The Production and Use of English Manuscripts 1060 to 1220

Hollie Morgan

London, British Library, Stowe 944

Will of King Alfred, Resting-places of Saints, &c.

Date: s. xi1-xii

Summary:

Additions to a manuscript containing the New Minster, Winchester: Boundaries of an Estate. Additions from s. xi2 include New Minster, Winchester: Names in Liber Vitae: 'Ealdred. Alfuuoldes sunu. ægelhild his uuif'; 'leofred et eius conunx burewyn. ˥ ðas habbað behatan ælce geare ane gecnæwnesse'; 'Ordigiuu. þeo nunne' (fol. 29r). Fol. 40 is an originally blank leaf, which now contains the vision of the monk Eadwine: 'Ic EADWine munuk cilda mæster...', s. xii. On fol. 58, an originally blank leaf, three Lists of Relics are added in three separate hands, s. ximed. The first list is in Latin, and the second and third are in Old English, but all have English titles: 'þys is se halidóm þe his gelogod innan þam haligan scrine þe man nemnað iohannis et pauli'; 'þis is se halidóm ðe is on ðam grecysscan scríne ðe seo hlæfdige geaf into nyƿan mynstre'; 'þis is sé halidom ðe is on þam scríne. ðe alƿold cyricƿeard beƿohte' (Ker 1957, pp. 338-39).

Manuscript Items:

1. Item: fols 28v-29r

   Title (B.16.21.2): New Minster, Winchester: Names in Liber Vitae

   Addition: 'Godwine iustines sunu', 'Eadlred. Alfuuoldes sunu. ægilhild his uuif', 'leofred et eius conunx burewyn. 7 ðas habbað behatan ælce geare ane gecnæƿnesse', 'Ordgiuu. þeo nunne'

   Text Language: Latin with four English names

   Bibliography:

   Ker 1957, p. 338

2. Item: fols 29v-33r

   Title (B.15.6.24): Charters: Wills: Will of King Alfred Sawyer 1507

   Incipit: (fol. 29v) Ic ælfred cingc mid godes gife

   Text Language: English

   Bibliography:

   Ker 1957, p. 338

3. Item: fols 33r-34r

   Title (B.24.25.4): The Six Ages of the World

   Incipit: (fol. 33r) Her onginð ymbe þyses middangeardes ylde hƿæt ƿæs fram adame oð noe (incipit of the first commonplace)

   Text Language: English and Latin

   Bibliography:

   Ker 1957, pp. 338-39

4. Item: fols 34v-39r

   Title (B.18.6.1.EM): Lists of Kings, Saints, and Bishops: Chronological commonplaces

   Incipit: (fol. 34v) On ures drihtnes naman hælendes cristes. Sanctus augustinus gefullode

   Text Language: English

   Bibliography:

   Ker 1957, p. 339

5. Item: fols 39r-v

   Title (B.18.6.2.EM): Lists of Kings, Saints, and Bishops: Nomina regum

   Incipit: (fol. 39r) Ine cingc rixode .XXXVII. ƿintra

   Explicit: (fol. 39v) þa feng Cnut cingc to rice

   Text Language: English and Latin

   Bibliography:

   Ker 1957, p. 339

6. Item: fol. 40v

   Title (B.15.4.10): Charters: Other Ecclesiastical Grants: Writ of the monk Edwin Sawyer 1428

   Incipit: (fol. 40r) Ic EADǷine munuk cilda mæster

   Text Language: English

   Bibliography:

   Ker 1957, p. 339

   Sawyer 2012, 1428

7. Item: fols 57r-v

   Title (B.15.5.5): Charters: Miscellaneous Texts: Acquisition of land by King Edward Sawyer 1443

   Incipit: (fol. 57r) (beginning imperfect) ƿestryhte be ðære suðstræte

   Text Language: English

   Note: Fragment

   Bibliography:

   Ker 1957, p. 339

   Sawyer 2012, 1443

8. Item: fols 58r-v

   Title (B.16.21.3): New Minster, Winchester: List of Relics

   Title (manuscript): (i) þys is se halidóm þe his gelogod innan þam haligan scrine þe man nemnað iohannis et pauli

   Title (manuscript): (ii) þis is se halidóm ðe is on ðam grecysscan scrine ðe seo hlæfdige geaf nyƿan mynstre

   Title (manuscript): (iii) þis is sé halidom ðe is on þam scrine. ðe alƿold cyricƿeard beƿorhte

   Text Language: Three lists, all with English titles. The first list is in Latin, with one item in English. The other two lists are in English.

   Bibliography:

   Ker 1957, p. 339

9. Item: fols 59v-60r

   Title (B.12.10.1): Dialogue between Jerome and Damasus

   Title (manuscript): Her onginð damasus smeagung ƿið hieronime þone bocere. hƿilcon timan on sunnan dagan. oððe on oðran dagan man mæssian mote

   Incipit: (fol. 59v) Leof broðor 7 ure efen sacerd

   Text Language: English and Latin. A Latin version precedes the Old English.

   Bibliography:

   Ker 1957, p. 339

Physical Description:

Object Description:

Form: Codex

Support: Fols (i, ii), 69, (70-71) are paper leaves from the date of binding. The two leaves between fols 68 and 69 are medieval blank leaves. Fols 1-5 were added by Thomas Astle.

Extent:

255 mm x 150 mm (dimensions of all - size of leaves)

203 mm x 95 mm (dimensions of all - size of written space)

Foliation and/or Pagination: Fols vii + 63 + v, foliated (i,ii), 1-68, two unnumbered leaves, 69, (70-71). Fols 6-68 were formerly paginated 1-126.

Collation:

Quires: According to Ker 1957, collation is uncertain. There are many half-sheets, fols 30-37 and fols 42-49 are regular quires of eight leaves, fols 25-26 are a bifolium, fol. 41 should follow fol. 49. Fols 23, 24, 40, 58 are early additional leaves, s. xi-xii, fols 62-69 are additions from s. xiiiex. Fols 50-55 were once at the end and fol. 58 was probably at the beginning of the manuscript, as can be seen from the rust-marks (Ker 1957, pp. 399-40).

Layout description:

• Layout:
Usually ruled for 27 long lines, with two or more columns in the name-lists. Fol. 58 is ruled for 28 lines, and fols 23, 24, 40 are ruled for 29 lines.

Hand description:

Number of hands: 5 in the period 1060 to 1220

Summary: Three hands from s. ximed, possibly two from s. xii.

Hand: 1st list of relics
• Scope: minor
• Scribe: Ker 274 SC1
• Script: English Vernacular Minuscule
• Description: Fol. 58r/1-21. The first two lines are in English.
• Summary of the characteristics of the hand: Latin and English letter-forms are usually distinguished.
• a tends to be triangular.
• d is the same shape as ð. They both have small bowls and very long ascenders.

Hand: 2nd list of relics
• Scope: minor
• Scribe: Ker 274 SC2
• Script: English Vernacular Minuscule
• Description: Fol. 58r/33-58v/13.
• Summary of the characteristics of the hand:
• The two elements of æ are of equal height.
• The ascender of d is curved and sometimes short. It is a similar shape to ð but shorter.
• The descender of g is not always closed.
• Round s is generally only used in Latin, but also occurs at the end of Moyses.
• y is curly in moyses.

Hand: 3rd list of relics
• Scope: minor
• Scribe: Ker 274 SC2
• Script: English Vernacular Minuscule
• Description: Fol. 58v/14-24.
• Summary of the characteristics of the hand: Latin and English words are usually distinguished.
• The second element of æ is taller but thinner than the first.
• e is occasionally hooked but often round-backed.

Hand: vision of Eadwine
• Scribe: Ker 274 SC2
• Script: English Vernacular Minuscule
• Description: Fol. 40.
• Summary of the characteristics of the hand: Angular hand.
• a is Caroline.
• d is Caroline.
• f is insular.
• g is insular.
• r is insular.
• Long s is insular.

Decoration Description:

Initials are blue, deep purple, green or red. There are full-page drawings on fols 6rv, 7 (Ker 1957, p. 340).

Binding Description:

Eighteenth-century binding.

History:

Origin:

Written at New Minster, Winchester.

Provenance:

Belonged to Walter Clavel in 1710, later to George North, later to Michael Lort, George North's executor, and to Thomas Astle in 1770. It was transferred to Stowe along with the other Astle manuscripts in 1804.

Acquisition:

Acquired by the British Museum from Lord Ashburnham in 1883.

Additional Information:

Administration Information:

Described by Hollie Morgan with the assistance of Sanne van der Schee (2010; 2013).

Surrogates:

EM Project facsimile

Bibliography:

Birch, Walter de Gray, ed., Cartularium Saxonicum: A Collection of Charters Relating to Anglo-Saxon History (London: Whiting and Company; Chas J. Clark, 1885-1893)

---, ed., Liber Vitae of New Minster and Hyde Abbey Winchester, Hampshire Record Society (London: Simpkin, 1892)

Förster, Max, 'Die Weltzeitalter bei den Angelsachen', in Neusprachliche Studien: Festgabe Karl Luick zu seinem 60. Geburtstage, ed. by Friedrich Wild (Marburg: Elwert, 1925), pp. 198-99

---, Zur Geschichte ds Reliquienkultus in Altengland, Sitzungberichte der Bayrischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Phil.- Hist. Abt., Jahrgang 1943, Heft 8 (1943)

Harmer, fol. E., Anglo-Saxon Writs (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1952)

Ker, N. R., Catalogue of Manuscripts Containing Anglo-Saxon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957; repr. 1990), item 274

Keynes, Simon, ed., The Liber Vitae of the New Minster and Hyde Abbey, Winchester, Early English Manuscripts in Facsimile, 26 (Copenhagen: Rosenkilde and Bagger, 1996)

Liebermann, Felix, Die Heiligen Englands Angelsächsisch und Lateinisch (Hannover: Hahn, 1889)

Napier, A. S., 'Altenglische Kleinigkeiten', Anglia, 11 (1889)

Sawyer, Peter, The Electronic Sawyer (CCH, King's College, London, http://www.esawyer.org.uk/, 2012; accessed in 2012)

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)

Wormald, Francis, English Drawings of the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries (London: Faber & Faber, 1952)