Harley MS 2712

Origin: France, perhaps northern.

Provenance:

Added text: late 15th century, prior to 1477 (f. 69r).Renaud de Chauvigny de Blot, abbot of La Chaise-Dieu 1465-1491: until 1 August 1477, when it was given to the abbey, inscription recording the gift 'Reverendissimus ?ihesu christo pat[er] et dominus dominus Reginaldus de Blot abbat[us] istis mo[na]st[er]ii Casedei hanc librum dedit suo conve[n]tus Anno 1477^o^ kal. Augusti' (f. 1v).The benedictine abbey of la Chaise-Dieu (also known as 'Casa dei', Haute-Loire (Auvergne), France): from 1477, inscription recording the gift from abbot Renaud de Blot (f. 1v), inscribed late 15th century 'ISTE LIBER EST VENERABILIS CONVENTUS CASEDEI' (f. 69), inscribed late 17th century? 'Hic liber de oratore M. Tulli Ciceronis. Ex Bibliotecha [sic] conventus Casa Dei 1325. claromontani ordine Benedictinoru[m]' (f. 70r). Added notes and manicula: late 15th century? (ff. 3v, 4v, 9v, 12v, 15v, 18r, 19r, 22r, 59v, etc.). Inscribed ?16th century '?Beingnet Bam[...]' (f. 71v).Inscribed ?16th century 'aye rien diminue de son ?bien' (f. 72r).Jacobus ?Dogadia: until 1609, inscribed 'Chaduc L 1609 Ex dono Jacobi ?dogadia' (f. 2r). Louis Chaduc (b. 1564, d. 1638): from 1609, inscription recording the gift of the manuscript to him by Jacobus ?Dogadia (f. 2r). Julien Brodeau (b. c. 1585, d. 1653): inscribed with his name and date of 1633 (f. 1r). Charles Spencer (b. 1674, d. 1722), 3rd earl of Sunderland from 1702, bibliophile, developed the library at Althorp, one of Edward Harley's keenest rivals in the acquisition of early printed books and manuscripts: inscribed 'SUND' in Humfrey Wanley's hand (librarian to Robert and, later, Edward Harley), indicating perhaps acquisition from Sunderland's library (f. [iii] verso).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.