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Harley MS 674
- Record Id:
- 040-002046503
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 040-002046503
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000652.0x0000b4
- LARK:
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Harley MS 674
- Title:
- Treatise of Discretion of Spirits; The Epistle of Discretion; The Epistle of Prayer; The Cloud of Unknowing; The Book of Privy Counselling; Benjamin Minor; Denis Hid Divinity
- Scope & Content:
-
This manuscript contains one of seventeen extant medieval copies of The Cloud of Unknowing, a guide on contemplative prayer and meditation from the second half of the 14th century. It is one of the two manuscripts which contains all seven works that are attributed to the anonymous author (the other is Cambridge, University Library, MS Kk.vi.26) of which this manuscript is the oldest.
Contents:
ff. 1r-12v: Treatise of Discretion of Spirits ('a tretis of discrescyon of spirites').
ff. 6r-12v: The Epistle of Discretion ('a pistle of discrecion and stirings').
ff. 12v-17r: The Epistle of Prayer ('a pistle of praier').
ff. 17r-91v: The Cloud of Unknowing ('a book of contemplacyon þe whiche is clepyd þe clowde of unknowing in þe whiche a soule is onyd wiþ god') with marginal gloss in Latin.
ff. 91v-110v: The Book of Privy Counselling ('þe book of prive counseling').
ff. 111r-121r: Benjamin Minor, here untitled and beginning: 'A greet clerk þat men clepyn Richard of seinte victore. in a book þat he makiþ of þe studie of wisdom: witnessiþ and seiþ þat two miȝtes ben in a mans soule'.
ff. 121r-126v: Denis Hid Divinity ('translacion of deonise hid divinite').
The manuscript contains a later addition:
f. 1*recto: An inscription: 'Ricardus Rolles of Ampuls works (as Mr Allyn suppose[d)]'; added in (?) 17th century.
Decoration:
Genealogical tree in colours showing the descendants of Jacob (f. 112r). Large (3- and 4-line) initials in blue with red penwork decoration and red pen-flourishing. Smaller plain initials in blue or red in the chapter lists and marginal gloss. Capitals highlighted in red. Rubrics in red. Paraphs in red.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Harley Collection
- Hierarchy Tree:
- [{ "id" : "040-002046503", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Harley MS 674: Treatise of Discretion of Spirits; The Epistle of Discretion; The Epistle of Prayer; The Cloud of Unknowing; The Book of Privy…" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002045828
040-002046503 - Is part of:
- Harley MS 1-7661 : Harley Manuscripts
Harley MS 674 : Treatise of Discretion of Spirits; The Epistle of Discretion; The Epistle of Prayer; The Cloud of Unknowing; The Book of… - Hierarchy:
- 032-002045828[0674]/040-002046503
- 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:
- 1400
- End Date:
- 1449
- Date Range:
- 1st half of the 15th century
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Material: Parchment.
Dimensions: 215 x 155 mm (text space: 150 x 110 mm, some folios in 2 columns).
Foliation: ff. 1* + 126 (+ 3 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the beginning + 3 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the end); 2 unfoliated blank but ruled leaves after f. 110; 1 unfoliated paper pastedown on f. [iii]verso (bibliographical notes).
Collation: Indicated by quire signatures and (horizontal) catchwords in simple penwork frames.
Script: Gothic cursive (Anglicana).
Binding: British Museum in-house; gold-tooled black half leather binding with the Harleian arms gold stampedon the outside covers; marbled endpapers.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin:
England, probably the East Midlands.
Provenance:
Edward Stillingfleet (b. 1635, d. 1699), bishop of Worcester and theologian (see Wright, Fontes Harleiani (1972), p. 316).
Edward Stillingfleet (b. 1661, d. 1708), physician and Church of England clergyman, son of the former; in 1707 acquired by Robert Harley (see Wright, Fontes Harleiani (1972), p. 316).
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), p. 404 (no. 674).
The Cloud of Unknowing and the Book of Privy Counselling, ed. by Phyllis Hodgson, Early English Text Society, Original Series 218 (London: Early English Text Society, 1944).
Evelyn Underhill, A Book of Contemplation the Which Is Called the Cloud of Unknowing, in the Which a Soul Is Oned with God: Edited from the British Museum Ms. Harl. 674, with an Introduction (London: Watkins, 1950).
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. 316.
Jane Roberts, Guide to Scripts used in English Writings up to 1500 (London: British Library, 2005), p. 163, pl. 46.
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)
- Places:
- England