Manuscript Description Cambridge, St. John's College MS H.1 (204) | |
| Title: | Polychronicon |
| Author: | Trevisa |
| Contents: | 1) Dialogus inter clericum et militem trans Trevisa from Latin of Ockham; 2) sermo domini Archiepiscopi Armachani (trans Trevisa); 3) Trevisa, Polychronicon |
| Language: | English and Latin |
| Scribal Hands: | Examples of the hand. Click on the link above for full details and images of individual letter forms.                 |
| Material: | Parchment |
| No of Folios: | 1 heavy blank parchment flyleaf + 280 parchment folios + 1 heavy blank parchment flyleaf |
| Pagination: | Modern pencil, upper outer corner on first folio of quires only. |
| Quiring: | 8s |
| Signatures: | Modern signatures in pencil lower outer corner of first folio of quires only, lettering 'a' through 'z' and 'A' through 'M'. |
| Catchwords: | By the scribe, below right column, lined to end at right margin of frame, no decoration, except f184v where catchword is 'þen þe abbay' and a crown (with a crozier out of top?) is drawn around it in red. |
| Page Size: | 395 x 288 |
| Frame: | 4 x vertical creating two columns, 4 x horizontal enclosing top and bottom lines, ruled within; grey-black ink; no pricking remains. |
| Writing Space: | 286 x 92 each column and 18 between so 286 x 195 |
| Marginal Headings: | Rubric 'capitulo' indications in margins. Rubric sub-headings in spaces left for them in text, all by scribe. |
| Running Titles: | Rubric headings ('liber' on verso pages, a number written out on recto pages). |
| Table of Contents: | Rubric numbering of books in table of contents. Table / index ff9-33va. |
| Borders: | Full blue, rose and gold bar border around, bosses in blue, rose and gold, sprays extending from bosses in same colours but also with green wash on black pen pine-cone spirals extending from gold balls. |
| Historiated Initials: | 9-line historiated initial on f1, blue and rose parti-coloured with white highlighting, on gold ground |
| Illuminated Initials: | 9-line initial and full bar border on first folio of text, f34. 6-line gold initials with balls on parti-coloured blue and rose grounds with white highlights, incised at corners with green filling the incisions, sprays extending from corners with same green spirals and gold balls, also gold trefoils. |
| Paragraph Marks: | Alternating blue with red penwork paraphs and gold with dark blue penwork paraphs, but the blue penwork around gold paraphs stops from 10-15 except for occasionally filled in. |
| Other Names (not owners): | Given to college in 1674 by 'Mr _____ Baile de Newington in agro, Middlesex (verso of first flyleaf, 17th century). |
| Further Information: | James's catalogue for St John's, 235-6. |