Harley MS 7335

Origin: England.

Provenance:

‘Adam John Nabbes’ owned in the 15th or 16th century: his name inscribed on f. 39r: ‘Adam John Nabbes’.

Roberd ‘Colvelle’ [or ‘Colvylle’], owned in the 16th century: his name inscribed on f. 6r : ‘Roberd [...]’.

John Blechenden, owned in the 16th century: his name inscribed on f. 6r (‘Joh[an]n[es] Blechenden’) and f. 129v (‘Blechenden’ [2x]).

Robert Blake of Cotton Manor (his will proved in 1559), owned in the 16th century: his name inscribed on f. 12v (‘Explicit q[uod] Robart blake’) and f. 58r (‘Explicit q[uod] Robart blake de Cotton’).

‘Janhay Ward’, owned in the 16th century: her name inscribed on f. 75v: 'janhay Ward'.

‘Hanese Crane of Earlsoham’, owned in the 16th century: his name inscribed on f. 76v: 'By me hanese Crane of Earlsoh[a]m’.

‘William Ward’, owned in the 16th century: his name inscribed on f. 99v (‘Wyll[ia] ham ward’) and f. 100r (‘Weyll[ia]m ham ward’).

An unknown 17th-century owner: his name inscribed on f. 68r: ‘B IOHN’.

‘J.H’, owned in the 17th century: his name inscribed on f. 1r: ‘Oxford J. H. bought at [Ipswich] December 30 1737’.

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.