Manuscript Description Manchester, Chetham's Library MS 11379 (Mun. A.6.90) | |
| MS Appellation: | M (Waldron) |
| Title: | Polychronicon |
| Author: | Trevisa's translation of Higden |
| Contents: | Trevisa's translation of Higden's Polychronicon |
| Language: | English |
| Date Range: | 1390-1415 |
| Scribal Hands: | Examples of the hand. Click on the link above for full details and images of individual letter forms.                 |
| Dialect: | LP 7051; County: Gloucs |
| Material: | Parchment |
| No of Folios: | 2 new paper flyleaves + 178 + 2 new paper flyleaves |
| Pagination: | Modern pencil, upper outer corners recto, 1-178. |
| Quiring: | 12s |
| Catchwords: | By the scribe, running to near right margin of last folio verso of quires, written in black ink same as text; with fine-line black box around with two inside-out scallops forming a point at either side; on some folios preceded by a red paraph (eg f74v). |
| Page Size: | 338 x 265 |
| Frame: | 4 x vertical though outer one often cropped, enclosing text space and another narrow column in outer margin for glosses; 2 x horizontal with top line inside frame; no ruling or pricking, very faint brown crayon(?). |
| Writing Space: | 253 x 190 (single column, except for index on ff. 19-34v) |
| Index: | Index on ff19-34v alphabetical, gives book and chapter numbers as references; comes right in middle of text of book I, with sentence breaking off f18v and picking up on f35. Yellow highlighting of initials in index at front: index begins f19 but yellow wash only begins f22 and continues to end of index, f34v. |
| Marginal Headings: | Rubric headings and sub-headings by scribe, in spaces left for them. Red marginal glosses. |
| Running Titles: | Running titiles in red just 'l' on versos for 'liber' and arabic numbers on rectos with 'us' sigle after. |
| Borders: | On f60 full bar border on left side and extending in bar-like sprays across most of top and bottom margins in red, blue and gold with white highlighting. On f1 alternating blue and red bar / lampoon border down left side of page, bosses of red penwork with foliage patterns. |
| Illuminated Initials: | 4-line blue initials for beginnings of books, (eg f60 for book 2), blue initials with white highlighting on rose and gold ground (the gold forming ground inside letter with rose leaf-pattern inside it; white highlighting on rose as well as blue. 2-line lombard initials alternating illuminated gold with purple penwork and blue with red penwork; and occasionally red with blue penwork, gold with red penwork, different combinations. |
| Paragraph Marks: | Alternating red and blue paraphs. Black capitulum numbering preceded by red paraphs and having red underlining; year 'anno' in outer corners each page, written in black preceded by red paraph and year numbers written in red. |
| Flourished Initials: | On f1 for prologue, 4-line blue and red lombard initial (blue incised with white and red) with red penwork around forming postage-stamp design and red penwork foliage pattern inside letter of which foliage formed of white / blank spaces. More initials throughout vol. l. |
| Other Names (not owners): | None found; even looking carefully at badly-stained f1; none at end because ends imperfectly; perhaps there were some on lost flyleaves. |
| Further Information: | Ronald Waldron, John Trevisa's Translation of the Polychronicon of Ranulph Higden, Book VI, Middle English Texts 35(2004), pp. xxvii-xxviii. NB: f1 very badly damaged by damp and exposure, carries over to second and third leaves, and outer edges of all folios. Arabic numbers set between two dots (possibly by scribe or possibly added) in outer margins throughout indicating years of each Pope's papacy (inside set, with Pope's name above the first '1', 'Leo' on f110v) and years anno domini in another column / set closer to edges of page (456 next to 'leo' on f110v); these end 1327 on f178v, but ends incomplete, text not coming to a close at bottom of this page. NB illustration of dragon-headed ships in lower margin of f65; contemporary with writing but script of writing on the ships is written in this scribe's bastard anglicana that he uses for glosses (or possibly another's hand, but contemporary). |