Manuscript Description London, British Library MS Royal 17 D.VI | |
| Title: | Regiment of Princes |
| Author: | Hoccleve |
| Contents: | Regiment of Princes ff4-101v; Tale of Emperor Jereslaus (IMEV 1561), ff102-118v; Lerne to Die (IMEV 3121), ff120v-137; Tale of Jonathas (IMEV 4072), ff138v-148v |
| 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 marbled and 3 thick paper flyleaves + 1-3 which (flyleaves) + 4-149v + f150 + 3 heavy paper and one marbled |
| Pagination: | Modern pencil arabic, usual place; counts flyleaves as if part of the MS so actual text of Regiment begins f4; an earlier modern foliation didn't count these, so three fewer leaves throughout, but this has been crossed through. |
| Quiring: | 8s |
| Signatures: | No surviving signatures. |
| Catchwords: | By the scribe in usual place to right of centre but not so far that running up against right frame line, three sides of a parallelogram under it with lower left corner looping. |
| Page Size: | 260 x 175 |
| Frame: | 2 x vertical and 4 x horizontal enclosing top and bottom lines, ruled within, fine grey lines; very few leaves preserve pricking, eg f148. |
| Writing Space: | 175 x 111 ruled, but lines c. 90mm. |
| Marginal Headings: | None. A simple amen at ends of texts, eg f101r bottom ends 'Amen' before the words of author to his book, (beginning with illuminated initial and border). 3 8-line stanzas, completes the Regiment on f101v; then the extracts from the Series begins f102 with illuminated initial and border but no heading. |
| Table of Contents: | None |
| Borders: | Bar borders down left sides and sprays across top and bottom margins. On f4 a coat of arms added from the spray in lower margin. On f40r under presentation scene, a full shield of the coat of arms that is on left side of the shield on f4. |
| Illuminated Initials: | 3-line blue and pink initials with white highlighting on gold ground. Similar initials and borders at major breaks in the text, beginnings of new texts. |
| Miniatures: | Most of f40 is miniature of presentation scene; portrait of Chaucer, full-length, is drawn into left margin of f93v; in the margin of f102, added later and quite primitive is a drawing in black ink of hands coming out of a draped ?scarf?; in the lower margin of f120 is a running horse of somewhat primitive style reminiscent of Rylands-Rosenbach (and added later?), with scroll with motto 'My trvst ys other'. |
| Paragraph Marks: | Glosses in margins preceded by blue paraphs with red penwork. |
| Flourished Initials: | First initials of each stanza alternate blue with red penwork or gold with purple penwork. |
| Other Names (not owners): | Coats of arms of 'Joan Neville, Countess of Salisbury (d. 9 Sept. 1462) after her marriage (17 August 1438) to William FitzAlan, Earl of Arundel (d. 1487), whose coat of arms is imposed on the original borderwork of f14, and who also owned MSS Royal 19 B.XVII and 20 D.V' [see Seymour 'Manuscripts of Hoccleve's Regiment of Princes', p. 272]. 'Lumley' written into lower margin near the coat of arms on f4; other names on f1 (first flyleaf) among scribbles are 'Euer Feythefull / Arundell 'trew & playne / Harry Contenay 'Euer stedefast / E berkeley 'Alas porquy / Auddeley' [Seymour reads, 'Duddeley' as possibly John Sutton, Baron Dudley'p. 273] and 'Iane ffyslowhe' [Seymour, 'Jane Fytzlowys, p. 273] and Johan Mathewe names scribbled onto f2 include 'hokecleffe 'Chawcy', 'Stoughton', 'Acton', 'Blount' [Seymour, 'Humphrey Blount' p. 273], and 'folyet' as well as 'Arondel on f3 'John Myll' and 'Rolund ?chakyrler'[Seymour 'Roland Schakyrley (?of Ayho, Northumberland, who died in 1656)''p. 273]; on f150v, 'Mouncer darundell'. |
| Miscellaneous Info: | Folios numbered 1-3 are actually flyleaves with lots of signatures and pentrials. f150 has a copy of a letter from Henry (V?) to King Charles of France, written by a later hand, with signatures and pentrials on f150v. |
| Further Information: | Royal Catalogue and Seymour's 'Manuscripts of Hoccleve's Regiment of Princes'. |