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Harley MS 1808
- Record Id:
- 040-002047639
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 040-002047639
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000709.0x00013c
- LARK:
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Harley MS 1808
- Title:
- Collection of chronicles, letters, and charters relating to England and York Cathedral
- Scope & Content:
-
A collection of historical texts probably belonging to York Cathedral Priory or a member of the chapter, as indicated by the focus on York and its cathedral in several of these texts.
ff. 1v-8r: annals from AD 1-1122, after c. 500 mostly focused on events in England, Latin.
f. 9r: various inscriptions, including a list of English churches, mostly in northern England, Middle English.
f. 18v: trimmed leaf with coat of arms of Adam of Stavelay and genealogical notes on the dukes of Brittany, Anglo-Norman and Latin.
ff. 19r-v: list of magnates who came to England with William the Conqueror, Anglo-Norman.
f. 20r: account of the foundation of Wensleydale Abbey, Latin.
ff. 20v-23v: genealogies of English comital and royal families, Latin.
ff. 24r-29v: collection of historical texts on Biblical history, the major kings and cities of Britain, the conversion of Europe to Christianity, an account of English saints, a chronicle from 1066-1389, a memorandum on Pope John XXII, and an account of the 1402 comet and the Battle of Halidon Hill, Latin.
ff. 31r-44r: Brut chronicle down to the reign of Richard II, in verse, with extensive gloss, Latin.
ff. 46r-48v: extracts from various chronicles describing the foundation of York Cathedral, and copies of papal bulls relating to the same, Latin.
ff. 48v-55r: verse history of York Cathedral, Latin.
ff. 56r-58v: copies of charters and papal bulls relating to York Cathedral, including the subjection of the Scottish Church and the king of Orkney to the archbishops of York, Latin.
ff. 58r-65r: Brut chronicle down to the reign of Ethelred the Unready, prose, Latin.
ff. 66r-v: history of the Picts and Scots down to the death of Robert III in 1406, Latin.
ff. 67r-90v: copies of letters, mostly papal bulls and royal missives, often from the reign of Edward III, Latin.
ff. 92r-97r: copies of papal bulls and other charters relating to Thorney Abbey.
ff. 98r-105v: chronicle down to 857, imperfect, Latin.
Unfoliated leaf between f. 17 and 18 and between f. 18 and 19. 2 unfoliated leaves between f. 29 and 30.
Folios 1r, 8v, 18r, 29r, 44v, 45r, 65v, are blank.
Decoration:
Full page map of Britain in colours (f. 9v), orientated south-north. Full page miniatures in colours of the arrival of Brutus to England, the slaying of giants, and the building of a city, possibly London (f. 30v), and of the fortified town of York (f. 45v). Monogram 'JHS' in colours, each letter pierced by a nail, representing the crucifixion (f. 29v). Initial with foliate decoration in green (f. 46). Initial in green with foliate design and penwork decoration in red (f. 42v). Initials in red and blue with penwork decoration in red and blue. Rubricated headings and marginalia. Paraphs in blue. Initials highlighted in red.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Harley Collection
- Hierarchy Tree:
- [{ "id" : "040-002047639", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Harley MS 1808: Collection of chronicles, letters, and charters relating to England and York Cathedral" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002045828
040-002047639 - Is part of:
- Harley MS 1-7661 : Harley Manuscripts
Harley MS 1808 : Collection of chronicles, letters, and charters relating to England and York Cathedral - Hierarchy:
- 032-002045828[1810]/040-002047639
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Harley MS 1-7661
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
- 1 volume
- Digitised Content:
- Languages:
- Anglo-Norman
English, Middle
Latin - Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1400
- End Date:
- 1440
- Date Range:
- Early 15th century
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Material: Parchment.
Dimensions: 240 x 175 mm.
Foliation: ff. 105 (+ 2 unfoliated modern paper and 2 original parchment flyleaves at the beginning and 3 modern paper at the end).
Script: Gothic cursive.
Binding: Post-1600. British Museum in-house. 19th century; marbled endleaves.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin:
York, England.
Provenance:
York Cathedral Priory?
James Hopwood, 15th century (ownership inscription, f. 9r).
? A member of the Fitz Adam family, possibly of Staveley, Chesterfield, Derbyshire: its arms (barry of eight gules and argent, a fleur-de-lys sable) and genealogy (f. 18v).
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), II (1808), no. 1808.
William F. Skene, Chronicles of the Picts, Chronicles of the Scots, and Other Early Memorials of Scottish History (Edinburgh, 1867), pp. 304-7.
Walter de Gray Birch and Henry Jenner, Early Drawings and Illuminations: An Introduction to the Study of Illustrated Manuscripts (London: Bagster and Sons, 1879), p. 16.
Jacob Hammer, 'Une version métrique de l'Historia Regum Britanniae de Geoffrey de Monmouth', Latomus: Revue d'études latines, 2 (1938), 131-51 (p. 132).
'Keith D. Lilley and Christopher D. Lloyd, with Bruce M. S. Campbell, 'Mapping the Realm: A New Look at the Gough Map of Britain (c.1360)', Imago Mundi: The International Journal for the History of Cartography, 61 (2009), 1-28 (p. 20 n. 3).
A Book of British Kings 1200 BC - 1399 AD: Edited from British Library MSS. Harley 3860, Cotton Claudius D. VII, and Harley 1808, by Arthur G. Rigg, Toronto Medieval Latin Texts, 26 (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 2000), pp. 8, 19-20.
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)