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Harley MS 322

Record Id:
040-002046150
Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
040-002046150
MDARK:
ark:/81055/vdc_100000000596.0x000293
LARK:
SLARK:
Format:
ISAD(G)
Reference (shelfmark):
Harley MS 322
Title:

Vitae sanctorum

Scope & Content:

Vitae sanctorum (Lives of Saints), including a version of the Life of St Godric based on that of Reginald of Durham (d. c. 1190), with the song of St Godric interpolated (f. 74v). M. R. James attributed the manuscript to Christ Church, Canterbury (Ancient Libraries (1906), p. 526), which Neil Ker subsequently rejected (Medieval Libraries of Great Britain (1964), p. 39).

Contents:

ff. 1r-4v: Passio virginum Spei, Fidei, Caritatis (Passion of the Holy Virgins Faith, Hope and Charity), month of August.

ff. 4v-5r: Passio sancte et illustrissime Sabine Martyris (Passion of the holy and illustrious martyr Sabine), month of September.

ff. 5r-8r: Vita S. Savine virginis (Life of St Savine the Virgin), month of September.

ff. 8r-9r: Passio S. Julii Martiris (Passion of St Julius the Martyr).

ff. 9r-v: Passio S. Alfre Martiris (Passion of St Alfred the Martyr).

f. 9v: Precationes ad missam in die S. Edwardi Regis Anglorum (Prayers for the Mass of St Edward, King of England).

ff. 9v-38v: Vita et miracula Confessoris Sancti Edwardi Regis Anglorum (Life and miracles of St Edward the Confessor, King of England).

ff. 38v-89v: Historia narratio de vita et miraculis Eremite S. Godrici de Finchale (Narrative history of the life and miracles of the hermit St Godric of Finchale). Folio 74v is a fragment of a Song to the Virgin, in English. It begins, 'Seinte Marie, uirgine moder,' and is accompanied by small square and diamond-shaped notes on a stave of four red lines with the C B signature. The words are introduced in a life of St. Godric epitomized at the request of Æthelred, Abbot of Rievaulx, and are supposed to be by the Saint (see Royal MS 5 F.vii, f. 85).

ff. 89v-104v: Compendium vitae et miraculorum S. Wistani Wigorniensis Episcopi (Compendium of the life and miracles of St Wistan, Bishop of Wigorn).

ff. 104v-106v: Two letters written by Abbott John of Forda.

ff. 106v-147r: Vita et miracula B. Wilfrici Anachoretae Hafelbergie (Life and miracles of the blessed Wilfred, Anchorite of Hafelberg): 3 books edited by Abbot John of Forda.

ff. 147r-158v: Vita venerabilis Bede Presbiteri (Life of the venerable priest Bede); seven calendars of June.

f. 158v: Musical notations, in a later hand (16th century?).

Decoration:

Puzzle initial in red and blue (f. 5). Initial in blue with red penwork decoration (f. 106v). 2 initials with foliate decoration in green and red (ff. 30, 72v). Numerous coloured initials in green, blue or red. Capitals marked in red ink. A few line-fillers with foliate decoration (f. 30).

Collection Area:
Western Manuscripts
Project / Collection:
Harley Collection
Hierarchy Tree:
[{ "id" : "040-002046150", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Harley MS 322: Vitae sanctorum" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]
Hierarchy Record Ids:
032-002045828
040-002046150
Is part of:
Harley MS 1-7661 : Harley Manuscripts

 

Harley MS 322 : Vitae sanctorum
Hierarchy:
032-002045828[0321]/040-002046150
Container:
View / search within Archive / Collection: Harley MS 1-7661
Record Type (Level):
File
Extent:

1 volume

Digitised Content:
Languages:
Latin
Scripts:
Latin
Start Date:
1250
End Date:
1274
Date Range:
3rd quarter of the 13th century
Era:
CE
Access:

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User Conditions:
Physical Characteristics:

Materials: Parchment.

Dimensions: 230x 180 mm (text space 160 x 140 mm), in one column.

Foliation: ff. 158 + [i] (+ 4 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the beginning +3 at the end; f. [i] is an unfoliated parchment flyleaf).

Script: Gothic (below top line).

Binding: Post-1600. British Museum in-house.

Custodial History:

Origin:

England.

Provenance:

List of contents, late 16th century (f. i v).

Sir Richard St George (b. 1554/5, d. 1635), Norroy king of arms, herald: inscribed with his name and motto: 'Liber Ricardi St george Norroy Regis armorum / fero et spero' (f. i r). 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). 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 (see Watson, The Library of Sir Simonds D'Ewes (1966), no. H148).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,

Information About Copies:

Select digital coverage available for this manuscript; see the Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts, https://bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/.

Publications:

A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum, 4 vols (London: Eyre and Strahan, 1808-12), I, no. 322.

Augustus Hughes-Hughes, Catalogue of Manuscript Music in the British Museum, vol. 1 (London: British Museum, 1906), p. 423.

M. R James, The Ancient Libraries of Canterbury and Dover (Cambridge, 1903), p. 526.

Reginald R. Darlington, The Vita Wulfstani of William of Malmesbury (London: Camden Society, 1928), p. 68.

C. H. Talbot, ‘A List of Cistercian Manuscripts in Great Britain’, Traditio: Studies in Ancient and Medieval History, Thought and Religion, 8 (1952), 402-18 (p. 412).

Anselm Hoste, Bibliotheca Aelrediana: A Survey of the Manuscripts, Old Catalogues, Editions and Studies concerning St. Aelred of Rievaulx, Instrumenta Patristica, 2 (Steenbrugis: Abbey of Saint Peter, 1962), p. 124.

Andrew G. Watson, 'Sir Simonds D'Ewes's Collection of Charters, and a note on the Charters of Sir Robert Cotton', Journal of the Society of Archivists, 2 (1962), 247-54 (p. 252, n. 33).Medieval Libraries of Great Britain: A List of Surviving Books, ed. by Neil R. Ker, 2nd edn, Royal Historical Society Guides and Handbooks, 3 (London: Royal Historical Society, 1964), p. 39.

Andrew G. Watson, The Library of Sir Simonds D'Ewes (London: British Museum, 1966), no. H148.The Diary of Humfrey Wanley 1715-1726, ed. by C. E. Wright and Ruth C. Wright, 2 vols (London: Bibliographical Society, 1966), I: 1715-1723, p. xviii.

C. E. Wright, Fontes Harleiani: A Study of the Sources of the Harleian Collection of Manuscripts in the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1972), pp. 131, 293.

Christopher Page, 'A Catalogue and Bibliography of English Song from Its Beginnings to c1300', Royal Musical Association Research Chronicle, 13 (1976), 67-83 (pp. 69-71).

Alexandra Barratt, 'The Lyrics of St Godric: a New Manuscript', Notes and Queries, 230 (1985), 439-45.

Helen Deeming, 'The Songs of St Godric: a Neglected Context', Music & Letters, 86 (2005), 169-85 (pp. 172-74).

Material Type:
Archives and Manuscripts
Legal Status:
Not Public Record(s)
Names:
St. George, Richard, Sir, Norroy (1603) and Clarenceux (1623) King of Arms, c 1555-1635
Related Material:

Description from Hughes-Hughes, Catalogue of Manuscript Music (1906), p. 423:

'f. 74b. Fragment of a Song to the Virgin, in English. It begins, 'Seinte Marie, uirgine moder,' and is accompanied by small square and diamond-shaped notes on a stave of four red lines with the C B signature. The words are introduced in a life of St. Godric epitomized at the request of Æthelred, Abbot of Rievaulx, and are supposed to be by the Saint (see Royal MS 5 F.vii, f. 85).'