Solinus, Collectanea Rerum Mirabilium; Priscian, De Situ Orbis ; Pseudo-Dares, De Excidio Troiae Historia ; Pseudo-Jerome, De Mobilitate Mentis Humanae ; Prophetia Sybillae; Pseudo-Ausonius, Sententiae Septem Sapientum ; (?) Segardus junior of St Omer, De Miseria Hominis ; Roger of Caen, De Contemptu Mundi (excerpt); Hildebert of Lavardin, De Mysterio Missae (excerpts); De Tribus Mortibus ; Pseudo-Nennius, Historia Brittonum ; Pseudo-Bede, De Quindecim Signis ante Diem Iudicii ; De Septem Miraculis Mundi ; Latin verses ( The Song of the Sybil ).
This 12th-century manuscript of historical, theological and
prophetic texts was owned and possibly produced at the Benedictine
cathedral priory of Holy Trinity or Christ Church, Canterbury (Ker,
Medieval Libraries (1964), p. 36). The exemplar of this manuscript
was a manuscript, extant in two parts as Royal MS 15 A XXII and
Cotton MS Vespasian D XII, ff. 1-17, that was written at Rochester
Cathedral Priory in the first quarter of the 12th century. The
manuscript contains near-contemporary additions on ff. 117r
[Pseudo-Jerome], 123r [Pseudo-Ausonius], 126r [Hildebert of
Lavardin], 144r [Pseudo-Bede], and later 12th-century additions on
ff. 144v-145r. Contents:f. 1*v: A table of contents. ff. 1r-77v:
Solinus (fl. 3th century), Collectanea Rerum Mirabilium (A
Collection of Miraculous Things). ff. 77v-98r: Priscian (fl.
500-530), De Situ Orbis (On the Description of the World); based on
Dionysius’s Periegesis [Schaller 10028; Walther 11608]. ff.
98v-117r: Pseudo-Dares, De Excidio Troiae Historia (On the History
of the Destruction of Troy). f. 117r: Pseudo-Jerome [here
attributed], De Mobilitate Mentis Humanae (On the Inconstancy of
the Human Mind) [Schaller 10177; Walther 11749]. ff. 117v-123v:
Anonymous, Prophetia Sybillae (The Prophecy of the Sybil) [Schaller
8495; Walther 9907]. f. 123r: Pseudo-Ausonius, Sententiae Septem
Sapientum (Sayings of the Seven Sages) [Walther 15065]. ff.
123v-126r: ? Segardus Junior of St Omer (fl. early 12th century),
De Miseria Hominis (Walther 4192); with additional verse from De
Contemptu Mundi (On the Contempt of the World) by Roger of Caen (d.
1095). f. 126r: Hildebert of Lavardin (b. 1056, d. 1133), verses
from the De Mysterio Missae (On the Mystery of the Mass) [Walther
5831; Walther 19401]. f. 126r: Anonymous, De Tribus Mortibus (On
the Three Deaths) [Walther 9516]. ff. 126v-143v: Pseudo-Nennius,
Historia Brittonum (The History of the Britons) [‘Harleian
recension’]. f. 144r: Pseudo-Bede [here attributed], De Quindecim
Signis ante Diem Iudicii (On The Fifteen Signs before the Day of
Judgement). The manuscript contains a number of later additions:
ff. 144v-145r: Anonymous, De Septem Miraculis Mundi (On the Seven
Wonders of the World), added in a hand from the middle of the 12th
century. f. 145v: Neumes in brown ink. f. 146r: Latin verses, added
in 12th-century hands (beginning ‘procul a nobis discordia causa
doloris’), including: ‘Cum de latrina lapsum Salomona ruina /
Extraherent laqueis non trahar inquit eis / Sabbata sunt plaudit
populus plausum comes audit / Plaudit et ipse iubet cras ut ibi
recubet]; The Song of the Sybil : ‘Judicii signum tellus sudore
madescit / E celo rex adveniet per secla futurus / Scilicet in
carne presens ut judicet orbem / unde deum cernent incredulus atque
fidelis’. f. 1*v: Additions to the 12th-century table of
contents, made by Richard James (b. 1592, d. 1638), librarian for
Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (b. 1571, d. 1631).[ff. 1r is
empty].Decoration:2 large initials in purple, with arabesque
penwork decoration in green, purple, red and yellow (ff. 1r, 117v);
3 medium initials in purple or green with arabesque motifs in the
same colour and red (ff. 78r, 99r, 126v). Medium initials in green,
purple, red or yellow, sometimes featuring arabesque motifs in the
same colour. Small (one-line) capitals highlighted in red. Display
script (Rustic Capitals) in green, purple and red. Rubrics in red.
Line-fillers in red.
