Oxford, Bodleian Library, Rawl. B. 173

| Shelfmark | Date and Language | Contents |
| Physical Description | History | Record History | Bibliography |


Shelfmark
Country:England
Settlement:Oxford
Repository: Bodleian Library
Idno:Rawl. B. 173
AltName:SC 11541
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Date and Language
Date:s. xv
Language: English
Dialect:Scribal Dialect: Herefordshire. Linguistic Atlas Grid Reference: 332 247, LP 7481 (McIntosh, Samuels and Benskin 1986, p. 199).
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Contents
A fifteenth-century copy of the Brut chronicle written by two scribes.







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Physical Description
Form:Codex
Support: Parchment
Extent:250 x 160 mm
Collation: 110; 2-812; 92; 10-13 12; 1511 (wants 1); 16-1710; 1814; 1912; 2010; 219. Intermittent catchwords.
Layout:Pricking: none visible. Writing space of 190 x 120 mm. Single columns with 26 lines. Ruling in drypoint. From ff. 189r-196v lines ruled in ink.
Writing: Scribe 1 (beg. to f. 185) writes in black ink in a clear, neat, well spaced, Anglicana Formata script, with some Secretary forms. Characteristics: hairline serifs; long s in initial position; double compartment d; 8-shaped g; single compartment a with pointed head; B-shaped s in final position; long s in medial position. Body height: 3mm. Scribe 2, f. 186 to end, writes in a thicker hand than Scribe 1, again with some Secretary forms. Characteristics: ascenders more hooked/curled; 2-shaped r in medial position; double compartment a; 2-shaped r in final position; looped ascender on d. Also see Additions.
Decoration:Two-line Lombardic blue initials. Red and blue paraphs.
Binding: Not medieval. Size: 250 x 170 mm. Cover of brown leather over pasteboard. Five raised bands across the spine. Decoration on spine only of gold stamped foliate design.
Foliation:ff. 230.
Additions:The final folio and following flyleaves (ff. 228v-230v) are filled with medical recipes etc. in a fifteenth-century hand. Four hands appear at work here: Scribe 3, late fifteenth-century Anglicana with some Secretary forms (probably William Spynke), ff. 227v-228v (possibly also 229r lines 16-23); Scribe 4, fifteenth-century Anglicana, f. 229r; Scribe 5, fifteenth-century Anglicana with Secretary forms, ff. 229v-230r; Scribe 6, fifteenth-century Secretary with Anglicana forms, f. 230v.
Condition:Good, but first folio dark and writing faded.
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History
Origin:Unknown
Provenance:First paper flyleaf 'Brute Chronicle/ MS/ Tho. Pope Blaunt'. Flyleaf, f. 1r - bookplate of Ric[hard] Rawlinson. Flyleaf, f. iv - 'Brutes chronicle ms eq. owner'. F. 16r 'of the countye of ...' - sixteenth century. F. 23r 'Elizabeth' sixteenth/seventeenth century. F. 71r 'James ha(r)is' - sixteenth/seventeenth century. F. 84v 'Thomas boel focle', '', fifteenth/sixteenth century. F. 86v '' sixteenth century. F. 89v '' sixteenth/seventeenth century. F. 100r '' sixteenth century. F. 105r 'John Games' sixteenth century. F. 112r 'This book pertainis to ane honorable man callit Sir John Games', sixteenth century - see f. 105r same ink. F. 119v 'This is s boke' - sixteenth century. F. 135r 'Robert Barenne of the parisshe of barn...' (comp. 116v possibly Robert Brown of Bedwardine? see f. 100r and 11r) sixteenth century. F. 156r 'Robert Browne' sixteenth century. F. 158r '' sixteenth/seventeenth century, same hand as f. 157v. F. 162v '[trimmed]...Brother Vaughan...haue this I bid you farwell from London ?the xth daye of marce By your loving frend Micle ?Mabe(it) ?Wabe(it?) (Wavlit)' sixteenth/seventeenth century. F. 167v 'lord deleuer me form all' sixteenth/seventeenth century hand of Elizabeth? compare f. 119v. F. 170r '' sixteenth century. F. 179r 'Fine Robertus Brown'[trimmed] sixteenth century. F. 187r 'Walter...in the county of herf...(here[fordshire]? Sole [sold?] ane only ii vnto John lak [trimmed] of the' sixteenth century. F. 189v 'who lossyth thir youth | shall rue it in age | who hateth the truthe | in sorow shal pay} L N' sixteenth century. F. 199r 'Robert...Robert bredwarding?...he' sixteenth century. F. 200r '...engraffe will he...Be me Thomas Sandy? yv(e?)' compare f. 144r. F. 215v 'Elynor Vaughan' 'Elynor vaughan' in differing scripts appears to be the signatory trying different styles, first signature looks like the hand of f. 99r. F. 227v ', grocer at the Bull in Bucklersbury', fifteenth century. F. 230 - partially copying from the text at the top of the F. - lists of knights' fees. MS in West Herefordshire; possibly Hergest, Vaughan family home in Kington (Kington in Ewyas Lacy is mentioned in Item 7; see also f. 230r).
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Record History
Catalogued and encoded: Rebecca Farnham, University of Birmingham, March 2004. With thanks to Jason O'Rourke, Brut Project, Queen's University, Belfast.
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Bibliography
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