Cotton MS Julius B XIII

A composite manuscript composed of two parts (ff. 2-47, 48-173), both owned by John Leland (b. c. 1503, d. 1552), poet and antiquary, and bound together for Sir Robert Cotton (b. 1571, d. 1631).

The first part (ff. 2-47) was made at Melrose Abbey in Scotland between c. 1174 and c. 1208 and contains a copy of the Chronicle of Hugh of Saint-Victor (b. c. 1096, d. 1141) and part of the Chronicle of Melrose Abbey. The remainder of the Melrose Chronicle is now Cotton MS Faustina B IX, ff. 2-75 (partially written by the same scribes), and was probably removed by Leland when he possessed the manuscript.

The second part (ff. 48-173) was made in England during the 2nd quarter of the 14th century and contains the only known surviving copy of De principis instructione (Instruction for a Ruler), written by Gerald of Wales (b. c. 1146, d. c. 1223), author and ecclesiastic.

For a discussion of the Melrose Chronicle based on this manuscript, see Broun & Harrison, The Chronicle of Melrose Abbey (2007). For an edition of Gerald of Wales' De principis instructione based on this manuscript, see Warner, De Principis Instructione Liber (1891).

Contents:

f. 1r: A list of contents in the hand of Richard James (b. 1592, d. 1638), the first librarian of the Cotton Library; the second item features annotations by Thomas Gale (b. 1635/36, d. 1702), dean of York and antiquary.

Part 1:

ff. 2r-40v: Hugh of Saint-Victor, Chronicle, arranged as follows:

ff. 2r-3v: Prologue, beginning, 'Fili, sapientia thesaurus est, et cor tuum archa ...'

ff. 4r-12v: Creation, Restoration (Hebrew chronology); Kingdoms of the world; Creation and Restoration (Seputagint chronology); miscellaneous lists of Hebrew names; geographical names (mis-bound).

ff. 13r-16v: Miscellaneous lists of Hebrew names.

ff. 17r-18r: Geographical names.

ff. 19r-23r: Table of Popes, ending with Honorius II (r. 1123-1130).

ff. 24r-27v: Table of rulers since the Incarnation.

f. 27v: Names of historiographers of Antiquity.

ff. 28r-40v: Chronological table of Popes and Roman Emperors, AD 1-1220: the final hand added the year numbers to 1220, but inserted the final entry for the year 1208 (11 Innocent III).

ff. 41r-47v: Chronicle of Melrose Abbey, AD 1-249, imperfect, beginning, 'Anno quo Deus omnipotens pro hominibus homo fieri dignatus est’, and ending, ‘sed anno integro inquit inuenit principalia edicta magister demonum qui dicebatur in’.

Part 2:

ff. 48r-173v: Gerald of Wales, De principis instructione, arranged in three parts (ff. 48r-118v, 118v-141r- 141-173r), the text beginning, 'Incipiunt capitula prime distinctionis. De principis moderamine … Incipit prefacio prima. De principis instructione tractatum edere me compulit id precipue quod in principum moribus et prelatorum', and ending, 'quoniam non omnia possumus omnes locum prebere dignum duximus. Explicit liber de principis instructione. Amen.'

The manuscript features corrections and marginalia throughout, written by medieval hands (ff. 5v, 9v, 25r (upper margin), 30v, 35v, 36v, 48v, 53r, 56r, 57r, 57v, 165r, 171r); by John Leland (ff. 26r (cropped), 27r (cropped), ff. 48r-50v, 52v, 56v, 64v-65r, 67r-v, 74r, 75r, 83v, 92v, 97v, 101r, 102r, 107r, 110v, 119r-121r, 122v-123r, 124r-125r, 126r, 127v-128r, 130v, 132v-133r, 136r-137r, 138r-140r, 143v-144r, 148v, 149v-150r, 151r, 152v, 153v, 159v, 161v-166v, 167v-169v, 171v); by other early modern hands (ff. 150v, 161v); and by Richard James (f. 167r).

Decoration:

Part 1:

Large plain initials in red (ff. 2r, 41r). Small initials in green and red (ff. 2r-3v).

Rubrics and prominent names in red (ff. 4r-40v).

Part 2:

Large initials in blue and red, with red pen-flourishing (ff. 48r (x2), 49r, 118v, 119v, 141r, 141v).

Small initials in blue and red, with red or blue pen-flourishing.

Rubrics and highlights in red.

Prompts for the rubricator in the lower margins (and also the upper margin of f. 133v), primarily surviving in the second half of the text.