Manuscript Description London, British Library, Cotton Caligula A.XI | |
Title: | Piers Plowman, ABC hybrid |
Author: | Langland |
Contents: | Robert of Gloucester's Chronicle to Henry III (ff3-168v), Piers Plowman ABC Splice (ff170-286), Latin vita monachorum per sanctum Aldellimum (ff287-288v) Each originally separate. |
Language: | English and Latin |
Date Range: | 15th century |
Scribal Hands: | Examples of the hand. Click on the link above for full details and images of individual letter forms. |
Dialect: | LP : N/A; County : London/N Gloucs |
Material: | Parchment |
No of Folios: | 2 paper flyleaves, one with BL list of publications attached to it + 1 parchment flyleaf with 17-18th c. list of contents on recto + text blocks 1-168 + 169 single parchment leaf with Latin verse text on verso in hand of 14th c + 170-286 + 287-88 + 2 paper flyleaves. |
Pagination: | Older ink in upper outer rectos foliates 1-280 not counting flyleaves or the blanks; crossed through; newer 19-20th c. foliation below it counts all except flyleaves at back, 1-288. |
Quiring: | 8s |
Signatures: | Few signatures survive cropping, showing originally separate booklet for Piers (hands of separate parts are different anyway), tops of 'k' 'i' to 'iiij' on ff242-245; 'm' 'i' on f258: in 'k' quire all in red, in 'm' quire the letter in red and roman in black. |
Catchwords: | No catchwords, though there is ruling for them. |
Page Size: | 222 x 158 |
Frame: | (Piers booklet) 4 x vertical enclosing text column and a very narrow column in outer margin (for passus numbers never completed?; some glosses toward outer edge beside these, not in the narrow column); 6 x horizontal two above and below a single line in upper margin (for RT never completed?) one each above and below text, two enclosing a single line in lower margin (for catchwords though on every page, not just where catchwords; ruled within, fine grey ink lines, pricking survives at extreme outer edges some folios. |
Writing Space: | (Piers booklet) 148 x 122'ruled for, lines often shorter |
Incipits and Explicits: | At end on f284r, 'Explicit hic opus hoc'. |
Marginal Headings: | Passus headings by scribe in slightly more formal script, same ink as text, and in outer margins gloss-like notes, eg f188 has 'Passus quintus de visione' taking up a line of ruled text above the blue initial line, and two lines below in right margin 'hic primo eui/gilauit / petrus'. Latin lines in same script and ink as rest, except slightly more formal as the headings. |
Title by Scribe: | On f2 (first parchment), 17-18th c. hand writes contents for volume including 'Pierce Plougheman' and same hand writes top margin f170 'Pierce Ploughman'. |
Flourished Initials: | (Piers booklet) f170 10-line blue initial 'I' with red flourishing; thereafter 2-line blue initials with red flourishing forming foliage pattern within and postage stamp around, extenders and tendrils as above. |
Other Names (not owners): | Thomas Allen bottom margin f3 in note about purchased from, probably by one of Cotton's librarians. |
Miscellaneous Info: | One scribe in Piers. |
Further Information: | Cotton catalogue. |