Cambridge, Pembroke College, MS 16
Works by Gregory the Great
Contents
Physical Description
21st-century foliation:
i-iii, 1-125
Numbering in pencil.Collation
The manuscript comprises sixteen quires, mostly of eight leaves. There are quires missing after Quire 4 and Quire 14. Folios i and 125 were formerly pastedowns, now lifted.
- Quire A4-1 (ff. i-iii: 2nd leaf, after f. i recto, missing).
- Quires 1-88 (ff. 1-64)
- Quire 98-1 (ff. 65-71: 3rd leaf, after f. 66, missing)
- Quires 10-158 (ff. 72-119)
- Quire 166 (ff. 120-125
No leaf signatures.
No quire signatures.
Catchwords, often situated in the middle of the leaf.Layout
225 × 160 mm. Two columns, 32 lines, ruled in leadpoint. Pricked in both margins. Written above top line.
Paratext: each column is subdivided by short sequences of letters (a, b, c and sometimes d), written in the margins in pencil, perhaps keyed to an index not in this manuscript. (ff. ii recto-123r).
Hand(s)
A single expert scribe, writing English protogothic bookhand.
Decoration
Decoration in the Bury style.
Handsome large initials open the Gospel reading and each book, outlined in the same ink as the text, tinted in red, green, purple and yellow. The following are historiated:
- 19v: Virgin and Child, Adoration of the Magi
- 30r: Hercules and the Nemean lion
- 47r: two men with shields
- 63r: man playing the fiddle
- 70r: king reveres Christ
- 71v: Christ appears to the disciples
- 90v: man seated
- 102v: man with arrow, fighting dragon
- 112v: man entangled with foliage
Initials excised on ff. ii recto, 29v, 32v and 86v.
Same style as above, but decorated with dragons, monsters, etc (ff. 3v, 6r, 17r, 19v, 32r, 41v, 54r, 63r, 71v, 82v, 86r, 108r, 112v).
Small initials, plain or arabesqued in red, green and yellow (or combinations thereof).
Additions
In the upper margin of 26r is pencilled 'Mureligus bene'.
At several points (e.g. ff. 24v 27v, 'scribitur' is pencilled in the margins.
Binding
Original, repaired by Douglas Cockerell and Son in 1973: tawed skin over flush, chamfered oak boards, sewn on three bands slightly raised on the flat spine; spine repaired; tabs at each end, replaced by kept separately, originally lined with greenish-gold textile. Mark of a chain-staple at the foot of the front cover. Formerly straps: one from a recess in the front board, the other fixed by a brass rivet to the rear. Pressmark and title on the old spine.
Folio i was formerly a pastedown.
History
The manuscript was made and kept at the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds .
Provenance and Acquisition
Recorded in a 12th-century book-list of the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds (CBMLC 4, B13.171).
Ex libris, title and pressmark (G.8), written by the hand of Henry Kirkestede (c. 1314-c. 1379) (f. 1r).
Given to
Pembroke College, Cambridge
in 1599 by
William Smart (d. 1599)
.
Additional Information
Record Sources
Availability
Researchers should note that Pembroke College's western European medieval manuscripts are housed at Cambridge University Library. Scholars who wish to consult Pembroke College manuscripts should contact the Special Collections Reading Room to arrange their visit; all University Library admissions procedures will apply. For information on eligibility and admissions procedures, see Joining the Library. For further enquiries, and to confirm the availability of the manuscript, please contact the Special Collections Reading Room.
Bibliography
-
A descriptive catalogue of the manuscripts in the library of Pembroke College,
Cambridge, James, M.R. (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1905)
The library and archives of Bury St Edmunds abbey, Thomson, Rodney M. (1974, unpublished PhD dissertation)
Romanesque manuscripts, 1066-1190 A Survey of manuscripts illuminated in the British
Isles, Kauffmann, C. M. (London, H. Miller, 1975)
The Scriptorium of Bury St. Edmunds in the twelfth century Outstanding theses from
the Courtauld Institute of Art, McLachlan, Elizabeth Parker (New York, Garland, 1984)
Répertoire des manuscrits des homélies sur l'Évangile de saint Grégoire le
Grand Sacris Erudiri, Étaix, R. (36, 107-145, 1996)
Some manuscripts in Cambridge from Bury St Edmunds Abbey: exhibition
catalogue Bury St Edmunds: medieval art, architecture, archaeology and economy British
Archaeological Association conference transactions, Gransden, Antonia ([S.l.], 228-285, British Archaeological Association, 1998)
Bibliotheca Gregorii Magni manuscripta: censimento dei manoscritti di Gregorio
Magno e della sua fortuna (epitomi, florilegi, agiografie, liturgia) = census of
manuscripts of Gregory the Great and his fortune (epitomes, anthologies, hagiographies,
liturgy) Bibliotheca Gregorii Magni manuscripta Biblioteche e archivi, (Firenze, SISMEL - Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2015)
Digital Images
Abbreviations
View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.
