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Harley MS 3815

Record Id:

040-002049650

Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:

040-002049650

MDARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100000000807.0x000145

LARK:

SLARK:

Format:

ISAD(G)

Reference (shelfmark):

Harley MS 3815

Title:

Bible, including the Psalms and the Interpretation of Hebrew Names

Scope & Content:

Contents:

ff. 1r-639v: Bible, including the Psalms and the Interpretation of Hebrew Names (ff. 595r-639v).

The manuscript contains later additions:

ff. 1*r-1*v: A list of biblical books, added in the (?) 14th century.

ff. 302r, 310v, 367r: English inscriptions in different hands, added in the 16th/17th century; including a proverb: 'The man that torneth his backe may [...] his face [...]'.

f. 639v: Latin notes, including a description of the Cross of Christ, beginning: 'Opinio general[iter] e[st] q[uod] [crux] do[mini] h[ab]uisset i[n] alt[itudinem] . xx. pedes et transversum et tabulam'; and a note on Alleluia, beginning: 'All[elui]a e[st] v[er]bu[m] angelicu[m]'; added in the (?) 14th century.

Decoration:

6 large historiated initials in gold and colours with foliate decoration and dragons (ff. 1, 5, 122v, 266, 295, 338). Large decorated initials in gold and colours with foliate scrolls and dragons (ff. 28v, 47v, 60v, 80,r 96v, 108r, 120r, 139v, 153r, 169r, 184r, 198r, 215v, 220v, 227v, 235v, 240r, 247r, 254r, 270v, etc.). Large puzzle initials in red and blue with pen-flourishing in the same colours (ff. 121v, 183v, 197v, 215, 235r, 240r, 247r, 253r, 253v, etc.). Smaller initials in red or blue with pen-flourishing in the same colours. The flourishing includes J-borders. Running titles and chapter numbers in red and blue. Some capitals marked in red. Ivy motif transferred onto ff. 388r and 408v

Collection Area:

Western Manuscripts

Project / Collection:

Harley Collection

Hierarchy Tree:

[{ "id" : "040-002049650", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Harley MS 3815: Bible, including the Psalms and the Interpretation of Hebrew Names" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]

Hierarchy Record Ids:

032-002045828
040-002049650

Is part of:

Harley MS 1-7661 : Harley Manuscripts

Harley MS 3815 : Bible, including the Psalms and the Interpretation of Hebrew Names

Hierarchy:

032-002045828[3806]/040-002049650

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: 135 x 95 mm (text space: 100 x 65 mm, in 2 columns).

Foliation: ff. 1* + 639 (+ 1 unfoliated paper flyleaf at the beginning + 2 unfoliated parchment flyleaves and 1 unfoliated paper flyleaf at the end); each quire has been mounted onto a paper guard.

Collation: Mostly quires of 26.

Script: Gothic, written below the top line

Binding: British Museum in-house.

Custodial History:

Origin:

Northern France.

Provenance:

David Spiller, (?) 16th/17th century: inscribed his ownership inscription on f. 497v: 'David Spiller his booke' .

'Richard wylliam', (?) 16th century: his name inscribed on f. 537r.

Various members of the Percival family, 17th century: Elizabeth Percival inscribed her ownership inscription on f. 148r: 'Elizabeth hir book' (f. 148) [perhaps also in an effaced inscription on f. 501r]; a scribal inscription on f. 638r: 'elizabeth [percivalle] (effaced but visible under U.V. light)] her hand amen'; her name 'Elizabeth percivall' on f. 266v; 'Elizabeth' on ff. 172v ['Eliza'], 241r, 303v, 336r, and 441r; and 'E' on f. 503v, 504v); George Percival, inscribed his ownership insription on f. 245v: 'George percivall his booke' (f. 245v); Richard Percival on f. 255v: 'Richarde percivalle his booke' (f. 255v); and Thomas Percival on f. 261v: 'Thomas percivalle his book' (f. 261v).

'Jhon Piffes', (?) 17th century: his name inscribed on f. 241r.

'George Westron', (?) 17th century: his name inscribed on f. 241r.

'Bamfits', (?) 17th century: name inscribed on f. 1*recto.

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), III (1808), p. 84.

Material Type:

Archives and Manuscripts

Legal Status:

Not Public Record(s)

Places:

Northern France