Royal MS 2 D IV

1. 'G[ULIELMI] KYNGISHAM [d. 1262] super Ecclesiasticum bona lecture', with a short prologue beg. 'Notandum: narrat M. Valerius libro primo'. The commentary beg. 'Omnis sapientia, &c.: Notandum quod nullus dinumerare potest arenam maris'. f. 14. Ends imperfectly (f. 89 b), with the comment on Ecclus. Vi. 27, twelve leaves being lost here, while 24 leaves are wanting between ff. 29 and 30, and 28 between ff. 1 and 42. The first words of the commentary do not correspond with those given by Bale (Scriptorum Britanniae Catalogus, ed. 1557-59, p. 415) as the Incipit

of Kyngesham's commentary on Ecclesiasticus, and a note in the hand of john Theyer (f. 14) attributes it to john Baconthorpe [d. 1346] on the authority of Pits; but neither in Pits (De Illustribus Angliae Scriptoribus, ed. 1619, pp. 451-454) nor elsewhere is there any evidence that Baconthorpe's commentary on Ecclesiasticus is identical with that preserved in this MS. On the contrary, the real author appears to be Robert Holcot, of whose commentary on Ecclesiasticus two copies are preserved in 2 F. vii and 3 A. xiv [q.v.]. The present work gives that commentary in a some. what abbreviated form, the beginning quoted above occurring at the top of f. 1, col. 2, in 3 A. xiv. Holcot's commentary only reached as far as Ecclus. vii. 7, and it is evident that the present work would have been of about the same dimensions.

2. Commentary on Ecclesiastes, beg. 'Verba Ecclesiastes, &c. Liber iste, qui Ecclesiastes dicitur, tres partes habet'. f. 90. Imperfect, wanting 12 leaves after f. 113, 12 after f. 135, and 64 at the end, breaking off in the comment on Eccles. iii.. 20. The authorship is attributed in the MS., in a note by john Theyer, to Baconthorpe, on the authority of Pits; but the first words of Baconthorpe's commentary, as given by Pits (op. cit., P. 452), do not correspond with those of the present treatise. The real author may be Robert Holcot, who wrote a commentary on Ecclesiastes (Bale, op. cit., p. 434), which apparently is not known to exist elsewhere.

3. 'Holkote super librum Sapientie': a commentary on the book of Wisdom by Robert Holcot [d. 1349] beg. 'Diligite iusticiam, &c.: Videmus enim quod illud quod est amatum', the whole of the prologue, the first 'lectio' and part of the second (to f. 4 b, col. 2, in the Paris ed. Of 1511) being omitted. f. 160. Imperfect, breaking off at the end of ch. xii, and being followed (f. 266), without title and with no indication of a change except a short blank space, by a comment on Eccles. i. 8-ii, which may be part of the commentary by Holcot, if art. 2 is not so. This article, like the two preceding, is ascribed to Baconthorpe in a note by john Theyer.

At the beginning of the volume is prefixed, in a 13th cent. hand, and on vellum of a slightly smaller size:-

4. Glossary of interpretations of Hebrew names, shorter than that of Remigius of Auxerre, and identical with that which appears in Reg. MS. i A. vii, f. 513; beg. 'Aaron, mons fortis vel mons fortitudinis'. f. i. At the end (as in that MS.) is a list of idols, entitled 'nomina ydolorum' (f. 12 b). Followed (f. 13) by another short glossary, entitled 'Interpretationes secundum Ieronimum sunt in isto folio, de Hebraicis nominibus'. but differing entirely from Jerome's work; beg. '[Aa]ron, generatio excelsa'. f. 1.

Vellum; ff. 269. 7.3/4 in. x 5.1/2 in. Middle of XIV and (art. 4) XIII centt. Gatherings generally of 12 leaves, with catchwords. Written by several scribes, in charter-hands, on pages of uneven size. An early page-numeration indicates the lacunae in artt. 1 and 2 noted above. On the binding is the name of Hugo de Maddeley. Name of John Theyer on f. 1; Theyer sale-cat., no. 225; CMA. 6656.