Harley MS 129

This manuscript contains a large collection of Latin study notes on logic, rhetoric and philsophy, with a few poems and transcripts of orations and letters written in Latin, compiled by Richard Simonds (d. 1611), grandfather of the antiquary Sir Simonds D'Ewes. Most of the sources cited in the collection were based at the University of Oxford, making it possible that the manuscript was compiled in Oxford. The manuscript originally consisted of two parts (ff. 1-[42h], and ff. 43-117). These may have been joined together at the Harleian Library since the original flyleaves at the beginnings of both volumes (now foliated as f. 1 and f. 43) both contain the Harleian pressmarks that Humfrey Wanley (b. 1672, d. 1726), Keeper of the Harleian Library, typically inscribed on the first page of a manuscript.

Contents:

ff. 2v-42v: A collection of notes on logic, including sections with titles such as 'Cognitio predicabilium', 'De Universale', and 'quinqua praedicabillia'.

ff. 44r-44v: A Latin tract, entitled: 'In laudem eloquentiae'.

ff. 45r-46r: Roger Marbeck (b. 1536, d. 1605), Provost of Oriel College, Oxford, Registrar of the College of Physicians in London, and chief physician to Elizabeth I, sixteen epigrams written upon leaving Oxford following his marriage to Anne Williams in or shortly after 1566, entitled: 'Carmina Magistri Roberti Marbeck[e]'; signed by 'Richard Simons'.

f. 46r: A poem (1 stanza) on Elizabeth I, entitled: 'Reginae Elizabethae'; and beginning: 'Inclita feminie virgo quae gloria sexus' / [...] spes et decus es gentis Regina Bretannae'; This poem closely resembles a poem that was made by James Calfhill (b. 1529/30, d. 1570), canon of Christ Church, Oxford, and presented on the gates and walls of Christ Church at the visit of Elizabeth I on 31 August 1566 [See Knight, 'Queen Elizabeth's Visit to the University of Oxford, 31 August-6 September 1566' (2014), p. 474].

f. 46r: Walter Haddon (b. 1516, d. 1572), lawyer and President of Magdalen College, Oxford, a funeral poem (1 stanza) for Elisabeth Brooke (b. 1526, d. 1565), Marchioness of Northampton, beginning: 'Non mihi corpus erat, vivum fuit ante cadaver' [See Lees, The Poetry of Walter Haddon (1967), p. 167 (no. 74)].

f. 46r: Walter Haddon, a poem entitled: 'In quandam nobilem foeminam' [See Lees, The Poetry of Walter Haddon (1967), p. 153 (no. 53)].

f. 46v: A poem for Queen Elizabeth by Laurence Humphrey (b. 1525x7, d. 1589), President of Magdalen College, Oxford: 'Laurentij Humphredi S. Theologiae Doctoris pro Regia Majestate ad deum precatio'.

f. 46v: A poem on Robert Dudley (b. 1532, d. 1588), 1st Earl of Leicester, and Chancellor of the University of Oxford (1564-1588), entitled: 'De clarrissimo Roberto dudleo Licistriae Comiti'.

ff. 47r-50r: A collection of notes on rhetoric, including sections on 'De figuries et potius preceptis rethoricis', 'benevolentia a persona', and with sections based on the Rhetorica ad Herennium and works by Cicero ('Oratio pro Marco Marcello', 'Pro Lege Manilia', 'Pro Ligario').

ff. 51r-92r: A collection of notes on philosophical matters and questions, beginning: 'Utrum homo possit dici vere felix in hac vita'; featuring summaries of the work of Paul of Venice (b. 1372, d. 1429), an Italian philosopher, theologican, logician, and metaphysician of the Augustinian Order who studied in Oxford in 1390 (his Latin name is cited on f. 76r and f.77r).

ff. 93r-94v: A Latin tract, entitled: 'Melius est Rempus: de bona lege quam a bono Rege gubernari'.

ff. 95r-96r: A Latin tract, entitled: 'In Laude Temperantiae'.

ff. 96v-98r: An oration attributed to a certain 'Nicholai Balgei' of Magdalen College, entitled: 'In adventum Reverendi Patris Episcopi Wintoniensis Nicholaij Balgei Magdalensis oratio ibidem habita'.

ff. 98r-100r: An oration by Roger Marbeck, entitled: 'Rogeri Marbecci oratio qua iuvenes incendit et inflammat ad Literas discendas et mores formandos'.

ff. 100r-102r: An oration by Roger Marbeck, entitled: 'Marbeci oratio quam habuit in divae mariae Templo ad doctissimam et illustrissimam Oxoniensium concionem, solenni Vesperiarum die'.

ff. 102r-103v: An oration by Roger Marbeck for Elizabeth I at her visit to Oxford on 31 August 1566, entitled: 'Eiusdem oratio qua gratulatus adventum Serenissimae Reginae Elizabetha remotioribus Oxoniae finibus habita' [Edited from this manuscript by Knight, 'Queen Elizabeth's Visit to the University of Oxford, 31 August-6 September 1566' (2014), p. 572 and further].

ff. 103v-104r: An oration by Roger Marbeck, entitled: 'In Domo congregationis discedentis ab Officio Rogeri Marbec Oratio'.

ff. 104v-: An oration by Roger Marbeck, entitled: 'Gratulatio Magistri Marbecki in adventu D. Cancellarij Mason, Beng, et aliorum'.

ff. 106v-109r: An oration by Roger Marbeck, entitled: 'Eiusdem in Retoricam oratio M:M'.

f. 110v: An oration by a certain 'Magister Watonus', entitled: 'Oratio gratulatoria in adventum legati Regis Hispaniae, in Martinensi Collegio, per Magistrum Watonum Habita'.

ff. 111r-115r: An oration by John Jewel (b. 1522, d. 1572), Bishop of Salisbury [graduate from Merton College, Oxford], entitled: 'Oratio in Vituperium Rhetoricae per D. Iuellum ex Corporis Christi Collegio Habita'

ff. 115v-116v: A copy of a letter from Tobias Matthew (b. 1546, d. 1628), President of St John's College, Oxford, to Robert Dudley, entitled: 'Comiti Lecestrensis Tobias Mathewe'; Oxford, 1569.

f. 116v: A copy of a letter from Tobias Matthew to William Cecil (b. 1520, d. 1598), 1st Baron Burghley, entitled: 'Domino Guilielmo Geyllio / Tobias Mathewe'; dated 1569.

ff. 116v-117r: A copy of a letter from Tobias Matthew to a 'Lord Bacon' [perhaps Francis Bacon (b. 1561, d. 1626), 1st Viscount St Alban, whom Matthew befriended in 1599], entitled: 'Domino Bacono / Mathewe'.