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Manuscript Description
Cambridge, Queen's College 12
 
MS Appellation:Horne 24
Title:De regimine principum
Author:Hoccleve
Contents:De regimine principum
Language:English
Date Range:1400-1450; James dates 'Cent. xv early' (p. 13)
Scribal Hands:
Examples of the hand. Click on the link above for full details and images of individual letter forms.
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Material:Parchment
No of Folios:2 half-height parchment stubs from binding, one with MS Latin text + 1 paper early printed folio + 70 parchment folios + 3 parchment stubs + 2 early printed folios + 2 paper stubs + 1 full-height parchment stub, MS Latin text
Pagination:None: indications of folio are from hand count.
Quiring:8s; eight 8s (a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h), one 8-2 (quire k, missing 7 and 8, has re-enforcing strip at centre of quire)
Signatures:The signatures are all extant, upper case letters plus Roman numerals i to iiii in usual place, with punctus before, between and after. For quires A,B,C,D,E, they are in same black ink as text; for ff, G, H, K they are in red ink.
Catchwords:By the scribe, usual place, running up to right frame line, ie under text space of second column, black ink, with sometimes no punctuation, other times something like narrow and low yogh with punctus elevatus above it, this sometimes only before or sometimes on both sides of catchwords.
Page Size:308 x 210
Frame:4 x vertical enclosing text column and narrower Latin gloss column as outer column, 16 x horizontal, for running title (none appears) and first line of each of 5 stanzas and double below last stanza and double in lower margin for catchwords, all running to edge of page; ruled within text column for other six lines per stanza
Writing Space:218 x ca. 75
Incipits and Explicits:'Mercy and Grace' in rubric after end (f70v)
Marginal Headings:Rubric glosses
Title by Scribe:'This Poem is usually call'd 'Consolatio sibi a sane oblata', by Thomas Occleve, a Disciple of Chaucer' in right margin of f1 beside second stanza; added.
Borders:On f1 gold, blue and red bar border on left side with gold-grounded bosses at top and bottom and foliage sprays in blue, pink, green leaves and gold trefoils extending from it and longer sprays of this same style along top and bottom margins. Smaller 3-line gold and rose initials with white highlighting on solid blue ground that follows shape of letter, sprays just black stems and pine cones and gold balls.
Illuminated Initials:On f 1 and other beginnings of books (eg sig. d.7v) 7-line blue and pink incised initial with white highlights on gold ground with red, blue and pink foliage patterns inside letters with white highlighting.
Paragraph Marks:Alternating gold with blue, and blue with red penwork paraphs at beginning of each stanza throughout, and preceding each rubric gloss.
Other Names (not owners):On the last page is a scribbled note relating to Thomas Kynnersley, Esq. of Ackleton in Shropshire, also Humfrey Blackman of Badger, Salop.; first folio has note in lower margin about its being gift of Reverendus Mascie Malyn, L.L.D. alumnus of Queens' Loose in the book is 'an indulgence of the Nuncio in England, Johannes de Gigliis, dated 1489..., to those who subscribe 4, 3, 2 or 1 gold florins ... for the war against the Turks' (James, p. 13); now removed to separate keeping.
Further Information: James, M.R. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Western Manuscripts in the Library of Queens' College, Cambridge. Camb: Univ. Press, 1905. pp. 13-14.
Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York, King's Manor, York YO1 7EP