Hard-coded id of currently selected item: . JSON version of its record is available from Blacklight on e.g. ??
Metadata associated with selected item should appear here...
Harley MS 4981
- Record Id:
- 040-002050825
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 040-002050825
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000859.0x0001f4
- LARK:
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Harley MS 4981
- Title:
-
The Old Testament Books of the Minor Prophets, with glosses
- Scope & Content:
-
Contents:
ff. 3r-112v: The Old Testament Books of the Minor Prophets, with glosses.
The manuscript contains a few additions:
f. 1r: List of Old Testament kings; written in the late 12th or early 13th century.
f. 1r: Note on the gloss, attributing it to Anselm of Canterbury, Ralph of Laon, and Gilbert of Auxerre: 'hec glosatura est magristri Radulfi fratris m. Anselmi. Alia est secundum Magistrum Gilebertum Universalem'; written in the late 12th or early 13th century.
f. 2r: A title inscription: 'Hieronimus in Prophetas minores'; added in the 17th century.
Decoration:
9 large puzzle-initials in red and blue, frequently with penwork decoration in red (ff. 23r, 30r, 46r, 50v, 61r, 68r, 73v, 84v, 107r). 2 large initials in blue or red with reserved designs (ff. 4r, 43v). 3 initials in red with penwork decoration in blue or in blue with penwork decoration in red (ff. 29v [2x], 45v). Simple initials in green, red or blue, occasionally with some penwork decoration. Text initials occasionally with some penwork decoration, one with an animal form (f. 96v).
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Harley Collection
- Hierarchy Tree:
- [{ "id" : "040-002050825", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Harley MS 4981: The Old Testament Books of the Minor Prophets, with glosses" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002045828
040-002050825 - Is part of:
- Harley MS 1-7661 : Harley Manuscripts
Harley MS 4981 : The Old Testament Books of the Minor Prophets, with glosses - Hierarchy:
- 032-002045828[4981]/040-002050825
- 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:
-
Please request the physical items you need using the online collection item request form.
Digitised items can be viewed online by clicking the thumbnail image or digitised content link.
Readers who have registered or renewed their pass since 21 March 2024 can request physical items prior to visiting the Library by completing
this request form.
Please enter the Reference (shelfmark) above on the request form.If your Reader Pass was issued before this date, you will need to visit the Library in London or Yorkshire to renew it before you can request items online. All manuscripts and archives must be consulted at the Library in London.
This catalogue record may describe a collection of items which cannot all be requested together. Please use the hierarchy viewer to navigate to individual items. Some items may be in use or restricted for other reasons. If you would like to check the availability, contact our Reference Services team, quoting the Reference (shelfmark) above.
- User Conditions:
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Materials: Parchment.
Dimensions: 250 x 155 mm (text space: 165/180 x 135/140 mm), up to 3 columns.
Foliation: ff. 113 (+ 1 unfoliated paper flyleaf at the beginning + 2 at the end); 1 unfoliated blank parchment leaf between ff. 112-113; ff. 1-2, [112a] and 113 are medieval parchment flyleaves; f. 113 is conjoined with a paper flyleaf at the end.
Collation: Indicated by quire marks.
Script: Protogothic.
Binding: British Museum in-house; gold-tooled light brown diced leather over wooden boards; traces of two triangular metalwork fittings of a previous binding (ff. [112a]-113).
- Custodial History:
-
Origin:
England.
Provenance:
The Cistercian abbey of St Mary, Dore, Herefordshire, owned in the 12th century: their 12th-century ownership inscription on f. 113r: 'Liber sancte marie vallis Dore' (see Wright, Fontes Harleiani (1972), p. 138).
'Bodduam', 15th century: their name inscribed on f. 1v: 'Bodduam' (see Wright, Fontes Harleiani (1972), p. 74).
John Batteley (b. c.1646, d. 1708), Church of England clergyman and antiquary; bought in 1723 through his nephew, John Batteley, by Edward Harley, along with other manuscripts (see Diary, ed. by Wright and Wright (1966) II, p. 261 n. 1; Wright, Fontes Harleiani (1972), pp. 66-67).
The Harley Collection, formed by Robert Harley (b. 1661, d. 1724), 1st earl of Oxford and Mortimer, politician, and Edward Harley, inscribed as usual by their librarian, Humfrey Wanley ‘5 die Novembris, A.D. 1723’ (f. 1r).
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, no. 4981.
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. 58.
The Diary of Humfrey Wanley 1715-1726, ed. by C. E. Wright and Ruth C. Wright, 2 vols (London: Bibliographical Society, 1966), II: 1723-1726, p. 263 n. 1.
Cyril Ernest Wright, Fontes Harleiani: A Study of the Sources of the Harleian Collection of Manuscripts in the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1972), pp. 67, 74, 138.
David N. Bell, An Index of Authors and Works in Cistercian Libraries in Great Britain, Cistercian Studies Series, 130 (Kalamazoo, Michigan: Cistercian Publications, 1992), p. 167.
'Harley 4981', in MLGB3 [accessed 25 February 2022] mlgb3.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/mlgb/advancedsearch/
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)
- Places:
- Abbey Dore, England
England