The Ormulum in the Seventeenth Century:The Manuscript and Its Early Readers

The most recent edition of the Ormulum by Robert Holt (The Ormulum, with the notes and glossary of Dr. R. M. White, OUP, Oxford, 1878) pays little or no attention to its seventeenth-century readers and owners: the philologists Jan van Vliet (1622–1666) and Francis Junius (1591–1677). This study aims to fill this lacuna in the reception history of the Ormulum by analysing the study of the Ormulum in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The results show a vivid and imaginative approach to the Ormulum by its first active student, Jan van Vliet, who discovered its metrical qualities and studied its lexicon. Despite a declining interest in the Ormulum by later scholars, the activities and ideas of its early readers have been a lasting influence on the reception of this unique text

Lincoln Cathedral Library MS 182: Bede, "Homilies on the Gospels"

160. Lincoln Cathedral Library MS 182 Bede, "Homilies on the Gospels" [Ker 124, Gneuss 274] HISTORY: A late 10c or early 11c English manuscript. Its origin is disputed: Gneuss (no. 274), following Bishop (1967: 73-74), believes that it was written at Abingdon, a claim which is disputed by Dumville (1993: 58, n. 259; 1994: 185-86), while Marsden (1995: 381) mentions Canterbury as a place of origin. It contains Bede's homilies on the Gospels, written between 730 and 735, towards the end of his life, but before the "Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum;' since he writes in HE 5.24 that his two books of Homilies have already been completed. The manuscript was listed as "Bedam xlix omeliarum'' in the 12c catalogue of the manuscripts of Lincoln Cathedral Library, and also occurs in a 15c catalogue of the same library (Ker, Cat., p. 158; 1964: 115; cf. Woolley 1927: v-xiv). The warrant for including this manuscript in the series is that on f. 27v there is an OE scribble, 'gepafa nu; glossing 'Sine modo', perhaps because of the potential ambiguity of the Latin phrase. At least two folios have been removed from the front of the book: the first folio of quire I and a 13c table of contents which is now f. 1 of Lincoln Cathedral Library 184. According to Thomson (1989: 147-48), the table of contents was still part of this manuscript in the 17c, but had been removed by ca. 1833, as indicated by Richard Garvey's manuscript catalogue

The Hague, Koninklijke Bibliotheek 133 D 22: Ælfric, "Catholic Homilies" I (fragments from three homilies) with 150. Copenhagen, Kongelige Biblioteket Acc. 1996/12 152a. Copenhagen, Rigsarkivet Middelaldersamlingen Aftagne Frag. Nr. 637-698

136. The Hague, Koninklijke Bibliotheek 133 D 22 Ælfric, "Catholic Homilies" I (fragments from three homilies) with 150. Copenhagen, Kongelige Biblioteket Acc. 1996/12 152a. Copenhagen, Rigsarkivet Middelaldersamlingen Aftagne Frag. Nr. 637-698 [Ker 118, Gneuss 830] HISTORY: Nine strips of parchment cut from the leaves of an A-S manuscript dating from the first half of the 11c, containing Ælfric's "Catholic Homilies:' The strips derive from three homilies which "only occur together elsewhere in the four complete copies of the first series" (Ker, Cat., p. 155; cf. Ker nos. 15, 43, 220, 257). This copy is Clemoes' "fe' On a paper wrapping it is written that Ph. L. van den Bergh, Archivist-General of the Netherlands, donated the strips to the Royal Library on 24 October 1861. Paleographical and codicological evidence has strongly favored the claim that a collection of 62 similar fragments from the Copenhagen State Archive, plus seven more recently noticed fragments from a single leaf now in the Royal Library, Copenhagen (Copenhagen, Rigsarkivet binding fragments 637-698 [152a], + Copenhagen, Kongelige Biblioteket Acc. 1996/12 [ISO], edited and published by Fausbøll 1986 + 1995), are from the same manuscript (Dumville 1989: 132-34). The Copenhagen Rigsarkiv fragments were taken from bindings of the collected papers of Peder Charisius, Danish resident minister in The Hague from 1651 to 1669. It is very likely that the Hague fragments were used by the same binder who bound the papers of Peder Charisius, presumably in 1657. The manuscript would therefore have been in The Hague in the 1650s. A few marginalia in the Copenhagen fragments, most likely dating from the 17c, indicate that before they were made into binding strips they had been in the possession of an antiquarian. For further information on these fragments and their context consult the descriptions of 150 and 152a

Leiden, Universiteitsbibliotheek Vossianus Lat. F. 24: "Abavus maior" and other glossaries

156. Leiden, Universiteitsbibliotheek Vossianus Lat. F. 24 "Abavus maior" and other glossaries [Ker, App. 17; Gneuss -] HISTORY: The manuscript dates from the late 9c or early 10c and according to Bischoff, on the basis of the dotted 'Z' on f. 103v/8d, originates from western France or Brittany (Bischoff 1974: 233, n. 1), a conclusion indicated also by about a dozen l lc marginal glosses in Old Breton (Fleuriot 1964: 5), but there are no other clues as to its exact provenance. In the early 17c it belonged to the Paris scholar Paul Petau, whose son Alexander sold his father's enormous library to Queen Christina of Sweden in 1650. The Dutch philologist Isaac Vossius, who had concluded this transaction for the queen, became the next owner of the book after he received a selection of Christina's library by way of remuneration for her debts. After Vossius's death in 1689, the curators of Leiden University purchased his library, by then in Windsor, and shipped it to its present location. Old shelfmark Vossius 38 (f. lr)

Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Laud Misc. 413 (970): Reginald of Durham, "Vita et Miracula Sancti Godrici"

397. Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Laud Misc. 413 (970) Reginald of Durham, "Vita et Miracula Sancti Godrici" [Ker 342, Gneuss -] HISTORY: "The Life and Miracles of Saint Godric" (ca. 1070-1170), the founder of Finchale, by Reginald of Durham or Coldingham (fl. 1170), in a manuscript dating from the second half of the 12c (Ker, Cat., 419). Prior Thomas of Durham ( ca. 1158-1163) and the monk Ailrred of Rievaulx ( d. 1166) commissioned the hagiographer Reginald to record the life of Saint Godric, a holy man who had settled down as a visionary at Finchale after a life of traveling. For the purpose of recording his life Reginald visited the saint himself. The text in this manuscript is the third, and fullest, recension, the first being found in British Library MS Harley 322 and the second in Harley 153, according to its editor, Stevenson (1847: ix-xi, xv-xi). Although Godric was reportedly almost illiterate (Tudor 2004), he composed three English hymns, one to the Virgin Mary, one to Christ and Mary, and one to St. Nicholas. The first two of these are recorded in MS Laud Misc. 413, and in British Library MSS Harley 153 and Royal 5 F viii; the first Godric hymn occurs in Cambridge University Library Mm. 4.28 [108) (Ker, Catalogue, 28); all three also occur in a French manuscript: Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale MS Mazarine 1716 (Barratt 1985: 440). These lyrics are among the earliest ME lyrics to have been preserved. The text is very lightly glossed in Latin, and there is an OE gloss on f. 52r which warrants the inclusion of this manuscript in the series. An erased ex-libris of Durham Cathedral from the 14c on f. lr of the manuscript shows that it was there at the time (Ker, Cat., p. 419; Coxe/Hunt 1885/1973: 561). In the 17c it belonged to Anthony Maxton, prebendary at Durham from 1633 to 1641, who gave it to the Essex-born churchman and Durham prebendary Augustine Lindsell, bishop of Peterborough and, later, of Hereford (d. 1634). Lindsell firmly supported the policies of Archbishop Laud, to whom he also dedicated his edition of Theophylact's commentaries on St. Paul's Epistles. It is not unlikely, therefore, that he gave the book to Laud, to whom it belonged in 1633. Laud in turn donated it to the Bodleian Library in 1635. There is an old shelfmark 'E.47' on f. i verso. In its medieval binding, the manuscript containing the "Vita" is preceded and followed by quires from a 13c manuscript containing, according to the Laudian Catalogue (Coxe/Hunt 1885/1973: 303), glosses on the Latin translation of De urinis by the 7c Byzantine scholar Theophilus Protospatharius. This theoretical exposition on uroscopy became popular in Western Europe in the 12c and was the basis of several commentaries (Wallis 2000)

Brussels, Bibliotheque Royale 1828-30: Arator; "Hermeneumata Pseudo- Dositheana" and other glossaries, Jerome, "Liber Interpretationis Hebraicorum Nominum': five Latin-Old English glossaries

19. Brussels, Bibliotheque Royale 1828-30 (185) Arator; "Hermeneumata Pseudo- Dositheana" and other glossaries, Jerome, "Liber Interpretationis Hebraicorum Nominum': five Latin-Old English glossaries [Ker 9, Gneuss 807] HISTORY: A composite manuscript of two parts, of which the older part (ff. 36-109) was presumably made in England in the first half of the llc. It contains collections of glosses, some of which were derived from the "Hermeneumata Pseudo-Dositheana" (type b [Gneuss 2003: 304)) and the "Liber Glossarum;' an early medieval monastic encyclopedia based mainly on the works of Isidore of Seville, and completed with material from other authors (Goetz 1891; 1892: xxvi-xxvii). A 12c copy of Arator's "Historia apostolica" (text ofClassis III, codices deteriores [McKinlay 1951: xiv-xv)) was added later, but before 1574 when, according to an inscription on f. 1 'Ex bibliotheca Aquicinctensi 1574', the entire manuscript belonged to the Abbey of Anchin, near Douai. Later the manuscript formed part of the collection of the Bollandists ('+ ms. 64: f. lr), from where it passed to the Bibliotheque de Bourgogne, Brussels, in 1773. In 1837 this collection came to form part of the Royal Library. In 1833, tracings of the Old English glossaries on ff. 50, 94, 95 were made for the Record Commission and were given to the British Museum in 1834 (now BL, MS Add. 9386). The manuscript was rebound and restored in 1979 by M. J. Marchand

London, British Library, Additional 32246: "Excerptiones de Prisciano': Antwerp-London Glossary (with Antwerp, Plantin-Moretus Museum MS 16.2 [4])

164. London, British Library, Additional 32246 "Excerptiones de Prisciano': Antwerp-London Glossary (with Antwerp, Plantin-Moretus Museum MS 16.2 (4]) [Ker 2, Gneuss 775] HISTORY: For the history and the complete disposition of the original manuscript, see the description of [4]. On second modern paper front fly, 'Purch'd of J. H. Sullivan | 23 Feb. 1884

Brussels, Bibliotheque Royale 1650: Aldhelm, prose "De laude virginitatis" with glosses in Latin and OE

18. Brussels, Bibliotheque Royale 1650 (1520) Aldhelm, prose "De laude virginitatis" with glosses in Latin and OE [Ker 8, Gneuss 806] HISTORY: The manuscript dates from the 10c or early 11c, and was written in England. It has traditionally been associated with Abingdon (see Ker, Cat., p. 3; Gneuss; Goossens 1974: 7; Porter 1996: 164), but Gwara (1997: 365) has suggested Canterbury as a likely place of origin, on account of its "style IV Anglo-Caroline script;' and because some of its glosses were copied into what is now BL, MS Royal D.xxiv, a Canterbury manuscript, though almost certainly from Abingdon. The text of the prose "De laude virginitatis" is Ehwald's "B''. Ker believed on the basis of two identical glossing hands that, at the time, it formed one manuscript with Antwerp, Plantin Moretus Museum, MSS 16.2 (4] and 16.8 [5], and London, BL, MS Add. 32246 [164]. The Aldhelm glosses, above 5000, in four different hands, date from the first half of the 11 c. In an extensive discussion of the glosses, Gretsch ( 1999: 132-84) does not confirm an Abingdon provenance, but concludes that the corpus of glosses is the accumulation of layers of work by several generations of scholars, and of the OE glosses, the most important contribution is by that of the latest hand, which she calls "CD''. According to Goossens (1974: 7, 16-27) the glosses were indeed written at Abingdon; they were copied almost verbatim in what is now Oxford, Bodleian Library, Digby 146 (1747) (370], also an Abingdon manuscript which remained at the Abbey until the Dissolution. It is not known when the manuscript was shipped to the continent, but notes in MS Plantin 16.8 show that that manuscript was still in England in the 16c (Ker, Cat., p. 3). Notes on flyleaf ivr (2r) mentioning works by the 16c scholars Johannes Trithemius (1482-1516) and John Bale (1495-1563) suggest that humanists studied it in the middle of the 16c. It is known to have belonged to the Antwerp cartographer and scholar Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598) (van Langenhove 1941: 10; Goossens 1974: 8); afterwards, it ended up in the possession of the Antwerp Jesuits (f. lr 'Collegae soc. Jesu Antuerp' D.P.'). It was studied by the humanist Jesuit Andreas Schottus (1552-1629) (Ker, Cat., p. 7; Goossens 1974: 8), who mentions on the flyleaf (iii r) that the manuscript had been brought from England where it had escaped the iconoclasts' flames, and that he had put the quires in the right order. Marginalia from the later Middle Ages indicate that several quires had been misbound. Indeed, Ker holds that the four manuscripts mentioned above once formed one volume; they must have been separated sometime during the end of the 16c. Later this manuscript almost certainly formed part of the library of the Bollandists because in 1773 it passed to the Bibliotheque de Bourgogne in Brussels, which came to form part of the Royal Library in 1837. [Note: The manuscript contains a considerable number of annotations from the 16c and/or early 17c and some from the later Middle Ages: f.iiir a note by Andreas Schottus, 'Huius Aldelmi elogiumf [sic] exstat in catalogo Scriptorum | Britanniae Ballaei'; f. iiiv modern pencil scribbles; f. ivr a biblio-biographical note on Aldhelm, in a 16c hand, 'ALDELMVS BLADVINVS, Yna Visisaxonum seu Occidentalium Anglorum | regis: with Schottus writing at the top: 'Pone et Verba Trithemij. | Ex Joh. Baleo: and at the bottom: 'Exempla Beatus Aldhelmus Sanctorum Sanctorum [sic] | virginum colligit, & idque exemplo B. Ambrosii | lib. 8 de virginitate, et Eusebii Caesariens. | lib VIII Histor. Ecclesiasticae'; f. 1r mark of ownership of the Antwerp Jesuits: 'Collegii Soc. Jesu. Antuerp. | D<omus> P<rofessa>' (ed. Goossens 1974: 6). The text also contains miscellaneous 16c or early 17c additions and corrections, identifying the title, f. lr, and the chapters, e.g. f. lr 'cAP. ,:, f. 4r 'cAP. m'; identifying sources of the text, e.g. f. 2r 'Virg. VIII. lEn. ver. 596'; correcting medieval Latin idiosyncrasies, e.g. f. 14r/17 'supp<re>ma<m>' with the first p crossed out; f. 27/20 'BABILLO' has the last three letters expunged and replaced by 'LA'; titles of sections were sometimes added, e.g. on ff. 45v/2, 46r/ll, 46vl9, 48r/13. On ff. 8v, 16v, 32v notes in a late medieval hand indicate the correct order of the quires by referring to the first word of the following page, an indication that several quires were once misbound. On f. 8v this was later crossed out.