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Add MS 11809

Record Id:

032-002041505

Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:

032-002041505

MDARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100000000046.0x0001a1

LARK:

SLARK:

Format:

ISAD(G)

Reference (shelfmark):

Add MS 11809

Title:

Collection of religious texts in Irish, including a translation of Pseudo-Bonaventura's Meditationes Vitae Christi

Scope & Content:

Collection of theological texts, including Irish translations of Latin and English devotional materials.

A detailed description of this manuscript is provided by O'Grady and Flower, Catalogue of Irish Manuscripts, ii, pp. 545-51.

Contents:

f. 1r: Paper leaf inserted. Description of the manuscript's discovery and contents in English,

ff. 2r-27v: Translation of Pseudo-Bonaventura's Meditationes Vitae Christi. Imperfect, begins in the section 'De uocacione discipulorum'. The first page is almost entirely illegible. Text lost on f. 11 due to damage to the lower page. Contains chapters 19-98 of Peltier's edition.

ff. 10r-11r: A dialogue between Christ and Mary, headed 'Incipit solusloquium Ihesu cum Maria'.

ff. 27v-31v: Adaptation of ll. 6480-7971 of the Vita Beatae Virginis Mariae Rhythmica, headed 'De tatu ⁊ modo uiuendi uirginis mairie ascencon/mnem fili eius'. Imperfect due to loss of leaves after f. 31.

ff. 32r-33v: Abbreviated adaptation of chapters 1-22 of the Liber Scintillarum.

ff. 34r-35r: Irish translation of the Long Charter of Christ, a Middle English poem on the Charter of Peace made between God and man through the Crucifixion.

ff. 35r-36v: Fragments of an adaptation of chapters 1 and 2 of Stimulus Amoris. The page order is wrong: f. 39 should follow f. 35. f. 36v is the end of the text.

ff. 37r-v: A homily on the Virgin Mary. Based chiefly on excerpts from the writings of Hugh of Saint-Victor and St Bernard.

ff. 37v-38v: Translation of ll. 3124-3325 of the Vita Rhythmica.

f. 38v: Sayings from the Church Fathers on tears of repentance. Apparently from the same tract as the one in the Book of Fermoy, f. 73.

f. 38v: Tract on the causes of poverty. Imperfect due to loss of leaves.

ff. 39r-v: Misplaced leaf. Should follow f. 35v.

ff. 40r-63r: Irish translation of the Instructio pie vivendi et superna meditandi.

ff. 63v: Sentences from Seneca and St Bernard against pride; tract on the evil nature of man and his ingratitude to God.

Decoration:

Several uncoloured zoomorphic initials. Large initials with minor decoration in black.

Collection Area:

Western Manuscripts

Project / Collection:

Additional Manuscripts

Hierarchy Tree:

[{ "id" : "032-002041505", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Add MS 11809: Collection of religious texts in Irish, including a translation of Pseudo-Bonaventura's Meditationes Vitae Christi" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]

Hierarchy Record Ids:

032-002041505

Is part of:

not applicable

Hierarchy:

032-002041505

Container:

not applicable

Record Type (Level):

Fonds

Extent:

1 volume

Digitised Content:

Languages:

Irish, Middle

Scripts:

Latin

Start Date:

1400

End Date:

1499

Date Range:

15th century

Era:

Access:

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User Conditions:

Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript

Physical Characteristics:

Material: Parchment.

Dimensions: 255 x 170mm (written area 220 x 155mm). There is some variation as the leaves have been cut unevenly.

Foliation: ff. 63 (+ 2 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the beginning + 2 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the end).

Script: Irish.

Binding: British Museum, post-1600. Blue half-leather. Re-bound 18th January 1963.

Custodial History:

Origin:

Ireland.

Uilliam mac an Lega was the scribe of the manuscript: 'Uilliam qui sgribhsitt' (f. 41v), his typical signature.

Provenance:

Hore Abbey?: an undated note on f. 1r claims that the manuscript was found in the walls of Hore Abbey, Cashel, forty years ago. The evidence for this is insecure and the note has been described as a 'sales pitch', rather than a reliable account of the provenance (Sharpe, 'Medieval manuscripts found at Bonamargy friary and other hidden manuscripts', p. 80).

Edward O'Reilly (b. 1765, d. 1830): the manuscript was among the items included in a sale of O'Reilly's library following his death: Bibliotheca Hibernica: catalogue of the library of the late Edward O’Reilly, Esq., of Harold’s Cross ... November 30, 1830, lot no. 12.

James Bigg: a London bookseller.

Purchased by the British Museum, 3 May 1841: note on unfoliated paper flyleaf before f. 1 'Purchased of J. Bigg 3 May 1841'.

Publications:

Catalogue of Irish Manuscripts in the British Museum, ed. by Standish Hayes O'Grady (vol. I) and Robin Flower (vol. II), 2 vols (London: British Museum, 1926; repr. 1992), ii, 545-51.

Sharpe, Richard, 'Medieval manuscripts found at Bonamargy friary and other hidden manuscripts', Studia Hibernica, 41 (2015), 49-85 (esp. pp. 79-80).

Material Type:

Archives and Manuscripts

Legal Status:

Not Public Record(s)

Names:

Bernard of Clairvaux, Abbot of Clairvaux, ?1090-1153,
   see also http://isni.org/isni/0000000120962264,
   see also http://viaf.org/viaf/59875293
Jesus Christ, c 6 BC-c 30,
   see also http://isni.org/isni/0000000403006061,
   see also http://viaf.org/viaf/299030644