Hard-coded id of currently selected item: . JSON version of its record is available from Blacklight on e.g. ??
Metadata associated with selected item should appear here...
Add MS 31950
- Record Id:
- 032-002025653
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-002025653
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000054.0x0001ec
- LARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100172077500.0x000001
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Add MS 31950
- Title:
-
Biblical and Genealogical roll chronicle from Creation to King Henry VI of England
- Scope & Content:
-
Contents:
An abbreviated version in English of a genealogical chronicle from Creation to the beginning of the reign of Edward IV, of the type known as the 'Considerans' chronicle. This is one of a group of chronicles, named from the opening words of the prologue, ‘Considerans historie sacre prolixitatem’, here translated into English as 'Consideryng the gret desire' (membrane 1). The genealogy is in two columns, tracing the lineages of Old Testament figures and historical and legendary kings, including kings of Britain, accompanied by a commentary.
Membrane 1-2: The biblical history is based on an interpolated version of Peter of Poitiers, Compendium Historiae in Genealogia Christi, which traces the descent of Christ from Adam. From Creation to Noah, the biblical genealogy is in the central column (membrane 1), then from Shem, son of Noah, the genealogy of Christ continues on the left, ending at the Nativity (membrane 4). The central line continues from Japhet, son of Noah, ending at Silinus, grandson of Aeneas (membrane 2).
Membranes 2-8: The genealogy of the kings of England, based on Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia Regum Britanniae, begins in the central column at Brutus (membrane 2), continuing through Arthur (membrane 5) to Cadwallader (membrane 5), where it is divided into 7, representing the kings of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy (in this section there is no commentary). The lines reunite at Egbert (membrane 6) and the commentary continues in the left and right columns.
A line of descent of the Dukes of Normandy from Rollo to William the Conqueror is traced on the left, with the rubric, 'Thes wer dukes of Normandy' (membrane 6). It joins the central line at William I, continuing to Henry VI (membrane 8). The end is lacking.
The dorse of the roll is blank (dorse abbreviated as d).
This and a number or chronicles, including Add MS 30509, Lansdowne MS 456, Harley Roll 9 and Royal MS 14 B VIII were probably copied by a single scribe working in London or Westminster but illustrated by different artists, according to Scott (Later Gothic Manuscripts (1996), who lists 21 rolls and roll-codices of this type.
Decoration:
A miniature of the Fall of Man in colours and gold, with the figures in silver, now oxidised; a circular T-map of the world in red and green (membrane 1). A large initial on a gold ground with foliate decoration and a partial foliate border in colours and gold; an initial in gold on a rose and blue ground (membrane 1). Numerous small initials in gold on rose or blue grounds. A bust of Brutus in colours with a gold crown and sceptre (membrane 2) and a gold crown above the roundel of Edward III (membrane 8); roundels from Edward III to Henry VI are in the form of blue belts with gold buckles and gold decoration. Central roundels in rose or blue, roundels on the left in square frames of rose or green. Lines of descent in red or green.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Additional Manuscripts
- Hierarchy Tree:
- [{ "id" : "032-002025653", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Add MS 31950: Biblical and Genealogical roll chronicle from Creation to King Henry VI of England" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002025653
- Is part of:
- not applicable
- Hierarchy:
- 032-002025653
- Container:
- not applicable
- Record Type (Level):
- Fonds
- Extent:
-
1 roll
- Digitised Content:
- https://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_100172077500.0x000001 (digital images currently unavailable)
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- English
- Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1461
- End Date:
- 1499
- Date Range:
- 2nd half of the 15th century
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
Please request the physical items you need using the online collection item request form.
Digitised items can be viewed online by clicking the thumbnail image or digitised content link.
Readers who have registered or renewed their pass since 21 March 2024 can request physical items prior to visiting the Library by completing
this request form.
Please enter the Reference (shelfmark) above on the request form.If your Reader Pass was issued before this date, you will need to visit the Library in London or Yorkshire to renew it before you can request items online. All manuscripts and archives must be consulted at the Library in London.
This catalogue record may describe a collection of items which cannot all be requested together. Please use the hierarchy viewer to navigate to individual items. Some items may be in use or restricted for other reasons. If you would like to check the availability, contact our Reference Services team, quoting the Reference (shelfmark) above.
- User Conditions:
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Materials: Parchment.
Dimensions: 6210 x 295 mm
Arrangement: 8 parchment membranes joined end-to-end to form a roll.
Script: Gothic.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin: England.
Provenance: H. C. Clements, presented by him, together with a portrait bust of Caracalla, to the British Museum, 13 May, 1882.
- Publications:
-
The British Museum Catalogue of Additions to the Manuscripts,1882-1887 (London: British Museum, 1889), p. 12.
Sydney Anglo, 'The British History In Early Tudor Propaganda, With An Appendix Of Manuscript Pedigrees Of The Kings Of England, Henry VI To Henry VIII', Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 44.1 (1961), 17-48.
A. C. de la Mare, Catalogue of the Collection of Medieval Manuscripts Bequeathed to the Bodleian Library, Oxford by James P. R. Lyell (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971), pp 84-5.
Margaret Howell, 'The Children of King Henry III and Eleanor of Provence', Thirteenth Century England IV: Proceedings of the Newcastle Upon Tyne Conference (1991), 57-72 (p. 59, n. 13).
Kathleen L. Scott, Later Gothic Manuscripts 1390-1490, A Survey of Manuscripts Illuminated in the British Isles, 6, 2 vols (London: Harvey Miller, 1996), II, 315-17.
Margaret Howell, 'The Children of King Henry III and Eleanor of Provence', Thirteenth Century England IV: Proceedings of the Newcastle upon Tyne Conference, 1991, 57-72 (p. 59, n. 13).
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)