Egerton MS 2947

MIRACLES of the Virgin, etc. in Latin:-

1. " Incipit prologus in libro miraculorum domine nostre sancte Marie ": a series of 41 miracles closely akin to the collection known from its first editor as PEZ and recently re-edited by T. F. Crane, Liber de Miraculis Mariae (Vol. i of Cornell University Studies in Romance Languages and Literature, 1925). Cf. also the description of Add. MS. 18346, a regular PEZ type, by H. L. D. Ward, Cat. of Romances in the. British Museum, ii, p. 646. The contents exhibit the following correspondences : Eg. Prologue and 1-18 (ff. 1-16) = PEZ Prologue and 1-18 ; Eg. 20-29 (ff. 17 b-27 b) = PEZ 20-2; Eg. 30-33 (ff. 28-33) = PEZ 31-34; Eg. 34-37 (ff. 35 b-39 b) = PEZ 36, 19, 43 (42), 42 (41) ; Eg. 39, 40 (ff. 43, 46 b) = PEZ 35, 38 (37). Not in PEZ are : Eg. 19 (Musa, f. 16 b) = Arundel MS. 346, no. 24 (cf. Ward, p. 620); Eg. 38 (Wife and Mistress, f. 41 b) = Arundel MS. 346, no. 30 (cf. Ward, p. 621); Eg. 41 (Theophilus, f. 48 b) = Cotton MS. Cleopatra C. X, no. 40 (cf. Ward, p. 618), but opens differently: " Istud certe pretereundum non est." Prol. beg. " Ad omnipotentis dei laudem. eum sepe recitentur text, " Fuit in Toletana urbe." f. 1.

2. Hymns to the Virgin entitled " Oratio ad Sanctam Mariam " and " Alia oratio ad eandem." Beg. " Imperatrix reginarum " (f. 50) = Chevalier, Repert. Hymn. no. 8491, and " Ecce ad te confugio (f. 50 b) = Chevalier, no. 5087. Art. 3 is in a different, less formal, hand, using the insular symbol for enim.

3. Miracles in Constantinople, more or less corresponding to the versions in Combefis, Novum Auctarium, vol. ii (Paris, 1648) :- (1) Eyes of crucifix follow notary, beg. " Est quedam imago Iesu Christi." Cf. Add. MS. 11281, no. 154 (Herbert, Cat. of Romances, iii, p. 382). Combefis, cols. 651-658. f. 51 b ;- (2) Christ-image stabbed by Jew bleeds, beg. "In eadem urbe est imago sancte sanctarum dei genitricis Marie " (here the statue is of Virgin and Child, thus associating Mary with the miracle). Cf. Royal MS. 8 C. iv, no. 53 (Ward, p. 705) and a Greek version in Add. MS. 36589, f. 183 b - Combefis, cols. 647-651. f. 53;- (3) Theodore and the money-lender Abraham, beg. " In illo tempore erat quidam nauclerus." Follows closely Combefis, cols. 611-644. Cf. Royal MS. 6 B. xiv, no. 10 (Ward, p. 638). f. 53 b. Art. 4 is in a smaller hand.

4. Four hymns to the Virgin, the first of 11 Stanzas, the other three, when perfect, of 50 each. Identical with the series from a psalter at Besançon described by Delisle in Journal des Savants, 1897, pp. 538, 539. Beg. (1) " O Maria mater pia " = Chevalier, no. 13203. f. 59; (2) " Ave virgo lignum vite " = Chevalier, no. 2221. Ends imperf. in stanza 48 with " increata." f. 59 ; (3) [Ave mitis oliva gracie] = Chevalier, no. 23687. Opens imperf. at stanza 6 : " Ave per quam patris clementia." f. 62 ; (4) " Ave cuius tempore " = Chevalier, no. 23420. Stanzas 6-39 are lost. f. 62 b. Each hymn is followed by the pentameter: " Gloria fine carens sit tibi virgo parens." Vellum; ff. iv + 63. 8 3/4 in. x 5 5/8 in. XII cent. Gatherings of 8 leaves (v⁷, wants a leaf after f. 37, viii and last doubtful, wanting leaves after ff. 61 and 62), with signatures and catchwords. Script of English type. Simple initials in red and blue. Lot 390 in a priced bookseller's catalogue. Huth bookplate. The Huth Library, iii, p. 974. Sale-cat., 1916, lot 5014. From the Farnborough Fund.