Manuscript Description Cambridge, Trinity College R.3.22 (602) | |
MS Appellation: | M. R. James catalogue 602 |
Title: | Life of Our Lady, Regiment of Princes |
Author: | Hoccleve and Lydgate |
Contents: | Life of our Lady followed by Pees Makith Plenty (f109v) and Regiment (f111-208) |
Language: | English |
Date Range: | 1400-1450 |
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 new paper, 1 parchment stub, 2 new-ish paper, 1 parchment stub, text block of 1-110 and 111-210, parchment stub, 2 newish paper, parchment stub |
Pagination: | Modern pencil in upper outer corners recto, 1-210. |
Quiring: | 8s |
Signatures: | Signatures mostly cropped but some survive in each, 'm ij' on f98 and again 'm ij' on f106, 'm iij' on f107; cross and iij on f113, cross and iiij on f114 show separate original books. |
Catchwords: | By scribe below right side of text in lower margin, a few words in same ink as text; in Life of Our Lady underlined by red line that forms sleigh around, in Regiment unembellished. |
Page Size: | 238 x 165 |
Frame: | Plain square with lines to edges of page, ruled within, rusty ?crayon? often invisible; pricking visible in outer edges of many leaves, but neither at top nor bottom. |
Writing Space: | 158 x c. 105 ruled, but lines measure about 90 mm. |
Marginal Headings: | Red glosses in Life, black glosses in Regiment preceded by alternating blue or red paraphs. |
Running Titles: | Red running titles preceded by blue paraphs in Life of Our Lady. Pees Maketh plente poem on f109v all written in red except 'And Therefore / Grace groweth after gouernance'. |
Table of Contents: | Content, chapters, on ff 1-3v for Life of Our Lady; in Regiment a title was added by Stow, now cropped at very top of f111, then 'Thomas Hocclefe' below it, and on f208v, 'Regimeny' / 'Regimine principum also 'Lidgate poemati' on paper flyleaf at beginning in much later 18-19th c. hand? |
Historiated Initials: | On f4 at beginning of Life of Our Lady, a 4-line blue and red incised historiated initial very small and difficult to discern content except for a man in red on right side; red penwork flourishing to left and above but turning into red and blue-and-red alternating lines down left side as border with harpoon hooks. |
Flourished Initials: | An unhistoriated initial beginning Regiment, and a smaller 2-line version on f1 for list of chapters of Life of Our Lady, the bar extending along lower margin as well; many 2-line blue initials with red penwork flourishing in usual style, and alternating red and blue one-line initials, not flourished, to begin each stanza in each work. An artist's count of these for Life of Our Lady on lower margin f110v, 'd C grete letteris & smale letteris xj C + d'. |
Other Names (not owners): | 'Rogerus' on f209 possibly Roger Thorney?; on f209v, 'Margareta Thom[as] negat effluitur' in 15-16th c. hand (James). |
Miscellaneous Info: | Look like two separate books originally, and signatures start again with second part; but all one scribe. |
Further Information: | James catalogue: 3.95. Re date, James writes, 15th century, early; so perhaps soon after Lydgate wrote Life of Our Lady, or the Hoccleve could have been copied earlier'though they do look like twin volumes. |