Content:
Part 1: Contains poems of John Lydgate, unless otherwise stated
(some poems by Chaucer or anonymous), all in English: (ff. 1r-7v)
"Vita sancti Egidii" (Legend of St. Giles). - (ff. 7v-8r)"Oratio ab
eundem" (Prayer to St. Giles). - (ff. 8v-16v) Added title "Just
decimation" (Legend of St. Austin at Compton). - (17r-28r) Added
title: "Danico invasio regnante Ethelstano una cum historia
Guidonis de Warwik" (Guy of Warwick). - (ff. 29v-41v)
"Macrabiorum"; added title: "Macrobius, or the power of death over
all" (Daunce of Machabree). - (ff. 42r-48v) "Fabula de ave et
rustico"; (The churl and the bird). - (ff. 49r-61r) "de fideli
amore duorum marcatorum" (Fabula duorum mercatorum). - (ff.
65v-74v) "Arthorus conquestor" (Fall of princes, fragment: King
Arthur); (ff. 75r-80r) "De Constantino Imperatore Romano" (Fall of
Princes, fragment: Constantin the Great). - (ff. 80v-92r)
"Disputatio inter equum aucam et ovem" (Debate between the horse,
goose and sheep). - (ff. 92v-94r) "compilation de regibus Anglie"
(The kings of England sithen William Conquerour). - (ff. 94v-96r)
"Disputatio inter conquerulatorem et fortunam" = Ballad of Fortune
/ Geoffrey Chaucer. - (ff. 96r) "La bon Conceil de l'auctour" =
Truth / Geoffrey Chaucer. - (ff. 96v-98r) "Ffacetia vocata Stans
puer ad mensam" (Stans puer ad mensam). - (ff. 98v-101r) Dietiarium
or a booke of good counsel" (A doctrine for pestilence; A dietary).
- (ff. 101v-102r) "Descriptio Garsichiyis" (Jak Hare). - (ff.
102v-103r) "Littera missiva domini Johannis Lydgate ad dominum
Gloucester" (Letter to Gloucester). - (ff. 104r-107r) "Compilatio
facta contra Gulosos" (Fall of princes, fragments: The golden
world; John the Baptist and Diogenes). - (f. 107r-v) "Preservaryum"
/ N.N. - (ff. 107v-108v) Added title: "A booke of proverbes of the
wise man" / N.N. - (ff.109v) "Jesu Maria" / N.N. - (f. 110r)
"Balad" / N.N. - (ff. 110v-111r) "Balada" / N.N. - (ff. 111v)
"Paris disgising [?] pallas venus, Mynerva pallas loquitur ad paris
de troye" / N.N. - (ff. 112r) "Ballad" / N.N. - (ff. 112r-115v)
Incipit: "Most glorious lord, with thy cros be thou my spede, And
me defende fro ye fendis Temptacyon ..." (An ABC to the Virgin). -
Empty (originally): 109r (notes), 116r (notes, owner inscription),
116v (owner inscription; transcription of the beginning of
Lydgate's Testament in part 2).
Part 2: Contains: (ff. 117r-135v) Testament / John Lydgate. Note:
Collation: (part 1) Outer and inner double leaves of the quires are
of parchment, the double leaves in between are of paper. - 4VI
(1-48) + V (49-58) + 4VI (59-106) + VI-2 (107-115, 116). - (part 2)
2III (117-128) + III+1 (129-134, 135).
Foliation: (1) In pencil (modern) 1-135. - (2) Four series of roman
numerals in ink (15th century) covering both parts: i/xi-xl (=
1-30), ii/i-xl (31-70), iii/i-xl (71-110), iv/i-v, viii-xxviii)
(111-135). The first ten leaves of part 1 (a quinio?) and two
leaves between ff. 115 and 116 are missing. - (3) Pagination in ink
(16th century) covering only part 1: 1-214 (1-107). Corresponds
with the later added index on f. Iv, but shows many gaps (focuses
on comparison with Lydgate poems in another source?): 2-60, 70, 80,
83-103, 105, 107 109-110, 120, 130, 134, 140, 148-150, 160-197,
200, 202, 204-207, 212-214.
Script: Part 1 is written in two hands: ff. 1r-112r and ff.
112v-116r. Part 2 is written by a third hand. A later hand, in
lighter brown ink, supplemented the index, added Latin titles (ff.
7v, 42r, 49r etc.) and copied the beginning of Lydgate's Testament
(f. 116v); this hand is identified as Franciscus Junius Jr.
(Bremmer 2001).
Binding: Post-medieval binding (17th century).
Textual: Manuscript titles derived from explicit/incipit formulas;
also added titles, partly transcribed from the explicit/incipit
formulas. Titles of Lydgate's poems between brackets according to
MacCracken 1911-1934. - (ff. 107r-112r) Titles of anonymous poems
according to Brown & (1943): Proverbis of Wysdom (107v-108v), On
Fortune (109v), A nightingale poem (110r), The Discryviyng of a
fayre lady (110v-111r, on the marriage of Joan of Navarre to Henry
IV in 1403), The Judgement of Paris - (ff. 112r) Title of anonymous
"Ballad" according to Van Dorsten 1960: A dream.
Description (Bouwman 2023):
http://hdl.handle.net/1887.1/item:3619870
Description (Senguerdius & 1716):
http://hdl.handle.net/1887.1/item:290399
Description (Catalogus compendiarius 1932):
http://hdl.handle.net/1887.1/item:491294 Subject (temporal):
Middle Ages
15th century
