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Harley MS 215
- Record Id:
- 040-002046043
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 040-002046043
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000596.0x0001d0
- LARK:
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Harley MS 215
- Title:
- Thomas Becket, Epistolae; a legend of the body of St Thomas the Apostle; Hrabanus Maurus, Cena Cypriani; Alan of Tewkesbury, Vita Sancti Thome Cantuariensis; The Gospel of Nichodemus; Northern Passion (fragment)
- Scope & Content:
-
Contents:
ff. 1r-106v: Thomas Becket, Epistolae, beginning ‘Desiderio desideravi videre faciem vestram’.
ff. 106v-197r: A legend of the body of St Thomas the Apostle, beginning 'Thomas apostolus Ihesu Christi in ulteriori india sedens in hoc modi admirabili cathedra’.
ff. 107r-113v: Hrabanus Maurus, Cena Cypriani, beginning ‘Domino excellentissimo atque serenissimo regi Locario [sic] ultimus vestrae humilitatis aulumpnus maurus;.
ff. 114r-148v: Alan of Tewkesbury, Vita Sancti Thome Cantuariensis, beginning ‘Gloriosus martir dei Thomas qualis cuius vitae et conversationis’.
ff. 149r-160v: The Gospel of Nichodemus, beginning ‘beginning 'Factum est in anno xix imperatoris theodosij cesaris’.
ff. 161r-161v: A fragment of the Northern Passion,beginning ‘and most heghest of dignite Jhesu godnesse’; written in the 15th century.
Decoration:
Small red initials throughout.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Harley Collection
- Hierarchy Tree:
- [{ "id" : "040-002046043", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Harley MS 215: Thomas Becket, Epistolae; a legend of the body of St Thomas the Apostle; Hrabanus Maurus, Cena Cypriani; Alan of Tewkesbury, Vita…" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002045828
040-002046043 - Is part of:
- Harley MS 1-7661 : Harley Manuscripts
Harley MS 215 : Thomas Becket, Epistolae; a legend of the body of St Thomas the Apostle; Hrabanus Maurus, Cena Cypriani; Alan of Tewkesbury,… - Hierarchy:
- 032-002045828[0214]/040-002046043
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Harley MS 1-7661
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
- 1 volume
- Digitised Content:
- Languages:
- English, Middle
Latin - Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1250
- End Date:
- 1299
- Date Range:
- 2nd half of the 13th century
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Materials: Parchment.
Dimensions: 195 x 135 mm.
Foliation: ff. 161 (+ 3 unfoliated modern paper flyleaves at the beginning + at the end).
Script: Gothic cursive.
Binding: Post-1600. British Museum in-house.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin: England.
Provenance:
Sir Simonds D’Ewes (b. 1602, d. 1650), 1st baronet, diarist, antiquary, and friend of Sir Robert Cotton (see Wright, Fontes Harleiani (1972), p. 131): his number ‘II’ and a note in his hand on f.1r; added a table of contents on f. 161v; recorded in his catalogues as A.229 and B.157.
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.
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:
-
Julia Boffey and A. S. G. Edwards, A New Index of Middle English Verse (London: The British Library, 2005), no. 1907/10.
A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum, 4 vols (London: Eyre and Strahan, 1808-12), I (1808), pp. 68-69
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. 375.
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)