A Gathering of Medieval English Manuscripts: The Takamiya Collection at the Beinecke Library

Table of contents :
7 Acknowledgments
9 The Takamiya Collection of Medieval Manuscripts
19 Devotional Manuscripts
33 Theological and Biblical Manuscripts 51 Historical Manuscripts
69 Literary Manuscripts
85 Medical and Scientific Manuscripts 93 Documents and Legal Manuscripts
107 Heraldic Manuscripts
113 Appendix 1: A Listing in Call Number Order 117 Appendix 2: A Listing by Language

Citation preview

Clemens, Ducharme, Ulrich The Takamiya Collection at the Beinecke Library

A Gathering of Medieval English Manuscripts The Takamiya Collection at the Beinecke Library

Raymond Clemens, Diane Ducharme, Emily Ulrich

Yale University

A Gathering of Medieval English Manuscripts The Takamiya Collection at the Beinecke Library

A Gathering of Medieval English Manuscripts The Takamiya Collection at the Beinecke Library

Raymond Clemens, Diane Ducharme, Emily Ulrich Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University September 2017

Contents

7

Acknowledgments

9

The Takamiya Collection of Medieval Manuscripts

19

Devotional Manuscripts

33

Theological and Biblical Manuscripts

51

Historical Manuscripts

69

Literary Manuscripts

85

Medical and Scientific Manuscripts

93

Documents and Legal Manuscripts

107

Heraldic Manuscripts

113

Appendix 1: A Listing in Call Number Order

117

Appendix 2: A Listing by Language

Acknowledgments

The 2017 Takamiya Collection exhibition and this accompanying book owe everything, from conception to fruition, to Professor Toshiyuki Takamiya, whose unparalleled collection of English manuscripts has made the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library a hub of scholarly activity in the field since 2013, when he deposited the materials here. His sense of collegiality inspired his choice of the Beinecke as the repository for his collection, recognizing the library’s ability to maximize the collection’s accessibility to scholars. We appreciate his patience and generosity in answering our many questions and sharing childhood photographs. The authors of this book also wish to acknowledge a deep debt to Richard A. Linenthal; to varying degrees, many of the entries are based on his descriptions. Richard also provided great help in putting together the biographical section and has supported communication between the library and Professor Takamiya. Professor Tony Edwards generously provided updates from his published handlist of Takamiya manuscripts. So many have lent their expertise to this project. Rebecca Martz designed the book and assisted in its construction at every point. Brian Hotchkiss served as editor; any infelicities that may remain are our own. Yale graduate students Anya Adair, Eric Ensley, Gina Hurley, Alexandra Reider, and Joseph Stadolnik provided supporting research. The sharp photographs in this book are the work of the Beinecke Digital Studio led by Rebecca Hirsch and senior photographers David Driscoll, Robert Halloran, and Meredith Miller. We are grateful for Head of Technical Services Matthew Beacom’s continuing advice and participation in planning for this catalogue. In Access Services, Moira Fitzgerald, Anna Franz, Ingrid Lennon-Pressey, and John Monahan assisted us time and again in locating and transporting all of the manuscripts across four departments distributed between two buildings a mile apart. Olivia Hillmer facilitated the movement and careful tracking of materials required for this catalogue as well as the exhibition of the Takamiya Collection. Conservation staff Karen Jutzi, Marie-France Lemay, Christine McCarthy, Kerri Sancomb, and Paula Zyats ensured that the manuscripts were well cared for and expertly repaired in advance of the exhibition. Edward Potten and Michal Ditzian provided additional copyediting. Edwin C. Schroeder, director of the Beinecke Library, supported this project from its outset. He and Kathryn James, curator of the library’s Early Modern and Osborn collections, were instrumental in bringing the Takamiya Collection to the Beinecke Library. Their leadership has greatly augmented our collections. The pages that follow include images and brief descriptions of all the manuscripts formerly owned by Toshiyuki Takamiya that now reside permanently in the Beinecke Library. We have organized this book by genre, rather than date or shelf list, to enable readers looking for specific manuscripts to gain a sense of the collection as a whole and to highlight the strengths of the Takamiya Collection. The two appendices list the manuscripts by shelf mark and by primary language.

The Takamiya Collection of Medieval Manuscripts

On a Sunday afternoon at the end of September 2013, a plain parcel containing three manuscripts of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales was hand-delivered to the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library without ceremony. This unassuming package was the first of many. During the coming weeks and months more than one hundred medieval manuscripts would undertake the long journey from Tokyo to New Haven. The source of these riches was the private library of Toshiyuki Takamiya, professor emeritus of English at Keio University in Tokyo, scholar of medieval English, and one of the greatest private collectors of manuscripts of his generation. Such truly transformative collections—those that single-handedly change the direction of a library—are few and far between. The Takamiya Collection is one such. At the start of September 2013, the Beinecke Library possessed no manuscript of Chaucer. By the end of that year, however, any serious scholar of English medieval manuscript studies would need to visit Yale. There are those who collect, and there are collectors. To the former, the library is an add-on to their everyday lives, a private place of escape and indulgence. To the latter, the library is their life. Its acquisition and development are central to who they are, at times mirroring their experience, at others memorializing it, but at all times driving that experience. It would be hard to find a better example of such a collector than Toshi Takamiya. The story of his library is so closely intertwined with that of his life, family, studies, scholarship, friendships, and experiences that it is impossible to separate them. Like many of the greatest bibliophiles, Toshi Takamiya was born into neither a collecting family nor one with close ties to the Western tradition (see fig. 1).1 His father, initially a Shinto priest who was unsuited to the priesthood, turned to commerce, building a succession of increasingly successful businesses from a humble start as a seaweed salesman in Hokkaido. Toshi’s mother’s family hailed from Otaru, where they had profited richly from the importation of timber from Siberia for construction. In Yale’s Adrian Van Sinderen Lecture in October 2014, Toshi described to undergraduates how he became a collector, explaining that as a child he collected the sorts of things boys commonly collect, such as coins and stamps, but these endeavors were never systematic or in earnest. The epiphany came when Toshi was 11. His parents took him to Jimbocho, the new- and used-book center in Tokyo, where he found himself surrounded by more than two hundred bookshops and was introduced for the first time to Western antiquarian books (see fig. 2). It is notable that one of his acquisitions that day was a Western biographical dictionary, and his burgeoning interest in Western history and culture was to be honed by his education and experiences as a student. After studying at the acclaimed Azabu High School, Toshi attended Keio University, securing two bachelor’s degrees, one in economics, the other in English. Keio was the natural choice for such an internationally minded student. The founder of Japan’s oldest private university, Yukichi Fukuzawa, had traveled extensively in the 1860s, so the university syllabus had a distinctly Western slant. It also had longstanding connections with the United States, and it was through these connections that Toshi undertook the first of two seminal trips to the United States, both of which affected him deeply, albeit for very different reasons. In 1963, Toshi joined a group of undergraduates from Keio University who attended a six-week-long summer session at Western Michigan University in

11 The Takamiya Collection

Fig. 1. Toshi Takamiya (age 14) and Hideo, his younger brother (age 13), both in school uniform, paying a visit to Meiji Shrine on New Year’s Day 1958

Kalamazoo, which some years later would become the home of the International Congress on Medieval Studies. In 1963, Japan was on the cusp of its transformation into a modern nation, due in large part to the catalyst of the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. However, the nation was still deeply scarred by the destruction of World War II:

Fig. 2. Toshi Takamiya reading in his parents’ home at age 15, when he already collected Japanese books

In postwar Japan social infrastructures remained almost “medieval.” Remarkable as it now seems, carrier pigeons were still regularly used by the Asahi Newspaper Company as a means of communication, and Tokyo still lacked a functioning, modern sewerage system. With the successful hosting of the Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964, however, Japanese society was transformed overnight. Narrow roads were widened, wooden houses were demolished and replaced with utilitarian concrete buildings, new motorway networks were built and the now-famous Shinkansen bullet trains were launched.2 Toshi fondly describes a long Greyhound bus journey from Seattle, Washington, to Kalamazoo, Michigan, that stopped every few hours for bathroom breaks and every eight hours for driver changes. This three-day trip exposed him to landmarks of the American West, the Rocky Mountains, and the Great Plains, but it is the less monumental experiences that evoke the fondest memories. The young, and somewhat dashing, Japanese student participated in social dancing classes, learning the latest moves at the Friday night dances held in the student dorms, and indulged in pizza and bowling, two American pastimes not yet available in Japan (fig. 3). It was a remarkable cultural experience that took place at the height of America’s faith in itself and in progress, the summer before the nation was transformed by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November. Takamiya’s second trip to the United States, in 1966, could not have been more different. While his first visit was that of a student of the language and popular culture of America, his second cast him as an ambassador of Japanese culture. His maternal grandfather had a close connection with a Japanese group that preserved and presented works in the Noh theater tradition, a highly stylized classical musical drama with roots in Japan’s medieval period. Toshi recalls: Before the war, my mother was brought up in a fishing and trading port town, Otaru in Hokkaido. The family house, situated on the top of the hill overlooking the sea, had a Noh stage in the garden, and a group of distinguished Noh actors and musicians used to come to

Fig. 3. The 19-year-old Toshi Takamiya in 1963, near Chicago, during his first visit to the U.S., where he attended a summer session at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo

stay for a month over the summer. It was then fashionable for well-off families’ daughters to learn how to sing, dance, play musical instruments and take part in Noh performances. My mother took private lessons in chanting and playing a drum called an okawa. My father had a talent for Noh chanting, acquired in his university days, and they would sometimes chant together at home, driving their children to distraction with their loud, penetrating voices.3 Because of his family’s close connection with Noh theater, Toshi was asked to serve as an interpreter for the Noh troupe of the Hosho School, one of the five historic schools that traditionally interpret Noh theatre. The troupe had been invited by the U.S. State Department to play 35 performances in the United States and Mexico over 50 days. Despite his family’s connections and his parents’ love of the theater, however, the young man had relatively little knowledge of this traditional Japanese art. With special permission from the Dean of Faculty at Keio University, I left Haneda Airport with a group of Noh actors and musicians, about a dozen in number. They had no knowledge of English whatsoever, whilst I had scant knowledge of Noh. Thus, every day of my itinerary was a revelation to me, and I learnt a great deal from their performances and conversation with them.4 These performances took him to numerous American cities, large and small (including New Haven), and to many universities. After a two-play performance at Columbia University attended by Jerome Robbins and Leonard Bernstein, the New York Times quoted Bernstein’s appraisal, “It was marvelous… I’m crazy about it.” Toshi served as the interpreter between the reporter from the Times and the Noh actors, whose descriptions of their craft were quoted at length in the review.5 It is clear that these experiences in the United States were highly influential. One of Toshi’s lifelong skills has been to bridge the perceived cultural divide between East and West, an ability that has its roots in these early intercontinental trips. Being equally at ease within the culture into which he was born and that which he adopted, he has always naturally assumed the role of cultural ambassador in both public and private life. Toshi’s fascination with Western books began in 1968, when he visited a newly opened branch of Yushodo Bookstore in Tokyo, and his overwhelming memory of this visit is telling: He was captivated by the sheer physicality of Western books, their heavy leather bindings wholly unlike the lighter materials, delicate stitching, and fine

13 The Takamiya Collection

papers familiar from Japanese books and scrolls. This visit sowed the first seeds of his interest in Western bibliography, but perhaps more importantly also of the interest in the material book so evident throughout Toshi’s academic and collecting career. He credits this first purchase—a handsome and unusual Latin Bible produced in Paris in the thirteenth century (Takamiya MS 1)—with igniting his passion for medieval books. Intriguingly, however, in some regards Takamiya MS 1 is quite unlike the manuscripts he later would become famous for collecting. Ignoring the innovation of the “Paris Bible,” which incorporated all the books of the Bible in a single volume, Takamiya MS 1 harks back to an earlier period and includes only the prophetic books. It does, however, combine in one object several physical features that appealed to the new collector, most notably 18 historiated initials and an extensive gloss that often dwarfs the biblical texts on which it comments. For Toshi, the acquisition of Takamiya MS 1 was a turning point in several ways. Although it is the foundation stone of the library, it simultaneously is a bold statement of confident intent and evidence of the development of the first in a series of enormously important collecting relationships. Some years earlier, Toshi had stumbled across the new Shinjuku premises of Yushodo Bookshop, where he became acquainted with the owner, Mitsuo Nitta, a giant in the Japanese bibliographical world, and Mr. Araki, the store manager, both of whom encouraged the young collector. On his first visit Toshi acquired the famous W. H. Robinson catalogue charting the dispersal of the remains of the Phillipps Collection. The jump from this modest acquisition to Takamiya MS 1 was rapid, in no small part due to these early bibliographical friendships. The importance of one’s circle should not be underestimated, and Toshi’s tastes in collecting were molded by a series of academic mentors and friends. From Jimbocho and Yushodo he had learned to admire the material book, but it was his introduction to Professor Fumio Kuriyagawa at Keio University that helped focus his collecting interests. Kuriyagawa, an expert on Walter Hilton, was a scholar of international esteem whose critical edition of Hilton’s Eight Chapters on Perfection is still in use.6 It was from Kuriyagawa that Toshi learned the critical importance of working on Middle English texts in manuscript form. Indirectly, his professor also taught him another important lesson. Toshi’s second purchase had been an Italian manuscript of Boethius’ De consolatione philosophiae, chosen, as ever, with an eye for contemporary context. Takamiya MS 2, an important and popular text of the later middle ages, was signed by its scribe, Julianus de Levanto, augmented with lavish Italian illuminations, and bound in a contemporary Tuscan binding. It also was a costly purchase from Yushodo, and when Toshi proudly showed the manuscript to Kuriyagawa, his mentor gleefully pointed out the same manuscript in a recent catalogue from Bernard Quaritch, where it was listed at almost half the price Takamiya had just paid for it.7 Toshi really hit his stride with the acquisition of Takamiya MS 3, which combines in one manuscript all of the characteristics that would underpin his future acquisitions: an important text with significant physical features and a notable provenance. Takamiya MS 3 was a landmark acquisition that clearly was influenced by his studies under Kuriyagawa. This Middle English copy of Walter Hilton’s The Scale of Perfection and Of Angels’ Song probably was written in eastern Berkshire in the early fifteenth century; it is in a contemporary binding and has an impeccable provenance: possibly owned first by Syon Abbey, then by the English antiquarian and collector Narcissus Luttrell (1657–1732). Toshi’s acquisition of this Walter Hilton manuscript marks his arrival as a serious collector, and its hallmarks define the Takamiya approach. Even when acquiring fragments, these key elements were always critical. In Toshi’s scholarly life the figures of Chaucer and Malory loom large. His B.A. thesis, directed by Kuriyagawa, focused on the Morte Darthur, and a portion of his M.A. thesis, which tackles the thorny issue of the order of composition in Malory, was

his first published work. In 1973 he acquired his first Chaucer manuscript, Takamiya MS 9, a mid-fifteenth-century copy of A Treatise on the Astrolabe. Hard as it may be to believe today, in the 1970s Middle English textual manuscripts were not a particular focus for collectors and could be acquired relatively reasonably. Toshi happily filled this gap in the market; all three manuscripts of The Canterbury Tales in his collection were acquired in the space of just three years. As so often, one has to marvel at his audacity and prescience. The three very different versions of The Canterbury Tales serve to highlight the enormous significance to Yale of the Takamiya Collection. The Takamiya Chaucers address a major lacuna that otherwise would have been impossible to fill, as no other substantive manuscript copies of the Tales are known to survive in private hands; consequently, Yale’s opportunities to acquire even a single example in the market have passed. The Devonshire Chaucer (Takamiya MS 24), a beautiful manuscript and the grandest of the three, clearly was executed for a wealthy patron. The large, clean pages have spacious margins, and the text is elegant and lavishly decorated with an initial depicting the author, and further illumination includes penwork puzzle initials. It contains all of the known Canterbury Tales, making it the most inclusive of the three manuscripts. The text of the Delamere Chaucer (Takamiya MS 32), in contrast, appears to have been written by a professional scribe in the south of England, and its importance lies more in its content than its layout. Textually, its greatest interest lies in the additional texts that were copied to accompany the Tales, including selections from John Gower’s Confessio amantis, the anonymous poems that make up the Speculum misericordie, the Adulterous Falmouth Squire, Partenope of Blois, The Vision of Tundale, and a portion of The Gast of Guy. The combination of Chaucer and this critical literary context must have proved irresistible to Toshi. The third Chaucer manuscript, Takamiya MS 22, was perhaps written in the East Midlands, circa 1460– 1490 and, like MS 23, came from the library at Sion College. The 1970s saw a flurry of spectacular acquisitions, partially stimulated by the appearance on the market of a succession of irresistible manuscripts, but equally encouraged by events in Toshi’s private life. Just as the visits to the U.S. in the 1960s shaped him as a young man, so his sabbatical at Cambridge in the mid-1970s would shape the rest of his career. As with so much in the collector’s life, Malory was central. In 1973, flush with excitement after the purchase of the Chaucer Astrolabe and deeply involved in his Ph.D. studies, Toshi approached Derek Brewer, the great Cambridge Chaucerian, and asked whether he might accept him as a sabbatical student. Brewer agreed, and in 1975 Toshi and his young family relocated to a terraced house in the north of Cambridge, immersing themselves in all the university had to offer. Toshi has written elsewhere of the impact of this sabbatical along with later visits to Cambridge and the mentors whom he met there. Brewer, Toshi’s coeditor on Aspects of Malory,8 was central, but equally important was Ian Doyle, then keeper of rare books at Durham University Library. Both became lifelong friends. The acquisitions of this period lie at the heart of the Takamiya manuscript collection and demonstrate succinctly its importance for the modern scholar. The Chaucer manuscripts stand not alone, but in context. Alongside The Canterbury Tales are texts of the other classics of Middle English poetry: Langland’s Piers Plowman (Takamiya MS 23) and Lydgate’s Fall of Princes (Takamiya MSS 30, 40, 78, and 79), later to be joined by Gower’s Confessio amantis (Takamiya MS 98). Key examples of the religious literature current in England during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries include Wycliffite Bibles (Takamiya MSS 28 and 31), which complement works of spiritual devotion in prose and verse, such as the Mirour of Mans Salvacioune (Takamiya MS 97) and Nicholas Love’s Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ (Takamiya MSS 4, 8, 20, and 63). Manuscripts of popular and widely disseminated texts include no fewer than six copies of the Brut Chronicle (Takamiya MSS 12, 18, 29, 67, 115, and 140), thus providing invaluable opportunities for comparison and textual study.

15 The Takamiya Collection

In his academic life, Toshi was central to one of the earliest digital humanities projects, long before terms for them had even been coined. In 1996, under his direction, Keio University’s pioneering Humanities Media Interface Project (HUMI) digitized Keio’s copy of the Gutenberg Bible in its entirety, then made the resulting images freely available online. It is worth recalling that, in 1996, the internet was still in its relative infancy, most university libraries still believed microfilm to be the medium of the future, and few had even considered making their collections available online for free. Underlying HUMI’s work was a familiar refrain—the interest in the copy-specific and its place in understanding textual reception. Eventually HUMI photographed eleven copies of the Bible in nine institutions. The HUMI lab reached out to curators around the world and pioneered the development of new equipment and techniques for photographing highly significant books without risks to their conservation. Most significantly, it also pioneered the application of digital technology to historical bibliography and manuscript studies: For the first time, scholars using only a PC and the internet could conduct research on manuscripts and printed books on the other side of the world and use digital tools to compare and contrast them. Here again we see the melding of the public and the private. The initial focus of the HUMI Project was the comparative analysis of early printed books, and it is perhaps telling that, during the project’s most active period, Toshi’s collecting began to focus much more seriously on the intriguing world of print. Although the focus of this monograph is Toshi as collector of manuscripts, it is worth digressing briefly to make mention of the printed portion of the Bibliotheca Takamiyana. Toshi’s collecting of printed books has been as focused as that of manuscripts, and he has adhered to the same principles: interesting copies of significant texts that inform about a wider cultural, social, or historical milieu. The library of printed material merits its own monograph, but perhaps its greatest strengths lie in Toshi’s collection of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century printed chronicles, romances, literary works, and devotional texts. Together, these paint an evocative picture, contextualizing the world in which the works of Malory and Chaucer circulated and informing about how they were received. Since 2000, the collector has focused heavily on amassing books printed on the Continent and owned by notable English antiquaries.9 Distinct, but equally intriguing, are his collections of forgeries and of annotated copies from the libraries of distinguished twentieth-century scholars of medieval studies. The richness of these collections is only now emerging. Toshi was elected Sandars Reader in Bibliography 2016/2017 at Cambridge, the first person from Japan to be so honored, and his lectures examined in detail books owned by Lawrence Nowell, Thomas Cranmer, and John Dee, then concluded with an introduction to the intriguing history of forgery and piracy. At the same time he was building his own collection, Toshi helped form another in his role as advisor to Keio University Library. In no small part due to advice given by Takamiya, Keio University has one of the most outstanding collections of medieval European materials in Japan. Like his personal collection, the university’s is strongest in English materials, but with its acquisition of the more than three hundred manuscript fragments from the twelfth to the sixteenth century in the Bernard M. Rosenthal Collection, it has teaching examples from all the major manuscriptproducing regions in western Europe.10 Toshi’s hand can be seen throughout the collection, particularly in the Hopton Hall Manuscript, Keio’s Middle English text that Tony Edwards thoroughly described in 2008, and a fifteenth-century roll cartulary recently transcribed by Professor Takami Matsuda and the author as part of a joint Keio-Yale paleography project.11 One of the defining characteristics of the Takamiya Collection has always been its owner’s generosity toward other scholars. Toshi’s manuscripts have been the focus of academic interest for more than 30 years, and numerous books and articles attest

Fig. 4. The first page of Toshiyuki Takamiya’s handlist [original copy cropped on right]

to its centrality for scholars intent on furthering our knowledge of late medieval Europe. A typed shelf list of the Takamiya manuscript collection circulated for many years, enabling academics, famous and unknown, to locate and use materials other collectors would have kept hidden (fig. 4). In 2010 an enhanced version of this list appeared in Christopher de Hamel’s Festschrift, stimulating more visits to Tokyo.12 The more complete listings supplied as appendices to this volume complete the picture, and the results of Toshi’s remarkable openness can be seen in the two hefty volumes of collected essays devoted to his collection.13 He was equally generous with his graduate students, who were exposed to medieval manuscripts that he brought to class and, on some occasions, those he would bring to campus for conferences. From his days as a graduate student, Dean Takami Matsuda describes a typical experience: The paleography class was really an eye-opener for me, not only because I was totally ignorant of the discipline itself until then, but also because the experience of actually touching a fragment of medieval MS (and of learning that such a thing is accessible outside of European or American libraries and could actually be acquired by a private collector) was something I never expected. The class certainly prepared me for my graduate work at York [University] a few years later (and made me into a collector of antiquarian books). I think Toshi repeated the same syllabus in 1981 and after that from time to time. On several occasions, graduate students were invited to his home and were shown his collections stored in his temperature-controlled library. I think I had a chance to see his more precious codices mostly in this way, because he did not bring them to the campus very often, perhaps (as once he remarked) due to the possible damage that may be caused by transporting them by car (change of temperature and humidity etc.). But he did bring some of his codices to the campus and classroom on some special occasions, mostly when some scholars from

17 The Takamiya Collection

abroad came to Japan. For example, he brought the Delamere and Devonshire Chaucers to the campus in 2000 when we organized a small symposium on Chaucer (commemorating 600 years of his death) with Helen Cooper and Winthrop Wetherbee as guest speakers.14 When Beinecke Library archivist Diane Ducharme and I taught Latin paleography at Keio University in the summer of 2015, Toshi brought in a fascinating medieval Bible that he had recently purchased. More famously, in the 1990s he delighted the audience at the International Congress of Medieval Studies at Kalamazoo by producing from his pocket one of his own Middle English devotional rolls. It is telling that there are now several generations of Toshi’s graduates working on medieval studies around the world. This nurturing role is one he has relished. For the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library and its users, Toshi Takamiya’s manuscripts have already been transformative. Any library would welcome three manuscripts of The Canterbury Tales, but it is the breadth and depth of the collection that will revolutionize the teaching of and research in medieval studies at Yale. The Takamiya manuscripts complement and strengthen the library’s existing holdings, both in its less robust areas, such as secular literature, and in its strengths, such as religious literature and English history. His collection of manuscript rolls expands the Beinecke Library’s already significant holdings in many ways, not least by providing a unique example of a birth girdle and several rolls with Middle English texts. The Takamiya impact can already be seen in the library’s recent acquisitions— the collection grows in its new home. The purchase of the Heneage manuscript (Osborn fa54), which contains the complete text of Richard Rolle’s De emendatio vitae and Thomas Fishlake’s Latin translation of both books of Walter Hilton’s The Scale of Perfection, links directly to the strengths of the Takamiya manuscripts. Likewise, the library has also acquired a volume of moral and theological treatises copied by the humanist scribe Peter Meghen (d. 1537), whose nickname was Cyclops because he signed his work Petrus Meghen monoculus (Osborn a50). Practically, the manuscripts are used regularly in teaching sessions in New Haven as they were in Tokyo, continuing to inspire and influence the next generation of scholars. In a lecture to Yale undergraduates about collecting, Toshi gave this advice to budding collectors: Keep reading reference books, visiting libraries and museums and seeing as many manuscripts and rare books as you can to train your eye. Few are fortunate enough to have bottomless pockets, but money is not the key to building a collection. Experience, expertise, knowledge, enthusiasm, and determination are the tools with which the next generation of great collections will be built.15 Toshi retired in 2009, but remains as active as ever. He continues to research and to collect and has recently welcomed a new addition to the Takamiya family, daughter Yuka, born 18 April 2017. Friends and colleagues alike await the next chapter in his collecting life with eager anticipation. The pages that follow include images and brief descriptions of manuscripts formerly owned by Toshiyuki Takamiya that now are in the collections of the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library. All but one of the assemblage of fragments from the collection of Estelle Doheny (Takamiya MS 45) was generously given by Toshi to the University of York in 2014.16 We have organized the manuscripts by genre rather than date or shelf list to enable those readers seeking specific manuscripts to get a sense of the collection as a whole as well, and to orient readers in relation to the strengths of the Takamiya Collection. Lists of manuscripts by shelf mark and language are found in the appendices.

notes 1  Toshiyuki Takamiya and his collection have been treated in several previous publications, in particular two Festschriften (see note 13 below). In addition to them, for additional biographical information, see The Book Collector 53:1 (Spring 2004); and “Toshiyuki Takamiya in Conversation with Sheila Markham: Contemporary Collectors LIX,” The Book Collector 63:4 (December 2014), pp. 569–78. Descriptions of the books and manuscripts draw upon two sources. The first is the handlist of manuscripts in the Takamiya Collection, compiled by Takamiya and published as “A Handlist of the Western Medieval Manuscripts in the Takamiya Collection,” in The Medieval Book: Glosses from Friends and Colleagues of Christopher de Hamel, ed. J. H. Marrow, R. A. Linenthal, and W. Noel (Goy-Houten: Hes & De Graaf, 2010), pp. 421–40. The second source collects the descriptions compiled by Richard Linenthal when the materials were transferred to the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library. 2  Personal communication from Toshiyuki Takamiya to Raymond Clemens, 31 January 2017. 3 Ibid. 4 Ibid. 5  Emerson Chapin, “Noh Troupe Give 2-Play Program: Touring Japanese Company Performs at Columbia,” New York Times, 16 October 1966, p. 88. 6  Walter Hilton, Walter Hilton’s “Eight Chapters on Perfection,” edited from Ms. Anglais 41 (Bibliothéque Nationale, Paris) and Collated with the Other Mss. in the British Museum, Bodleian Library, Cambridge University Library, and the Library at Lambeth Palace, introduction, notes, and glossary by Fumio Kuriyagawa (Tokyo: Keio Institute of Cultural and Linguistic Studies, Keio University, 1967).

7  Toshiyuki Takamiya, “Collecting Middle English Manuscripts: A Personal View.” Paper read at “The Book in the Middle Ages” workshop, University of Victoria, 12 February 1988, pp. 3–4. Unpublished. 8  Toshiyuki Takamiya and Derek Brewer, eds., Aspects of Malory (Woodbridge: Brewer, 1981); reprinted, with an updated bibliography, 1986. 9  See Toshiyuki Takamiya and Richard A. Linenthal, “Early Printed Continental Books Owned in England: Some Examples in the Takamiya Collection,” in Makers and Users of Medieval Books: Essays in Honour of A. S. G. Edwards, ed. Carol M. Meale and Derek Pearsall (Woodbridge: Brewer, 2014), pp. 178–90; and Richard A. Linenthal, “The Takamiya Library,” in The Book Collector 53:1 (Spring 2004), pp. 23–31. 10  For context see: Takami Matsuda, Mostly British: Manuscripts and Early Printed Materials from Classical Rome to Renaissance England in the Collection of Keio University Library (Tokyo: Keio University Press, 2001). 11  For essays on Keio University’s manuscripts, see Takami Matsuda, ed., Codices Keionenses: Essays on Western Manuscripts and Early Printed Books in Keio University Library (Tokyo: Keio University Press, 2005). For Tony Edwards’s article on the Hopton Hall Manuscript, see A. S. G. Edwards, “Journeyman Manuscript Production and Lay Piety: The Hopton Hall Manuscript,” in Medieval Texts in Context, ed. Graham D. Caie and Denis Renevey (London: Routledge, 2008), pp. 113–121. Matsuda was one of Professor Takamiya’s first graduate students, and he currently is Dean of Students at Keio University. 12  See note 1.

13  Middle English Texts in Transition: A Festschrift Dedicated to Toshiyuki Takamiya on his 70th Birthday, ed. S. Horodin and L. Mooney (Woodbridge, UK: York Medieval Press, 2014); and The Medieval Book and a Modern Collector: Essays in Honour of Toshiyuki Takamiya, ed. T. Matsuda, R. A. Linenthal, and J. Scahill (Woodbridge, UK: Brewer, 2004). In 2004, the Takamiya issue of The Book Collector (see note 1) was largely devoted to his collection. 14  Personal communication from Takami Matsuda to Raymond Clemens, 2 January 2017. 15  Notes from a talk to student book collectors and former winners of Yale’s Adrian Van Sinderen Book Collecting Prizes, delivered 2 October 2014. 16  “Japanese collector Toshiyuki Takamiya donates medieval manuscripts to the University of York,” ArtDaily.org. http://artdaily.com/news/72633/ Japanese-collector-Toshiyuki-Takamiyadonates-Medieval-manuscripts-to-theUniversity-of-York# (accessed 23 April 2017). Takamiya MS 110, leaves from a manuscript of the Pore Caitif used as pastedowns in a sixteenth-century English binding, remains in Tokyo as part of the Takamiya Collection of English bindings.

Devotional Manuscripts

The Takamiya Collection holds a wide range of engaging and important examples of manuscripts of medieval English devotional literature, including copies of works on the contemplative life by English mystics, translations of major Continental writings on meditation and spirituality, popular Middle English poems and texts on religious topics, and a Sarum Book of Hours. Of particular note are five prayer rolls, which constitute one of the largest groups of these in a single collection and offer rich possibilities for further study.

“Mirrors” and Medieval Devotion When Hamlet instructs the players “to hold as ‘twere the mirror up to Nature,” Shakespeare uses a figure of speech that would have been familiar to his medieval ancestors, although they would have been more likely to think in terms of holding a mirror up to man’s soul, or to his path to salvation, or to the Savior himself. Works conceived of as “mirrors” (specula in Latin) of these topics were popular throughout Europe, and the most acclaimed of them were translated into numerous languages and reached most literate Europeans directly. Meanwhile, their contents were reflected in sermons, hymns, and devotions heard and repeated even by those who could not read. One of the most influential of these works was the Franciscan meditation manual long ascribed to St. Bonaventure, Mediationes vitae Christi. The work taught its readers to focus their imaginations and emotional attention on various events in the life of Christ, from his Incarnation through to the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The meditation technique, engaging and accessible, reached both clergy and laity and was highly influential in the development of personal styles of piety. The translation into vernacular English of this work is The Mirror of the Life of Christ, by Nicholas Love, an early fifteenth-century Carthusian monk. To the original text Love added extensive passages arguing against the heretical views of his older contemporary John Wycliffe, who had supported a translation of the Bible into English (see Takamiya MS 28, Takamiya MS 31), which was condemned and suppressed by the English government and clergy. Love’s more orthodox work fared better in that it was approved by the archbishop of Canterbury, widely distributed throughout the fifteenth century, and 64 manuscript copies of it survive. Four of these are found in the Takamiya Collection.

56, detail, see p. 29

21 Devotional Manuscripts

Takamiya MS 8 Nicholas Love, Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ. England, circa 1410

Takamiya MS 4 Nicholas Love, Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ. England, circa 1450

Manuscript, on parchment, complete except for the loss of one leaf. This is the earliest and the most finely produced copy of Love’s work in the Takamiya collection. An additional, unidentified religious text in Middle English has been added at the end of the volume. 295 x 195 mm., 126 leaves. Illuminated initial and a full illuminated bar border on the first page of text; other illuminated initials. Written in an English book hand. In Middle English. Provenance: Joan, countess of Kent, widow of the founder of the Carthusian Abbey of Mount Grace (where Nicholas Love was named prior in 1410); Alice Belacyse, one of the countess’s ladies; William Middleton of Crowfield Hall; J. V. B. Saumarez of Shrubland Park

Manuscript, on parchment, containing the complete text of the Mirror as well as several devotional poems, also in Middle English, including a copy of John Lydgate’s “Fifteen Joyes of Our Lady”; “The Fifteen O’s of Christ”; and “The Long Charter of Christ.” 305 x 195 mm., 94 leaves. First page of text has illuminated initial and three-quarter border; three other smaller illuminated initials. Written in an English book hand. In Middle English. Takamiya MS 20 Nicholas Love, Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ. England, circa 1450 Manuscript, on parchment, of a version of Love’s work that interpolates another translated devotional work, a Middle English version of the Meditationes de Passione Christi. This combination survives in only one other manuscript. 295 x 205 mm., 126 leaves. Some illuminated initials. Written in an English book hand. In Middle English. Provenance: Sir John Gage and his descendants

4

Takamiya MS 63 Nicholas Love, Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ. England, circa 1450 8 20

63

Manuscript, on parchment, of Love’s work (incomplete). 275 x 185 mm., 129 leaves. Initials in penwork. Written in an English book hand. In Middle English. Provenance: Henry Keringe of Rede in Suffolk; Robert Doraunt; St. John’s Cathedral Church, Colchester; Henry Hucks Gibbs, 1st Lord Aldenham; J. P. R. Lyell; H. L. Bradfer-Lawrence (MS 9)

23 Devotional Manuscripts

97

15

96

122

Takamiya MS 96 Speculum Christiani. England, circa 1400–1425

Takamiya MS 97 Mirour of Mans Salvacioune. England, circa 1450

Takamiya MS 122 Guillaume de Deguileville, Pèlerinage de l’amˆ e (fragment). France, 14th century

Takamiya MS 15 William of Nassington, Speculum vitae with other texts. England, circa 1425

Manuscript, on parchment, of a popular 14th-century pastoral manual. The text consists of short English verses and extended Latin commentaries on basic elements of Christian belief, including the Creed, the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, and various “sevens,” including the seven deadly sins. The intended audience was probably parish clergy, who, though often poorly educated themselves, had a duty to instruct their even less literate parishioners. 340 x 210 mm., 45 leaves. Written in an English book hand. Red and blue initials with contrasting penwork. In Latin and Middle English. Provenance: Alfred Henry Huth; Sir Leicester Harmsworth; and William and Christina Foyle

Manuscript, on paper. This rather plain codex is the unique surviving copy of the Middle English translation of the Speculum humanae salvationis. This extremely popular 14th-century typological poem was translated into most European vernaculars and was even printed in 16 editions before 1500. 284 x 210 mm., 64 leaves. Written in Gothic script with some initials, line fillers, and underlining in red ink. In Middle English.

Judging by the number of copies that survive, the Pèlerinage de l’amˆ e was a very popular allegorical work in late medieval Europe that was translated into several different languages. It is represented in the Takamiya collection by this parchment bifolium containing lines 8198–8405 and 9612–9811. 303 x 225 mm. Written in double columns in a bastard script, with red and blue initials. In Middle French. Provenance: Hermann Suchier

Manuscript, on paper. This collection of vernacular religious texts opens with William of Nassington’s poem The Mirror of Life. It is followed by several other Middle English devotional texts in prose and verse, including Walter Hilton’s prose commentary on “Qui habitat” and “Bonum est,” and poems on Purgatory, the evils of covetousness, a prayer to Jesus, and two dialogues— one between Christ and Man, and the second between Christ and a sinner. Bound in its original wooden boards. 290 x 200 mm., 84 leaves. Written in an English book hand, with initials in red and blue penwork. In Middle English.

25 Devotional Manuscripts

3

54 139

65 66

Original devotional writings by English authors are also well represented in the collection. Among them are Walter Hilton’s influential Scale of Perfection; works by the well-known mystic Richard Rolle of Hampole; the South English Legendary; and a collection of shorter devotional pieces, probably gathered to reflect the individual taste of its owner.

Takamiya MS 3 Walter Hilton, The Scale of Perfection. England, circa 1400–1425

Takamiya MS 66 Richard Rolle, Emendatio vitae and other works. England, circa 1425–1450

Takamiya MS 139 South English Legendary (fragment). England, circa 1310–1320

Takamiya MS 54 South English Legendary. England, circa 1400–1450

Takamiya MS 65 “Abbey of the Holy Ghost” and other devotional texts. England, 15th century

Manuscript, on parchment, containing the complete text of The Scale of Perfection, a guide to the contemplative life, written in Middle English by the Augustinian mystic Walter Hilton. Once translated into Latin, it became perhaps the first work originally written in English to find a Continental audience. Bound in contemporary white leather over wooden boards. 172 x 146 mm., 174 leaves. Written in English book hand, with blue initials with red penwork. In Middle English. Provenance: Luttrell Wynne; John Price; Samual Courthope Bosanquet

Manuscript, on parchment, containing Middle English versions of several works by the mystic Richard Rolle, including Emendatio vitae; Ego dormio; The Commandment; and Form of Living as well as a Middle English version of Walter Hilton’s Mixed Life. Rather oddly, these devotional works are bound with a slightly later manuscript, on paper, of an alchemical treatise on the Fifth Essence (Tractatus de quinta essentia, by Johannes de Rupercissa). 180 x 135 mm., 111 leaves in total. The religious manuscripts are written in an English book hand, with some rubrication. In Middle English. Provenance: James Cobbes; Dr. Cox Macro; Hudson Gurney; Q. E. Gurney; J. P. R. Lyell; and H. L. Bradfer-Lawrence

Manuscript leaf, on parchment, containing portions of the life of St. Mary of Egypt and the opening of the life of St. Alphage. The leaf was trimmed for use in a binding. 182 x 157 mm. Initials in red. Written in early Anglicana script. In Middle English.

Manuscript, on parchment, of a substantially complete copy of the South English Legendary, copied by two scribes. 300 x 192 mm., 194 leaves. Written in an English cursive book script, with some initials in blue with red penwork. In Middle English. Provenance: Thomas Weld

Manuscript, on parchment, containing a collection of short Middle English religious texts, copied by several different hands. The allegorical treatise “The Abbey of the Holy Ghost” is followed by “The Meditation of St. Anselm”; “The Five Sorrows of the Virgin”; an explanation of how to say the “Psalter of the Virgin”; two poems; and a recipe for medicine against “the pestilence” written in a later hand. 165 x 120 mm., 17 leaves. Written in several scripts. In Middle English. Provenance: Henry Huth; Walter Wilson Greg; H. L. Bradfer-Lawrence

27 Devotional Manuscripts

101

100

17 Takamiya MS 17 Richard de Caistre, “Ihesu lord that madyste me,” and John Lydgate, “Fifteen Joys of Our Lady.” England, circa 1450 Manuscript fragments, on parchment, containing two popular devotional verses, in a modern binding. The copy of Richard de Caistre’s hymn is written in a Gothic liturgical script with red and blue penwork, while Lydgate’s Marian poem is written in an English book hand, with red and blue initials and penwork in red and brown ink. They were perhaps joined by their modern owner to highlight the strong contrast between the two scripts. 178 x 115 mm., 7 leaves. Bound in modern, red full morocco. In Middle English.

Takamiya MS 101 Book of hours (fragment). Bruges, circa 1470 This single parchment leaf from a book of hours contains a historiated initial from the opening of the Commendation of Souls that shows two souls being carried to heaven by angels. This series of psalms was often included in books of hours intended for the English market. 221 x 146 mm., 1 leaf. Written in Gothic script. In Latin. Provenance: Alfred Henry Huth; Sir Leicester Harmsworth; and William and Christina Foyle

Takamiya MS 100 Book of hours according to the Use of Sarum. England, possibly London, circa 1410 Illuminated manuscript, on parchment, containing texts from the Use of Sarum (Salisbury), which predominated in southern England. This is the only substantially complete book of hours in the Takamiya collection. Although written mainly in Latin, such gatherings of prayers, texts, and psalms were intended for lay devotional use, and a large number of copies survive. In this example, the collection of Latin devotions is followed by a brief treatise in Middle English on prayer titled “Here begynneth in what man[ner] preyer sholde be vsed.” 174 x 110 mm., 180 leaves. Four historiated and seven foliated initials. A woman’s ownership inscription (“Jone Flyn”) is on the front flyleaf. Written in Gothic script. In Latin and Middle English. Provenance: Jone Flyn; Chenyne (Cheney) family; Henry Huth

29 Devotional Manuscripts

142  (shown actual size)

111  (shown actual size)

Takamiya MS 142 Book of hours (fragment). Flanders, circa 1300

Takamiya MS 111 Book of hours (fragment). Rome, circa 1480–1489

Lower half of a single manuscript leaf, on parchment, containing five lines of text and marginal decoration. From the “Ghistelles Hours,” probably made for John III of Ghistelles and Ingelmunster. 65 x 85 mm. Decorated border showing two hounds chasing a stag. In Latin. Provenance: Sir SydneyCockerell (?); Alan G. Thomas

Manuscript leaf, on parchment, in the hand of the scribe Bartolomeo Sanvito, containing 12 lines from the Office of the Dead. 119 x 79 mm. Gilt initial Q against a rose gold background. In Humanist script. In Latin. Provenance: Otto Ege

Perhaps the most unusual devotional items in the Takamiya Collection are five extraordinary prayer rolls. Portable and personalizable, prayer rolls required active user interaction and thus document ways the medieval worshipper could use the combination of text, illustration, and object to direct his or her attention and reverence or to request divine intervention. One roll embeds the name of its owner within the prayer texts; another suggests that it was to be worn as an amulet for safety; two others have elaborate illustrations that seem to invite the use of the emotional meditation techniques described in Nicholas Love’s Mirror of the Life of Christ.

Takamiya MS 68 Prayer roll in Latin. England, circa 1400–1499 Manuscript roll, on parchment, containing four Latin prayers for personal devotions. It is almost certain that the roll was produced for a specific customer, as the name Thomas is inserted at several points. One of the rubrics is in Middle English. 1524 x 112 mm., 4 sheets joined. Written in a Gothic script; two initials with penwork decoration. In Latin. Provenance: H. L. Bradfer-Lawrence (MS 17) Takamiya MS 56 [see p. 30] Prayer roll in Middle English and Latin. England, circa 1435–1450

68

Takamiya MS 70 Prayer roll in Latin. England, circa 1423–1475

Takamiya MS 143 Book of hours (fragment). England, circa 1330 Manuscript leaf, on parchment, containing prayers from before Matins. From the “Hungerford Hours.” 168 x 105 mm. Five illuminated initials with decorative extensions and decorative line fillers. Written in fine Gothic script. In Anglo-Norman French.

Manuscript roll, on parchment, of a collection of Middle English and Latin prayers. The prayer texts are illustrated with four drawings related to the Passion of Christ: the three nails, a heart and crown of thorns; a cross with the instruments of the Passion; the wounds of Christ; and the instruments of the Passion. The outer side of the roll contains a long horizontal description, which suggests that the item was intended as a “birth girdle,” which, if worn, would protect women in childbirth. The text claims that the roll is equal to the height of the Virgin Mary. 1730 x 80 mm. Written in a rounded English script. In Middle English.

Manuscript roll, on parchment, containing a selection of prayers in Latin. The text is headed by a large, finely executed miniature of the Crucifixion that depicts the instruments of the Passion of Christ beside the arms of the cross. 2350 x 160 mm. Written in a Gothic script; large illuminated initial at the beginning of the text, with numerous small initials in either gold or red-and-blue penwork. In Latin.

143

70

31 Devotional Manuscripts

Takamiya MS 112 Prayer roll in Latin and Middle English. England, circa 1430 Manuscript roll, on parchment, of a collection of Latin prose prayers, many from the Sarum breviary, followed by a sequence of Middle English devotional lyrics. This finely produced roll with a large miniature of the Virgin and Child at its head was apparently intended for private devotional practice. 5486 x 178 mm. Written in a Gothic script; numerous burnished-gold initials with foliated decoration. In Latin and Middle English.

116

Takamiya MS 116 Prayer roll in Middle English. England, circa 1475–1525 Manuscript roll, on parchment, of a collection of prayers, almost all of which are written in Middle English, with a few passages in Latin. This rather late roll suggests the continuing utility of the form even well into the age of printing. 780 x 173 mm. Written in Secretary script, probably by a professional scribe. In Middle English and Latin. Provenance: Harvey Frost

56, see p. 29

112

Theological and Biblical Manuscripts

Although philosophical, biblical, and theological texts are not immediately thought of as a strength of the Takamiya Collection, it holds an impressive number of them, including Wycliffite Bibles and fragments that show very early exemplars of manuscript hands. While the latter are wide ranging, a few have particularly English contexts, and some are very early examples of Anglo-Saxon minuscule. Professor Takamiya’s first purchase was a glossed Bible made in Paris, and many of the important historical fragments he collected were parts of Bibles, psalters, and other liturgical materials. Taken together, the Takamiya fragments represent the various hands used throughout the history of writing in England, from as early as 800, through conquest, and up to the end of the sixteenth century. The eight fragments of St. Augustine’s Enarrationes in psalmos were written by Eadmer of Canterbury, an English historian and theologian who was known for his biography of his friend St. Anselm of Canterbury. Some books are the sole surviving representatives of their individual religious institutions, and thus they provide vivid witness to those now-destroyed foundations. Many of these books are beautifully illuminated, giving as much delight to the eye as the text does to the ear.

136, detail, see p. 45

35 Theological & Biblical Manuscripts

1

2

Takamiya MS 1 Glossed Bible, the prophetic books including Baruch, with prologues and commentary. France, probably Paris, circa 1250 This illuminated manuscript, on vellum, was the first Professor Takamiya purchased, and it is discussed in greater detail on page 12. It is a remarkable piece, beautifully produced on very thin, high-quality parchment. It is unusual for being a glossed Bible, unlike the then-standard “Parisian Bible,” which became popular in the 13th century and contained all the books found in the modern Bible but lacked the standard gloss. Most glossed bibles include only a few books, such as the four gospels, the letters of Paul, or the biblical writings of the Hebrew prophets. Because the gloss was significantly longer than the text, producing an entire glossed bible was usually impossible because the thickness of the individual sheets would have made it an immense book. By using very

thin parchment and a very small script, this book is able to contain the prophetic books from the Hebrew Bible and gloss in one book. 232 x 156 mm., 275 leaves. The surrounding gloss written in double columns of 65 to 70 lines of small Gothic script; the central Bible text written in a larger Gothic script in variable numbers of lines. In Latin. Takamiya MS 2 Boethius, De consolatione philosophiae. Italy, Tuscany, circa 1425 The second book Professor Takamiya included in his collection is also continental in origin, but this seeming inclination began shifting significantly hereafter, as his focus moved to English books (with some notable exceptions for examples of scripts). Boethius’ works were, however, extremely popular in late-medieval England, both in Latin and in two widely available English translations. The Beinecke Library’s girdle book (one designed

11

to be worn on the body) is unusual for being the only surviving example that is not a book of hours. Instead, it is a Latin copy of Boethius’ De consolatione philosophiae. Like the Paris Bible (MS 1), this book is a beautiful production, with impressively large margins and beautiful black text in an Italian rounded hand. In subject, colors, and script it is as typical of a late-medieval Italian book as the English books in this collection are “English,” and it demonstrates the wide variation that existed in the production of books in different parts of Europe during that century. 254 x 180 mm., 51 leaves. In Latin.

the 7th-century Englishman, the Venerable Bede. Commentaries on the Song of Songs were very popular in early- and high-medieval Europe, both because the erotic language demanded a spiritual interpretation and because that interpretation often characterized the relationship of individual souls as brides to God the bridegroom. Like all

Takamiya MS 7 Marcus Aurelius Cassiodorus, In cantica canticorum and other works. England, mid-13th century

of Prof. Takamiya’s books, this one has several remarkable qualities. It is the sole surviving book from the medieval library of the Augustine Priory of Our Lady and the Holy Cross at Spinney, Wicken, in Cambridgeshire.1 Spinney Priory, otherwise known as Spinney Abbey, was founded in 1216, absorbed into Ely Cathedral Priory in 1449, and finally became a private property at the Dissolution of the Monasteries. 295 x 207 mm., 96 leaves. Double columns of 38 lines written in Gothic script by two scribes. It also retains its medieval pinkdoeskin binding, which is in unusually good condition. In Latin. Takamiya MS 11 Carthusian psalter with canticles and creed. Germany, mid-16th century Illuminated manuscript, on vellum, imperfect at end (finishing at Psalm 77). Although a representation of a famous English Carthusian, St. Hugh of Lincoln, is included, this highly

While actually written by Cassiodorus, the heading of this manuscript, on vellum, indicates that the scribe believed this text to have been written by the 7

decorated and massive Carthusian psalter is another Continental book— one with significant potential for art historical research—with 12 miniatures, 11 of which depict scenes from the life of Christ; the additional one shows the infant Jesus appearing to the Carthusian abbot and later saint, Hugh of Lincoln, in a chalice as the Eucharist. Hugh of Lincoln (1140–1199) was abbot of the first Carthusian monastery in England, which King Henry II founded at Witham in Somerset in 1175 as part of his penance for his involvement in the murder of his ex-chancellor Thomas Becket (1120–1170). Perhaps upset at having to perform this penance, Henry delayed proper completion of the buildings until Hugh prevailed upon him to finish the work. 635 x 419 mm., 77 leaves. Single columns of 24 lines written in large Gothic script. In Latin.

37 Theological & Biblical Manuscripts

14

28  (shown actual size)

Takamiya MS 14 Albertus Magnus (or Hugh Ripelin of Strasburg), Compendium theologicae veritatis. England, Worcester (?), circa 1300 Illuminated manuscript, on vellum, complete. The text is a theological compendium of seven books that often are attributed to Albertus Magnus, but modern scholarly consensus is that the compiler was Hugh Ripelin of Strasburg (1205–1268), a Dominican. It served as a textbook for some four hundred years and many claim it was the most widely read theological work in western Europe during the later middle ages. As Hugh states in his introduction, the Compendium served to gather together in one place short, relevant texts from acknowledged authorities for easy reference or consumption: “I have thought it fit to assemble a brief compendium from the writings of the great theologians. By this means, prolixity (the mother of tedium) is

21

avoided, and yet a pathway and an inducement are furnished—to one who is wise—for investigating many topics” (translation by Jasper Hopkins). The great popularity of the work explains why it survives today in more than 470 manuscripts. Takamiya MS 14 is one of three extant manuscripts recorded from the medieval Dominican library at Worcester. It is bound in an early limp tawed-leather wrapper, strengthened with brown leather. 175 x 130 mm., 176 leaves. Written in double columns of 30 lines by a single scribe in Gothic script. In Latin. Takamiya MS 21 Bible, Deuteronomy (fragments). Southern England or Mercian scriptorium, circa 800 Manuscript, on vellum. These fragments are the earliest and most important in the Takamiya Collection. The two large complete leaves, formerly used as

binder’s end leaves, include two passages from Deuteronomy (30:9–32:6 and 32:12–34:12). Although used as binding waste, the fragments are in very good condition, and the scripts written in Anglo-Saxon minuscule can be read clearly. This is a survival from one of the earliest manuscripts written in England in the Anglo-Saxon script. Sister leaves are in the Bodleian Library, Oxford University, and at Salisbury Cathedral; they are the only surviving pages of this Insular manuscript Bible. 340 x 230 mm., 2 leaves. In Latin. Takamiya MS 28 Wycliffite Bible, Gospel of St. Matthew and the Acts of the Apostles (Early Version; fragment). England, circa 1400 Manuscript, on vellum. Two Wycliffite Bibles and a fragment from a third are in the Takamiya Collection. This first, which is characterized by the extreme literalness of its translation, is a rare Early Version by Nicholas Hereford

and his collaborators. Only one copy of this version still remains in private hands. This small volume could be held in one’s hand or carried in a pocket. Like most medieval bibles, this one provides only two books of what we today consider to be the entire Bible, those of Matthew and the Acts of the Apostles. Biblical translations like this gave laypeople who were not educated in Latin the opportunity to read and understand texts that lay at the center of their religion. When first composed, they were not controversial, but they became so as the clergy began to suspect that the biblical texts, if read without sufficient guidance, could be wrongly interpreted. 110 x 70 mm., 168 leaves. Complete, apart from the last leaf, which is a 16th-century copy. Single columns of 19 to 23 lines written in a rounded English Gothic book hand. In Middle English prose.

39 Theological & Biblical Manuscripts

31

45

Takamiya MS 31 Wycliffite Bible, New Testament (Late Version). England, circa 1400 Manuscript, on vellum. The second Wycliffite Bible in the Takamiya Collection is the Late Version translation attributed to Wycliffe’s personal assistant John Purvey, who replaced the extreme literal readings of the Early Version with more idiomatic translations. This beautiful large book includes extensive glossing in the margins and is bound in contemporary white doeskin. Anne Hudson believes that many of these annotations represent the beliefs of the Lollards, English heretics reputed to follow the teachings of John Wycliffe, making demands for Church reform that included sanction for reading the Bible in English. The Church perceived them to be a threat, and Lollards were imprisoned, persecuted, and executed. They ultimately came to be associated with the Reformation in the 16th

century. This Bible contains a listing of the scriptures to be read at the Church year’s various liturgical celebrations, which indicates it was used by a priest or prelate responsible for celebrating the Mass. 300 x 200 mm., 97 leaves. Double columns of 57 to 60 lines written in an English book hand. In Middle English. Takamiya MS 113 Wycliffite lectionary (fragment). England, early 15th century This single leaf, on vellum, presumably is from the table of lections typically included at the beginning or end of a Wycliffite New Testament. The text is from the Sanctoral covering the entire calendar year, this fragment of which contains directions for readings from the Purification (2 February) to the Feast of St. Mark (25 April). Another leaf from the same manuscript is now in the Reed Collection, Dunedin Public Library (fragment 20). 186 x 145 mm., 1 leaf; 36 lines. Written in a small Gothic

47

58

book hand; headings in red, capitals in red and blue, inlaid into a paper leaf. In Middle English. Takamiya MS 45 Gilte Legende (fragment). England, mid-15th century Takamiya MS 45 is a collection of single leaves, on vellum, called the “Doheny Collection,” which refers to its source, the collection of Estelle Doheny (1875–1958). This fragment is from a mid-15th-century copy of the Gilte Legende (Golden Legend) in Middle English prose. The Golden Legend is a collection of saints’ lives composed in the late-13th century by the Dominican James of Voragine. James’s work was composed in Latin, but by the 15th century it had been translated into most of the vernacular languages of Europe. The translation here is ascribed to the East Anglian friar Osbern Bokenham (1393?–1464?). James’s Golden Legend gathered the lives and miracles of the

113

most popular saints into a single volume that could easily be mined for preaching or teaching. This particular fragment concerns the life of St. Sylvester, who was pope from 314 until 335. 350 x 210 mm., 1 leaf. Double columns of 40 lines written in an English book hand. In Middle English.

Takamiya MS 47 Psalter, preceded by prayers and a calendar and followed by canticles, a litany, etc. England, late 15th century

Takamiya MS 58 St. Jerome, Epistolae (no. 106, sec. 59–67). Tours, Abbey of St. Martin, before circa 830

This complete psalter is an illuminated manuscript, on vellum, includes a detailed calendar, and is in a contemporary medieval binding of reversed skin that originally was stained pink and remains entirely unrestored. The calendar portion is unusual for including not only the liturgical feast days of the Church and the saints’ days, but also historical and meteorological information. For example, the battle of Evesham is given as 4 August 1285 (although historically it took place in 1265) with the note that the sun was eclipsed for eight hours that day. These events and some notes in Middle English confirm the psalter’s English origin. 224 x 160 mm., 207 leaves. Single columns of 21 lines written in a rounded Gothic liturgical script. In Latin and Middle English.

These two consecutive leaves removed from a binding were from the collection of Sir Thomas Phillipps (Phillipps MS 24510), who famously acquired them from the St. Vaast manuscripts at Arras. Inside the upper cover of the present volume, Phillipps himself recounts the tale of their discovery: “This book belongs to the Public Library at Arras TP 1838[.] On their paying me the money which I gave for them to a bookbinder at Amiens. They were cut out of the MSS at Arras by the scoundrel librarian there, to spite the mayor whom he had quarrelled [sic] with. See the note in my printed catalogue of Arras MSS.” Written in a unique hand from the Abbey of St. Martin of Tours, with several quotations in Greek. In Latin and Greek.

41 Theological & Biblical Manuscripts

Fragments Takamiya MSS 72, 73, 74, 130, & 131 Leaves from five manuscripts. Italy, 11th to 13th centuries On vellum, written in late Carolingian script and recovered from bindings. MS 72 Bible, Ezekiel 1:22–5:6. Italy, 11th century 400 x 320 mm. In Latin.

55

MS 73 Vitae sanctorum (portions of the lives of Sts. Nazarius, Celsus, Abdon, and Sennen). Italy, early 12th century

72

73

380 x 265 mm., bifolium (complete). In Latin. MS 74 Homilies based on Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Italy, beginning of 12th century

69

255 x 315 mm., bifolium (incomplete). In Latin. Takamiya MS 55 St. Augustine, Enarrationes in psalmos (fragments). Christ Church Cathedral Priory, Canterbury, England, circa 1100 Group of eight manuscript fragments, on vellum, from the second of a threevolume set of Augustine’s Commentary on the Psalms. The scribe was probably Eadmer of Canterbury (circa 1060–late 1120s), historian, scholar, and friend of St. Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury. Written in the “prickly script” associated with Christ Church, Canterbury, two of the pieces bear three types of the marginal markings added to Christ Church books by a reader in the late 15th century. 170 x 209 mm., 8 halfleaves. Double columns, originally of 42 lines each. Each fragment with a fold marking where it was sewn into a binding. In Latin.

Takamiya MS 69 The penitential psalms and litany, etc. Southern England, circa 1475 Illuminated manuscript, on vellum. This small personal book written in Latin, French, and Middle English demonstrates how the ruling class mixed the three languages. Several of the penitential prayers are followed by the number of days a specific prayer would need to be said to warrant the reciter’s release from Purgatory. Perhaps most remarkable about the book are the two miniatures added to the volume, one showing St. Christopher and the other the Adoration of the Magi. Neither appears to have been made either for this—or, for that matter, any—book. As Christopher de Hamel wrote in a Sotheby’s catalogue (24 June 1980): “The Second miniature is double-page (ff.62b–3) and it

shows the adoration of the Magi. It is a remarkable picture more in the style of wall-painting than manuscript illumination. The figures are outlined in ink and coloured with light washes in green, red and blue, the faces and flesh being left blank or only lightly tinted. It may have been intended originally as a pattern for embroidery or for fresco of some kind. The added text on f.62 (music for the ‘Ita missa est’) shows that it was added to the manuscript at a very early date. Neither of these miniatures is directly related to the text. It is very possible that neither was originally intended for book-illustration and they represent a class of medieval painting which very seldom survives.” 125 x 85 mm., 142 leaves. Single columns of varying lengths written in a Gothic liturgical script. In Latin, Middle French, and Middle English.

MS 130 Vitae sanctorum (part of the life of St. Adrian of Nicomedia). Italy, 12th or 13th century

74

395 x 280 mm. In Latin. MS 131 Eugippius, Vitae Sancti Severini. Italy, second half of 11th century A palimpsest, one side of which was erased and written over with an index to canon law in the 15th century. 395 x 300 mm. In Latin Provenance: Rosenthal Collection; Bernard Quaritch, Catalogue 1088 (Bookhands of the Middle Ages, III, 1988), no. 15

130

131

43 Theological & Biblical Manuscripts

Fragments that demonstrate Professor Takamiya’s interest in historical scripts of early- and high-medieval Europe.

Takamiya MS 80 Psalter. England, 13th century A beautiful small psalter from a manuscript owned in the middle ages by the Benedictine Abbey at Whitby.2 Detailed penwork decoration surrounds each of the larger initials, and a delicate bird perches atop the large E that graces the beginning of Psalm 54. Single bifolium, each leaf measures 240 x 180 mm. Written in single columns of 20 lines in a fine formal Gothic script. In Latin.

Takamiya MS 89 Benedictional (fragment). England, circa 920–940 Manuscript leaf, on vellum, containing the conclusion of the blessing for Easter Day. This single leaf, one of only three surviving from this Anglo-Saxon benedictional, was removed from a binding. 270 x 160 mm. Single column of 18 lines. Rubricated headings and initials in red. Written in Anglo-Saxon minuscule. In Latin. Provenance: Guglielmo Libri; Sir Thomas Phillipps (Phillipps MS 29721, part); Brian S. Cron

80

Takamiya MS 71 Psalter (fragments). Italy, Veroli or nearby region, circa 1100–1125 Manuscript fragment, on vellum, containing the text of Psalms 35:13–26 and 37:5–17. This incomplete bifolium was recovered from the padding of a binding. Approximately 230 x 135 mm., 18 lines to a complete column. Written in a fine and developed Beneventan script of large size. In Latin.

Takamiya MS 90 Bible (“Werden Heptateuch”; fragment). Germany, Werden (?), circa 800–850

89

Manuscript leaf, on vellum, recovered from a binding, containing the text of Judges 5:5–6, 6:6, and 10:7–11:26. From a manuscript known as the Werden Heptateuch, probably written at the monastic library at Werden in the early 9th century. 288 x 198 mm. Double columns of 25 lines. Written in AngloSaxon minuscule. In Latin. Provenance: Schloss Arenfels, Bad Honningen (?); E. A. Lowe; Estelle Doheny

Takamiya MS 81 Sarum missal (fragments). England Three surviving complete leaves from a large-format missal indicate they once were part of a very grand book. 491 x 340 mm. Written in double columns of 39 lines in two sizes of a Gothic liturgical hand. In Latin.

71

Takamiya MS 106 Bede, Homily on the Ascension (fragment). Germany or northern France, circa 800–1000 Manuscript leaf, on vellum. 315 x 220 mm. Double columns of 28 lines. Capitals touched with red ink. Written in Carolingian minuscule. In Latin. 90

81 106

45 Theological & Biblical Manuscripts

87 91

82

92

102

136

Takamiya MS 82 Choir breviary (fragment). England, first half of 15th century

Takamiya MS 87 Bible, Ecclesiasticus (fragment). Paris (?), circa 1330

Takamiya MS 102 Breviary (fragment). England or France, circa 1300

Takamiya MS 136 Psalter (fragment). East Anglia, circa 1290–1310

This large complete leaf was preserved as an archival wrapper. The deletion of the feast of Thomas Becket sometime after 1538 indicates that the breviary was created and used in England. Thomas Becket was murdered by the liegemen of Henry II, and his cult often used his name to show opposition to royalty. In 1538 Henry VIII ordered Becket’s name be expunged from all liturgical books. 480 x 337 mm., 1 leaf. Written in double columns of 51 lines in a good Gothic liturgical hand. In Latin.

From the manuscript, on vellum, given to St. Albans Abbey by Michael of Mentmore (d. 1349).3 292 x 197 mm., 1 leaf (complete). Written in double columns of 46 lines in a high-quality Gothic script; one illuminated initial with a bar border on the recto, two on the verso. In Latin.

Manuscript, on vellum, with two illuminated initials I with long marginal extensions plus two smaller initials. 160 x 105 mm., 1 leaf. Double columns of 25 lines in a fine Gothic script. In excellent condition. In Latin.

Flyleaves, on vellum, from the beginning of a Latin psalter with a 15th-century, full-page, roughly drawn but impressive pen drawing in brown ink of King Edmund the Martyr and four lines of doggerel verse in Middle English (see detail, page 32). From a manuscript possibly written for the church of St. Botulph at Iken in Suffolk. 267 x 180 mm., bifolium. In Latin and Middle English.

Takamiya MS 92 Bible (“Bohun Bible”; fragment). England, circa 1345–1350 Manuscript leaves, on vellum, from the English lectern Bible known as the “Bohun Bible,” dismembered around 1927 by Myers & Company in London. 450 x 311 mm., 17 leaves. Double columns of 22 lines; burnished-gold initials on pink and blue grounds with leafy marginal extensions. Written in a large Gothic script. In Latin.

Takamiya 91 Work on Church rites (fragment). England (?), third quarter of 12th century Recovered from a binding, on vellum. 295 x 193 mm., 1 leaf. Written in double columns of 35 lines in Protogothic script; some marginal staining, but otherwise in good condition. In Latin.

47 Theological & Biblical Manuscripts

Takamiya MS 125 Gregorius Magnus, Homiliae in evangelia, libri II. Italy, Piacenza, second half of 12th century Manuscript, on vellum, with the ownership inscription of the Cistercian monastery of Santa Maria della Columba in the diocese of Piacenza (founded c. 1136) followed by an anathema, well written in Gothic script: “Liber sancte marie de Columba. Quicumque eum furatus fuerit. Vel alienauerit. Anathema sit. Amen” (May he be damned who steals this book. Amen). 267 x 180 mm., 1 leaf. Single columns written in Protogothic script. In excellent condition. In Latin. Takamiya MS 137 Origen, In genesim homilia X. England, first half of 12th century Recovered from a binding, in vellum. In both right and left margins, nota bene marks appear in which the four letters of the first word have been morphed into a monogram: a capital N with an O on the crossbar, a T formed by making a cross at the ascender, and an A at the bottom of that same stroke. Usually, the scribe refers to text that falls between the crossbar of the T and the bottom of the final A. 295 x 205 mm., 1 leaf (complete). 36 lines written in double columns in a very fine Romanesque script. Some staining but otherwise in good condition. In Latin.

125

Takamiya MS 108 Pope Boniface VIII, Liber sextus decretalium (fragment). Bologna, circa 1330

108

137

Manuscript fragment, on vellum, a complete bifolium. The principal text is written in double columns of up to 30 lines, and the surrounding gloss (commentary by Johannes Andreae) is in 89 lines. From a Bolognese manuscript copied by the pecia system. The characteristic mark faintly written in the margin of the recto of the first leaf records the end of the 18th “piece” of the master exemplar. 437 x 280 mm. Two historiated initials against burnishedgold grounds. Written in two sizes of a rounded Gothic script. In Latin.

49 Theological & Biblical Manuscripts

103

104

109

Takamiya MS 109 Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologica (fragment). Paris, circa 1300–1325 Manuscript fragment, on vellum, part of a bifolium containing the text of the Summa theologica (II, ii, Quaestiones 20–21 and 24, v–ix). From a Parisian manuscript copied by the pecia system. A marginal mark—p xt—appears in a red cartouche. 350 x 320 mm. Double columns of 54 lines. Initials in red or blue in contrasting penwork. Written in a Gothic script. In Latin. Provenance: Sir Thomas Phillipps (Phillipps MS 30945)

Takamiya MS 103 Processional, Use of Sarum. England, East Anglia (?), first quarter of 15th century Manuscript, on vellum. Like Takamiya MS 7, this is a sole surviving book, in this case from the medieval library of the parish church of St. Mary, Redgrave, Suffolk. It bears the inscription “Iste liber constat de Redgrave” (This book is from Redgrave) in a 15th-century hand on the recto of the second flyleaf along with many pen trials and several other ownership marks, which include: the name “John Hemyng Sexten of Redgrav[e]”; “Iste liber tenet ad me Nicolas”; and “Iste liber constat quod William Wykys de Botesdale Amen.” On the verso, this anathema is written: “This bok on and goddys krus ys anodur / He that stel the ton mot haue the todyr” (This book is one, and God’s cross is another / He that steals the one

must have the other). This couplet— number 3580 in the Index of Middle English Verse and its supplement—is recorded in seven other manuscripts. 170 x 118 mm., 2 medieval flyleaves and 130 leaves, including fourteen later additions. Written by two scribes in Gothic script, in single columns generally of 23 lines. In Latin.

Takamiya MS 104 Bible, Proverbs to Apocalypse. England, 13th century Manuscript, on vellum, with an Oxford pledge note dated 1469 for the Selton Loan-Chest (endowed in 1360 by William Selton, canon of Wells), and the mark of the stationer John More. There is also a note of M. Paris who is probably identifiable as Master Thomas Paris of Oriel, who was keeper of the Selton Chest in 1457 and was still alive in 1469. University chests were endowments established to allow students and scholars to borrow money by putting their books up as pledges. The chest would hold the book until the student redeemed it. The first chest was established by Robert Grosseteste, who was troubled to see so many students pawning their books at establishments owned by Jews. Many colleges at Oxford and, later, Cambridge continued this tradition. 212 x 145 mm., 218 leaves. Written in double columns of 49 lines in a small Gothic script. In Latin.

notes 1  N. R. Ker, Medieval Libraries of Great Britain: A List of Surviving Books; Supplement to the 2nd edition, ed. Andrew G. Watson. (London: Offices of the Royal Historical Society, 1987), p. 63. 2  Ibid., pp. 68, 134. 3  See Christopher de Hamel, “A Leaf of a Bible Manuscript, France, circa 1330,” in Fine Books and Book Collecting: Books and Manuscripts Acquired from Alan G. Thomas and Described by His Customers on the Occasion of His Seventieth Birthday, ed. Christopher de Hamel and Richard A. Linenthal (Leamington Spa, Warwickshire: J. Hall, 1981), pp. 10–12.

Historical Manuscripts

The blend of fact and fiction and conflation of secular and religious narrative that can characterize historical writing in the middle ages often surprises modern readers. It attracted a diverse audience in its time, when it served a broad spectrum of purposes, from the ideological and political to entertainment. The Takamiya Collection contains a wide sampling from this varied genre including early national histories, such as the Brut Chronicle, as well as broader universal histories like the Polychronicon; scholarly tomes containing the Venerable Bede’s Historia eccelesiastica gentis Anglorum join propagandistic genealogies of English kings; and dynastic histories take their place in company with schematic pictorial representations of the Old Testament. Manuscripts in the Takamiya Collection also contain texts in all three literary languages of medieval England: Latin, French, and Middle English.

43, detail, see p. 65

53 Historical Manuscripts

Foundational Histories English historical writing first flourished in the monastic communities of the AngloSaxons. Bede, a Northumbrian monk, wrote the first English history, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, in which he mapped the establishment of the Christian church in England and the ongoing conflicts between the Celtic people and the Anglo-Saxons. Other writers who followed, such as Nennius, focused more exclusively on the succession and exploits of early British kings.

Brut Chronicles

Takamiya MS 62 Bede, Historia eccelesiastica gentis Anglorum; Nennius, Historia Britorum, etc. England, late-14th century Manuscript codex, on parchment, containing a collection of foundational histories of England. The book includes three beautifully executed illuminated initials as well as a consistent program of repeated blueflourished initials, display script for titles, and red-and-blue line fillers. Folio 1r boasts one 7-line, illuminatedchamp initial F, while two illuminated initials occur on folio 79v: one a 17-line initial with a flower-and-vine motif; the other an 11-line champ initial in the same hand as on folio 1r. The text has been heavily annotated by latemedieval and early-modern readers. The contemporary binding is pink doeskin over wooden boards. 320 x 230 mm., 88 leaves. Written in Gothic script in a single column. In Latin. Provenance: H. Bradfer-Lawrence (MS 2); Quaritch

62

In the mid-twelfth century, Geoffrey of Monmouth completed his Historia regum Britanniae, the direct source for a series of French and English chronicles known as the Brut Chronicles. Monmouth began with Brutus, great-grandson of Aeneas, who, like his famous progenitor, was exiled from his home (Rome) and forced to establish a new dynasty and country (England). After the establishment of “New Troy” (London), the chronicle follows each of Brutus’ successors through to the Anglo-Saxons. It is famous for popularizing the story of King Lear and his three daughters as well as that of King Arthur.

Shortly after its composition, the Historia was translated anonymously into French and updated through to the death of Henry III in 1272. More continuations were added in the early fourteenth century, extending the narrative through the reign of Edward I. This French version was translated into English between 1333 and 1400. Like the French text, the one in English features continuations, the most popular of which is narrated through the reign of Henry V. Both French and English translations were so well received that they were translated back into Latin for an educated readership. More than 240 Brut manuscripts survive.

55 Historical Manuscripts

Takamiya MS 12 The Brut, or The Chronicles of England. England, 15th century

12

Manuscript codex, on parchment, in a single hand, containing the text of the Brut from the beginning through 1417. This codex contains a number of 15th-century inscriptions, some referencing the text and others preserving drafts of business documents or copies of short prayers. 200 x 140 mm., 222 leaves. In Secretary script in a single column with alternating red- and blue-flourished initials. Contemporary blind-stamped binding. In Middle English. Provenance: Gascoigne (16th century); Willestrop (16th century); Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1870–1939); Sotheby’s, Clumber sale, 14 February 1938, lot 1218; Dawson’s of Pall Mall Takamiya MS 18 The Brut, or The Chronicles of England. England (Norfolk?), circa 1437–1450

18

Manuscript codex, on paper, containing the text of the Brut from the beginning through 1437. Titles are underlined, not rubricated. Anglicana display script used in marginal glosses and running titles throughout the manuscript. Marginal glosses contain kings’ names in Latin. A number of owners before 1550 wrote their names in the codex. 295 x 215 mm., 71 leaves. Written in Secretary script in a single column with no rubrication or decorated initials. In Middle English. Provenance: Lord Tollemache, Helmingham Hall (L.J.I. 12); Sotheby’s, 8 July 1970, lot 66; John F. Fleming

29 Takamiya MS 29 The Brut, or The Chronicles of England. England, circa 1420–1450 Manuscript codex, on parchment, containing a copy of the Brut with two continuations to the year 1419. This beautiful manuscript may have been owned by Archbishop Parker (1504–1575), who collected medieval manuscripts profusely after the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538. His characteristic red crayon can be seen at least five times (folios 13r, 40r, 94r, 121v, and 134r). The manuscript also shows signs of its having been prized: For example, folio 1r–1v was replaced with a facsimile in an imitative hand and with imitative mise-en-page, including a gold-leaf flourished initial. 285 x 190 mm., 150 leaves. Written in Anglicana script in a single column with rubricated titles and alternating blue- and gold-flourished initials. In Middle English.

57 Historical Manuscripts

140

67 57 Takamiya MS 57 The “Roll of Battle Abbey” and “Chronicle of the Kings of Britain.” England (York?), circa 1500–1550 Manuscript codex, on paper, containing the “Roll of Battle Abbey” and “Chronicle of the Kings of Britain,” which includes an account of King Arthur’s arms derived from Geoffrey of Monmouth and the Welsh Mabinogion. The “Roll of Battle Abbey” is presented on page 1 in a carefully drawn table containing a two-column list of names 1 through 160 arranged in pairs. Page 2 maintains the same format for names 161 to 190, but without the table. The Brut material is extensively edited and rearranged around a color-coded genealogy of English kings and royal bloodlines; as bloodlines intermingle, the color-coded threads of the genealogy become braided together. As bloodlines become increasingly complex, verbal commentary steadily decreases to make

room for visual representation. 275 x 200 mm., ii + 39 + xiv leaves. Written in 16th-century cursive. In English. Provenance: Charles Fairfax (1597–1673); Anthony Page; Fairfax of Cameron (1870– 1939); Sir Edward Coates (1853–1921); Sotheby’s, Coates sale, 9 July 1923, lot 198; Jeremy Griffiths

Takamiya MS 67 The Brut, or The Chronicles of England. England, circa 1450

Takamiya MS 140 The Brut, or The Chronicles of England. England, circa 1450–1500

Manuscript codex, on vellum. Text begins imperfectly at the beginning of Brutus’ reign with the establishment of “New Troy.” An excerpt from the original first folio has been bound in at the end of the book (current folio 203r), however. This fragment contains the rubricated title that would have appeared after the prologue and before the first chapter of the Brut. In the lower margin, a significantly later hand has transcribed the same lines with the following prefatory remark: “The foregoing 6 lines turned into modern English.” 320 x 210 mm., 203 leaves. Written in Anglicana script with some later (bastard) features in single columns. In Middle English. Provenance: Ingilby; Sotheby’s, 21 October 1920, lot 30; H. L. Bradfer-Lawrence (MS 11); Quaritch

Manuscript fragment, on parchment, containing portions of chapters 214 and 221 of the Middle English prose Brut. A note in the top margin indicates that these two leaves served as a wrapper on a copy of Gabriel Harvey’s The Trimming of Thomas Nashe gentleman, London, 1597 (NSTC 12906). The same scribe produced British Library MS Harley 2182 and Charlottesville, University of Virginia MS 38-173 (“The Alderman Brut”). 195 x 133 mm. Written in Secretary script in single columns of 29–32 lines. In Middle English.

59 Historical Manuscripts

6

115 5

Brut Chronicle Development Given the popularity of the Brut, it is no surprise that English dynastic history was retold by many authors. In some cases, scholars rewrote basic Brut material by adding contemporary observations or cross referencing different historical documents (e.g., Takamiya MS 5, Peter of Ickham’s Chronicon). In other cases, English dynastic history was developed in verse (Takamiya MSS 6 and 115).

Takamiya MS 5 Peter of Ickham, Chronicon de regibus Angliae. England, circa 1330 Manuscript codex, on parchment, containing Peter of Ickham’s Chronicon de regibus Angliae. The manuscript uses repeated red initials and paraphs. It has been severely trimmed, but much annotation survives as well as at least one formal gloss. Annotation and glossation occur in a less formal Anglicana script. The two flyleaves preserve lines 508–76 and 972–1034 of Alexander de Villa Dei’s Doctrinale (Reichling edition). 210 x 170 mm., 70 leaves + 2 flyleaves. Written in Gothic script in single columns. In Latin. Provenance: The Brudenell Library of Deene Park (XVI.A.30; cf. Nicolas Barker and David Quentin, The Library of Thomas Tresham & Thomas Brudenell [London, 2006]); Sotheby’s, 10 July 1967, lot 47; Quaritch, 914 (1972), item 16

Takamiya MS 6 John Hardyng, Chronicles of England and devotional poems. England, post-1464 Manuscript codex, on vellum, containing the second version of Hardyng’s Chronicles of England (in verse) and two contemporary religious lyrics, “A Lamentable Complaynt of our Saviour Cryst” and an 18-line Middle English carol. Hardyng’s Chronicles is written in a more professional hand than the two lyrics, and the text is glossed in a Gothic script with puzzle initials; the glosses tend to be of kings’ names. Both devotional poems, in different hands, are added to the final folios of the manuscript. John Ravel’s ownership inscriptions (circa 1500) are found at the end of the chronicle. 308 x 205 mm., 116 leaves. Written

in Secretary script and Gothic display script in single columns of varying numbers of lines. In Middle English. Provenance: John Ravel (c. 1500); Lord Tollemache, Helmingham Hall (L.J.10); Sotheby’s, 9 July 1969, lot 32; Quaritch, 914 (1972), item 5A; Hofmann and Freeman 36 (1973), item 58 Takamiya MS 115 The Brut, or The Chronicles of England (fragment). England (?), circa 1250 Manuscript fragment, on parchment, of a previously unknown verse chronicle in Anglo-Norman rhyming octosyllabic couplets. The content of this folio roughly corresponds to Wace’s metrical version of the Brut, although there are significant textual variants. The verse may be a fragment of the lost Gaimer text. The fragment discusses King Arthur, his crowning at Circencester at

age 15, and his war against the Saxons. Two initials—a blue C and a red Q— survive, though they are stained from the leaf ’s use as a pastedown. 199 x 130 mm., 1 leaf. Written in Gothic script in two columns of 39 lines. In French. Provenance: Martin Schøyen (MS 650); Quaritch Catalogue 1147, item 101

61 Historical Manuscripts

Genealogies: Kings As with the Brut tradition, other medieval chronicles often organized their material around the succession of kings. This interest in succession manifests directly in the many genealogies that also survive from the period. Some of these are merely pictorial representations of dynastic succession, but others are accompanied by explanatory text derived from the Brut.

35

Takamiya MS 35 Genealogy of the kings of England. England, circa 1275 and 1435 Composite manuscript roll, on parchment, containing a 13th-century genealogy, which extends to King Henry III and a 15th-century genealogy through Henry VI. The 13th-century genealogy, which begins imperfectly with “Artheldredus…rex,” features green and red roundels in geometric patterns that are accompanied by Latin text. The transition between the two genealogies is complex: While Edward I’s roundel was produced at the same time as the original genealogy, the Latin text describing his reign appears in a different hand than that of the rest of the 13th-century Latin material; 15th-century English text then retells the story of Edward I’s reign (see reproduction). The 15th-century genealogy, in Middle English verse, is accompanied by red roundels in geometric patterns. This manuscript, likely a product of the War of the Roses, was intended to support the Lancastrian claim to the throne; it may appropriate an older, 13th-century manuscript to visually underscore propaganda concerning Henry VI’s “esteemed and ancient lineage.” 3376 x 225 mm. Written, respectively, in 13th- and 15th-century Gothic scripts. In Latin and English. Provenance: Sotheby’s, 5 December 1978, lot 40

52

93

Takamiya MS 52 Chronicle of the Kings of England. England, 15th century

Takamiya MS 93 Genealogy of Edward IV from Adam. Louvain, 1504

Manuscript roll, on parchment, containing a verse chronicle of the kings of England from William the Conqueror through Henry VI. Likely a product of increased interest in dynastic succession during the War of the Roses, this chronicle features blue roundels in red frames that contain gold crowns and scrolls bearing each king’s name. The verse chronicle, written in Middle English, runs down the left side of the roll and is complemented on the right side by short Latin prose summaries. Middle English verse is copied in a Secretary script, and Latin prose is copied in a Gothic script. 2490 x 297 mm. In Middle English and Latin. Provenance: Sotheby’s, 24 June 1980, lot 42

Manuscript codex, on parchment, containing a genealogy with roundels illustrating lines of descent, flanked by descriptive text. Roundels and text include detailed information on parallel genealogical lines and royal offspring. Roundels occasionally feature red-crayon accents. While the decorated portion of the manuscript ends with Edward IV, the genealogy has been updated by later users, first through Edward VI and then, in a markedly italic hand, through Elizabeth I. Only Henry VIII’s three child-bearing wives are mentioned in these additions. Mise-en-page is organized as if the folios were designed for a roll, despite having been copied into a codex. The manuscript preserves its original binding of parchment wrappers from a 14th-century liturgical manuscript. 210 x 145 mm., 30 leaves. Written in a late-medieval Secretary script. In Middle English. Provenance: Maggs, European Bulletin 13 (July 1986), item 82

63 Historical Manuscripts

Genealogies: Old Testament Old Testament genealogies testify to the genealogical impulse apparent in the lists of kings in Takamiya MSS 35, 52, and 93 (above), but here biblical history, rather than dynastic, provides the focus. These genealogies either map the generations between Adam and Jesus or combine biblical and dynastic material to map the generations between Adam and the kings of England.

Takamiya MS 36 Old Testament genealogy. England, circa 1400–1450 Manuscript roll, on parchment, containing an Old Testament genealogy starting with Adam and Eve. Each roundel was formed by inscribing an empty circle within a green or brown (perhaps formerly red) square, thereby creating a distinctive look it shares with other Old Testament genealogies (including Beinecke Library Marston MS 242). While genealogical material provides the organizing principle for, and the majority of the information in, the roll, both text and images present information of broader interest, such as a diagram of the Tabernacle. Larger roundels were made for illustrations of important figures, such as Adam, Eve, and Noah, but these were never finished. 1600 x 291 mm. Written in Gothic script, primarily in two columns. In Middle English. Provenance: Sotheby’s, 5 December 1978, lot 41 Takamiya MS 53 Old Testament genealogy. England, circa 1400–1450 Manuscript roll, on parchment, containing a second portion of Takamiya MS 36. 2490 x 297 mm. Written in Gothic script, primarily in two columns. In Middle English. Provenance: Sotheby’s, 24 June 1980, lot 43

53

36

65 Historical Manuscripts

43

Universal Chronicles As suggested by the Old Testament genealogies that combine biblical and dynastic information, medieval chronicles were often as interested in integrating local history with the meta-narratives of European history and Christian biblical history as they were in listing the events of a specific king’s reign. This is particularly evident in the universal chronicles composed across Europe throughout the middle ages. These universal chronicles synthesize biblical, ancient, European, and national histories into one coherent narrative.

Takamiya MS 43 Ranulph Higden, Polychronicon. England, circa 1425–1450 Illuminated manuscript codex, on parchment, containing the so-called short version of Higden’s Polychronicon, a universal history incorporating biblical, European, and English material. This manuscript features repeated gold initials and is glossed throughout in red ink with blue paraphs. Most strikingly, the manuscript displays a complex program of illustrations. Marginal illustrations include important figures (e.g., Julius Caesar) and places (Rome) as well as famous events (Diogenes, in his barrel, greeting Alexander the Great) and quotidian scenes (studying monks). In-text illustrations in roundels memorialize key turning points in history, such as the Annunciation. Contemporary binding of English calf over wooden boards. 480 x 295 mm., 206 leaves. Written in Secretary script in two columns of 48–50 lines. In Latin. Provenance: H. P. Kraus

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Non-English Chronicles While chronicles were an exceptionally popular medieval genre, the tradition was limited in no way to the middle ages. Nor was English history the only dynastic history being told in Britain. Takamiya MS 37 contains the text of a Scottish history copied in the sixteenth century by the famous English antiquarian John Stow. 114 Takamiya MS 114 Ranulph Higden, Polychronicon, England, late 15th century Manuscript codex, on paper. The manuscript contains two parts: (1) a chronicle of the popes through Gregory XI; and (2) Higden’s narrative of English history that begins with Brutus of Troy. Higden’s text is bound with two printed texts: Martinus Polonus’ Margarita decreti seu tabula martiniana decreti (Strassburg, 1493) and William Lyndwood’s Consitutiones legitime seu legatine regionis anglicane (Paris, 1504). The manuscript is probably the oldest part of the volume, and it was copied on paper with the watermark showing a hand with a star, apparently Briquet 11159. This associates the manuscript with the stock of Genoese paper used by William Caxton in 1493–1495. The manuscript is written in a cursive script with Anglicana headings and opening words. Sixty large red initials

Takamiya MS 37 John Leslie, Historie of Scotland fra the Deathe of Kyng James the First. England, circa 1571–1578

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with brown-ink penwork subdivide the text, and numerous early and later annotations proliferate in the margins. The codex, bound in the late 17th century, is equipped with a metal chain with fourteen links attached from the upper cover to a ring at each end, with a two-piece swivel in the middle. 270 x 194 mm., 97 leaves. In Latin.

Manuscript transcript, incomplete, on paper, in the hand of Scottish historian and antiquary John Stow. This volume, one of the earliest copies known of this work, ends in the middle of the entry for 1512. 317 x 208 mm., 38 pages. Written in a cursive script. In English. Provenance: Sir Henry St. George, Garter King of Arms; Sir Thomas Phillipps (Phillipps MS 13761)

Literary Manuscripts

The Takamiya Collection’s holdings in medieval literature represent a wide range of material that includes works by classical writers, Arthurian romance, and early English poetry and prose. The combination of textual value (the widely celebrated authors and texts) with the material value derived from the unique examples of medieval book making is of particular note. Consider, for example, the best-known fourteenth-century authors in English: Chaucer, Langland, and Gower. Professor Takamiya has collected texts by each, including three copies of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, one copy of Langland’s Piers Plowman, and a fragment of Gower’s Confessio amantis. Beyond their importance from a textual standpoint, the physical manuscripts illuminate the place of literature in the wider textual culture of the time. One copy of The Canterbury Tales—the Devonshire Chaucer—is among the most deluxe manuscripts to survive from the middle ages, while another contains a rare anthology of early English texts. Meanwhile, Prof. Takamiya’s fragment of Gower’s Confessio amantis comes from a manuscript possibly written under the poet’s direct supervision. The literary works represented in the Takamiya Collection have direct relevance to our ongoing study of the medieval canon, into which these manuscripts provide unique insight.

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Chaucer This innovative fourteenthcentury writer changed the literary landscape within his courtly circle. In the next century, his successors emulated his style and his language, simultaneously promoting his texts and presenting him as the Father of English Literature. While he is celebrated for his literary creations, he also composed works of science and philosophy.

Takamiya MS 9 Geoffrey Chaucer, A Treatise on the Astrolabe. England, circa 1450 Manuscript codex, on vellum. This unpretentious copy of one of Chaucer’s less well-known works is a small-format book with repeated blue initials and red flourishing. It serves as a charming reminder of the participation of Chaucer’s works in the larger reading and writing trends of the later middle ages. 160 x 110 mm., 31 leaves. Written in a Secretary script with Chancery features in single 28-line columns. Gothic display script occurs at some major text divisions. In Middle English. Provenance: Sir David Dundas (1799– 1877); given in 1877 to Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks (1826–1897), keeper of the British Museum; Sir Charles Hercules Read (1857–1929), Franks’s successor; Sotheby’s, Read sale, 12 November 1928, lot 72; E. P. Goldschmidt; Boies Penrose; Sotheby’s, Penrose sale, 9 November 1971, lot 286; Quaritch; Colin Franklin

24 Takamiya MS 22 Fragmentary copy of Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. England (East Midlands?), circa 1460–1490 Manuscript codex, on parchment, containing the tales of the Clerk, the Wife of Bath, the Friar, and the Summoner. This simple manuscript includes repeated red initials with no flourishing; the word explicit, in scrolls, appears at the end of each tale. Informal records in a variety of hands naming William Cooke appear at the end of the text. This simple manuscript contrasts strikingly with the deluxe copies of the Tales in Takamiya MSS 24 and 32. 215 x 160 mm., 79 leaves. Written in single columns in Secretary script with a pronounced slanted aspect. In Middle English. Provenance: Henrye R. Grissil; William Cooke (1572–1619); Sir Maurice Berkeley (c. 1505–1581); Sion College (1681; Arc L. 40 2/E.); Sotheby’s, 13 June 1977, lot 73; Dawson’s of Pall Mall

Takamiya MS 24 Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, and John Lydgate, Life of St. Margaret (“Devonshire Chaucer”). England (London?), 1440–1460 Manuscript codex, on parchment, containing a deluxe version of Chaucer’s tales and Lydgate’s hagiography. The beginning of the “General Prologue,” which has a full border in an artist’s hand that is not in evidence elsewhere in the book, includes a rare historiated initial showing Chaucer seated in a garden, prepared to orate (see detail, page 68). Repeated three-quarter, decorated borders and illuminated initials appear at the beginning of every tale, and a series of elaborate penwork initials demarcate the prologue to each tale. This deluxe volume presents The Canterbury Tales as a polished and complete text, in contrast to the many incomplete or less carefully laid-out manuscripts in circulation (including, in Takamiya’s own collection, MSS 22 and 32). The desire to present a polished

version of the tales seems to have trumped even authorial intent, as the impact of purposeful interruptions, such as in “The Tale of Sir Thopas,” has been minimized through careful miseen-page. Underscoring this impression of completeness and authority are the formal glosses and running titles that appear throughout the manuscript. While the manuscript resets on a new folio for Lydgate’s Life of St. Margaret, layout, scribe, and decoration remain the same. It is almost as if this acts as a final tale in Chaucer’s collection, much to what we imagine would be Lydgate’s delight. This codex speaks directly to two important chapters in English literary history: the canonization of Chaucer, in part through the work of acolytes like Lydgate, and the elevation of English as a literary language worthy of the highest patronage. 377 x 260 mm., 282 leaves. Written in an elegant Secretary book hand in single columns. In Middle English.

Provenance: Lady Margaret Beaufort (?); Sir Edmund Knyvett; John Walpole; Thomas Skarlet; Sir Henry Spelman; Hamon L’Estrange; George Mason; John Ker, duke of Roxburghe; William Cavendish, duke of Devonshire; Christie’s, Devonshire sale, 6 June 1974, lot 21

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Takamiya MS 32 Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales and other texts in Middle English (“Delamere Chaucer”). England, 1425–1450 Manuscript codex, on parchment, containing Chaucer’s tales and other texts in Middle English. Only seven or eight leaves are missing from the text of The Canterbury Tales, although throughout the anthology mise-en-page is irregular and shows numerous gaps. As well as providing insight into the circulation of the tales, this manuscript preserves several unique copies of Middle English literature, which include Speculum misericordie and Partenope of Blois. Furthermore, this manuscript includes selections from John Gower’s Confessio amantis and is perhaps the only surviving manuscript that juxtaposes a major work by Chaucer with one by Gower, his friend and fellow poet. This important anthology showing Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in context provides an excellent counterpoint to Takamiya MS 24 and was consulted by John Urry when preparing his 1721 edition of Chaucer’s works. 332 x 250 mm., 175 leaves. Written in Anglicana script in one and two columns of between 39 and 44 lines each, with alternating red and blue initials. In Middle English. Provenance: Hugh Cholmondeley, baron Delamare; Boies Penrose, 1929; L’Art ancien/Haus der Bücher, Basel, Penrose sale, 27 September 1978, lot 2

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Langland and Gower While Chaucer is the best known of the fourteenth-century poets writing in English, he certainly was not working in a vacuum. The century is known precisely for the spread of English as a literary language. Authors such as William Langland and John Gower wrote in English, in conjunction with Latin and French, composing literature that was not only rhetorically sophisticated but that engaged with the pressing moral and political issues of the time.

Takamiya MS 23 William Langland, Piers Plowman (B version). England, circa 1550 Manuscript codex, on parchment, containing a near-complete copy of the B version of Piers Plowman. The text starts imperfectly at line 73 of the prologue: “And cam up kneling to kisse his bulles.” It ends with Conscience’s call for vengeance in the final lines of the poem: “Now Kynde me avenge, And sende me hap and heele, Til I have Piers the Plowman” (Passus 20). Folded into the manuscript is a booklet containing 18th-century copies of letters from “Mr. Baffets” to “Mr. Dodwell” concerning “The Essay for Catholick Peace.” This 16th-century copy of Piers uses a hierarchy of scripts to differentiate passus and to demarcate Latin quotations. In a near-contemporary binding. 260 x 200 mm., 91 leaves. Written in a mid-16th century Secretary script. In Middle English and Latin. Provenance: George and Thomas Hewlet (16th century); Bolton (?) Wansell; Sion

College (I.40.2 E76; discovered by N. R. Ker in 1966); Sotheby’s, 13 June 1977, lot 74; Dawson’s of Pall Mall Takamiya MS 98 John Gower, Confessio amantis (fragment). England, circa 1393 Incomplete manuscript leaf, on parchment and recovered from a binding, containing book 4, lines 2351–2530 of Gower’s Confessio amantis. This leaf is one of 17 missing from the Ellesmere/Stafford Gower, now in the Huntington Library, San Marino, California (EL 27 A 17). Possibly written under the poet’s supervision. The text features alternating blue initials with red flourishing and gold initials with purple flourishing. 204 x 145 mm. Written in Anglicana script in two columns. In Middle English. Provenance: Henry Bolingbroke, earl of Derby (later Henry IV, king of England); the parent manuscript was part of the Bridgewater Library; Quaritch, 1270 (2000), item 55

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Lydgate Chief among Chaucer’s fifteenth-century successors was John Lydgate, a prolific writer and monk at Bury St. Edmunds in Norfolk. Much of his poetry was commissioned by courtly patrons and therefore spans a wide range of genres (including devotional texts found on pages 21 and 26). Lydgate’s Fall of Princes would have been especially relevant to his audience, as in it he assembles examples of good and bad leadership to inspire introspection and moral improvement.

Takamiya MS 40 John Lydgate, The Fall of Princes. England, circa 1465–1475

Takamiya MS 30 John Lydgate, The Fall of Princes (fragment). England, circa 1450

Takamiya MS 78 John Lydgate, The Fall of Princes (fragment). England, circa 1440

Manuscript codex, on parchment, containing a near-complete copy of Lydgate’s Fall of Princes, which starts: “This seyde Boochas auctoure of thys booke” (prologue). This exceptionally professional production includes alternating red and blue paraphs at the beginning of verses, champ initials marking the commencement of larger sections of text, and illuminated initials with three-quarter floral borders at the opening of each book. Illuminated champ initials and floral borders in portions of the manuscript consistently appear to be eroded by a corrosive. 340 x 230 mm., 255 leaves. Written in bastard Anglicana script by one scribe in two columns of 39 lines (5 verses) each. In Middle English. Provenance: Gloddaeth; Lord Mostyn; Sotheby’s, Mostyn sale, 13 July 1920, lot 73; Frances Edwards; A. S.W. Rosenbach; Arthur A. Houghton, Jr.; Christie’s, Houghton sale, 14 June 1979, lot 295

Ten parchment leaves containing nonconsecutive leaves from a copy of Lydgate’s Fall of Princes. Although the text starts with the first line of the prologue, “He that whilom did his diligence,” the manuscript contains text from books 6 and 7 as well as book 1. The one-line initials that begin each verse alternate between blue and red. Aside from the first folio, which features an illuminated initial and a partial border, the fragment features repeated 2-line blue initials with red flourishing, which subdivide major sections of text, and alternating 1-line, unflourished red and blue intials at the beginning of each verse. 457 x 324 mm., 10 leaves. Written in an elegant, late Secretary book hand in two columns of 55 lines (7 verses) each. In Middle English. Provenance: John Hayward (1905–1965); Sotheby’s, 11 July 1966, lot 225; John Du Pont; John Howell

Single leaf of parchment, containing book 3, verses 1717–1913 of Lydgate’s The Fall of Princes. This carefully copied and corrected fragment and its companions in the Takamiya Collection speak to Lydgate’s general popularity as well as the continued appeal of Fürstenspiegel (princes’ mirror) literature, a genre that used historical and mythical accounts of leadership to encourage contemporary rulers to reflect on their own royal practices. 440 x 287 mm. Written in two columns in bastard Anglicana script. Red and blue initials with no flourishing to demarcate verses. Champ initials with spray demarcate divisions between larger sections of text. In Middle English. Provenance: Sir Thomas Phillipps (Phillipps MS 23554); Maggs, 816 (1953), item 150; B. M. Rosenthal; Quaritch, 1088 (1988), 88 Takamiya MS 79 John Lydgate, The Fall of Princes (fragment). England, circa 1450–1475

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Single leaf of parchment, containing part of book 1 of Lydgate’s The Fall of Princes. This leaf was originally part of Plimpton MS 255 (Columbia University Library, New York). It is produced in a style common to deluxe productions of the late-15th century. Indeed, text layout, script, and the running titles in a striking Gothic script with illuminated initials all recall Takamiya MS 24, the Devonshire Chaucer. 495 x 331 mm. Written in a late, high-quality Secretary book hand in double columns. Verses demarcated with alternating blue and gold single-line initials, while major text divisions begin with three-line gold initials. In Middle English. Provenance: Revd. H. B. Finch; Sotheby’s, 6 December 1983, lot 20

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Arthuriana King Arthur and his court provided some of the richest fodder for the medieval literary canon, spanning centuries as well as linguistic and geographic boundaries. Although first popularized through medieval chronicles (see page 59), King Arthur became a figure of the romance genre in French. His court then provided the perfect imaginative landscape in which to follow other knights, notably the famous Lancelot, on their chivalric adventures. While in England Arthurian tales were read originally in French, they were also translated and composed in English, most famously in Malory’s fifteenthcentury text, Le Morte d’Arthur.

Takamiya MS 34 John Grinken, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. England, circa 1580

Takamiya MS 42 Lancelot du Lac. France, 14th century

Manuscript codex, on paper, containing an autograph copy of John Grinken’s King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. This text compiles the names and important deeds of King Arthur and his knights as they appear in Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur. The margins of the manuscript are illustrated with 33 armorial devices in ink, and many blank shields, in pencil. The manuscript appears to be unfinished, with some entries containing only a name and some frames for armorial devices left blank. Incongruities among contemporary books on King Arthur inspired Grinken to produce this index. 280 x 192 mm., 54 leaves. Written in Secretary script in single 26-line columns. In English. Provenance: John Louis Goldsmid (1789– 1835); Sir Thomas Phillipps (Phillipps MS 100); Christie’s, 29 November 1978, lot 27; Quaritch

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Manuscript codex, on parchment, containing part I, sections A and B, of Lancelot du Lac. While section A lacks several leaves, section B is complete. Each primary text division is set off with a large historiated initial, the first of which shows Lancelot as a baby with his parents, and the second depicts the adult Lancelot, mounted on a horse and bearing a lance. Multiple decorated initials of six to eight lines each and smaller, alternating red and blue initials appear throughout the text. This extensive collection of texts detailing the life of King Arthur’s most famous knight recounts his upbringing, his adventures as a knight of the Round Table, and his love for Guenevere. 325 x 200 mm., 148 and 206 leaves. Written in a continental Gothic book hand in two columns of 50–52 lines each. In Old French. Provenance: Duc de la Vallière (18th century); Pierre-Antoine BolongaroCrevenna (d. 1792); John Louis Goldsmid (1789–1835); Edward Vernon Utterson (1766–1852); Richard Heber (1773–1833); Sir Thomas Phillipps (Phillipps MS 8230); Robinson Trust; acquired by H. P. Kraus in 1978; H. P. Kraus, 153 (1979), item 44 Takamiya MS 99 Three miniatures from Le Livre du Lancelot du Lac. Paris, circa 1440 Three miniatures, individually mounted, taken from a manuscript of Le Livre du Lancelot du Lac illuminated by the Dunois Master. The volume was dismembered relatively soon after its production, but some illuminations survive, and they depict: (1) the duke of Clarence and his esquire meeting a knight who is cutting off a woman’s hair; (2) King Baudemagnus leading the battle against the Romans; (3) Lancelot’s arrival at the city of Gorre to rescue Guenevere. 100 x 100 (largest); 3 items. In French.

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Takamiya MS 107 Meliadus / Guiron le Courtois (fragment). France, circa 1350–1399 Manuscript bifolium, on parchment, containing text from chapters 34, 35, and 39 of this popular prequel to the Tristan and Holy Grail romances (Meliadus was father of Tristan, and Guiron was a fellow knight from the same earlier generation). When acquired for the Takamiya Collection, the fragments—which were used as a wrapper at some point—were newly discovered and unrecorded. 410 x 355 mm., 2 leaves. Written in Gothic script. Initials in burnished gold on red and blue grounds. In Middle French. 107 Takamiya MS 121 Lancelot du Lac (fragment). France, circa 1275–1300 121

Manuscript binding fragment, on parchment, of part of the text of the prose Lancelot du Lac. 182 x 46 mm., 1 leaf. Written in a Gothic script. Illuminated initial with brown penwork. In Middle French. Takamiya MS 123 Roman de Tristan (fragments). France, circa 1375–1399 Four manuscript fragments from three leaves, on parchment, containing text from Version III of the prose Tristan. Recovered from a binding. 407 x 297 mm. (largest); 4 items. Written in a Gothic script. Initials with red and blue penwork. In Middle French.

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Romance / Travel Chivalric adventures featuring King Arthur are only one part of a larger medieval interest in heroes and their encounters with the strange and wondrous. This interest could manifest around historical figures, such as Alexander the Great; popular figures, such as Robin Hood; as well as around places. The strange and wondrous, for example, could be explored through accounts of travel to the East.

Takamiya MS 50 Life of Alexander the Great and The Romance of Troas. Italy (Tuscany?), 15th century The blurred lines between historic and mythological heroes as well as the joint interest in travel and adventure are evident in this manuscript codex, on paper, containing the popular Life of Alexander the Great and the Romance of Troas. In the Life, Alexander the Great travels through the East heroically winning battles, while Troas’s narrative directly connects him to King Arthur’s court through his son, who visits Camelot. Final flyleaf contains multiple pen-and-ink decorations and some heraldic imagery along with an inscription, in Latin, stating that the book was gifted by “Iacomo Darbenta” to “Alesandro dale Carte.” 207 x 146 mm., 147 leaves. Written in Humanist script; repeated red initials

(no flourishing) are found in the Life while the Romance evidences unfilled gaps for initials. In Italian. Provenance: Sir Edward Dering; Puttick’s, Dering sale, 13 July 1865, lot 825; Sir Thomas Phillipps (Phillipps MS 23252); Sotheby’s, Phillipps sale, 6 June 1898, lot 47; Sotheby’s, 11 December 1979, lot 49; B. M. Rosenthal

81 Literary Manuscripts

51 94 Takamiya MS 51 Accounts, and a fragment of a ballad of Robin Hood. England, mid-15th century Two parchment bifolia, apparently used as binding waste, containing various bookkeeping accounts as well as an excerpt from a previously unknown Middle English ballad of Robin Hood. Twelve long lines of poetry appear in what was once the lower margin of the original account book. The poem directly mentions “Robynn hudde” in its opening and describes several exploits involving lesser-known characters such as “Jack.” 226 x 165 mm. Written in later Secretary script with a strong documentary aspect. In Middle English. Provenance: Sotheby’s, 24 June 1980, lot 33

Anthologies

Takamiya MS 64 Sir John Mandeville, Travels. England, early 15th century Manuscript codex, on parchment, primarily containing an abridged version of Mandeville’s Travels in prose. A short collection of disparate practical texts, such as a “tractatus de dieta,” have been bound into the beginning of the manuscript. The Travels opens with a distinctive three-quarter border that includes an illuminated initial and coat of arms identified with the Brockman family of Yorkshire. Later reader annotations, in Latin, appear throughout the manuscript. Contemporary binding of light-brown doeskin over wooden boards. 170 x 125 mm., 116 leaves. Written in a Secretary script with Gothic display script in single columns with repeated blue initials. In Middle English. Provenance: J. P. R. Lyell (1871–1948); H. L. Bradfer-Lawrence (MS 7); Quaritch

Medieval manuscripts often contained collections of works by different authors and often combined varying genres of text.

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Takamiya MS 94 Anthology of verse and prose texts. England, circa 1450–1475 Manuscript codex, on parchment and paper, containing a collection of texts in verse and prose, including Prester Johan, Stans puer ad mensam, and the Myrrour of Mankind. Within a wide range of layouts, the most interesting is that of the “Stimulus compassionis,” a text in Latin verse. Verse brackets in alternating blue and red identify not only rhyme, but also stanza structure; a rubricated prose commentary runs along the left-hand side of the verse; and formal glosses, in shields and scrolls, line the outer margins. 198 x 136 mm., 213 leaves. Written in a collection of 15th-century scripts including Gothic, bastard Anglicana, Anglicana, and Secretary. Uniformly in single columns and, where applicable, with repeated blue initials. In Middle English and Latin.

Provenance: Gregory Lewis Way (1756– 1799); Sotheby’s, Way sale, 1 July 1881, lot 120; William Waldorf Astor (1848– 1919), 1st viscount Astor (Astor MS A.2); Sotheby’s, 21 June 1988, lot 57

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Classical While the Middle Ages produced much of its own literature, medieval scholars continued to appreciate and cultivate knowledge of the Classics. In addition to enjoying contemporary, often vernacular, works, medieval readers also chose to maintain their acquaintance with the major classical authors, including Terence, Seneca, and Virgil.

Takamiya MS 83 Terence, Comedies (fragment). Italy (Florence?), circa 1485

Takamiya MS 85 Seneca, De beneficiis (fragment). England (?), circa 1150–1200

Takamiya MS 88 Virgil, Aeneid (fragment). England, circa 1150

Two complete manuscript leaves, on parchment, containing fragments of Terence’s Comedies. Copied by the scribe “Messer Marso,” who may have been Giovanni d’Astore. 250 x 176 mm. Written in a fine Humanist hand in single 30-line columns. In Latin. Provenance: Otto Ege

Manuscript fragment, on parchment, containing part of book 4, chapter 1, of Seneca’s De beneficiis. The first letter is a three-line initial in red with delicate green flourishing, which, upon closer examination, proves to be a distinctly organic motif of delicate vines with light flowers. Therefore, both in script (Protogothic) and decoration (flourishing that still looks like vines) this fragment provides insight into the establishment of standard Gothic codicological features. Another leaf from the same manuscript is in London, University College (MS 830/1). 168 x 103 mm. Written in Protogothic script in a single (surviving) column. In Latin. Provenance: A. G. & M. Hammond (MS 29[2]); Maggs

Manuscript fragment, on parchment, containing book 1, lines 513–43 and 547–76, of Virgil’s Aeneid. The fragment seems to have been used as binding waste, and it contains no illumination or decoration. The script clearly preserves features from its Carolingian heritage as well as English-specific Protogothic characteristics. This fragment speaks to the continued reception of certain classical texts in the middle ages. 153 x 81 mm. Written in a Protogothic hand in a single (surviving) column. In Latin. Provenance: Maggs

Takamiya MS 84 Seneca, Epistolae morales ad Lucilium (fragment). Italy (?), circa 1470 Complete manuscript leaf, on parchment, containing a fragment of Seneca’s Epistolae morales. 288 x 208 mm. Although Italianate in appearance, German or English provenance has been suggested. Written in a fine Humanist hand in single columns of 28 lines, with one illuminated initial. In Latin.

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Medical and Scientific Manuscripts

From a unique prose translation of the Secretum secretorum to two copies of the first English-language work on the “art of venery,” the Takamiya Collection’s holdings in medieval medicine and science illustrate the state of scientific knowledge in fifteenth-century England. They include translations and adaptions of traditional texts; a complete Middle English version of Guy de Chauliac’s influential work on surgery and the care of wounds; and a lengthy herbal written in verse, probably as an aid to memorization. While the information in the texts, and even the subject classifications, can appear strange to us—as does an unquestioning acceptance of astrology and alchemy as sciences—many of these works were widely studied and contributed to the development of science in England.

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Takamiya MS 33 John Lydgate and Benedict Burgh, Secretum secretorum. England, circa 1475–1500 Manuscript, incomplete, on parchment, of John Lydgate’s and Benedict Burgh’s Middle English verse translation of the encyclopedic 12th-century Latin treatise Secretum secretorum, itself a translation from the Arabic of the Kitab sirr al-asrar. Purporting to be a letter from Aristotle to his pupil Alexander the Great, this influential work discusses medicine, astrology, alchemy, magic, ethics, and wisdom for the ruler. In addition to this text, which is one of 24 surviving copies, the volume also contains several other prose pieces in Middle English and Latin, including one illustrated with astronomical diagrams and a Latin tract on the interpretation of dreams. 240 x 159 mm., 63 leaves. Disbound but with some intact original sewing. Written in a single English book hand; 15 illuminated borders with other additional decorated initials. In Middle English and Latin. Provenance: Thomas Bowen; John Bonen (?)

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Takamiya MS 59 Guy de Chauliac, The Inventory of Chirurgy. England, circa 1450

Takamiya MS 38 Johannes de Caritate. The Privyte of Privyteis. England, circa 1460–1485

Takamiya MS 61 Medical and alchemical miscellany. England, circa 1450–1475

Manuscript, on paper and parchment, of a Middle English translation of Chauliac’s treatise on surgery and other aspects of practical medical treatment, particularly wound treatment and the importance of a knowledge of anatomy. Only five other copies of the text are known. 375 x 265 mm., 153 leaves. Bound in 15th-century blind-stamped calfskin over wooden boards. Written in a cursive script by a single hand; seven large decorated initials and numerous smaller initials in blue with red penwork. In Middle English. Provenance: Sir Thomas Nott; John Byrom; Chetham’s Library, Manchester

Manuscript, on parchment, in a single hand. This unique, but incomplete, Middle English prose version of the Secretum secretorum also includes a short astrological text in Middle English, headed “secreta.” The combination of texts on multiple scientific subjects in one volume is a common feature of these manuscripts, as also can be seen in Takamiya MSS 61 and 46. The unidentified translator praises his patron, Sir Miles Stapleton, in the introduction to the work. 212 x 153 mm., 118 leaves. Contemporary binding of blind-stamped calfskin over wooden boards. Written in a single English book hand; numerous initials in burnished gold or blue with contrasting penwork. In Middle English. Provenance: Sir Miles Stapleton; Robert B. Honeyman, Jr.

Manuscript, on paper, containing a variety of alchemical, medical, and other “scientific” texts in a variety of languages: Latin, Middle English, and Anglo-Norman French. Contents include two Middle English poems, one on the four humors; the second, which concerns the alchemical secrets of the philosophers, is attributed to George Ripley. Other contents include a dialogue between Dives and Lazarus; a copy of the Computus manualis; various medical and alchemical recipes and formulae; and a treatise on the magical properties of snakeskin. 200 x 150 mm., 83 leaves. Binding of contemporary limp vellum with four medieval manuscript-waste flyleaves, including one from a 14th-century liturgical text with music. Written in cursive scripts by multiple hands. In Middle English, Latin, and AngloNorman French.

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Takamiya MS 60 Bernard de Gordon, De prognosticis. England, circa 1400–1425

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Manuscript, on parchment, lacking the first gathering, containing a Middle English translation of a late 13th-century treatise on determining the outcomes of illnesses. This manuscript is the most complete source for this vernacular version of de Gordon’s work, which otherwise survives in less complete copies. 190 x 125 mm., 51 leaves. The lower cover of the original vellum binding survives. Written in Gothic book script by a single hand; headings and paraph marks in red. In Middle English. Takamiya MS 39 The Wyse Boke of Fylosophy and Astronomy. England, circa 1500

39

Manuscript, on paper, in a single hand, of a collection of astrological information. The first part describes the heavens, planets, stars, and zodiac. The second part is a treatise on the signs of the zodiac that includes lists of activities appropriate for each sign and descriptions of the characteristics of those who are born under the influence of different planets. 194 x 143 mm., 30 leaves. Written in a Secretary script; some capitals and words in red. An astrological chart, on paper, for the years 1646–1664 is tipped in. In Middle English. Provenance: John Eglington Bailey; Robert B. Honeyman, Jr. Takamiya MS 95 Planetary calendar. England, circa 1450

95

Manuscript, on parchment, of a set of planetary tables, one for each month, followed by a two-page note of instructions for their use, which begins: “For the declaracion of this p[re]cedente tabule.” The included feast days suggest an origin in southern England, perhaps London. 225 x 155 mm., 14 leaves. Written in red and brown ink in an English book hand; gold initials. In Middle English. Provenance: Robert Davies (Gwysaney MS 26); P.R. Davies-Cooke.

46 Takamiya MS 46 Herbal in prose and verse. South Lincolnshire (?), circa 1400–1425 Manuscript, on parchment, containing an herbal in prose and verse. The volume opens with two Middle English poems that show traces of East Anglian dialect; they describe a variety of herbs and their medicinal properties as well as traditional cures and prescriptions for a number of ailments. Only seven copies of these texts survive, and this manuscript is among the most complete. They are followed by Middle English and Latin prose texts also concerning herbal medicine. 225 x 120 mm., 43 leaves. Written in a single English cursive book hand; some initials and headings in red. In Middle English and Latin.

91 Medicine and Science

141

The Takamiya Collection contains two of the twentyseven known manuscripts of The Master of Game, the earliest English-language treatise on hunting. Edward, 2nd duke of York, composed the work, which is largely a translation of the Livre du chasse by Gaston Phoebus with five additional chapters on hunting in the English style.

16 Takamiya MS 16 The Master of Game. England, circa 1425–1475 Manuscript, on parchment. This copy of the text has a distinguished provenance that includes a presentation inscription from the literary copyist John Shirley to Richard Halsham. 275 x 187 mm., 47 leaves. Full illuminated border is on folio 1r, and small illuminated initials appear at chapter openings. Written in an English book hand. In Middle English. Provenance: John Shirley; Richard Halsham; Sir Gregory Gage-Turner; Sir Thomas Phillipps (Phillipps MS 10364)

Takamiya MS 19 The Master of Game. England, circa 1425

19

Manuscript, on parchment, imperfect at beginning and end. 220 x 145 mm., 39 leaves. Written in Anglicana script. In Middle English. Provenance: Sir John Cope; C.F.G.R. Schwerdt; Boies Penrose Takamiya MS 141 The Master of Game (fragment). England, circa 1450–1499 Manuscript leaf, on paper, in a single hand, containing the beginning of the table of contents for the work, from the prologue to chapter 18, “Of mastiffs and of her nature.” 212 x 133 mm. Written in Anglicana script, with a large initial H in red and blue and other colored initials. In Middle English.

Documents and Legal Manuscripts

The complex system of rights and privileges known as feudal law generated many disputes concerning ownership, authority, inheritance, and income. Claimants filed petitions, sought royal warrants and grants, memorialized settlements in indentures and quitclaims, and kept the documentary evidence of their victories. Each of the charters and documents in the Takamiya Collection is the final surviving testimony of a family argument, a jealously guarded right, or a coveted income. They range from royal letters patent and grants, real and forged, to the record of a sale of a small landholding to a London scrivener. This section also contains a Papal letter of appointment, written for Leo X by a famous calligrapher; a letter from a possible suitor to Queen Elizabeth I concerning the Order of the Garter; several formal manuscripts related to statutory English law; and, in conclusion, an early eighteenth-century antiquarian’s notes toward a historical analysis of that law.

10, detail, see p. 94

95 Documents and Legal Manuscripts

119

120 10

Takamiya MS 10 Richard II, king of England, letters patent for Thomas de Greystoke. Westminster, 27 February 1393

Takamiya MS 119 Henry V, king of England, writ for the recovery of lands unlawfully entered into. Westminster, 12 July 1421

Letters patent (“open letters”) were public grants of rights and privileges, often used by kings. Frequently they were elaborately written and carried the king’s seal to demonstrate their authenticity; they were designed for public display. This imposing example, on parchment, grants Thomas de Greystoke the profitable right to hold a market every Monday, and a three-day fair annually, on the manor of Greystoke in Cumberland. 240 x 390 mm. Written in Secretary script in a single column of 19 lines, with a large initial R and calligraphic long ascenders in the first line. Great Seal of England, one edge chipped, attached by a red silk cord. In Latin. Provenance: Sir Thomas Phillipps (Phillipps MS 28734)

Manuscript document, on parchment, containing the text of a writ issued in the name of King Henry V of England for the recovery of lands unlawfully entered into, citing acts of Parliament in Westminster, 31 October 1391 and from 1420 to 1421. The document is witnessed by Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, who was regent of England at this date while Henry V was occupied with his invasion of France. In addition to his political activities, the duke was an avid book collector, who donated his large library to the University of Oxford in a series of gifts beginning in 1411. 272 x 322 mm. Written in a single column of 42 lines, in Secretary script. In Latin.

Takamiya MS 120 Forged charter supposedly issued by King Edward the Confessor to the Abbey of St. Mary, Coventry. England, circa 1275–1299 Document, on parchment, purporting to be a royal writ by Edward the Confessor confirming grants by Leofric and Godgifu (Godiva) to the Abbey of St. Mary, Coventry. Although in Old English and a skillful reproduction of Anglo-Saxon minuscule, the document is a 13th-century fabrication. As courts and society began to place more importance on written testimony, holders of customary rights and privileges not infrequently created charters and writs that sought to fill in the blanks in the written record. This example is highly unusual for its expert use of Old English in the text and its successful imitation of 11th-century

script. The “original” of this charter, which survives in the British Library, has itself proven to be a 12th-century forgery. 132 x 220 mm; 1 item, with 6 other 13th-century grants in Latin, all on four membranes stitched together. Written in an Anglo-Saxon minuscule script. In Old English and Latin.

97 Documents and Legal Manuscripts

118

44 Takamiya MS 44 Benefactors’ book of the Candlemas Guild of Bury St. Edmunds. England, circa 1480–1499 Manuscript, on parchment, in at least seven different hands, containing the text of the wills of Jankyn Smyth, alderman of Bury St. Edmunds and a major benefactor of the town, and his wife, Margaret Odeham, detailing their bequests to the Candlemas Guild of Bury St. Edmunds. These included Smith’s “best stonding cuppe of siluer & gylt,” which he bequeathed to the prior of Bury St. Edmunds Abbey, as well as gifts to other religious foundations and accommodation for Smyth’s funeral expenses. Also included are the grant of probate for Smyth’s second will, dated 1481, and lists of lands donated by the couple itemized by name and location. Other entries in the volume document additional gifts to the Candlemas Guild, the list of which was read to its members every year during their Candlemas Day gathering (February 2). 224 x 145 mm., 33 leaves. Written in

several scripts, including Anglicana and Gothic; one large initial in blue with red penwork; rubricated. Bound in contemporary white tawed leather over beveled wooden boards; a brass pin and quatrefoil mount are on the lower board. In Middle English and Latin. Takamiya MS 118 Queen Joan of Navarre, letter to Henry IV, king of England. England, circa 1402–1412 Manuscript, on parchment, containing the petition of Joan of Navarre to her husband, King Henry IV of England, for the right of the aurum reginae (the queen’s gold), revenues traditionally allotted out of the king’s revenue to provide for the queen of England. Annotation in a contemporary hand on the verso notes that the aurum reginae was granted to Queen Joan at Eltham on the Tuesday after Epiphany, 13 Henry IV (1412). 143 x 355 mm. Written in Chancery script in a single column of 10 lines. In Middle French.

Takamiya MS 75 Petition of Joan, widow of William Rykell, to Lord Abergavenny. England, circa 1500

75 The 15th-century document is accompanied by a transcript in an early 17th–century italic script, highlighted in gold ink. The transcript concludes with this note: “This dutie hath ben enioyed by all or most of the Queenes of England since the Conquest till the last Queene of King Henry the 8.” The quality of the transcript, the note, and its use as an envelope to the original document all suggest that this manuscript may have been used as evidence to support the claim of a later queen, Anne of Denmark, who petitioned her husband, James I, for the aurum reginae in November 1607.

Manuscript document, on parchment, in a single hand, containing the petition of Joan, widow of William Rykell, to George Nevill, baron Bergavenny (now called Abergavenny), for his support in a property dispute between two female relatives of the deceased William Rykell. Joan, his widow, seeks the restoration of her rights in land in Kent, which she claims to hold as a feoffee of Robert Lindsey. The competing claimant, husband of William’s daughter Rose, has disseized Joan and seized the revenues of the land. 160 x 412 mm. Written in Anglicana script in a single column of 14 lines. In Middle English. Provenance: Sir Thomas Phillipps (Phillipps MS 29242); Alan G. Thomas

99 Documents and Legal Manuscripts

Takamiya MS 126 John Lumley, baron Lumley. Acquittance for monies received from Edward Greville. England, 10 November 1594

126

Legal document, on parchment, containing a receipt for the payment in full of 2500 pounds to Baron Lumley from Edward Greville for the manor of Mickletons in Gloucestershire. Formerly this document was owned by the great collector Sir Thomas Phillipps, and it is signed by an even earlier English collector, the first Baron Lumley (1534?–1609). After Lumley’s death, King James I purchased his books, which eventually became part of the British Library’s holdings. Also signed by Richard Lewkenor. 365 x 495 mm. Written in a professional cursive script. Worn seal attached. In English. Provenance: Sir Thomas Phillipps (Phillipps MS 40459) Takamiya MS 132 Quitclaim by John Burgh. England, 20 August 1421

77 Takamiya MS 77 Agreement between Bromehill Priory and the Town of Thetford. England, 7 July 1331 Manuscript indenture, on parchment, detailing an agreement between the prior and canons of the Augustinian priory of Bromehill and the mayor, burgesses, merchants, and residents of the town of Thetford concerning the distribution of the income from the priory’s annual fair at Bromehill. The disputed fees included those for rights to occupy a stall (tollage), for permission to erect it (stallage), and for permission to break ground for it (pickage). 190 x 240 mm. Written in a Secretary script in a single column of 26 lines. With the green-wax seal of the prior and canons of Bromehill. Annotated in a 17th-century hand, probably that of Thomas Martin, the Norfolk antiquary. In Latin. Provenance: Thomas Martin

132

Manuscript document, on parchment, containing a quitclaim by John Burgh, parson of Huish Champflower in Somerset, releasing his rights in the lands and tenements of John Badyngton of Somerset. 95 x 255 mm. Single column of 9 lines written in Secretary script. In Middle English. Takamiya MS 135 Sale and quitclaim agreement between Thomas Hatfield and George Nicholl. England, 11 May 1492

135

Manuscript indenture, on parchment, containing a sale and quitclaim deed by Squyer [sic] Hatfield of all rights, title, rents, and service from lands in Reddreth, Guilden Mordel, to George Nicoll, identified as “Citezem and Scryvaner of London.” Nicoll was one of the 13 “Masters of the Craft of Writers of the Court Letter,” the group that became the Company of Scriveners in 1617. 225 x 455 mm. Written in a single column of 25 lines in a Secretary script. Indented head with chirographic letters. In Middle English.

101 Documents and Legal Manuscripts

76

134

Takamiya MS 133, MS 134, and MS 135 are examples of indentures. These legal contracts were written in duplicate on the same sheet and then cut apart across a chirograph in a jagged line. In Takamiya MS 133, for example, the remnants of the chirograph letters written across the teeth, or dents, of the indenture can be clearly seen.

133

Takamiya MS 133 Indenture between Sir John Fastolf and Richard Sellyng. England, 14 June 1433 Manuscript document, on parchment, containing an agreement by Sir John Fastolf, who traditionally has been identified as the model for Shakespeare’s character Falstaff, to purchase lands in Norwich from Richard Sellyng. 150 x 280 mm. Written in a single column of 13 lines in Secretary script. The head of the document is indented. Endorsement and ownership mark on the verso by the Kent antiquary Sir Edward Dering. In Middle English.

128

Takamiya MS 134 Indenture between Thomas Tuddenham and Edward Grimston. England, 1 March 1446 This manuscript indenture, on parchment, related to the sale of lands in Alstaneswyck, Yorkshire, also has an indented head with chirographic letters; it is signed by both Edward Grimston and the scribe, who is identified only as “Brampton.” The damaged red-wax seal contains Grimston’s crest. 145 x 325 mm. Written in a single column of 15 lines in Anglicana script. In Middle English.

Takamiya MS 76 Leo X, papal letter to Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg. Rome, 6 June 1520 Letter, on parchment, from Pope Leo X to Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg, humanist and principal opponent of Martin Luther, appointing Marino Caracciolo as papal nuncio to the cardinal’s court. The body of the letter is in the hand of Ludovico degli Arrighi, a Vatican chancery scribe, calligrapher, type designer, and author of La Operina (1522), the first printed writing manual devoted to Chancery cursive. The letter is signed by Jacopo Sadoleto, the pope’s secretary. 187 x 524 mm. Written in a very fine Chancery cursive script in a single column of 8 lines. In Latin. Provenance: Mark Lansburgh

Takamiya MS 128 Adolf, duke of Schleswig-Holstein, letter to Queen Elizabeth I of England. Schleswig-Holstein, 10 September 1560 Manuscript letter, signed “Adolf Holsatia Dux,” thanking Queen Elizabeth for conferring the Order of the Garter upon him. The duke apologizes in advance for his absence from the ceremony, which had been necessitated by his war with the Swedes, and he requests that Walter Devereux, earl of Essex, represent him instead. The duke was considered one of the most eligible Protestant candidates for the queen‘s hand, and presumably the Garter was bestowed on him for diplomatic reasons. 310 x 470 mm. Single column of 14 lines written in italic script. With attached red-wax seal within white wax. In Latin.

103 Documents and Legal Manuscripts

117

41

Takamiya MS 117 Scribal sample sheet. Germany, circa 1475–1500

Takamiya MS 41 Statutes of England, from 1 Edward III to 4 Henry VI. England, circa 1427

Manuscript, on parchment, containing seven discontinuous lines of text in different Gothic display scripts in black and red inks. The item is composed of two halves joined together, with the texts facing in opposite directions, as if it had been intended as a table tent display. The sheet was probably produced as a sample of a scribe’s work. 206 x 284 mm., 1 leaf. In Latin.

Manuscript, on parchment, containing a complete collection of a century’s worth of English statutes (circa 1327–1426). It is bound in an adaptable binding designed to accommodate the addition of pages as needed: The leather covers are not permanently attached but stitched on with leather thongs, and the spine is uncovered. 236 x 175 mm., 269 leaves. Written in Secretary script in several hands; blue initials with red penwork. Statutes in Law French; titles in Latin. Provenance: William Elwes; T. Butler; Edward Bennett

Takamiya MS 25 Statutes of England. England, circa 1325–1350 Manuscript, on parchment, containing the seven major statutes issued in the 13th century: the Magna carta and the Carta de foresta, as confirmed by King Edward I; and the Statutes of Merton, Marlborough, Westminster I, Gloucester, and Westminster II. These are followed by 31 shorter statutes of

25  (shown actual size) the late 13th and early 14th centuries. The statutes are preceded by a calendar. This small volume is decorated with 41 large initials in gold and was probably produced as a portable legal handbook. 102 x 65 mm., 203 leaves. Written in a legal hand, with 15th-century and later annotations. In Latin and Law French. Provenance: William Salkeld; White Kennett (ownership inscription)

105 Documents and Legal Manuscripts

Takamiya MS 138 Law report (fragment). England, circa 1460–1480 Parchment manuscript leaf, apparently from a collection of law reports (perhaps a year-book). Actions mentioned include cases of dower and Quare impedit. 285 x 220 mm. Written in cursive legal script with some Anglicana features. In Law French. Takamiya MS 26 Catalogue of parliamentary acts (incomplete). England, circa 1610 Manuscript, on paper, containing a catalogue of acts of Parliament from approximately 1488 to 1610 (“septimo Jacobi Reg.”). This substantial fragment was formerly part of a larger volume; the leaves are numbered 280 to 370. 210 x 150 mm., 91 leaves. Written in Secretary script. In English. Takamiya MS 129 William Elstob and Elizabeth Elstob, editors, Fragmentum hoc ad leges Alfredi pertinens… England, 1711–1714

138

26

The latest legal manuscript in the Takamiya Collection is an object of historical research that looks back to medieval England. This manuscript, on paper, is in the hand of the 18th-century Anglo-Saxon scholar William Elstob. A testimony to the Oxford Anglo-Saxonist’s intensive study of early medieval law, the pages contain a transcription of the AngloSaxon legal text known as Judex and numerous suggested readings for the texts of several other Anglo-Saxon law codes. A collation note in Latin, dated 4 September 1714, bears the initials G.E. (Gulielmus [William] Elstob) and E.E., for his equally learned sister, Elizabeth Elstob, who was known as “the Saxon nymph.” The note’s date is only six months before William’s death, which may explain why this manuscript, like his projected study of Anglo-Saxon law, was never published. 340 x 210 mm., 67 leaves. In Latin and Anglo-Saxon. 129

Heraldic Manuscripts

The Takamiya Collection’s holdings in heraldry and arms include a professionally illustrated copy of Upton’s De officio militari, an early sixteenth-century copy of Thomas Jenyns’ Book containing close to 1,600 full-color coats of arms, an illuminated grant of a crest from Norroy King of Arms, and a small French work concerning the arms of King Arthur and his knights.

49, detail, see p. 108

109 Heraldry

Takamiya MS 13 Heraldic manuscript of the English kings and peers. England, circa 1620 Manuscript, on paper, of a genealogy of the rulers of England from Brutus and Julius Caesar to James I, illustrated with more than 600 emblazoned coats of arms accompanied by short biographical sketches of their holders. These vary in completeness: Henry VIII’s, for example, states that “he maried 6 wives” and lists their names and children, but does not mention their fates or even their death dates. 280 x 183 mm., 236 numbered pages. Written in Secretary script. In English. Takamiya MS 127 Grant of a crest to Robert Revell of Shorlonglegge. London, 10 July 1546 Illuminated manuscript document, on parchment, signed by William Fellows, Norroy King of Arms, granting Robert Revell of Shorlonglegge (Shirland) in Derbyshire a crest for his coat of arms. The elaborate illumination, which includes a portrait of Fellows as Norroy King of Arms within the initial T as

well as a depiction of Revell’s arms with his newly acquired crest, vividly suggests the importance of this grant to its recipient. Signed: “Norrey [sic] King of Arms of the North.” 520 x 270 mm. Written in Secretary script in a single column of 20 lines. With two attached seals, that of William Fellows himself and that of the office of Norroy King of Arms. In English. Takamiya MS 49 [Robert Dale], Collection of pedigrees. England, circa 1700 Manuscript, on paper, of a collection of pedigrees and genealogical charts, accompanied by many small illustrations of “arms in trick,” or roughly sketched and annotated. Some of the pedigrees are taken from the Lincolnshire and Gloucestershire visitations of the early 1680s. Sir Thomas Phillipps identified the manuscript as the work of Robert Dale, Richmond Herald of Arms in Ordinary, 1721–1722. Indexed. Bound with another Phillipps manuscript, An Alphabetical List of Crest’s [sic] copied from a list in the handwriting of “Mr. Ra: Thoresby, late of Leeds,

Antiquarian.” 290 x 205 mm., 185 pages. In English. Provenance: George Macartney; Sir Thomas Phillipps (Phillipps MS 13394; Phillipps MS 13436) Takamiya MS 86 Nicholas Upton, De officio militari. England, circa 1500 Manuscript, on parchment, decorated with more than 275 coats of arms in full color. This copy of Upton’s widely circulated work is bound with two other heraldic treatises, both copied from early printed editions: Sensuyt le blazon des armes (Lyon, 1527) and Treatyses perteynyng to Cotarmour (Westminster, 1496). Upton dedicated his heraldic treatise to Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, who signed Takamiya MS 119. 350 x 245 mm., c. 225 pages. Written in three professional book hands with headings and initial letters in blue. Ownership inscription at the top of the first page: “William Howard 1591.” In Latin. Provenance: William Howard, Naworth Castle; Castle Howard; H. L. Bradfer-Lawrence

49

127

86 13

111 Heraldry

Takamiya MS 105 Ordinary of arms: Thomas Jenyns’ Book. England, circa 1500–1525 Manuscript, on parchment, containing close to 1,600 coats of arms in full color, three rows of four on each page. There are also 300 shields drawn, but left blank. Ordinaries—collections of coats of arms arranged by their design elements—were an English specialty in heraldry, and the “Jenyns Ordinary” was the largest, as the scale of this abundantly illustrated copy demonstrates. It is also notable for possessing a very early binding, contemporary reversed white leather over wooden boards. 336 x 255 mm., 106 leaves. Written in a cursive book script. In Middle French. Provenance: Sir Sydney Cockerell; Brian S. Cron

124

48

105 Takamiya MS 124 Devise des armes des chevaliers de la Table Ronde. France, 16th century Manuscript, on paper, containing 177 coats of arms drawn “in trick,” each accompanied by a short description and explanation of its appropriateness to the Arthurian knight who supposedly bore it. Armories for the knights of the Round Table were a byproduct of the enormous popularity of the Arthurian legends in the later middle ages and, like this one, often contain a coat of arms for even the most minor characters. This volume contains an ownership inscription by Philip Hills, to whom it was presented in 1785 by his father, antiquary and paleographer Thomas Astle. 155 x 95 mm., 186 pages. Written in Secretary script. Bound in 18th-century velvet with a silver castle mounted on the front cover. In French. Provenance: Edward Rowe Mores; Thomas Astle; Philip Hill; H. J. B. Clements

Takamiya MS 48 Precedents and several other things contained in this booke…. England, 17th century Manuscript, on paper, in several different hands, of a compilation of grants of arms, pedigrees registered by the College of Arms, rules of precedence and orders of ceremonies, and related documents, including “The Allowance of Blacke at the Funerall of King James.” Thought to have been largely compiled by John Philipot, Somerset Herald of Arms (1589?–1645). 310 x 198 mm., 388 pages. Written in Secretary script in several hands. In English. Provenance: Sir Henry St. George, Garter King of Arms; Sir Thomas Phillipps (Phillipps MS 13762)

Appendix 1

A Listing in Call Number Order Following the list of all Takamiya manuscripts in call number order, three additional lists group the manuscripts according to principal language. The final category, Multilingual, necessarily is somewhat subjective, as many manuscripts contain a few quotations or rubrics in one or more languages other than the principal one. In general, only manuscripts that include substantive passages in more than one language are listed as multilingual. Page number of catalog entry shown in gray.

34 Takamiya MS 1 Glossed Bible, the prophetic books including Baruch, with prologues and commentary

26 Takamiya MS 17 Richard de Caistre, “Ihesu lord that madyste me,” and John Lydgate, “Fifteen Joys of Our Lady”

34 Takamiya MS 2 Boethius, De consolatione philosophiae

54 Takamiya MS 18 The Brut, or The Chronicles of England

24 Takamiya MS 3 Walter Hilton, The Scale of Perfection

91 Takamiya MS 19 The Master of Game

21 Takamiya MS 4 Nicholas Love, Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ

21 Takamiya MS 20 Nicholas Love, Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ

58 Takamiya MS 5 Peter of Ickham, Chronicon de regibus Angliae

37 Takamiya MS 21 Bible, Deuteronomy (fragments)

59 Takamiya MS 6 John Hardyng, Chronicles of England and devotional poems 34 Takamiya MS 7 Marcus Aurelius Cassiodorus, In cantica canticorum and other works 20 Takamiya MS 8 Nicholas Love, Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ 70 Takamiya MS 9 Geoffrey Chaucer, A Treatise on the Astrolabe 94 Takamiya MS 10 Richard II, king of England, letters patent for Thomas de Greystoke 35 Takamiya MS 11 Carthusian psalter with canticles and creed 54 Takamiya MS 12 The Brut, or The Chronicles of England 108 Takamiya MS 13 Heraldic manuscript of the English kings and peers 36 Takamiya MS 14 Albertus Magnus (or Hugh Ripelin of Strasburg), Compendium theologicae veritatis 23 Takamiya MS 15 William of Nassington, Speculum vitae with other texts 90 Takamiya MS 16 The Master of Game

70 Takamiya MS 22 Fragmentary copy of Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales 73 Takamiya MS 23 William Langland, Piers Plowman (B version) 71 Takamiya MS 24 Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, and John Lydgate, Life of St. Margaret (“Devonshire Chaucer”) 102 Takamiya MS 25 Statutes of England 104 Takamiya MS 26 Catalogue of parliamentary acts (incomplete) Takamiya MS 27 Three indentures [remains in Tokyo] 37 Takamiya MS 28 Wycliffite Bible, Gospel of St. Matthew and the Acts of the Apostles (Early Version; fragment) 55 Takamiya MS 29 The Brut, or The Chronicles of England 74 Takamiya MS 30 John Lydgate, The Fall of Princes (fragment) 38 Takamiya MS 31 Wycliffite Bible, New Testament (Late Version) 72 Takamiya MS 32 Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales and other texts in Middle English (“Delamere Chaucer”)

115 Appendices

86 Takamiya MS 33 John Lydgate and Benedict Burgh, Secretum secretorum

56 Takamiya MS 57 The “Roll of Battle Abbey” and “Chronicle of the Kings of Britain”

76 Takamiya MS 34 John Grinken, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

39 Takamiya MS 58 St. Jerome, Epistolae (no. 106, sec. 59–67)

60 Takamiya MS 35 Genealogy of the kings of England

87 Takamiya MS 59 Guy de Chauliac, The Inventory of Chirurgy

62 Takamiya MS 36 Old Testament genealogy 67 Takamiya MS 37 John Leslie, Historie of Scotland fra the Deathe of Kyng James the First

88 Takamiya MS 60 Bernard de Gordon, De prongosticis 87 Takamiya MS 61 Medical and alchemical miscellany

87 Takamiya MS 38 Johannes de Caritate, The Privyte of Privyteis

52 Takamiya MS 62 Bede, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum

88 Takamiya MS 39 The Wyse Boke of Fylosophy and Astronomy

21 Takamiya MS 63 Nicholas Love, Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ

74 Takamiya MS 40 John Lydgate, The Fall of Princes

80 Takamiya MS 64 Sir John Mandeville, Travels

1 03 Takamiya MS 41 Statutes of England, from 1 Edward III to 4 Henry VI

25 Takamiya MS 65 “Abbey of the Holy Ghost” and other devotional texts

77 Takamiya MS 42 Lancelot du Lac

24 Takamiya MS 66 Richard Rolle, Emendatio vitae and other works

65 Takamiya MS 43 Ranulph Higden, Polychronicon 96 Takamiya MS 44 Benefactors’ book of the Candlemas Guild of Bury St. Edmunds 38 Takamiya MS 45 Gilte Legende (fragment) 89 Takamiya MS 46 Herbal in prose and verse 39 Takamiya MS 47 Psalter, preceded by prayers and a calendar and followed by canticles, a litany, etc. 111 Takamiya MS 48 Precedents and several other things contained in this booke… 1 08 Takamiya MS 49 [Robert Dale], Collection of pedigrees 79 Takamiya MS 50 Life of Alexander the Great and The Romance of Troas 80 Takamiya MS 51 Accounts, and a fragment of a ballad of Robin Hood 61 Takamiya MS 52 Chronicle of the Kings of England 62 Takamiya MS 53 Old Testament genealogy 25 Takamiya MS 54 South English Legendary 40 Takamiya MS 55 St. Augustine, Enarrationes in psalmos (fragments) 29 Takamiya MS 56 Prayer roll in Middle English and Latin

57 Takamiya MS 67 The Brut, or The Chronicles of England 29 Takamiya MS 68 Prayer roll in Latin 40 Takamiya MS 69 The penitential psalms and litany, etc. 29 Takamiya MS 70 Prayer roll in Latin 43 Takamiya MS 71 Psalter (fragments) 41 Takamiya MS 72 Bible, Ezekiel 1:22–5:6 (fragment) 41 Takamiya MS 73 Vitae sanctorum (portions of the lives of Sts. Nazarius, Celsus, Abdon, and Sennen) 41 Takamiya MS 74 Homilies based on Paul’s letter to the Galatians (fragment) 97 Takamiya MS 75 Petition of Joan, widow of William Rykell, to Lord Abergavenny 101 Takamiya MS 76 Leo X, papal letter to Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg 98 Takamiya MS 77 Agreement between Bromehill Priory and the Town of Thetford 75 Takamiya MS 78 John Lydgate, The Fall of Princes (fragment) 75 Takamiya MS 79 John Lydgate, The Fall of Princes (fragment)

43 Takamiya MS 80 Psalter 43 Takamiya MS 81 Sarum missal (fragments) 44 Takamiya MS 82 Choir breviary (fragment) 82 Takamiya MS 83 Terence, Comedies (fragment) 82 Takamiya MS 84 Seneca, Epistolae morales ad Lucilium (fragment) 82 Takamiya MS 85 Seneca, De beneficiis (fragment) 1 08 Takamiya MS 86 Nicholas Upton, De officio militari 44 Takamiya MS 87 Bible, Ecclesiasticus (fragment) 83 Takamiya MS 88 Virgil, Aeneid (fragment) 42 Takamiya MS 89 Benedictional (fragment) 42 Takamiya MS 90 Bible (“Werden Heptateuch”; fragment) 45 Takamiya MS 91 Work on Church rites 44 Takamiya MS 92 Bible (“Bohun Bible”; fragment) 61 Takamiya MS 93 Genealogy of Edward IV from Adam 81 Takamiya MS 94 Anthology of verse and prose texts 88 Takamiya MS 95 Planetary calendar 22 Takamiya MS 96 Speculum Christiani 22 Takamiya MS 97 Mirour of Mans Salvacioune 73 Takamiya MS 98 John Gower, Confessio amantis (fragment) 77 Takamiya MS 99 Three miniatures from Le Livre du Lancelot du Lac 27 Takamiya MS 100 Book of hours according to the Use of Sarum 27 Takamiya MS 101 Book of hours (fragment) 45 Takamiya MS 102 Breviary (fragment) 48 Takamiya MS 103 Processional, Use of Sarum 49 Takamiya MS 104 Bible, Proverbs to Apocalypse 1 10 Takamiya MS 105 Ordinary of arms: Thomas Jenyns’ Book 42 Takamiya MS 106 Bede, Homily on the Ascension (fragment)

78 Takamiya MS 107 Meliadus / Guiron le Courtois (fragment) 47 Takamiya MS 108 Pope Boniface VIII, Liber sextus decretalium (fragment) 48 Takamiya MS 109 Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologica (fragment) Takamiya MS 110 Pore Caitif (four bifolia) [remains in Tokyo]

104 Takamiya MS 129 William Elstob and Elizabeth Elstob, editors, Fragmentum hoc ad leges Alfredi pertinens… 41 Takamiya MS 130 Vitae sanctorum (part of the life of St. Adrian of Nicomedia) 41 Takamiya MS 131 Eugippius, Vitae Sancti Severini 99 Takamiya MS 132 Quitclaim by John Burgh

28 Takamiya MS 111 Book of hours (fragment)

100 Takamiya MS 133 Indenture between Sir John Fastolf and Richard Sellyng

31 Takamiya MS 112 Prayer roll in Latin and Middle English

100 Takamiya MS 134 Indenture between Thomas Tuddenham and Edward Grimston

38 Takamiya MS 113 Wycliffite lectionary (fragment)

99 Takamiya MS 135 Sale and quitclaim agreement between Thomas Hatfield and George Nicholl

66 Takamiya MS 114 Ranulph Higden, Polychronicon 59 Takamiya MS 115 The Brut, or The Chronicles of England (fragment) 31 Takamiya MS 116 Prayer roll in Middle English 102 Takamiya MS 117 Scribal sample sheet 96 Takamiya MS 118 Queen Joan of Navarre, letter to Henry IV, king of England

45 Takamiya MS 136 Psalter (fragment) 46 Takamiya MS 137 Origen, In genesim homilia X 104 Takamiya MS 138 Law report (fragment) 25 Takamiya MS 139 South English Legendary (fragment) 57 Takamiya MS 140 The Brut, or The Chronicles of England

95 Takamiya MS 119 Henry V, king of England, writ for the recovery of lands unlawfully entered into

91 Takamiya MS 141 The Master of Game (fragment)

95 Takamiya MS 120 Forged charter supposedly issued by King Edward the Confessor to the Abbey of St. Mary, Coventry

28 Takamiya MS 143 Book of hours (fragment)

78 Takamiya MS 121 Lancelot du Lac (fragment) 22 Takamya MS 122 Guillaume de Deguileville, Pèlerinage de l’amˆ e (fragment) 78 Takamiya MS 123 Roman de Tristan (fragments) 111 Takamiya MS 124 Devise des armes des chevaliers de la Table Ronde 46 Takamiya MS 125 Gregorius Magnus, Homiliae in evangelia, libri II 99 Takamiya MS 126 John Lumley, baron Lumley, Acquittance for monies received from Edward Greville 108 Takamiya MS 127 Grant of a crest to Robert Revell of Shorlonglegge 101 Takamiya MS 128 Adolf, duke of Schleswig-Holstein, letter to Queen Elizabeth I of England

28 Takamiya MS 142 Book of hours (fragment)

Appendix 2

A Listing by Language English (includes Old English and Middle English) Takamiya MS 3 Walter Hilton, The Scale of Perfection

Takamiya MS 29 The Brut, or The Chronicles of England

Takamiya MS 4 Nicholas Love, Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ

Takamiya MS 30 John Lydgate, The Fall of Princes (fragment)

Takamiya MS 6 John Hardyng, Chronicles of England and devotional poems

Takamiya MS 31 Wycliffite Bible, New Testament (Late Version)

Takamiya MS 8 Nicholas Love, Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ

Takamiya MS 32 Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales and other texts in Middle English (“Delamere Chaucer”)

Takamiya MS 9 Geoffrey Chaucer, A Treatise on the Astrolabe Takamiya MS 12 The Brut, or The Chronicles of England Takamiya MS 13 Heraldic manuscript of the English kings and peers Takamiya MS 15 William of Nassington, Speculum vitae with other texts Takamiya MS 16 The Master of Game Takamiya MS 17 Richard de Caistre, “Ihesu lord that madyste me,” and John Lydgate, “Fifteen Joys of Our Lady”

Takamiya MS 34 John Grinken, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table Takamiya MS 36 Old Testament genealogy Takamiya MS 37 John Leslie, Historie of Scotland fra the Deathe of Kyng James the First Takamiya MS 38 Johannes de Caritate, The Privyte of Privyteis Takamiya MS 39 The Wyse Boke of Fylosophy and Astronomy Takamiya MS 40 John Lydgate, The Fall of Princes

Takamiya MS 18 The Brut, or The Chronicles of England

Takamiya MS 45 Gilte Legende (fragment)

Takamiya MS 19 The Master of Game

Takamiya MS 48 Precedents and several other things contained in this booke…

Takamiya MS 20 Nicholas Love, Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ

Takamiya MS 49 [Robert Dale], Collection of pedigrees

Takamiya MS 22 Fragmentary copy of Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales

Takamiya MS 51 Accounts, and a fragment of a ballad of Robin Hood

Takamiya MS 23 William Langland, Piers Plowman (B version)

Takamiya MS 52 Chronicle of the Kings of England

Takamiya MS 24 Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, and John Lydgate, Life of St. Margaret (“Devonshire Chaucer”) Takamiya MS 26 Catalogue of parliamentary acts (incomplete) Takamiya MS 28 Wycliffite Bible, Gospel of St. Matthew and the Acts of the Apostles (Early Version; fragment)

Takamiya MS 53 Old Testament genealogy Takamiya MS 54 South English Legendary Takamiya MS 57 The “Roll of Battle Abbey” and the “Chronicle of the Kings of Britain” Takamiya MS 59 Guy de Chauliac, The Inventory of Chirurgy Takamiya MS 60 Bernard de Gordon, De pronosticis

119 Appendices

Latin Takamiya MS 63 Nicholas Love, Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ Takamiya MS 64 Sir John Mandeville, Travels Takamiya MS 65 “Abbey of the Holy Ghost” and other devotional texts Takamiya MS 66 Richard Rolle, Emendatio vitae and other works Takamiya MS 67 The Brut, or The Chronicles of England Takamiya MS 75 Petition by Joan, widow of William Rykell, to Baron Abergavenny Takamiya MS 78 John Lydgate, The Fall of Princes (fragment) Takamiya MS 79 John Lydgate, The Fall of Princes (fragment) Takamiya MS 93 Genealogy of Edward IV from Adam Takamiya MS 95 Planetary calendar Takamiya MS 97 Mirour of Mans Salvacioune Takamiya MS 98 John Gower, Confessio amantis (fragment) Takamiya MS 113 Wycliffite lectionary (fragment) Takamiya MS 114 Ranulph Higden, Polychronicon Takamiya MS 126 John Lumley, baron Lumley, Acquittance for monies received from Edward Greville Takamiya MS 127 Grant of a crest to Robert Revell of Shorlonglegge Takamiya MS 132 Quitclaim by John Burgh Takamiya MS 133 Indenture between Sir John Fastolf and Richard Sellyng Takamiya MS 134 Indenture between Thomas Tuddenham and Edward Grimston Takamiya MS 135 Sale and quitclaim agreement between Thomas Hatfield and George Nicholl Takamiya MS 136 Psalter Takamiya MS 139 South English Legendary (fragment) Takamiya MS 140 The Brut, or The Chronicles of England Takamiya MS 141 The Master of Game (fragment)

Takamiya MS 1 Glossed Bible, the prophetic books including Baruch, with prologues and commentary Takamiya MS 2 Boethius, De consolatione philosophiae Takamiya MS 5 Peter of Ickham, Chronicon de regibus Angliae Takamiya MS 7 Marcus Aurelius Cassiodorus, In cantica canticorum and other works Takamiya MS 10 Richard II, king of England, letters patent for Thomas de Greystoke Takamiya MS 11 Carthusian psalter with canticles and creed Takamiya MS 14 Albertus Magnus (or Hugh Ripelin of Strasburg), Compendium theologicae veritatis Takamiya MS 21 Bible, Deuteronomy (fragment) Takamiya MS 43 Ranulph Higden, Polychronicon Takamiya MS 47 Psalter, preceded by prayers and a calendar and followed by canticles, a litany, etc. Takamiya MS 62 Bede, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum Takamiya MS 68 Prayer roll in Latin Takamiya MS 69 The penitential psalms and litany, etc. Takamiya MS 70 Prayer roll in Latin Takamiya MS 72 Bible, Ezekiel 1:22–5:6 (fragment) Takamiya MS 73 Vitae sanctorum (portions of the lives of Sts. Nazarius, Celsus, Abdon, and Sennen) Takamiya MS 74 Homilies based on Paul’s letter to the Galatians Takamiya MS 76 Leo X, papal letter to Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg Takamiya MS 77 Agreement between Bromehill Priory and the Town of Thetford Takamiya MS 80 Psalter Takamiya MS 81 Sarum missal (fragments) Takamiya MS 82 Choir breviary (fragment) Takamiya MS 83 Terence, Comedies (fragment)

Takamiya MS 84 Seneca, Epistolae morales ad Lucilium (fragment) Takamiya MS 85 Seneca, De beneficiis (fragment) Takamiya MS 86 Nicholas Upton, De officio militari Takamiya MS 87 Bible, Ecclesiasticus (fragment) Takamiya MS 88 Virgil, Aeneid (fragment) Takamiya MS 89 Benedictional (fragment) Takamiya MS 90 Bible (“Werden Heptateuch”; fragment) Takamiya MS 91 Work on Church rites Takamiya MS 92 Bible (“Bohun Bible”; fragment) Takamiya MS 101 Book of hours (fragment) Takamiya MS 102 Breviary (fragment) Takamiya MS 103 Processional, Use of Sarum Takamiya MS 104 Bible, Proverbs to Apocalypse Takamiya MS 106 Bede, Homily on the Ascension (fragment) Takamiya MS 108 Pope Boniface VIII, Liber sextus decretalium (fragment) Takamiya MS 109 Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologica (fragment) Takamiya MS 114 Ranulph Higden, Polychronicon Takamiya MS 117 Scribal sample sheet Takamiya MS 119 Henry V, king of England, writ for the recovery of lands unlawfully entered into Takamiya MS 125 Gregorius Magnus, Homiliae in evangelia, libri II Takamiya MS 128 Adolf, duke of Schleswig-Holstein, letter to Queen Elizabeth I of England Takamiya MS 130 Vitae sanctorum (part of the life of St. Adrian of Nicomedia) Takamiya MS 131 Eugippius, Vitae Sancti Severini Takamiya MS 137 Origen, In genesim homilia X Takamiya MS 142 Book of hours (fragment)

French

Italian

Multiple Languages

Takamiya MS 42 Lancelot du Lac

Takamiya MS 50 Life of Alexander the Great and The Romance of Troas

Takamiya MS 25 Statutes of England

Takamiya MS 99 Three miniatures from Le Livre du Lancelot du Lac Takamiya MS 105 Ordinary of arms: Thomas Jenyns’ Book Takamiya MS 107 Meliadus / Guiron le Courtois (fragment) Takamiya MS 115 The Brut, or The Chronicles of England Takamiya MS 118 Queen Joan of Navarre, letter to Henry IV, king of England

Takamiya MS 33 John Lydgate and Benedict Burgh, Secretum secretorum Takamiya MS 35 Genealogy of the kings of England Takamiya MS 41 Statutes of England, from 1 Edward III to 4 Henry VI Takamiya MS 44 Benefactors’ book of the Candlemas Guild of Bury St. Edmunds Takamiya MS 46 Herbal in prose and verse

Takamiya MS 121 Lancelot du lac (fragment)

Takamiya MS 52 Chronicle of the Kings of England

Takamiya MS 122 Guillaume de Deguileville, Pèlerinage de l’am ˆ e (fragment)

Takamiya MS 56 Prayer roll in Middle English and Latin

Takamiya MS 123 Roman de Tristan (fragments)

Takamiya MS 57 The “Roll of Battle Abbey” and “Chronicle of the Kings of Britain”

Takamiya MS 124 Devise des armes des chevaliers de la Table Ronde

Takamiya MS 58 St. Jerome, Epistolae (no. 106, sec. 59–67)

Takamiya MS 138 Law report (fragment)

Takamiya MS 61 Medical and alchemical miscellany

Takamiya MS 143 Book of hours (fragment)

Takamiya MS 94 Anthology of verse and prose texts Takamiya MS 96 Speculum Christiani Takamiya MS 100 Book of hours according to the Use of Sarum Takamiya MS 112 Prayer roll in Latin and Middle English Takamiya MS 116 Prayer roll in Middle English Takamiya MS 120 Forged charter supposedly issued by King Edward the Confessor to the Abbey of St. Mary, Coventry Takamiya MS 129 William Elstob and Elizabeth Elstob, editors, Fragmentum hoc ad leges Alfredi pertinens… Takamiya MS 136 Psalter (fragment)

Printed to accompany the exhibition Making the Medieval English Manuscript: The Takamiya Collection in the Beinecke Library, on view September 1 through December 10, 2017. Designed and set in Yale typefaces by Rebecca Martz, Office of the Yale University Printer Edited by Brian D. Hotchkiss Printed by GHP, West Haven, Connecticut Cover (back left to front right) Details of Takamiya MsS 100, 86, 32, 95, 35, 69, & 77 Inside cover Blank folios from Takamiya MS 32 Copyright © 2017 by Yale University

Clemens, Ducharme, Ulrich The Takamiya Collection at the Beinecke Library

A Gathering of Medieval English Manuscripts The Takamiya Collection at the Beinecke Library

Raymond Clemens, Diane Ducharme, Emily Ulrich

Yale University