Details

Subject(s)

• English literature—Middle English, 1100-1500—Early works to 1800 [Browse]
• Romances—Early works to 1800 [Browse]
• Manuscripts, English (Middle)—New Jersey—Princeton [Browse]

Former owner

• Stapleton, Miles, Sir, 1408-1466 [Browse]
• Stapleton, Katherine, 1416-1488 [Browse]
• Lloyd-Anstruther, Robert Hamilton, 1841-1914 [Browse]
• Garrett, Robert, 1875-1961 [Browse]

Donor

Garrett, Robert, 1875-1961 [Browse]

Related name

Princeton University. Library. Manuscript. Garrett MS. 141 [Browse]

Bookseller

Bernard Quaritch (Firm) [Browse]

Rare books genre

• Wooden boards [Browse]
• Embroidered bindings [Browse]
• Velvet bindings [Browse]
• Armorial bindings [Browse]
• Ribbon markers [Browse]

Getty AAT genre

• manuscripts (documents) [Browse]
• decorated initials [Browse]
• line fillings [Browse]

Contains

• Metham, John, active 1448. Treatise on palmistry. [Browse]
• Metham, John, active 1448. Amoryus and Cleopes. [Browse]
• Metham, John, active 1448. Physiognomy. [Browse]
• Metham, John, active 1448. Christmas Day. [Browse]
• Metham, John, active 1448. Days of the moon. [Browse]

Medium/​Support

parchment rdamat

Summary note

Contains the poem Amoryus and Cleopes and several medieval scientific/philosophical treatises, all written by the Norfolk-based writer John Metham.

Notes

• Incipit: [The syens] "Thales mylesyes te qwyche was te fyrst phylysophyre in te cyte of atene ..." -- [Amoryus] "Thys ys te story off a knyght, howe he dyd many wurthy dedys, be te help off a lady te qwyche taught hym to ouercome a meruulus dragon ..." -- [Physonomy] "I rede in te boke te qwyche ys clepyd te pryuyte off phylosophyrys te qwyche was made be te excellent philyosophyr arystotyl ..." -- [Christmas 1] "Howe te yere schuld preue Afftyr tat crystmes day ffallyth vpon ony day off te weke. I rede in olde storiys tis matere folwyng te qwyche was kepte off as a kalender off experte men ..." -- [Days] "As haly wyttnessyth te gret Astrolegere off days namyd cretyk te qwyche he calkyllyd and drof owte be gret conclusyounys off astronomye ..." -- [Christmas 2] "[I] rede in elde volummys tis matere subsequent te qwyche was kepte as a kalendere off helde men in elde tyme but ye the qwyche schal rede preue yt and so yeffe credens ..."
• Explicit: [The syens] "And tus I ende in englysch vndyr te supportacioun off my masterys in tis syens be te scoler Jon metham. Her endyth te syens off cyromancy Quod Jon methan metham." -- [Amoryus] "On haly dayis, to rede, me thynk yt best so. Her endyth te story off amoryus te knyght and of cleopes te lady." -- [Physonomy] "And I te endygter in englysche haue ffolowyd te sentens off te wordys vndyr te supportaciouns off my masterys in tis syens. Quod Jon metham skolere off cambryg amen." -- [Christmas 1] "for tei be conclusyouns labouryd and drawyn be calculation. Quod Jon metham." -- [Days] "ner men be no3t myche vsyd to blede in wynte, noudyr to pase ye see in tempestes qwereffore a consyderation in alle tinges muste be had be dyscrecioun and resun. Quod Jon Metham." -- [Christmas 2] "[I]ff crystemes day ffalle on te ffryday"
• Ms. composite codex.
• Title from printed catalog.
• Collation: Parchment ; fol. i + 87 ; catchwords ; modern foliation in pencil.
• Layout: 28 long lines per page ; ruled.
• Decoration: Five 3- to 8-line initials in red, blue, green and gold with foliate borders, two carrying a crest. Simpler 1- to 4-line red, blue and green initials throughout texts. Line fillers in the shape of dragons, lizards, ducks, birds, a man, shells, and other designs.
• Origin: Produced in East Anglia, starting in 1448 and possibly until 1470.

Binding note

Contemporaneous binding with later additions. England, 15th and 18th century. Embroidered armorial velvet cover over wooden boards (10 mm thick). Parchment pastedowns covered with red silk. Upper cover embroidered with the arms of the Lloyd family (lozenge sable, three horse heads erased argent); lower cover with crest (horse head erased on a wreath, argent and gules). Maroon silk bookmark attached to simulated endbands.

Language note

Middle English;

Script

Anglicana formata; Secretary

Contents

• 1. fol. 1r-11v: The syens off pal[me]strye or cyroman[cy] / Jon Metham.
• 2. fol. 17r-56v: Amoryus the knyght and of Cleopes the lady.
• 3. fol. 57r-75v: [Physonomy] / Jon Metham.
• 4. fol. 78r-78v: [Christmas Day] / Jon Metham.
• 5. fol. 79r-83v: [Days of the moon] / Jon Metham.
• 6. fol. 87r-87v: [Christmas Day].

Show 3 more Contents items

Provenance

The first owners were Sir Miles Stapleton, of Ingham, Norfolk, and his first wife, Katherine de la Pole. Pen trials from the 16th century include the names Wentworth, James Euerarde, Ezekiel Ampleforde, Henry Anslone (or Anslowe), Ashenden, Henry Northumberlande, and Johannes Indogines(?), John hylle; and a late 15th- or early 16th-century reference to the Earl of Southampton. Probably came into the possession of the Lloyd family of Worcestershire circa 1730-1750. Lieutenant Colonel Robert Hamilton Lloyd Anstruther of Hintlesham Hall, Ipswich, Norfolk, sold the manuscript to Bernard Quaritch, who sold it to Robert Garrett (1875-1961), of Baltimore, Maryland, Class of 1897 on 24 September 1903. His gift to Princeton University Library in 1942.

Source acquisition

Gift; of Robert Garrett, Princeton Class of 1897, 1942.

References

• Medieval & Renaissance manuscripts in the Princeton University Library, pages 324-328.
• Ricci, S. de. Census of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts in the United States and Canada, volume 1, page 893.

Other format(s)

Also available in an electronic version.

Place name(s)

England Norfolk

Title from print catalog

Middle English works

OCLC

1044822094

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