MS 494

Summary

Described James Corpus 494; W. Nelson Francis, The Book of Vices and Virtues, EETS 217 (London, 1942), p. xxxiii–xxxiv; Wilkins 494.

[1]

f. 1

… vnauysed he deyeth that lerneth not to deye thu shuldyst lerne to dye if thu kowdest wel lefe i [sic] neuere ne shal he kunne deye that ne lerneth nowth and he ys be ryght called a wrechche that kan not leve ne dar not dye …

f. 117^v

… but here shal sende myn matiere to the glory of oure lord to whom be all honour wiche be brynge to hys companye where is euerlastyng lyf amen.

Col: This book compyled & made yn frenssh a frere prechour at the requeste of phylypp the kyng of fraunce the yer of thyncarnacioun of our lord .m^l.cc.lxxix.

An English version of the ‘Somme le Roi’ of Frere Laurent (Laurent de Orléans). Wells Rev. 7:2478 [6] (which recognises eight versions and sees the present text as the sole witness to Version E). IPMEP 668. Jolliffe A.1 (i). These are distinct from the text found in The Book of Vices and Virtues (Wells Rev. 7:2478 [5]). The first quire is lost and the text begins imperfectly. ‘A coment vpon ye pater noster’ in a later hand in the upper margin. Nelson Francis suggested (p. xxxiv) that the present text may be ‘the autograph of a translation made for purely utilitarian purposes, perhaps by a parish priest for his own use’. On the text and the various versions and their owners, see Doyle diss., vol. 1, pp. 70–73.

Other texts: Wells Rev. lists nine MSS belonging to eight versions, but no others containing the present version. Cf. IMEP 4 indexing BodL Douce 322, item [5] (ff. 25^v–26^v), which is Version G, and IMEP 9 indexing BodL Ashmole 1286 [3] (ff. 110–210^v) and [7] (ff. 236–251), which is Version D.

MS s. xv. On f. i^v ‘Ex dono dignissimi viri Johannes Boothe Collegij Corp. X^ti in Cant. dudum socij’. John Booth was matriculated pensioner from Corpus Christi 1621, fellow 1627–40, rector of Bartlow, Cambs. 1640–42, died 7 Feb. 1642–43 (cf. Venn I). The name John Baxtor also occurs (twice) on this page. Prior to James, Corpus, the volume was catalogued with the printed books (as S.P. 40).