhibited: 1. Conference of European National Librarians, Oslo. Sept. 1994. 2. "Preservation for access: Originals and copies". On the occasion of the 1st International Memory of the World Conference, organized by the Norwegian Commission for UNESCO and the National Library of Norway, at the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, 3 June - 14 July 1996.


See also MS 678/1, Records of the Hundred Years' War, Belgium, 1490-1500





MS 4554

1. ALEXANDER FLEMING: ANE COMPEND OF THE SCOTTIS CRONICLIS CONTENING THE NUMBER, NAMES, PARENTAG, LYF, ACTIS, DEATH, RELIGIOUNE OF THE 109 KINGIS OF SCOTLAND WITH THAIR REGENTIS THE CHEIF BURGHIS AND TYME OF GUBERNMENT, WRYTTIN AND FORMED BY ALEXANDER FLEMYNG TO HIS WEILBELOUVIT AND FAITHFUL FAMILIAR GEORG ADAMSONE, 1594
2. ALEXANDER FLEMING: NOTES ON THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION IN SCOTLAND
3. ALEXANDER FLEMING: HISTORY OF EDINBURGH, PERTH AND DUNDEE
ms4554

MS in late Middle Scots on vellum, Scotland, 1594, 59 ff. (complete), 8x6 cm, single column, (7x4 cm), 10-12 lines in a rounded Gothic book script of medium grade and quality, autograph, signed, dedication page in large gold capitals within a golden frame, 84 illuminated initials in gold within red outline on blue square grounds, 810 5-petalled flowers in gold on blue square grounds.

Binding: Scotland, 17th c., calf gilt, sewn on 3 cords.

Provenance: 1. Alexander Fleming, Scotland (1594); 2. Georg Adamson, Scotland (1594-); 3. Bernard Quaritch Ltd., London.

Commentary: According to Nigel Ramsay, no other copy of the text has been located. The history of the 109 Kings of Scotland starts with Fergus I (330 BC) and ends with James VI.




MS 679

THE LINDESIANA SCOTICHRONICON

ms679 ms 679 - 2

1.

CHRONICLE FROM THE MYTHICAL ORIGINS OF SCOTLAND TO 1327

2.

ANNALS COVERING EVENTS IN SCOTLAND 1066 - 1390

3.

CHRONICLE ABOUT RULERS OF ENGLAND FROM MYTHICAL TIMES TO KING EDGAR IN THE 10TH C.

4.

JOHN DE FORDUN: CHRONICA BOOK V (SKENE I, 197 - 231) COVERING SCOTTISH HISTORY 1058 - 1128

5.

JOHN MAJOR: HISTORIA MAIORIS BRITANNIAE, TAM ANGLIAE QUAM SCOTIAE, BOOK II, CH. 4 TO END

MS in Latin on paper, Edinburgh(?), Scotland, ca. 1511 (texts 1-4) & 1526 (text 5), 223 ff. (complete), 20x14 cm, single column, (15x10 cm), 26-27 lines in a current lettre batârde, large red initials with flourishes throughout.

ms 679 - binding

Binding: Scotland, ca. 1526, blindstamped calf over oak boards, sewn on 3 thongs, sewing guard at back from a late 13th c. canon law MS on vellum.

Provenance: 1. Robert Robertoun, Edinburgh (ca. 1526); 2. George Kemp, Scotland (16th c.); 3. David Kempe, Scotland (16th c.); 4. Henderic Kemp, Scotland (16th c.); 5. Walter Buchanan, Scotland (16th c.); 6. John Lindsay of Balcarres, Lord Menmuir, Bibliotheca Lindesiana, Colinsburgh, Fife, Scotland (1552-1598); 7. H. Greer, Bangor, Northern Ireland (until 1990); 8. Sotheby's 19.6.1990:97.

Commentary: Texts 1 and 2 are partly copied from Fordun and Bower, partly from sources which are lost and survive in this MS only. Text 3 is copied from an unknown source. The binding is among the earliest extant Scottish blindstamped bindings.




MS 1257

PIETRO ZENO: ELOGI DEGL' HUOMINI ILLUSTRI DELLA FAMIGLIA ZENA 898-1625; INCLUDING THEIR SUPPOSED DISCOVERY OF AMERICA IN THE 14TH C.

ms1257

MS in Italian on paper, Venezia, Italy, 1625, 66 ff. (complete), 23x16 cm, single column, (16x10 cm), 19 lines in a neat upright humanistic book script, the first 5 lines of the dedication to Marco Zeno, Bishop of Torcello, in gold, initials in gold with either red or blue flourishes, full-page illuminated historiated frontispiece painted in gold, blue, purple, green and yellow with the title in capitals in gold.

Binding: England, early 19th c., half vellum with brown boards, sewn on 4 cords.

Provenance: 1. Zeno family, Venezia (1625-); 2. Frederick North, 5th Earl of Guilford (ca. 1810-1827); 3. R.H. Evans, London 8.12.1830:428; 4. Rodd, London (1930); 5. Sir Thomas Phillipps, Cheltenham, Ph 5754 (1830-1872); 6. Katharine, John, Thomas & Alan Fenwick, Cheltenham, (1872-1946); 7. Robinson Bros., London (1946-1978); 8. Sotheby's 28.11.1973:617; 9. Kraus cat. 177(1987):228.

Commentary: Unpublished. This distinguished Venetian family is best known for Niccolò and Antonio Zeno (pp. 50-55), the North Atlantic explorers, about whom a number of fabulous legends have arisen. They are supposed to have reached the New World before Columbus, late in the 14th c. This was believed at the time this biography was written, and is not without modern support. Professor William Hobbs and Frederick J. Pohl and others have written supporting articles as recently as in the 1980'ies. Frederick W. Lucas has taken the opposite view. This MS has hitherto been unknown to all scholars in the field.




MS 2128

ms2128

1.

SNORRE STURLASON: SAGAS OF THE NORSE KINGS, MAINLY COPIED FROM PEDER CLAUSSØN'S TRANSLATION OF "HEIMSKRINGLA", THE 1633 EDITION, PARTLY TRANSLATED FROM LOST NORSE MSS

2.

NEMUS GENEALOGICUM NORVAGICUM; CHRONICLES AND GENEALOGY OF THE NORSE KINGS FROM LEGENDARY FIORMO UP TO 1647; PARTLY COMPILED FROM WORKS BY HUITFELDT, LYSCANDER, AND ANDREAS BORCH, AND PARTLY FROM LOST NORSE MSS

MS in Norwegian, Latin and German on paper, Norway, ca. 1711-20, 192 ff. (complete), 32x21 cm, single column, (30x17 cm), 50-70 lines in Norwegian cursive script, notes in margins, 23 full-page genealogical trees in brown with green wash.

Binding: Norway, 18th c., vellum over pasteboard, sewn on 4 thongs, green silk ribbons.

Provenance: 1. Bjørn Hansson, Oslo (-1995); 4. Arild and Morten Hansson, Oppegård and Hop, Norway, April 1996.

Commentary: The only Snorre MS in private ownership.


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