London, British Library, Arundel 286

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


Shelfmark
Country:England
Settlement:London
Repository: British Library
Idno:Arundel 286
AltName:
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Date and Language
Date:s. xvin
Language: English
Dialect:Scribe 2 (ff. 20-81): Scribal dialect: Warwickshire. Linguistic Atlas Grid Reference: 430 264, LP 8010 (McIntosh, Samuels and Benskin 1986, p. 245).
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Contents
An early fifteenth-century anthology (first quarter of the fifteenth century, Barratt 1983, p. 9) containing devotional and mystical texts including the Cloud of Unknowing.












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Physical Description
Form:Codex
Support: Parchment
Extent:c. 205 x 140 mm
Collation: 18, ff. 1r-8v, catchword; 28, ff. 9r-16v, catchword; 33, ff. 17r-19v; 412, ff. 20r-31v, catchword; 512, ff. 32r-43v, catchword; 612, ff. 44r-55v, catchword; 710, ff. 56r-65v, catchword; 812, ff. 66r-77v, catchword; 912, ff. 78r-89v, catchword; 108, ff. 90r-97v, catchword; 113, ff. 98r-100v; 1210, ff. 101r-110v; 1312, ff. 111r-123v; 1412, ff. 124r-135v, catchword; 1512 + 1, ff. 136r-147v, catchword; 1612, ff. 149r-160v; 1712, ff. 161r-172v, catchword; f. 189v catchword; ff. 173r-191v too tightly bound to ascertain quiring.
Layout:Item 1: Pricking not visible. Writing space of 150 x 95 mm. Single columns with 30 lines. Frame ruled in drypoint. Item 2: Pricking slits visible on fore edge. Writing space of 150 x 80 mm. Single columns with 23 lines. Frame and lines ruled in drypoint. Not usually visible. Other texts similar layout.
Writing: Scribe 1 (ff. 1r-19v, 82r-99v) writing in an Anglicana Formata script. Characteristics: long s in medial position; 2-shaped r; hooked ascender of h; double compartment a; dotted y; double compartment g; ascender of d at 45 degree angle; B-shaped w; ŝ. Body height: 2mm. Scribe 2 (ff. 20r-81r) writing in an Anglicana Formata script. Characteristics: B-shaped w; long s in initial position; forked l; more open g; ascenders not much above body; 2-shaped r; descender of y without hook. Scribe 3 (ff. 100r-160r). Anglicana Formata. Scribe 4 (f. 161v). Text surrounding a coloured drawing. Scribe 5 (ff. 161r-178r), an independent booklet. Anglicana Formata. Scribe 6 (ff. 179r-191v) perhaps another hand. Anglicana Formata.
Decoration: Decoration varies with text. Item 1 - red cross to start text, red paraphs, red Latin phrases/lines. Item 2 - two-line red initials to start paragraphs, red paraphs, some initials tinted red. F. 100r - two-line blue initials, red Latin phrases, red rubric; f. 100v - six-line blue initial with rudimentary red penwork; f. 107v, 111r - six-line red initial Ŝ; f. 115r - five-line red initial D. Some hands with cuffs in red in the texts.
Binding: Not medieval. 220 x 145 mm.
Foliation:ff. ii (modern) + 191 + i (parchment original) 2 paper (modern).
Additions:F. 161v, is a full page coloured drawing of a man with surrounding text (see item 10).
Condition:
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History
Provenance:F. 1r: 'Soc. Reg. Lond ex dono Norfolciensis'.
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Record History
Catalogued and encoded: Rebecca Farnham, University of Birmingham, March 2004.
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Bibliography
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