Shelfmark
MS 5
Author
Ambrose Saint, Bishop of Milan
Uniform title
[Expositio Psalmi CXVIII]
Title
Commentary on Psalm 118 [manuscript]
Varying form of title
Title in M.R. James catalogue: S. Ambrosius super beati immaculati
Varying form of title
Title in Ker, MMBL: Ambrosius, In Ps. 118
Publication, distribution, etc.
France?, 1150-1200.
Physical description
1 v. : ill. ; c.353 x 225 mm.
Language
Written in Latin.
Note
Secundo folio: per uinum.
Note
Material: membrane; Gregory's rule FHHF.
Note
Format: codex.
Note
Written space: 240/260 x 145/178 mm.
Note
Number of leaves: i + 159 + i.
Note
Accompanying material: the manuscript waste in this volume belongs to a manuscript written in England in the second half of the 14th century. Its leaves were used by Eton's binder, Williamson, in the early 17th century in this and other volumes, prompting N.R. Ker to hypothesise that they may represent the remnants of the listed item "concordaunce of ii partes" in Eton's 1465 inventory (transcribed by M.R. James, 1921, p. 443).
Note
Collation: 1-19⁸ 20⁶ + 1 leaf.
Note
Quire and leaf signatures, catchwords: none.
Note
Page preparation: ruled in ink; pricking often visible on both margins.
Note
Mise-en-page: double columns (32-34 lines) written in a set script. Rubrics. Guide letters of minor initials in the margin. Maniculae. Visual cues added in the margin to highlight biblical quotes.
Note
Decoration: illuminated initial on f.1r (14 lines) in green, red, and yellow with an interlaced design. At the bottom of the leaf, a red "V" initial has been partially trimmed out. Green and red smaller initials (2-5 lines), sometimes with arabesque finials and pen flourishes. Descenders of last ruled line sometimes elongated into pen flourishes (e.g. ff.23v, 24r, 24v). Nota ligatures with elongated ascenders or descenders (2-9 lines), sometimes with added red decorations.
Note
Handwriting: littera praegothica; possibly two scribal hands. N.R. Ker noticed: " 'g' is flat topped in the first quire only and 8-shaped first in the first column of f. 8v and regularly from f. 9; two forms of 't'; a tag on 'i' at the foot" (p. 635).
Note
Abbreviation and punctuation: diphthong æ abbreviated as e with cedilla; use of both "&" and Tironian nota for "et". Punctuation includes puncti, puncti elevati, versi, and flexi.
Note
Minor corrections adding missing letters or words.
Note
Marginalia, later additions: few signposts written by the scribe of the main text, usually enclosed by lines and in one case written in red (f.8v). A 15th-century secretary hand added brief notes throughout -- possibly Robert Elyot's (Ker, p. 631). An early modern hand added a "title" for this volume on f.1r.
Formatted contents note
Contents: ff.i, 160, rear pastedown: letter E of the "Concordantiae maiores" (Egressus-Eleuare; Enutrire-Equus); ff.1-159: Ambrose of Milan, In psalmum David cxviii expositio.
Citation/references note
N.R. Ker, Medieval manuscripts in British libraries, v. 2 (1977), pp. 634-635
Citation/references note
M.R. James, A descriptive catalogue of the manuscripts in the library of Eton College (1895), p. 4
Citation/references note
M.R. James, 'Chapel inventories', Etoniana, series I, no. 28 (1921), pp. 441-448
Citation/references note
Patrologia latina, XV, cols. 1197-1526A
Citation/references note
F. Stegmüller, Repertorium biblicum medii aevi, no. 3605
Cite as
Eton College Library, MS 5.
Provenance
Origin: possibly northern France. A 2-line erasure follows the explicit on f. 159v.
Provenance
Provenance: ex libris on front pastedown reads "Liber Collegii de Eton ex dono magistri Roberti Elyo(t) anno domini 1501º" (i.e. Robert Elyot, Vice Provost of Eton, d. January 1499). This pastedown was retained from the old binding, suggested by the worm holes that do not match the current one. The volume does not seem to be listed in the 1531/2 Eton inventory (James, 1921, pp. 445-447). Former ECL shelfmarks: Bk.1.5, Bk.5.1.
Binding
Early 17th-century polished calfskin over wood boards by Williamson of Eton in 1600-1601. Covers decorated with "a frame of two bands of Herculis -- Vena [i.e. Venus]. The narrow panel is divided by horizontal three-line fillets into three compartments. The top and bottom compartment are filled a criss-cross of diagonal fillets. The centre compartment has Williamson's stamps III and V. The same stamps decorate the spaces outside the frame. At the centre corners of the frame, Williamson stamp IV. The roll has been applied along the inside of the bevel. Clasps on upper cover." (from the personal notes of Robert Birley - Bindings, II, n.180). Spine with three raised bands, rebacked. Blind fillets and titling over red label ("Ambros in Psalm.118."); modern shelf label. Textblock sprinkled red. Endpapers of laid paper and manuscript waste.
Subject
Bible. Psalms, CXVIII Commentaries Manuscripts.
Added entry--name
Williamson, Vincent binder.
Added entry--name
Elyot, Robert, ? - 1499 former owner.
Added entry--place
France.
Language code
lat
Identifier
B49956