Manuscript on parchment of Fragments of a Brut Chronicle. Begins imperfectly in chapter 36 (Constantine) and has several lacunae. The work ends in chapter 86 (beginning on f. 11r) with the thirty-first year of Edward III. With art. 3) A note (in Latin) stating that King Henry IV was consecrated in 1399 and documenting his descent from Adam. 4) A list (in Latin) of 86 kings (each numbered) from Brutus to Edward III. 5) Names of prisoners captured and killed at the battle of Poitiers (19 Sept. 1356). 6) Terms of the treaty of Bretigny (8 May 1360). 7) Parliamentary text.
Description:
Acquired from Henry Fletcher in 1950., Binding: 18th-19th centuries. Stab sewn to a vellum folder made up of a legal document (trimmed with some loss of text) dated 1766 and involving the manors of Whitechurch and Milbourne in Wiltshire. The outside has an inscription, 19th century, "Some leaves of early English History in Norman French supposed to have come from Malmesbury Abbey." A similar inscription occurs on f. i verso., Decorative initials, blue with red penwork, appear only on ff. 1-12; initial strokes and headings, in red, throughout., In Anglo-Norman., and Script: Written in Anglicana bookhand by one scribe.
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain--History--14th century
Subject (Name):
England.--Treaties, etc.--France,--(1360 May 8)
Subject (Topic):
Anglo-Norman literature, Chronicles of England, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, and Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library
Manuscript on parchment of Boethius, De topicis differentiis.
Description:
Binding: Date? Limp vellum case with title, in ink, on spine: "Topica boetij"., One historiated initial, f. 1v, blue with white filigree and highlights against a square reddish brown ground with white filigree, showing Boethius as a monk in a blue robe seated on a chair and holding a scroll inscribed with his name, and a disciple, dressed in a red robe and holding a book inscribed with the opening words of the text proper, both figures against a grey ground with white filigree. Three illuminated initials, ff. 7v, 16v, 23r, 6- to 4-line (without ascenders or descenders), blue with white filigree against reddish brown ground with white filigree or reddish brown against blue ground with white filigree. The initials are filled with scrolling vines blue or reddish brown with white highlights, with stylized leaves, ending in dragons' heads against reddish brown or blue grounds. Descender, f. 16v, in form of a dragon, reddish brown against blue ground. Flourished initials, 2-line, and paragraph marks alternate red and blue., and Script: Written in compact gothic bookhand by a single scribe, below top line.
Subject (Topic):
Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Latin literature, Medieval and modern, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, and Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library
Manuscript on parchment of collected Greek moral sayings translated into Latin by the diplomat George Hermonymus of Sparta. The manuscript also contains a dedicatory preface to the Abbot of St. Albans. The final two leaves contain 16th and 17th-century verses in multiple hands. The humanist style of the book's script, contents, and illuminations suggest that it is a sister copy of British Library, Harley MS 3346, which was presented to George Neville, Archbishop of York.
Description:
Binding: original, worn velvet over wooden boards., Decoration: heraldic illumination on f. 1v of two angels holding a coat of arms, overpainted to that of the Totewhill family (sable, three covered cups argent); the mitre associated with the abbacy of St. Albans floats above. Borderwork around the miniature consists of gold leaf and alternating red and blue flowers. 1 four-line gilt initial "M" on 2r with accompanying blue and red design and gold borderwork with blue and red background. Between 1 and 3 two to three-line gilt initials per page with blue and red background. Rubrics in red., Ex libris St. Albans Abbey. Ex libris the Totewhill family of Cornwall. Purchased from Christie's London sale (2017 July 12, lot 13) on the James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Fund, 2017., Layout: single column of 14 lines., Script: main text in a humanist hand, possibly that of George Hermonymus. Later English and Latin verses in three early modern hands., and The manuscript contains a dedicatory preface from George Hermonymus to "Gulielmum," the Abbot of St. Albans, either William Albon (1465-1475) or William of Wallingford (1476-1492); this manuscript was probably presented while Hermonymus was on a diplomatic mission to England between 1475 and 1476. The coat of arms of the Totewhill family of Cornwall have been overpainted in the heraldic miniature.
Subject (Name):
Albon, William,---1476., Hermōnymos, Geōrgios,--15th cent., St. Albans Abbey, and Wallingford, William,---1488?
Subject (Topic):
Classical philosophy, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, and Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library
Manuscript on parchment of a Middle English text of the Book of Sir John Mandeville, probably related to the "Defective Version." Biblical quotations in Middle English on f63v-f64v.
Alternative Title:
Itinerarium. English
Description:
Annotation, in a later hand, on f1r: Sir John Mandevile's Travails., Binding: 18th-century full mottled calf, gilt. Spine label reads: Mandevil's travails., From the collection of John Theyer; from the collection of John Barwick of Charing; ex libris Walter Sneyd; ex libris Sir Thomas Brooke; from the collection of Sir John Arthur Brooke (Sotheby's London sale 25 May 1921, lot 921); from the collection of Sir R. Leicester Harmsworth (Sotheby's London sale 15 October 1945, lot 2023). Purchased from Martayan Lan Rare Books on the James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Fund, 2011., Opening illuminated initial with ivy-leaf sprays into margins and 17 blue initials with extensive red penwork flourishing. Three contemporary or near-contemporary marginal drawings, one with color wash, of manicula., Script: cursive anglicana hand in brown ink; 32 lines per page., Side notes and notation marks in various hands, 15th-17th century., Sir John Mandeville is the suppositious author of the "travel" book known as the Book of Sir John Mandeville, or Mandeville's Travels. Written in the 14th century in Anglo-Norman French, it was widely popular and thought to be an accurate account of a knight's journey through Europe, the Middle East and Asia., and Title supplied by cataloger.
Subject (Name):
Harmsworth, R. Leicester--(Robert Leicester),--Sir,--1870-1937--Ownership, Mandeville, John,--Sir, Sneyd, Walter,--1809-1888--Bookplate, and Theyer, John,--1597-1673--Autograph
Subject (Topic):
English prose literature--Middle English, 1100-1500, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library, and Voyages and travels--Early works to 1800