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Harley MS 2791
- Record Id:
- 040-002048622
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 040-002048622
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000761.0x00003d
- LARK:
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Harley MS 2791
- Title:
- The Gospels of Matthew and Mark with gloss
- Scope & Content:
-
Contents:
ff. 5r-92v: The Gospel of Matthew with gloss, beginning: 'Jer. Mathaeus cum primo praedicasset evangelium'; with a list of capitula (ff. 92r-92v)
ff. 93r-147r: The Gospel of Mark with gloss, beginning: 'Marcus petri discipulus rogatu Romanorum evangelium scripsit'; with a list of capitula (f. 147r).
The manuscript contains various later additions:
Marginal annotations in different hands throughout the manuscript.
Inside of the upper cover: the off-set of a page with practice letters from the 17th or 18th century.
f. 1v: An added paper with an engraving by Antonius Wierix (b. 1555/1559, d. 1604), Flemish printmaker, of the Virgin Mary ('Victrix') and Christ triumphing over the heretics, dated to 1598; at the centre is the Christ child standing on Mary's lap pinning a pile of men (heretics) down with a large wooden cross. They are enclosed by a rosary with seven medalions with biblical inscriptions and trees; below that is a depiction of Jael killing Sisera, the Canaanite general of King Jabin
f. 2r: A small paper leaf with Latin theological notes in brown ink: written in the (?) 16th century.
ff. 3r-3v: A fragment of printed text, containing part of the Office of the Dead in Latin, most likely from a Book of hours, featuring decorated borders featuring figures in colours.
ff. 4r, 147v: Erased Latin text written in ink or lead point, perhaps theological notes; written in the (?) 13th century.
f. 4r (parchment pastedown): A Latin title inscription for the manuscript; added in the (?) 17th century.
f. 5r (upper margin): A description of the manuscripts contents: 'In isto volumine continentur Matheus et Marcus'; added in the (?) 13th century.
f. 148r: A note on the names of the cardinal directions: 'Est oriens / West occidens / Borias north / Soth petit austrialis'; inscribed in the (?) 14th or 15th century.
Decoration:
Large initials in red or blue, some with simple penwork decoration. Paraphs in red or blue. Running chapter numbers in red. A sketch of a dog in leadpoint added to the outer margin of f. 116v.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Harley Collection
- Hierarchy Tree:
- [{ "id" : "040-002048622", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Harley MS 2791: The Gospels of Matthew and Mark with gloss" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002045828
040-002048622 - Is part of:
- Harley MS 1-7661 : Harley Manuscripts
Harley MS 2791 : The Gospels of Matthew and Mark with gloss - Hierarchy:
- 032-002045828[2792]/040-002048622
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Harley MS 1-7661
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
- 1 volume
- Digitised Content:
- Languages:
- Latin
- Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1175
- End Date:
- 1199
- Date Range:
- 4th quarter of the 12th century
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Materials: Parchment.
Dimensions: 310 x 240 mm (text space: 190/205 x 135 mm).
Foliation: ff. 148 (+ 1 unfoliated paper flyleaf at the beginning + 1 at the end); f. 1 is a paper leaf that originally served as a flyleaf; f. 2 is a smaller paper leaf with cursive text in Latin; f. 3 is a fragment from a printed Book of Hours in Latin; ff. 4 and 148 are original parchment leaves that originally served as flyleaves; 1 unfoliated paper pastedown (engraving) on f. 1v; 1 unfoliated parchment pastedown on f. 4r; the lower margin of f. 51 has been torn or cut out, with some loss of text.
Collation: Indicated by horizontal catchwords.
Script: Protogothic.
Binding: Post-1600. Diced brown leather with gold-tooled borders and gilt spine.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin:
England (? Beckford, Worcestershire).
Provenance:
The Augustinian priory of Beckford (around 10 miles south of Studley Priory), late 12th or early 13th century: an appeal for a prayer for the soul of Thomas of Beckford on f. 4r: 'Pro divino amore orate pro anima Thome quondam de Beckeford' (see Wright, Fontes Harleiani (1972), p. 326).
The Augustinian monastery of Studley Priory, Warwickshire: its early 15th-century ownership inscription twice on f. 148r: 'Liber monasterii beati marie de Stodeley ordinis sancti augustini' (see Wright, Fontes Harleiani (1972), p. 321).
'I. P.', ? 15th or 16th century: their initials inscribed on f. 148r, and decorated with a rope that ties the two letters together and, in between has a loop and two tassels.
An unknown English owner, ? 15th or 16th century: their (?) merchant's mark on f. 4v.
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), p. 712 (no. 2791).
Medieval Libraries of Great Britain: A List of Surviving Books, ed. by N. R. Ker, 2nd edn, Royal Historical Society Guides and Handbooks, 3 (London: Royal Historical Society, 1964), p. 184.
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)
- Places:
- Beckford, England
England