This manuscript was originally the second volume of a two-volume
set containing the book of Job and Gregory the Great's Moralia in
Job. The first volume of this set was probably Royal MS 13 C IV,
which includes the Moralia in Job, books 1-16 but which was written
by a different hand. A part of a later copy of the book of Job (ff.
1r-5v), written by an early 13th-century hand, has been associated
with the original volume at an early period, as the 14th-century
ownership inscription on f. 1r testifies (see Provenance).
Lanfranc's (b. c. 1010, d. 1089) notes have been added at the end
in the second half of the 12th century (f. 259r). Contents:ff.
1r-5v: The book of Job (24:20-42:16), imperfect beginning: 'Non sit
in recordatione sed conteratur quasi lignum infructuosum', added in
the 13th century. ff. 6r-258v: Gregory the Great, Moralia in Job
(books 17-35), beginning : 'Quotiens in Sancti viri historia per
novum volumen enodare mysterium typice expositionis aggredimur'.
Book 17 (ff. 6r-15r); Book 18 (ff. 15r-33v); Book 19 (ff. 33v-45v);
Book 20 (ff. 45v-61r); Book 21 (ff. 61r-68v); Book 22 (ff.
68v-79v); Book 23 (ff. 79v-91r); Book 24 (ff. 91r-101v); Book 25
(ff. 101v-111r); Book 26 (ff. 111r-128r); Book 27 (ff. 128r-142v);
Book 28 (ff. 142v-152v); Book 29 (ff. 152v-167v); Book 30 (ff.
167v-185r); Book 31 (ff. 185r-206r); Book 32 (ff. 206r-218v); Book
33 (ff. 218v-236r); Book 34 (ff. 236r-247r); Book 35 (ff.
247r-258v), ending : 'accipit pro me lacrimas reddat. Deo et domino
nostro, Iesu Christo, cui cum patre et Spiritu Sancto honor et
imperium per aeterna secula seculorum, amen. Moralia Gregorii Papae
Urbis Rome, in librum Iob per contemplationem sumpta, expliciunt'.
f. 259r: Lanfranc's notes on the Moralia in Job, beginning :
'Horionas, hyadas, rinocerota', ending: 'ne imperitorum inscitia
prefatas dictiones, hoc in opera inconsulte temerare
presumat'.Decoration: The decoration of the main part (ff. 6-258)
is related to the Rochester style and some scenes are 'in the
Norman rather than in the Anglo-Saxon tradition', according to
Kauffman, Romanesque manuscripts (1975). Three large historiated
initials in colours and silver, at the beginning of each part: Job
on the dunghill (f. 6r); a knight piercing a dragon (f. 79v); a
nimbed eagle (f. 142v).Twelve smaller historiated, zoomorphic, or
foliate initials in colours, at the beginning of books (ff. 15r,
33r, 45v, 68v, 91r, 128r, 152v, 167v, 206r, 218v, 236r, 247r),
including: the Lamb of God (f. 15r); St Michael and the dragon (f.
33v); a bust of Christ (f. 128r); and Samson and the lion (f.
152v). Initials in red or blue, some with penwork decoration (e.g.,
ff. 101v, 185r).
