Manuscript Description London, British Library MS Royal 17 D.XVIII | |
| MS Appellation: | Regiment of Princes |
| Title: | Regiment of Princes |
| Author: | Hoccleve |
| Contents: | Regiment of Princes ff. 2-99v Presentation Verses to the Duke of Bedford (IMEV 3831), f. 100 |
| Language: | English |
| Date Range: | 1412-1413 |
| 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: | 3 new paper match pastedown + 1 original parchment flyleaf + 101 folios (last of which looks like blank flyleaf but is fourth leaf of a quire of 4) + 1 older paper flyleaf + 4 new paper flyleaves match pastedown |
| Pagination: | Modern arabic pencil in upper outer corners foliating 1-100, not 101. |
| Quiring: | 8's now attached to single stub for each quire; last quire is of 4. |
| Signatures: | A few small signatures survive in grey ink and are a roman numeral followed by a lower case letter for the quire; thus 'I d' on f26r,' j e' on f34r and 'iiij e' on f37r. |
| Catchwords: | By the scribe in the lower margin near the centre of the lower margin. Catchwords are defined in various ways; some have a red line to the left and above the catchwords; others are boxed in red, black or purple ink with loops at corners of boxes. |
| Page Size: | 275 x 190 |
| Frame: | 3 x vertical, 2 enclosing text and a third in outer margin creating a narrow blank column between text column and glosses; 4 x horizontal enclosing top and bottom lines; ruled within. No pricking survives. |
| Writing Space: | 181 x 104 |
| Incipits and Explicits: | None. |
| Marginal Headings: | In the same hand as the text, in the same black ink; anglicana formata slightly larger than text and written into the space between stanzas eg 'De Vicio Auaricie' between 2nd and 3rd stanzas on f82r with a 4-line initial beginning the following stanza. 'Verba compilatoris ad librum' in the top margin of f99v and 'finis' two lines below the final stanza on f 99v. |
| Borders: | Red and blue ink penwork bar borders with red flourishing making up the fourth side. Fine penwork. |
| Paragraph Marks: | Stylised red paraphs to define stanzas and marginal glosses; they often extend the length of the stanza or gloss. |
| Flourished Initials: | A 14-line initial in red and blue penwork; 3-line red and blue initials act as subheadings; decorative tendrils in purple ink. |
| Other Names (not owners): | On folio i recto note at top (see Seymour) and rough drawings of elaborate monogram 'H' twice; i verso Nycholas Wikes writes verses, then list of family members; marginal notes ff1, 2, rectos in large script of 15th century regarding births in reign of Henry VI; top margin f95r 'davyd ?genchshede / By / Right henr'' in late 15th c. hand; after end on f99v, 've me miseriun' (one minim short), and note at very bottom in hand of 15th c; on f100 note along outer margin top to bottom is 16th c.; notes and pentrials on f100v are mixed 15th and 16th cc; include 'brother wyllyam''. |
| Further Information: | See Mooney, SAC 33 (2011), 263-96. |