Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 416
Amalarius of Metz, Liber officialis
Contents
Language(s): Latin
Full transcription: 'Ad eos qui subito obmutescunt . Accipe semen canislingue tere distempa cum aqua benndicta. da bibere sanabitur . Item ad idem . coque pulvum(?) in uino et subfumiga os et nares pacientis . ualet
Written in a late 11th or early 12th century protogothic minuscule.
Written in a late 16th or early 17th century hand.
Full transcription: | In hoc uolumine continentur hii libri| Amalarius de ecclesiasticis institucionibus | Ieronimus de signis .xv. dierum ante diem iudicii | dicta cuiusdam sapientis de antichristo| Alcuinus de uirtutibus ad Widon⟨em co⟩m | phisialogus de naturis bestiarum | prouerbia salomonis | Itinerarium antonii| Qualiter sanctus augustinus uenit in angliam iussu beati gregorii | Gesta apollonii tirii | Conuersio sancti eustachii
All of the texts are absent from the volume apart from the text by Amalarius described as 'De ecclesiasticis institucionibus' in the list, now more usually known as the 'Liber officialis'. This list of the contents of the volume was probably written in the late 12th or early 13th century. Above the main medieval list of the full contents of the volume there is a heading 'In hoc volumine continentur hii libri' followed by a note over an erasure written in a 15th century hand, 'Amalarius de matutinis ...(?) | completoriis ordinibus et eorum ...(?)'.
List of 41 Chapters in Part 1 on ff. 1r-1v. List of 26 Chapters in Part 2 on ff. 49v-50r. List of 39 Chapters in Part 3 on ff. 67r-67v. List of 45 Chapters in Part 4 on ff. 106v-107r.
This copy of the Liber officialis lacks most of the typical prefatory material including both the longer autobiographical proem in which Amalarius explains how he came to write the text, and the dedicatory preface to the Frankish ruler Louis the Pious; instead it begins on f. 1v with the shorter preface which describes the purpose of the text.
The lower portion of f. 153 has been torn away, and part of the text has been lost. This particular variant of the Offertory Prayer is not well attested, although it shares some similarities with a prayer in a fragmentary sacramentary written perhaps in Catalonia, now preseved as: Barcelona, Biblioteca Pública Episcopal, MS Frag. I/6, and discussed in an article by Miquel dels Sants Gros i Pujol.
Physical Description
20th-century foliation.
[a]-[e] + i + 1-153 + [f]-[j]
Foliated in pencil in Hindu-Arabic numerals in the upper outer corner of each recto.
Five modern paper endleaves at each end of the volume (not photographed). The modern paper endleaves have been assigned temporary folio designations ff. [a]-[e] and [f]-[j] for the purposes of this catalogue record.
Collation
- 1 medieval parchment endleaf (f. i) +
- Quire 112+1 (ff. 1-13: 13th leaf added)
- Quires 2-612 (ff. 14-73)
- Quire 710 (ff. 74-83)
- Quire 812 (ff. 84-95)
- Quire 910 (ff. 96-105)
- Quires 10-1112 (ff. 106-129)
- Quire 1212-1 (ff. 130-140: 12th leaf cancelled)
- Quire 1312 (ff. 141-152)
- A single leaf (f. 153)
1 parchment endleaf + 112+1 (13th added) 2-612 710 812 910 10-1112 1212-1 1312 and a single leaf
No leaf signatures.
No quire signatures.
No catchwords.Condition
Layout
160 × 90 mm. Ruled in drypoint, frame and lines. Ruled in single-column format, typically 35 lines to the page and written above top line.
Hand(s)
Main text written in a late Anglo-Caroline minuscule, tending towards protogothic minuscule.
Decoration
Decorative initials in a simple 'Arabesque' style, typically 3-6 lines high at the beginning of major and minor divisions of the text in red or purple, some with minor acanthus frills and flourishing, e.g., the 'M' on f. 121v, or the 'F' on f. 83v.
Plain initials in red or purple typically 1-2 lines high in a simple 'Arabesque' style at the minor divisions of the text.
Rubrication (in red) at the major and minor divisions of the text.
Additions
Running numerical headings elucidating the current section of the Liber officialis present in the upper margin of most rectos. The section of the Liber officialis is written in Roman numerals toward the centre of the upper margin, and in Hindu-Arabic numerals closer to the fore edge of the upper margin, probably by two different scribes.
Unidentified pressmark at the top of f. i recto, 'F. 6.' in ink in the upper margin above the medical recipe and next to the word 'Amularius'.
Unidentified pressmark in the lower margin of f. 2r, '108' in ink.
The name Johannes Hadenham ' in faint ink on f. 140v, written by a 15th- or 16th-century hand. Haddenham is a village located about 5 miles south-west of Ely.
18th-century catalogue number 'N.35' in dark brown ink on ff. i recto and 153v (see Custodial History).
Quire signatures ('1-13') in the bottom right-hand corner of the recto side of the first leaf of each quire, written in pencil by a hand of the 19th century.
Binding
Temporary binding (not photographed), added by the Cambridge Colleges Conservation Consortium after the manuscript was disbound and digitised in 2009 for the Parker On The Web project. Fully bound in book-cloth over paste- or millboards.
Paper pastedowns pasted over the turn-ins. Five modern paper endleaves at each end of the volume (not photographed), ff. [a]-[e] and [f]-[j]. All paper endleaves blank except f. [a] recto which has a note 'CCCC MS 416 Temporary binding' in pencil.
Former binding of brown Russia leather label fixed to spine (not photographed) with an adhesive, the shelfmark 'MS 416' tooled in gold on the label.
History
Date and place of production based on palaeographical features.
Provenance and Acquisition
Given (?to Ely Cathedral Priory) by a William de Stradesete : donation inscription (with unnamed beneficiary) in a ?13th-century hand on folio i recto, 'Hunc librum dedit Willelmus sacerdos de stradesete cuius memoriam cum oratione faciat qui in eo legerit' ('The priest William de Stradesete gave this book, he who reads [this book] should remember [him] with prayer'). There is a village called Stradsett in Norfolk, England, approximately 19 miles (30 kilometres) from Ely and it is possible that William may have originated from that village. No biographical details of William are known (a William Ockley was vicar of Stradsett from 1402-?1408 but his lifespan postdates the date at which the donation inscription was written).
Partial names visible on f. 153v under handheld ultraviolet light, now badly rubbed and damaged. The names appear to be in 14th or 15th century hands. What little can be read of the names is as follows:
- Johannes
- Bygh...(?)
- ...(?) styfall(?) ...(?)
- Henr...(?)
Owned by the medieval community of Ely Cathedral Priory during the 15th century, and may have entered its collection as early as the late 12th or early 13th century (see above).
The oldest significant provenance evidence for the precise location of the volume
in the medieval period is the
distinctive Ely pressmark (resembling a Roman majuscule numeral II, surmounted by
a cross) in the outer margin of f.
1r. This confirms that the volume was part of the Ely Cathedral Priory collection
by the 15th century, when these marks were added to some of its manuscripts (see CBMLC
4 for further information).
Other Ely manuscripts with the mark include:
Unidentified pressmark at the top of folio i recto, 'F. 6.' in ink at the top of the leaf above the medical recipe and next to the word 'Amularius'. The pressmark conforms to the Bury St Edmunds pressmark format (and that of several other religious houses), i.e., a majuscule letter followed by a Hindu-Arabic number), but the mark in CCCC MS 416 probably postdates the Bury St Edmunds pressmarking campaign by at least a century, nor is it a palaeographical match for any other Bury St Edmunds pressmarks. Further rejection of the 'F. 6.' as a Bury St Edmunds pressmark can be based on the use of an 'F' class at Bury St Edmunds being almost entirely unattested, and the Bury St Edmunds letter classes having a thematic link to the volume by either author or subject, and the letter 'F' not having an obvious relationship to the content of CCCC MS 416.
Unidentified pressmark in the lower margin of f. 2r, '108' in ink.
Bequeathed to Corpus Christi College by Matthew Parker (1504-1575) .
Additional Information
Record Sources
Availability
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Custodial History
Bibliography
Funding of Cataloguing
Wellcome (cataloguing).
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (digital images).
Digital Images
Abbreviations
View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.
