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Harley MS 2840

Record Id:

040-002048671

Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:

040-002048671

MDARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100000000761.0x00006e

LARK:

SLARK:

Format:

ISAD(G)

Reference (shelfmark):

Harley MS 2840

Title:

The second volume of a Bible in two parts, from Proverbs to Revelation

Scope & Content:

Contents:

ff. 1r-373v: The second volume of a Bible in two parts, from Proverbs to Revelation. The first volume is Harley MS 2839.

Decoration:

52 very large historiated initials in gold and colours with foliate decoration, dragons, birds (ff. 1r, 13v, 18r, 20r, 29v, 54v, 83r, 118r, 147r, 151v, 163v, 168r, 170v, 174v, 176r, 179r, 180v, 182v, 184r, 185v, 190v, 192v, 211r, 225r, 226v, 245r, 257v, 258r, 279r, 294r, 313r, 315r, 317r, 318v, 320v [x2], 321r, 323r, 330v, 337v, 342v, 345r, 347v, 349v, 351r, 352v, 354v, 356v, 358r, 358v, 359r, 365r). The manuscript seems to have been produced over a long period of time which explains the changes in script and decoration. In a number of cases, the subject of the historiated initial does not correspond to the text introduced (e.g. f. 163v: should be Osa, not Isaiah). 47 large initials in gold and colours with foliate scrolls, dragons, animal heads (ff. 1r, 20r, 29r, 54r, 82v, 117v, 146v, 163r, 167v, 169v, 174r, 174v, 176r, 178v, 180r, 182r, 184r, 185r, 190r, 192r, 226r, 245r, 278v, 293v, 312v, 315r, 317r, 318v, 320v [x2], 321r, 321v, 322v, 330r, 337v, 342v, 345r, 347v, 349v, 351r, 352v, 354v, 356v, 357v, 358v, 359r, 364v). 1 large puzzle initial with elaborate pen-flourishing had its inner flourishing painted over with foliate scrolls and dragons in the manner of the other decorated initials (f. 150v). Traces of an earlier underlying design in some of the historiated initials (see for instance ff. 151v, 174v, 185v, 257v). Numerous large initials in red with blue pen-flourishing or in blue with red pen-flourishing. Blue or red ink initials in Lamentations (ff. 114v-117r). Running titles and chapter numbers in red and blue.

Collection Area:

Western Manuscripts

Project / Collection:

Harley Collection

Hierarchy Tree:

[{ "id" : "040-002048671", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Harley MS 2840: The second volume of a Bible in two parts, from Proverbs to Revelation" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]

Hierarchy Record Ids:

032-002045828
040-002048671

Is part of:

Harley MS 1-7661 : Harley Manuscripts

Harley MS 2840 : The second volume of a Bible in two parts, from Proverbs to Revelation

Hierarchy:

032-002045828[2841]/040-002048671

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:

1250

End Date:

1274

Date Range:

3rd quarter of the 13th century

Era:

Access:

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User Conditions:

Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript

Physical Characteristics:

Materials: Parchment.

Dimensions: 455 x 335 mm (text space: 300 x 210 mm, in 2 columns).

Foliation: ff. 373 (+ 3 unfoliated paper leaves at the beginning + 2 at the end); 1 unfoliated parchment leaf after f. 53; f. [iii] has been pasted to a parchment leaf.

Collation: Mostly in quires of 12. Indicated by catchwords.

Script: Gothic, written below the top line

Binding: British Museum in-house, with the Harleian armorial bookplate gold-stamped on white paper on the insides of the covers; re-bound in 1972. Inscribed on fore-edge: 'BIBLIAE 2a PARS'.

Custodial History:

Origin:

Central France (? Paris).

Provenance:

Probably for monastic use (textual particularities and use of few abbreviations), made in the 3rd quarter of the 13th century, according to Patricia Stirnemann.

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. 715.

Eric Millar, Souvenir de l’Exposition de Manuscrits Français à Peintures organisée à la Grenville Library (British Museum) en Janvier-Mars 1932 (Paris: Société Française de Reproductions de Manuscrits à Peintures, 1933), no. 13.

Material Type:

Archives and Manuscripts

Legal Status:

Not Public Record(s)

Places:

Central France
Paris, France