Add MS 5467

COLLECTION OF TRACTS: includes items translated by John Shirley (d.1456); mid - late 15th cent. Origin: England. The reference to Henry VI on f. 72v suggests a date after 1461. English and some Latin. Imperfect at end (catchword f. 224v). For descriptions of this manuscript and discussion of Shirley and his work, see: M. A. Manzalaoui, ed., Secretum Secretorum, EETS, no. 276 (1977), i, Text, pp. xxxvii-xxxviii; O. Gaertner, John Shirley sein Leben und Wirken (1904); A. I. Doyle, 'More light on John Shirley', Medium Aevum, xxx (1962), pp. 93-101. Contemporary - 17th cent. marginals throughout. The MS. may have belonged to Selby Abbey, see R. Thoresby, Ducatus Leodiensis (1715), p. 530, item 108. Owned by: (a) 'H. P . . .', who writes moral sayings ff. 117v, 146v, 149v, and whose signature appears, dated 24 June 1597, f. 149v;- (b) Edward Parker, whose signature and note of ownership appears with moral verses; late 16th - early 17th cent. f. 196;-

(c) Marmaduke Towlard; 1683-1684. ff. 112, 132. Towlard's annotations, which occur frequently in the MS., include religious and moral memoranda (ff. 21-21v), Latin verses (ff. 22, 63v), names of other members of his family, Richard and John Towlard (f. 82), accounts, etc., (ff. 155v, 170v, 206, 207v). 'William Towlard' occurs, 17th cent., f. 158. The following signatures also occur: Rouland Brugge al. Bruges, possibly the scribe; late 15th cent. ff. 139, 211;- 'Henry Smythe of Gerlthorpe', i.e. Garthorpe, co. Lincs.; early 16th cent. Selby Abbey owned property at Garthorpe. f. 208v;- Henry Smythe, William Kydall, both in the same hand; early 16th cent. f. 22v;- Thomas Roberteson; early 16th cent.

f. 68v;- 'John Hall have deluud vnto Thomas Hall'; 16th-17th cent. f. 106v;- John Thornton; 17th cent. f. 96v;- Richard Atkinson; 17th cent. f. 97v;- William Stowcroft; 17th cent. f. 158;- Ann Lee; 17th cent. f. 201v. The volume was given to Ralph Thoresby by Thomas Wilson, merchant, of Leeds, bef. 1697, see Thoresby, op. cit., p. 530, and CMA, ii, no. 7592. The MS. was sold at the sale of Thoresby's museum, see sale-cat. Bristow, Musaeum Thoresbyanum A Catalogue of the . . . Collections of . . . Ralph Thoresby, 7 March 1764, lot 16. In Aug. 1790 the MS. belonged to John Jackson of Clement's Lane, Lombard St., see

J. Pinkerton, History of Scotland . . . (1797), i, p. 462. Purchased on 30 April 1794 at the sale of Jackson's manuscripts, Leigh & Sotheby 28 April 1794, lot 340.

Paper; ff. 224+72*. The volume bears medieval foliation in roman numerals to f. 96 ('c'). This probably continued throughout the MS., see f. 139 ('cxlv') but has been lost owing to damage. Sec. fol.: 'shalbe swete And if . . .'. Composite MS. 207 x 145mm. Gatherings: i10, ii-v12, vi10, vii-xix12 (viii lacks 7, xii lacks 5, no loss of text), xx irregular (catchword f. 224v). Catchwords ff. 11v, 72v, 73v, 85v, 85v-224v passim. Signatures, small letters, as follows: quire iv,

f. 46v, last folio verso bottom right; quires v, vii, viii, a-f or g on rectos top left hand; regular throughout quires ix-xx, a-g on verso bottom right, from 91v. Some signatures cropped or missing due to damage. Single columns. English secretary hands. Probably two main scribes; (A) ff. 1-21;- (B) Possibly 'Rouland Brugge', 'Rouland Brugges', see positioning of this name on ff. 139 and 211. ff. 23-224 passim. The following articles begin on a fresh quire: art. 1 (quire i); art. 3 (quire iii); art. 5 (quire vii). Watermarks; (A) Tête de boeuf. nr. Briquet 14183. Belfort 1458. ff. 1-22;- (B) Circle with linear design. ff. 23-224. Offset from a medieval manuscript, formerly used as a binding strip, ff. 203v-204. Damage to edges, probably from damp, ff. 1-2 badly stained.

Contents:

1. ff. 1-15v. Treatise on the tilling of trees, an English translation attributed to Geoffrey de Vinsauf al. Vino Salvo, fl. 1200, of a Latin adaptation from the 'De re rustica' of Palladius. Beg. 'The maner of settyng of trees is manyfolde', f. 1. See Gaertner, op. cit., pp. 29-31. A modern scholar has ascribed the work to Gottfried von Franken, a 14th cent. German writer on horticulture, and the translation to Nicholas Bollard (see art. 2 below). See M. Ambrosoli, 'L'Opus Agriculturae di Palladio: volgarizzamenti e identificazione dell'ambiente naturale fra tre e cinquecento', Quaderni storici 52, xviii, no. 1 (1983), pp. 227-254. For other manuscripts, see: Sloane MSS. 7, ff. 89-92, 122, ff. 72-83, 88-89, 686, ff. 15-18v, 19-39v; Cotton Jul.D.VIII, ff. 48-55v (imperfect); Harl. MSS. 116, ff. 154-162, 1785, ff. 20-46. An English version adapted from the present text and the Bollard text (art. 2) was first printed in Richard Arnold's 'Customs of London' (1503?) (BL 21.a.10) and (1521) (BL 38.h.6), and in The crafte of graffynge & plantynge of trees (1520?) (BL C.122.bb.42 imperfect). For Latin versions see Add. MSS. 18752, ff. 164-173, 23002, ff. 32-45v, Arundel 251, ff. 1-12, Cotton Jul.D.VIII, ff. 61-73v and Egerton 2622,

ff. 99-112v.

2. ff. 16-21. Treatise by Nicholas Bollard on plannting and grafting trees. Beg. 'This tretice he seith is departid in iij parties'. See Gaertner, op. cit., pp. 31-32, and art. 1 above. For other manuscripts of this English version see: Sloane MSS. 7, ff. 92-93, 122, ff. 84-88; Cotton Jul.D.VIII, ff. 56-59 (imperfect), Harl. MSS. 116, ff. 162-165v, 1785, ff. 46-54. For a Latin version see Add. 23002, ff. 46-49v, Cotton Jul.D.VIII, ff. 74-77, Egerton 2622, ff. 113-117. As in the present MS., the text in these versions is preceded by the Vinsauf item (art. 1 above).

3. ff. 23-66v. Cookery book containing 183 recipes (ff. 25-64). Beg. 'Take beof and maribons' (f. 25). The last item (f. 64) is imperfect at the end owing to damage to the page. List of contents, ff. 65-66v, part of which is repeated at the beginning of the book (f. 23). Many of the recipes are close to those in Harl. 4016, which is printed in Two fifteenth-century cookery books, ed. T. Austin, EETS, o.s. 91 (1888), pp. 69-107, although in the present MS. the recipes are in a different order. Preceded (ff. 23v-25) by bills of fare for royal banquets. The first (f. 23v) was attended by Richard II and John of Gaunt at the London house of the Bishop of Durham, 23 Sept. 1397. This item is printed in Austin, op. cit., pp. 67-68, from Harl. 4016.

4. ff. 67-68v. John Lydgate's poem on table manners 'Stans puer ad mensam'. Beg. 'My dere son first. . .'. Printed from a manuscript at the Bodleian Library in H. N. MacCracken, The minor poems of John Lydgate, pt. ii, EETS, o.s., 192 (1934), pp. 739-744. See W. F. Schirmer, John Lydgate. A study in the culture of the xvth century, transl. A. E. Keep (1961), p. 110. For other MSS. of this poems see: Cotton Calig.A.II, ff. 14-15v; Harl. MSS. 2251, ff. 148-149, 4011, ff. 1-1v; Lansdowne 699, ff. 83-85; Stowe 982,

ff. 10-11.

5. ff. 69-72. Memoranda on inauspicious days, etc., as follows: (a) 'The parayllous dayes of the yeere'. List of unlucky days in each month. Beg. 'Furste ye shoule undirstand that by the tyme'. f. 69;- (b) Days of the year on which certain acts, eg. blood letting, eating geese, are unlucky. The authorities quoted are Bede and 'Dr Brokayne'. Beg. 'By thynstruccion good counsell and doctryne'. Scientific writings erroneously attributed to Bede are discussed in C. W. Jones, Bedae Pseudepigrapha . . .(1939). f. 69v;-

(c) Days that are lucky for blood letting, according to the authority of 'Calxstes Antiothe'. f. 69v;- (d) Prognostics from the weekday of Christmas. Beg. 'Here now folowyng shull ye reed'. See Royal MS. 12 C.XIII, ff. 87-88. ff. 70-71;- (e) Prophecy attributed to Merlin. Latin. Beg. 'Lignorum stipes . . .'. f. 71;- (f) Diet and regimen for the months, titled 'Medecynes of Maister William du Jordyne [William Desjardins] gyven to Kyng Henry Regent and Heriter of the Reume of Fraunce', i.e. Henry V. Imperfect at the beginning, commencing in the middle of advice for March. See

E. Wickersheimer, Dictionnaire Biographique de médecins en France au moyen âge (1936), i, p. 239. ff. 71-71v;- (g) 'Medesyns approbate for mortall sekenessesse by Saynte Beede'. Lists inauspicious days for blood letting, etc., see (b) above. Beg. 'Mane to let hym blode'. ff. 71v-72;-

(h) 'Thyes beene the iij forbade Mondays'. Item incomplete after this heading. f. 72.

6. ff. 72v-84v. Account of the murder of King James I of Scotland in 1437, entitled '. . .a full lamentable cronycle of the dethe and false murdure of James Stewarde last Kynge of scotys'. Beg. 'Robert Steward the kyng of scotis . . .'. Translated by John Shirley from a Latin version, see colophon, f. 84v. One folio is torn out between ff. 72-73, with loss of text, a fragment only remaining, f. 72*. For a complete MS. version, which lacks the colophon ascribing the translation to Shirley, see Add. 38690, ff. 9-15. For a modern edition using this MS., see M. Connolly, The Dethe of the Kynge of Scotis: A new edition. The Scottish Historical Review, 71 (1992), pp. 46-69. For earlier editions see: J. Pinkerton, The History of Scotland . . . (1797), i, pp. 462-475;- (b) anon., (Glasgow, 1818);- (c) J. Stevenson, The life and death of King James the First of Scotland, Maitland Club, 42 (1837).

7. ff. 85-87. '. . . an approbate treite for the pestilence studied by the gretteste docturs of fisike amonges thunyversite of Cristen nacions yn the tyme of Sainte Thomas of Caunturbury'. Beg. 'For the universall good of all cristyn peple . . .'.

8. ff. 87v-96v. The treaty of Canterbury between Henry V and Emperor Sigismund; 15 Aug. 1416. A Latin version is printed in Foedera, iv,

pp. 171-172.

9. ff. 97-211. 'Livre de Bones Meurs', translated from French into English by John Shirley in 1440 (f. 97). Beg. 'Alle prowde folke wolde be like to god' (f. 99v). The original text is attributed to Jacques Le Grand (fl. early 15th cent.). Shirley's statement that his translation was made from a French version prepared by Jean de Vignay is erroneous (see Gaertner, op. cit.,

p. 45). The English version printed by William Caxton in 1487 was his own translation made from the French, see BL IB 55125. A third English version occurs in Harl. 149, ff. 183-252. Gaertner, op. cit., pp. 70-79, prints ff. 208-211 of the present MS. in parallel text with Harl. 149 and early printed versions in French and English.

10. ff. 211-224v. The pseudo-Aristotelian text 'Secretum Secretorum', 'The gouernance of kynges and of prynces . . .'. Translated from a French version by John Shirley in his old age (ff. 211-211v, 216). Incomplete from ch. xvi; the table of contents (ff. 211-213v) indicates 58 chapters. Beg. 'Here begynneth the gouernance of kynges and of prynces . . .' (f. 211). The text in the present MS. is printed in Secretum Secretorum. Nine English versions, ed. M. A. Manzalaoui, i, Text, EETS, no. 276 (1977), pp. xxxvii-xxxviii, 227-313. Other versions of the text are discussed in this volume.