Harley MS 1295

Origin:

Louvain.

Provenance:

‘Petrus Mol’, wrote and owned in 1663: his name with this year inscribed in gold on the front cover; Wright, Fontes Harleiani (1972), p. 241, identifies him as Petrus Moll (b. 1596, d. 1669), Professor of Greek at Franeker (Frisia); this identification is probably incorrect since 'Petrus Mol' was a student at the Pig College of the University of Louvain in 1663, and the inscription ‘OUWERKERKANUS’ (lower cover) refers to Ouwerkerk (Zeeland); according to the university's registers, 'Petrus Mol Ouwerkerkanus' matriculated on 24 November 1661 among the 'minorennes porcensis' (see Reusens, Matricule de l'Université de Louvain (1903), p. 175). That ‘Petrus Mol’ was a student at Louvain is further supported by the fact that the manuscript’s engravings were used in other volumes with lecture notes taken by students at the University of Louvain around the mid-17th century and in the third quarter of the 17th century: e.g. see Louvain-la-Neuve, Archives de l'Université catholique de Louvain, MS C 195; Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België, Brussel / Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, Bruxelles, MS II 3352; MS II 5338; MS II 5419; and MS II 6933 (not in Wright, Fontes Harleiani (1972)).

The Harley Collection, formed by Robert Harley (1661-1724), 1st earl of Oxford and Mortimer, politician, and Edward Harley (1689-1741), 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 (1694-1755) during her lifetime and thereafter to their daughter, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck (1715-1785), duchess of Portland; the manuscripts were sold by the Countess and the Duchess in 1753 to the nation for £10,000 under the Act of Parliament that also established the British Museum; the Harley manuscripts form one of the foundation collections of the British Library.