Royal MS 18 B XIV

PARAPHRASE on the Book of Revelation, by King James VI of Scotland. Autograph. Written, according to James Montagu, Bishop of Winchester, who edited the King's Collected Works in 1616 (Preface to the Reader, sig. d), 'before hee was twenty yeeres of aage' (sc. before 1586). James also in his introductory epistle to the whole Church (f. 1) speaks of his 'aage, calling and small literature'. Printed only in the Collected Works, with much alteration of spelling and of words. The arrangement is as follows:-(a) 'The epistle to the quhole christiane kirke militant in quhat sumeuir pairte of the earth'. f. 1 ;-(b) 'The argument of this quhole epistle'. f. 3;- (c) The arguments to each of the 22 chapters. f. 6;-(d) Another short introduction, not found in the printed edition, beg. 'Because the reuelation of Johne is the pairte of all the scripture that maist and onlie is writtin for the use of this oure aage'. f. 9;-(e) The Paraphrase itself, written without break. Two corrections in the margin (ff. 55 b, 67) appear to be part of the text, though not in the King's hand, and are printed in the edition, but a note in another hand (f. 55, partly Hebrew) does not there appear. The numbers of chapters, and in ch. ii of verses, added in the margin are later and probably in the hand of Patrick Young, the Royal librarian, as are certainly the last few words of ch. xii. At the end (f. 78) is a copy in another hand of ch. ii and part of ch. iii of James' paraphrase in parallel columns with another and longer paraphrase. The longer version ends at iii. 8 (but iii.

1-8 are scored through) and the shorter at iii. 12, and in the shorter text of ch. iii are corrections (not used for the printed edition) in James's own hand. Paper; ff. 84. Folio. 111/2 in. x 8 in. Circ. 1586. For part of f. 35 see pl. 105 a. Not in the old catalogues.