Harley MS 2807

Origin:

England (? Old Byland or ?Northern England).

Provenance:

The Cistercian abbey of St Mary, Byland, North Yorkshire, founded in 1134 [becoming part of the Cistercian Order in 1147], owned from the 13th to the 15th century, possibly until its dissolution in 1538: the manuscript has previously not been linked to Byland, but, in re-cataloguing it, two ownership inscriptions of the monastery have been discovered on f. 338v and f. 339r. Both inscriptions have been erased, but can be partially read with UV light. The oldest one, on f. 339r, is a 13th-century inscription that matches with the usual ownership formula which features in a large number of the 27 known manuscripts from Byland abbey that are listed in the MLGB3 (see Bibliography): 'Liber sancte Marie de Bellalanda'. The other inscription, on f. 338v, is from the 15th century and reads as follows: 'Liber beate Marie de Byland'. This formula can only be found in one other Byland manuscript, namely Manchester, John Rylands Library, Lat. 153, f. 1r: 'Liber monasterii b. m. de Byland ex procuratione fratris Thome Welton scolaris eiusdem monasterii [...] Quem librarum I. Orwell prior monasterii b. m. iuxta Eborarcum habet ex mutuo'.

William Petyt (b. 1636, d. 1707), antiquary, of Middle Temple, Keeper of the Tower Records, owned in 1665: his arms with mantle, helmet, torse, crest, and motto (‘qui s'estime petit deviendra grand’) inscribed in a banderole [together forming his achievement] displayed in colours and gold on f. 1r; his title and ownership inscription in brown, green, red, and yellow (imitiation gold) ink written in display script with the date 1665 on f. 2r: 'Possessore Gulielmo Petyt, Eboracensi Familia Petytorum, in Cornubia edito, et Principali Exigendario de Banco apud Wes. et Interioris TEmpli London Socio: Anno 1665' (see Wright, Fontes Harleiani (1972), p. 275).

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.