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Harley MS 66

Record Id:

040-002045894

Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:

040-002045894

MDARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100000000596.0x0000ef

LARK:

SLARK:

Format:

ISAD(G)

Reference (shelfmark):

Harley MS 66

Title:

Transcripts of the Historia Sancti Albani scripta tempore Henrici III; excerpts from a register of Westminster Abbey attributed to Sulcard; excerpts from a cartulary of Abingdon Abbey; charters of the kings of Mercia, from King Oshere to King Alfred the Great; legal documents from the reign of Henry I to James I

Scope & Content:

This manuscript contains an early 17th-century collection of transcripts of historical and legal documents ranging from the 9th century to the 17th century. The legal documents are written largely in Latin, but some of the early documents also contain sections in Old English (ff. 61r-61v, 62r, 64v, 70r, 71r, 72r-72v, 73r, 76r, 88r, 94v, 95r-95v, 96v-97r, 111v, 113r-113v, 115r, 128r-129r, 134r, 138r-139r).

Contents:

f. 1r: A table of contents for the manuscript.

ff. 2r-5v: A transcript of a history of St Albans from the time of Henry III, entitled: 'Historia Sancti Albani scripta tempore Henrici III'.

ff. 7r-10v: Excerpts from a register of Westminster Abbey attributed to Sulcard (fl. c. 1080), historian and monk of the Benedictine abbey of St Peter at Westminster, entitled: 'Ex Registro Abbatiae Westmonasteriensis per Sultardum [sic] Monachum tempore Abbatis Vitatis [sic: 'Vitalis']'.

ff. 11r-64v: Excerpts from a cartulary of Abingdon Abbey referred to as 'Abendone Landboke'.

ff. 65r-140r: Transcripts of charters of the kings of Mercia, from King Oshere of the kingdom of Hwicce to King Alfred the Great.

ff. 142r-188v: Shorter transcripts of charters, letters patent and other legal documents from the reign of Henry I to James I.

Decoration:

A drawing of a cross with gemstones in brown ink on ff. 91v and 104v. According to an accompanying text, the cross has the inscription '+ Offa Rex' on its reverse ('signu[m] crucis gemmis distinct[ioni]s cu[m] inscriptione + Offa Rex').

Collection Area:

Western Manuscripts

Project / Collection:

Harley Collection

Hierarchy Tree:

[{ "id" : "040-002045894", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Harley MS 66: Transcripts of the Historia Sancti Albani scripta tempore Henrici III; excerpts from a register of Westminster Abbey attributed to…" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]

Hierarchy Record Ids:

032-002045828
040-002045894

Is part of:

Harley MS 1-7661 : Harley Manuscripts

Harley MS 66 : Transcripts of the Historia Sancti Albani scripta tempore Henrici III; excerpts from a register of Westminster Abbey attributed…

Hierarchy:

032-002045828[0065]/040-002045894

Container:

View / search within Archive / Collection: Harley MS 1-7661

Record Type (Level):

File

Extent:

1 volume

Digitised Content:

Languages:

English, Old
Latin

Scripts:

Latin

Start Date:

1600

End Date:

1624

Date Range:

1st quarter of the 17th century

Era:

Access:

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User Conditions:

Physical Characteristics:

Materials: Paper.

Dimensions: 300 x 200 mm.

Foliation: ff. 188 (+ 5 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the beginning + 4 at the end); 1 unfoliated blank paper leaf between ff. 67 and 68; 68 and 69; 69 and 70; 76 and 77; 87 and 88; 104 and 105; 105 and 106; 106 and 107; 109 and 110; 115 and 116; 120 and 121; 125 and 126; 128 and 129; 131 and 132; 132 and 133; 133 and 134; 134 and 135; 135 and 136; 136 and 137; 137 and 138; 150 and 151; 153 and 154; 156 and 157; 179 and 180; 2 unfoliated blank paper leaves between ff. 152 and 153; 4 between ff. 145 and 146; and 5 between ff. 6 and 7.

Script: 17th-century script.

Binding: British Museum in-house; gold-tooled brown leather with the Harleian armorial bookplate gold-stamped on the upper and lower covers.

Custodial History:

Origin:

England.

Provenance:

Sir Simonds D’Ewes (b. 1602, d. 1650), 1st baronet, diarist, antiquary, and friend of Sir Robert Cotton; listed in his catalogues as B.85 (see Watson, The Library of Sir Simonds D'Ewes (1966), p. 293; Wright, Fontes Harleiani (1972), pp. 131-37).

Sir Simonds D’Ewes (d. 1722), 3rd baronet and grandson of the former: inherited and later sold the D’Ewes library to Robert Harley on 4 October 1705 for £450; according to a receipt in Add MS 70478 (Portland Papers) [formerly Loan 29/254 packet 2] (see Watson, The Library of Sir Simonds D’Ewes (1966), pp. 60, 91 n. 308; Diary, ed. by Wright and Wright (1966), p. xviii n. 3).

The Harley Collection, formed by Robert Harley (b. 1661, d. 1724), 1st earl of Oxford and Mortimer, politician, and Edward Harley (b. 1689, d. 1741), 2nd earl of Oxford and Mortimer, book collector and patron of the arts.

Edward Harley bequeathed the library to his widow, Henrietta Cavendish, née Holles (b. 1694, d. 1755) during her lifetime and thereafter to their daughter, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck (b. 1715, d. 1785), duchess of Portland; the manuscripts were sold by the Countess and the Duchess in 1753 to the nation for £10,000 (a fraction of their contemporary value) under the Act of Parliament that also established the British Museum; the Harley manuscripts form one of the foundation collections of the British Library.

Publications:

A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum, 4 vols (London: Eyre and Strahan, 1808-12), I (1808), pp. 16-17.

Andrew G. Watson, The Library of Sir Simonds D'Ewes (London: British Museum, 1966), p. 293.

Cyril Ernest Wright, Fontes Harleiani: A Study of the Sources of the Harleian Collection of Manuscripts in the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1972), p. 131.

Material Type:

Archives and Manuscripts

Legal Status:

Not Public Record(s)

Names:

Sulcard, historian, monk of the Benedictine abbey of St Peter at Westminster, fl 1080,
see also http://viaf.org/viaf/42272165

Places:

England