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Manuscript Description
London, British Library, Harley 2376
 
MS Appellation:Piers Plowman
Title:Piers Plowman, C version
Author:Langland
Contents:Piers Plowman, C version
Language:English and Latin
Scribal Hands:
Examples of the hand. Click on the link above for full details and images of individual letter forms.
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Dialect:LP : 7320; County : SW Herefords
Material:Parchment
No of Folios:1 marbled flyleaf + 1 new paper flyleaf + parchment text block folios 1-124 + 2 new paper flyleaves + 1 marbled flyleaf
Pagination:Older ink foliation in usual place, upper outer corners recto 4-127, begins with '4' on what is now f1 so must have numbered some flyleaves now lost; newer pencil foliation begins 1 on this first parchment folio.
Quiring:8s
Signatures:Signatures survive on many folios, lower right recto first four leaves of quires, lower case letter plus arabic number, beginning 'a.1.' on f1, to 'p.4.' on f119 and just arabic numbers '1' and '2' on f121 and f122 as first two of the 4-folio last quire.
Catchwords:By the scribe, same ink and script as text, squeezed into small lower margin but not cropped at all, several words running up to right frame line, in rounded scrolls which have been overdrawn in red.
Page Size:218 x 140 mm
Frame:Square above top and below bottom lines, ruled within in very faint plummet, pricking survives on outer edge of many leaves and at top of some; only a very little cropping has occurred since marginal manicula etc. not cut and catchwords still intact, signatures also (so from the start was not allowing for much white space, no wide margins).
Writing Space:192 x 125 mm
Incipits and Explicits:On f124r, in black by scribe with red scroll around, 'Hic explicit passus secundus de do best'
Marginal Headings:Headings for passus and explicits for passus written in red, and in some cases where at top of page with leaf drawings projecting from ascenders (f1); Latin in textura and surrounded by red boxes, proper names in normal anglicana but also in red boxes. Catchwords in anglicana surrounded by rounded scrolls which have been over-drawn in red; initials of every line touched with red, so also initials of catchwords.
Title by Scribe:On f1 at the top by the scribe in red textura, 'Here by gynneþ þe boke of Pyris Plowman
Flourished Initials:On f1 a 3-line red initial with pale brown flourishing around, much lighter than text, and each new passus begins with 3-line red initial with this same brown flourishing; thereafter 2-line red initials with brown flourishing, in all cases forming a box around the letter with scallops on left side and sometimes other sides, short tendrils.
Other Names (not owners):On f1 at top has only date '13 August, A.D. 1724' in 18th c. script. Below it is NOT a signature but earlier script beginning 'my b'
on f124, a space of c. 4 lines left blank after top 4 lines on that page, begins again same scribe and script, ink etc. after this gap 'Concience cryde este; cleregye come hym to helpe' and 11 further lines before explicit; in this gap is written 'Johanem' and 'John', both scribbled but may be 16th century script.
Further Information:Harley Catalogue
Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York, King's Manor, York YO1 7EP