The Production and Use of English Manuscripts 1060 to 1220

described by Orietta Da Rold

London, British Library, Cotton Otho C. i, vol. 2

Gregory's Dialogues, Vitas Patrum, & c.

Date: s. xiin- s. ximed, s. xiii

Summary:

The manuscript is made up of four parts (see also Franzen 1998, pp. 1-5) which contain:

Part 1, fols 1-61 includes an eleventh-century copy of the metrical preface, introductory lines and Books 1 (fols 1-30v) and 2 (fols 31-61v) of the Old English translation of Gregory's Dialogues. The metrical preface begins 'se þe me rædae æresðþa stream' (Dobbie 1942, p. 112) and the introductory lines to book 1, 'Her ongynneð se æresðþa stream' are unique to this manuscript (Hecht 1900, p. 2). In the metrical preface there is an erasure under 'tan' of 'ƿulftan' in 'Me aƿritan het ƿulfstan bisceop' (fol. 1r/8) in a hand of the second half of the 11th century (Sisam 1953, p. 202). Sisam notes that the original reading could be Wulfsige, bishop of Sherbourne in the time of Alfred. The alteration could be an indication that this manuscript unit was written for Wulfstan II of Worcester.

Part 2 and Part 3, fols 62-148, contain Books 3 (fols 62-100) and 4 (fols 100-37) of the Old English translation of Gregory's Dialogues. The text ends 'mid heora seolfra riht' (Hecht 1900, p. 336/1) with half a folio blank (fol. 137/11-30). It includes translations from the Vitae Patrum (fols 137v-43v, see Assmann 1889, pp.197-99), the letter of Boniface to Eadburga (fols 143v-46r, Sisam 1953, pp. 212-23) and Evil Tongues (fols146r-1448v). Ker notes that this part is written by two Worcester hands about 40 years after part 1 (Ker 1957, p. 237).

Part 4, fols 149-155 contains Ælfrician material (fol. 149r, see Skeat 1881-1900, n. 1, ll. 20-49) and Ælfric's Hexameron, fols 149v-151v (see Crawford 1921), with the running title is 'De creatore et creatura'. Fols 151v-154v contain texts with the running title 'De sex etatibus mundi', and fols 154v-155v include material with the running title 'De populo israhel quando uolueri' (see Pope 1967-68, n. 20, pp. 641-53). Missing text probably due to loss of leaves.

Annotations by contemporary readers are numerous. They include marginal notes by Coleman, who was chancellor to Wulfstan II, Bishop of Worcester, and who died in 1113, on fols 105v, 106v, 107v, 110r, 112v, 113r/v, 114v, 115r, 116r,117v, 118v, 122v, 123r, 131r, 132v, 133v (Johnson and Rudolf 2010, pp. 1-13). Running titles have been added by one hand, s. xi2, and are now visible in Part 1, 2, 3 and 4 on fols 5-7, 30, 63-70, 90, 94, 103-108, and 149-155. This hand, as noted by Ker (1957, p. 236) and Franzen (1998, p. 3), also writes the running titles in Hatton 113 and Hatton 114. There are also several annotations in all parts by the Tremulous Hand datable to s. xiiiex. Some of this material is drawn from Cambridge, Clare College 30 and Junius 121 (Franzen 1998, p. 3). On fol. 149r a booklist is included, but this is only partially legible. It refers to around 6 books, and it is written in a later hand of s. xiii (see Sisam 1953 and Ker 1957, p. 237).

Physical Description:

Object Description:

Form: codex

Extent: Fols 1 - 155

Damaged by fire, the best preserved leaves measure ca. 260 mm x 166 mm (dimensions of all - size of leaves)

Written space ca. 250 mm x 150 mm (dimensions of all - size of written)

Foliation and/or Pagination:

Fols 155, foliated 1-49, 51, 50, 52-155 in 1869. The last four folios are bound out of sequence.

Collation: The manuscript was damaged in the fire in the Cotton library in 1731, and each leaf is mounted separately. Ker (1857, p. 237) suggests that 'ff. 62-148, before and after which there are evident breaks, consisted probably of 11 quires, each of 8 leaves. A leaf is missing after f. 97'. There is a blank folio before 149r.

Note:

The text is written on 27 long lines on fols 1-61 in double ruled lines in plummet, probably double bounding lines . Fols 62-139, 30 long lines in plummet, probably double bounding lines; Fols 139-148, 30 long lines in plummet, probably double bounding lines; Fols 149-155v, 31 long lines in plummet, probably double bounding lines (Ker 1957, p. 237 and Franzen 1998, pp. 2-3).

Hand Description:

Number of hands: 3 from ca. 1060 to 1220

Summary: The four parts are copied by four main hands. Fols 1-61, Part 1 is copied by one scribe in square Anglo-Saxon minuscule datable to s.xiin; according to Ker '40 years older than the rest of the manuscript' (Ker 1957, p. 237). Fols 62 to 155 are written by three hands in an insular minuscule datable to s.ximed: fols. 62-139v/5, fols 139v/6-149, fols 149-155. All three hands share characteristics which can be found in contemporary Worcester hands. Ker notes 'the long upstroke of ð is prominent and the ends of descenders tend to curve to the left. Hyphens [...] are level with the tops of low letters, as often in Worcester MSS' (Ker 1957, p. 237). These features can also be found, for instance, in Laud Misc 509, Laud Misc 492 and Tiberius B. iv, fol. 81.

Hand: main text
• Scope: major
• Script: Insular minuscule
• Ker reference: Ker 182 Scribe 2
• Description: Fols 62-139v/5. A round, well executed script with insular letter forms.
• Summary of the characteristics of the hand:
• ð Prominent upperstroke with occasionally protruding strokes to the left.
• Punctuation:
• high
• Other manuscripts:
  • Tiberius B. iv, fols 79v passim (Gameson 2005, p. 103)
• Date: s.ximed

Hand: main text
• Scope: major
• Script: Insular minuscule
• Ker reference: not in Ker
• Description: Fols 139v/6-149. A round, small script with prominent feet.
• Summary of the characteristics of the hand:
• ð Prominent upperstroke.
• Other manuscripts:
  • Hatton 113, Scribe v (Gameson 2005, p. 103)
  • Hatton 114, Scribe v (Gameson 2005, p. 103)
  • CCCC 265, pp. 222-27 (Gameson 2005, p. 104)
• Date: s.ximed

Hand: main text
• Scope: major
• Scribe: Hemming ?
• Script: Insular minuscule
• Ker reference: not in Ker
• Description: Fols 149-155. Another round script.
• ð Prominent upperstroke.
• Other manuscripts:
  • CUL, Kk. 3. 18 (Gameson 2005, p. 103)
  • CCCC 146, additions (Gameson 2005, p. 101)
  • CCCC 391 (Gameson 2005, p. 101)
  • Tiberius A. xiii (Gameson 2005, p. 101)
  • Hatton 114 (Gameson 2005, p. 101)
  • Hatton 113 (Gameson 2005, p. 101)
  • Junius121 (xii) (Gameson 2005, p. 101)
  • Harley Ch. 83.A.3(Gameson 2005, p. 101)
• Date: s.ximed

Hand: annotations
• Scope: minor
• Scribe: Tremulous Scribe
• Script: English Vernacular Minuscule
• Description: Extensive glosses, corrections and alterations by the Tremulous Hand (Franzen 1998, p. 46).

Hand: annotations
• Scope: minor
• Scribe: Coleman
• Script: English Vernacular Minuscule
• Description: Annotations (Johnson and Rudolf 2010, pp. 1-13).

Additions:

16th century: marginal note, on fol. 31r 'Michaell Lapworthus medicus Novemb. 1593', perhaps indicates ownership or readership.

Decoration Description:

Fols 1-61, red is used for headings and names, red, green and blue is also used for initials. Colour is also used for punctuation, probably added by the miniator. Insertions and corrections are sometimes in red.

Fols 62-139v, change of decorations with initials in red, blue and green. Red is used for Latin headings and capitals from fol. 137v.

Fols 139v- 148v, one initial is red on fol. 143v.

Binding Description:

Before 1621, Cotton bound Otho C. iwith Otho C. i, Vol 1 (Wanley 1705, p. 212). Now the two parts are separate and Otho C. i has a nineteenth-century binding.

History:

Origin:

Part 1 has been associated with Canterbury and Exeter (Johnson and Rudolf 2010, p. 122).

Parts 2, 3 and 4 may have been copied in Worcester; see the discussion on the hand above, and also Budny's suggestions that fols 62-137 may have been made during the episcopy of Wulfstan II, Bishop of Worcester 1062-95 (Budny 1997, p. 625).

Provenance:

Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 were probably in Worcester by 1060-1080. The corrections, glosses, marginal notes and running titles confirm that the four parts were available to readers in Worcester at the end of the eleventh century, for instance Coleman, and still read by the Tremulous Hand in the first half of the thirteenth-century.

Acquisition:

Michael Lapworth, a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, in 1562, could have owned the manuscript in 1593 as his name is written on fol. 31r. Atkins and Ker (1944, p. 12) note that the Lapworth family was from Stowe in Warwickshire. It was acquired by Cotton sometime before 1621 when it was bound with British Library, Cotton Otho C. i, Vol 1 (see also British Library, Harley 6018).

Acquired by the British Museum along with the rest of the Cotton collection .

Additional Information:

Administration Information:

Manuscript described by Orietta Da Rold with the assistance of Hollie Morgan, June 2010.

Surrogates:

Franzen, Christine, Anglo- Saxon Manuscripts in Microfiche Facsimile (Tempe: Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 1998), vol. 6: Worcester Manuscripts

Johnson, David F., and Winfried Rudolf, 'More Notes by Coleman', Medium Ævum, 79 (2010), 1-13, details of Coleman annotations

Bibliography:

Assmann, Bruno, ed., Angelsächsischen Homilien und Heiligenleben, Bibliotek der angelsächsischen Prosa, 13 (Kassel: Wigand, 1889; repr. 1964)

Atkins, Ivor, and Neil R. Ker, eds, Catalogus Librorum Manuscriptorum Bibliothecae Made in 1622-1623 by Patrick Yound Librarian to King James I (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1944)

Budny, Mildred, Insular, Anglo-Saxon, and early Anglo-Norman manuscript art at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge : an illustrated catalogue, 2 vols (Kalamazoo, Mich.: Medieval Institute Publications Western Michigan University in association with Research Group on Manuscript Evidence the Parker Library Corpus Christi College Cambridge, 1997).

Crawford, S. J., Exameron Anglice, or the Old English Hexameron, Bibliotek der angelsächsischen Prosa (Hamburg: H. Grand 1921)

Dobbie, Elliott van Kirk, ed., The Anglo-Saxon Minor Poems, The Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records, 6 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1942)

Franzen, Christine, The Tremulous Hand of Worcester: A Study of Old English in the Thirteenth Century (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991)

Franzen, Christine, Anglo- Saxon Manuscripts in Microfiche Facsimile (Tempe: Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 1998), vol. 6: Worcester Manuscripts

Gameson, Richard, 'St Wulfstan, the Library of Worcester, and the Spirituality of the Medieval Book', in St. Wulfstan and his World, ed. by Julia Barrow and Nicholas Brooks (Aldershot, Hants, England, Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2005), pp. 59-104

Gneuss, Helmut, Handlist of Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A List of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100 (Tempe, AZ: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2001), item 359

Hecht, Hans, ed., Bischof Wærferths von Worcester Übersetzung der Dialoge Gregors des Grossen, Bibliothek der Angelsächsischen Prosa, 5 (Liepzig: G. H. Wigand, 1900; repr. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1965)

Johnson, David F., and Winfried Rudolf, 'More Notes by Coleman', Medium Ævum, 79 (2010), 113-25

Ker, N. R., Catalogue of Manuscripts Containing Anglo-Saxon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957; repr. 1990), item 182

Laing, Margaret, Catalogue of Sources for a Linguistic Atlas of Early Medieval English (Woodbridge: Brewer, 1993), p. 79

Manuscripts Catalogue (British Library, http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/manuscripts/; accessed in 2010)

McIntyre, E. A., 'Early Twelfth Century Worcester Cathedral Priory, with special reference to the manuscripts written there' (unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Oxford, 1978)

Planta, J., A Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Cottonian Library, Deposited in the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1802)

Pope, John C., ed., Homilies of Aelfric: A Supplementary Collection, EETS, OS 259 and 260 (London: Oxford University Press, 1967-68)

Scragg, Donald, Alexander Rumble, and Kathryn Powell, C11 Database Project (Manchester Centre for Anglo-Saxon Studies, http://www.arts.manchester.ac.uk/mancass/c11database/; accessed in 2009)

Sisam, Kenneth, 'Addendum: The Verses prefixed to Gregory's Dialogues', in Studies in the History of Old English Literature (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1953), pp. 225-31

Sisam, Kenneth, 'An Old English Translation of a Letter from Wynfrith to Eadburga (A.D. 716- 17) in Cotton MS. Otho C I', in Studies in the History of Old English Literature (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1953), pp. 199-224

Skeat, W. W., ed., Ælfric’s Lives of Saints, EETS, OS 76, 82, 94, 114 (London and Oxford: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner, 1881-1900; repr. as 2 vols, 1966)

Wanley, H., Librorum Veterum Septentrionalium Catalogus (Oxford, 1705)

Yerkes, David, 'British Library, Cotton Otho C.i, vol. 2, fol. 115r', Old English Newsletter, 18.1 (1984), 32-33