Harley MS 655

Contents:

ff. 3r-13r: Alphabetical index to the Polychronicon. Incipit: 'Ad sub sequentis tabule noticiam . considerentur primo numeri foliorum'. the index includes references by book and chapter, and ends partway down column 1 of f. 13r, leaving the rest of the page ruled but blank. Explicit: 'Uxorus sacerdotibus a gregorio sunt in hibite . 230 . 1 .'

ff. 14r-338r: The Polychronicon by Ranulf Higden, with additions bringing the date of the text to 1345. An edition of the Polychronicon can be found in Polychronicon Ranulphi Higden, ed. by Churchill Babington and J. R. Lumby, Rolls Series, 9 vols (London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green, 1865-1886).

The Polychronicon found here is not the standard version, but has been revised by a later author to include additions from the Historia Aurea of John of Tynemouth (Taylor 1966, p. 101). Incipit: 'In historico namque contextu cronogrephorum diligencia nobis delegato'. Large numbers of Latin marginal notes appear throughout in a number of hands, including that of the scribe. They highlight source citations as well as other information. On f. 321v, the text breaks off part-way down column 2. Explicit: 'Hoc anno rex anglie cum regina comitibus de derby . norhamtoun et sarum ac milicia copiosa . idibem iulii apud ore wellis in mare se posuit . contra regem francie'. The text is supplemented in the blank space and into the bottom margin in a later (seventeenth century?) hand: 'Transcripta sunt sequintia ex veteri libro MSo in Bibliotheca Regia . viz . quae sequuntur in hac pagina'. Incipit: 'Circa festum beate Margarete rex E transijt...' Explicit: 'et ne quis deinceps tales provisiones offerrt sub pena carceris et capitis interdixit'. The text resumes at the top of f. 322r, with the same decoration and layout, but a different scribe. Incipit: 'Hoc anno rex anglie cum regina et comitibus de derby et northamptoun'. Scribe 1 again resumes partway down column 2 of f. 334r. The text ends partway down column 2 on f. 338r. Explicit: Datur apud westm' . xiiij . die iunij . Anno regni nostri Angl' . 19 . regum vero nostri francie . 6 .'

ff. 200v-204v: Among the other supplements to the Polychronicon, a substantial portion of the Vita Merlini by Geoffrey of Monmouth has been inserted at its appropriate chronological point. Incipit (f. 200v): Circa hec tempora floruit Merlinus silvestris . sive calidonius . qui prophetavit in hunc modum / Fatidici vatis rabiem . musamque iocosam . Merlini cantare paro s / Ergo peragratis sub multis regibus annis'. Explicit (f. 204v): 'Ut valeam fungi vita sine fine perhenni'.

Folio 1v includes a 17th-century label, in large, neat letters: 'Volumine sive Tomo 64.'

Folio 2r includes a 17th-century title that is reproduced in the Harley catalogue as the contents list, where it is attributed to Simonds D'Ewes. Incipit: 'Polychronica Ranulphi Monachi Cestrensis Exemplar pervetustum a Coaetaneo eiusdem Ranulphi....' (see Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts, I, p. 398, no. 655).

Folio 13v is blank and unruled, including only, in a Gothic display script, the label 'Policronica Fratris Ranulphi cestren .' The last two words are later corrections, written over an erasure.

Folio 338v is blank and ruled.

Decoration:

8 large puzzle initials at the beginning of the prologue and books, in red and blue with reserved designs and pen-flourishing in the same colours extending into the margins including hybrid creatures (ff. 14r, 15r, 63v, 134v, 166r, 194r, 237v, 257r). Initials in blue or red with pen-flourishing in the other colour including foliate motifs and sometimes human or animal heads are used throughout the manuscript (see examples on ff. 10r, 17v, 23r, 24v, 28v, 34v, 48v, 91v, 322r, 324r, 329v). 'J-borders' along the text throughout the manuscript in blue and two different shades of red and pen-flourishing occasionally (except the index on ff. 3r-13v, and ff. 334r-338r) where space was left for the decoration that was never added). On ff. 76r and 95r, the J-border incorporates a hybrid creature in the margin.