Harley MS 3657

Origin:

England.

Provenance:

The charnel chapel of St Michael in the churchyard of the Benedictine abbey of St Mary the Virgin and St Egwin at Evesham in Worcestershire: its 15th-century inscription on f. 222v: 'lib[er] iste p[er]tinet ad carnaria[m] s[an]c[t]i michaelis i[n] cymit[er]io Eueshame[n]s[is] Amen'; the manuscript was previously only linked with Evesham (see Wright, Fontes Harleiani (1972), p. 147), but the inscription almost certainly refers to a charnel chapel of an unknown dedication that stood at Evesham Abbey’s cemetery since, at least, the early 15th century (see 'Houses of Benedictine monks: Abbey of Evesham' [Online source]). The manuscript can perhaps be identified with item no. 104 [‘Legenda sanctorum’ a.k.a. Legenda aurea) in the 14th-century catalogue of Evesham’s books that is extant in Harley MS 3763; the item is part of a subset of books that was bequeathed by John of Bromsgrove (? late 14th century), monk and sacrist of Evesham Abbey (see English Benedictine Libraries, ed. by Sharpe and others (1996), p. 149 [B.30, no. 104]). This would bring the number of surviving manuscripts from Evesham Abbey up to 29 [for the currently identified 28 books, see MLGB3 ]

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.