Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

A catalogue of Western manuscripts and papyri at Cambridge University Library, the Fitzwilliam Museum and selected Cambridge colleges

Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 623/389

Diktyon no.: >Diktyon 77765

Contents

Introduction: This manuscript, probably produced around 1748, consists largely of Greek poetic and dramatic texts copied from printed editions, together with the Latin translation given in those editions, and annotations on the facing pages. The texts include fragments of Sophocles published in the early 17th century by Hugo Grotius, and excerpts from other authors taken from another collection by Grotius and from the 16th-century anthology of Ioannes Stobaeus. It was the work of William Peirs (1661-c. 1760), who was a Fellow of Emmanuel College in 1690-1712 and subsequently rector of North Cadbury in Somerset. The manuscript also contains lexicographical notes on Greek words and a number of brief texts in Latin and English, including poems, documents relating to the history of Cambridge University in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and prayers for use in university settings. There are also notes on Peirs's family history and heraldry. Dr Christopher Wright

Language(s): Greek, Latin and English

1. f. [1]r
Language(s): Latin
Prayer to precede and follow lectures
1. f. [1]r
Language(s): Latin
Grace at Emmanuel College
2. f. [1]v
Language(s): English
Notes on the heraldry of the ancestors of William Peirs
3. ff. [1]v-[2]r
Language(s): English
Biographical notes on William Peirs and his ancestors
4. f. [2]r
Language(s): Latin
Oath of matriculation
5. f. [2]r-[2]v
Language(s): English
List of Vice-Chancellors of Cambridge University 1679-1748
6. f. [3]r
Language(s): English
Proclamation by Vice-Chancellor Roderick regarding a disturbance in Cambridge

Dated 7 March 1709/10

7. ff. [3]r-[4]r
Language(s): English and Latin
Poems
8. f. [4]v
Language(s): English
Speech to the Duke of Monmouth on his appointment as Chancellor of Cambridge University

Dated 1674

9. f. [5]r
Language(s): English
Letter from Charles II recommending the appointment of the Duke of Albemarle as Chancellor of Cambridge University

Dated 4 April 1682

10. f. [5]v
Language(s): English
Letter from the Duke of Somerset to the Vice-Chancellor regarding the establishment of a press in Cambridge

Dated 16 September 1695

11. ff. [6]r-[20]r
Language(s): Greek and Latin
Sophocles, Fragmenta
Filiation: Copied from Hugo Grotius (ed. and tr.),Excerpta ex Tragoediis et Comediis Graecis tume quae extant tum quae perierunt (Paris 1626)

Greek text and Latin translation in two columns on the recto, notes on the facing verso

TLG 0011.008

12. ff. [20]v-[22]r
Language(s): Greek and Latin
Notes on texts in Hugo Grotius (ed. and tr.),Dicta poetarum quae apud Jo. Stobaeum exstant (Paris 1623)

ff. [22]v-[23]r are blank

13. f. [23]v
Language(s): Greek and Latin
Excerpts of poetry
Filiation: Excerpted from Hugo Grotius (ed. and tr.),Dicta poetarum quae apud Jo. Stobaeum exstant (Paris 1623)
14. f. [24]r
Language(s): Latin
List of authors

Authors included in Hugo Grotius (ed. and tr.),Dicta poetarum quae apud Jo. Stobaeum exstant (Paris 1623)

15. ff. [24]v-[45]r
Language(s): Greek and Latin
Excerpts of poetry
Filiation: Excerpted from Hugo Grotius (ed. and tr.),Dicta poetarum quae apud Jo. Stobaeum exstant (Paris 1623)

Greek text and Latin translation in two columns on the recto, notes on the facing verso

16. ff. [46]r-[47]v
Language(s): Latin
Poem
Incipit: f. [46]r Luce o flavia mihi plus Dilecto Corinnam Ayloffi, Legum Decus, idem et Maxima Custos
Explicit: f. [47]v Nympharum Decus Italidum, Divina Lycoris
15. ff. [45]r, [48]r-[53]r
Language(s): Greek and Latin
Excerpts of poetry
Filiation: Excerpted from Ioannis Stobaeus, Florilegium (Antwerp 1575)

Greek text and Latin translation in two columns on the recto, notes on the facing verso

15. ff. [55]v-[53]r
Language(s): Greek and Latin
Lexicographical notes

Written from the right-hand end of the manuscript

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: ff. [1-8], [13-20] Western paper, folded in folio. Watermark: Coat of arms (Fleur-de-lys) ( 78 × 55 mm. ) in the centre of the folio. ff. [9-12], [21-23], [44-45] Western paper, folded in folio. Watermark: Coat of arms (London) ( 63 × 58 mm. ) in the centre of the folio, comparable to but substantially different from Heawood 454-473. These examples are dated to 1698-1725. ff. [24-43] Western paper, folded in folio. Watermark: Coat of arms (Fleur-de-lys) ( 63 × 46 mm. ) in the centre of the folio, comparable to but substantially different from Heawood 1670. This example is dated to 1683. ff. [46-47] Western paper, folded in folio. Watermark: Coat of arms (Fleur-de-lys) ( 92 × 55 mm. ) in the centre of the folio, comparable to but not identical to Heawood 1651-1652. ff. [48-55] Western paper, folded in folio. Watermark: Coat of arms (Orange) ( 93 × 83 mm. ) in the centre of the folio, comparable to but substantially different from Heawood 357, 361. These examples are dated to 1696-1700.
Extent: Codex: ii + 55 + ii leaves. 293 × 186 mm.
Foliation: Because of the lack of a coherent numbering sequence and the variety of inconsistent sequences present, folios are numbered in this description according to their actual location in the manuscript. ff. [5-20] are foliated in Arabic numerals, in brown ink, recto, upper right. The numbers 13 and 14 are omitted, so the sequence runs 1-12, 15-18.
Foliation: ff. [26r-48]r are paginated in Arabic numerals, in brown ink, recto, upper right and verso, upper left. The sequence runs 1-45.
Foliation: ff. [49-53] are foliated in Arabic numerals, in brown ink, recto, upper right. The sequence runs 46-50, and therefore represents a continuation of the preceding pagination sequence as foliation. The numbers and accompanying text are by the same hand as before, but the writer presumably resumed work after an interruption, having forgotten the previous practice.
Foliation: ff. [52]v-[55]v are paginated in Arabic numerals, in brown ink, recto, lower right and verso, lower left. These numbers accompany text written inwards from the right-hand end of the manuscript, which is therefore upside-down in relation to the rest of the volume, and the numbers are orientated and sequenced accordingly. The sequence runs 72-77, from right to left.
Foliation: ff. [6-19] are foliated in Arabic numerals, in brown ink, verso, lower left. These numbers proceed from right to left and are upside-down in relation to the dominant orientation of the manuscript, although there is no accompanying text in the corresponding sequence and orientation on these folios. The numbers 33-34 have been omitted, while the sequence skips ff. [10-11], going straight from the number 39 on f. [12]v to 40 on f. [9]v. The sequence runs 30-32, 35-39, 40-43.
Foliation: ff. [6-20] are marked with numbers in Arabic numerals, in red ink, recto, lower right, of uncertain purpose. The sequence runs 47, 28, 26, 24, 31, 15, 31-33, 27, 25, 42, 32, 44, 18.

Collation

The quire structure cannot be definitely determined, and the collation given here is partly conjectural. The manuscript appears to consist of 10 quires, of which two are ternia, one is a binion, one is of three folios, two are single bifolios and the rest are quaternia.

  • Quire 18 ff. [1-8]
  • Quire 24 ff. [9-12]
  • Quire 38 ff. [13-20]
  • Quire 43 ff. [21-23]
  • Quires 5-66 ff. [24-35]
  • Quire 78 ff. [36-43]
  • Quire 82 ff. [44-45]
  • Quire 92 ff. [48-47]
  • Quire 108 ff. [48-55]

Condition

There are occasional small patches of dirt.

Layout

ff. [1]r-[5]v, verso folios from f. [6]v to f. [19]v, ff. [20]r-[23]v, [24]v, [43]v, [44]v, [46]r-[47]v, [52]v, [53]v-[55]v A single column of 1-62 lines. 3-284 × 90-170 mm.

Recto folios from f. [6]r to f. [19]r, ff. [25]r-[43]r, [44]r, [45]r, [48]r-[52]r, [53]r Two columns of 1-49 lines. 3-270 × 175 mm.

f. [24]r Three columns of 48 lines. 172 × 165 mm.

Hand(s)

The Greek text was written in western European-style mixed minuscule script, in brown ink, with very occasional use of red ink (e.g. f. [43]v).

Decoration

Small pieces of simple vegetative ornament in brown ink are used to mark the beginning of sections on ff. [33]v-[34]r.

Binding

18th-century full leather binding, with plain pastedowns. There is decorative blind tooling on both boards, their edges and the spine. The title ‘Miscellanea Cantabrigiensa liber e Peirsii’ is tooled in gold on the spine. The classmarks 623 and 389 are marked on patches of different date on the spine.

310 × 200 × 16 mm.

History

Origin: The manuscript was the work of William Peirs (1661-c. 1760) , former Fellow of Emmanuel College and rector of North Cadbury. It was probably copied in 1748 or shortly thereafter, as the annual list of Vice-Chancellors it contains ends with that year (f. 2v), and this is consistent with its other characteristics.

Provenance and Acquisition

Acquired from the collection of J. Britton in 1846.

Additional Information

Availability

Visitors to Gonville and Caius College who wish to consult Lower Library material are required to apply to the Library in advance of their visit. For information on eligibility and admission procedures see: Gonville and Caius College: Library Information.

Bibliography

    A descriptive catalogue of the manuscripts in the library of Gonville and Caius College, James, M. R. (Cambridge, 2, University Press, 1908)

Funding of Cataloguing

The Polonsky Foundation

Digital Images

Cambridge Digital Library

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