Beinecke MS 81                                                     England, s. XIII^^2
Bible

          ff. 204r-473v    Order of the contents is as follows (numbers in
     parentheses refer to prefaces in Stegmueller, v. 1): text begins
     imperfectly in 3 Ezra 8.86 //omni tempore ut inualescentes...; Tobit
     (332); Judith (prologue missing, f. 208 cut out); Esther (341 + 343);
     Job (344, 357); Psalms; Proverbs (457); Ecclesiastes (462); Song of
     Songs; Wisdom (468); Ecclesiasticus (introduction to Ecclesiasticus
     considered as prologue: Multorum et magnorum nobis...); Isaiah (482);
     Jeremiah (487); Lamentations; Baruch (491); Ezekiel (492); Daniel
     (494); Prologue for Minor Prophets (500), Hosea (507), Joel (511, 510),
     Amos (515, 512, 513), Obadiah (519, 517), Jonah (524, 521), Micah
     (526), Nahum (528), Habakkuk (531), Zephaniah (534), Haggai (538),
     Zechariah (539), Malachi (543), 1 Maccabees (547, 553, 551), 2
     Maccabees; Matthew (590, 589); Mark (607); (Luke 1.1-4 treated as a
     prologue, followed by 620; missing 15.3-17.24, f. cut out after 433);
     John (624); Romans (677; missing 12.15-16.27, f. 452 cut out); 1
     Corinthians (685), 2 Corinthians (699); Galatians (707); Ephesians
     (715; missing 1.20-6.24); Philippians (prologue and 1.1-2.25 missing,
     ff. 463-64 cut out); Colossians (736); 1 Thessalonians (747), 2
     Thessalonians (752); 1 Timothy (765), 2 Timothy (772; 452 cut out); Titus (780);
     Philemon (783); Hebrews (793), whose text ends imperfectly at 10.11:
     est tottidie ministrans et easdem sepe offe//

          Parchment, ff. i (parchment) + 264 (foliated, s. xv, 204-473) + i
     (parchment), 185 x 118 (122 x 78) mm., trimmed. Written in 2 columns of
     52 lines; single vertical bounding lines with additional double
     vertical lines in inner and outer margins; 5 sets of horizontal
     bounding lines, double lines in upper and lower margins as well as at
     top and bottom of written space, triple lines through center of written
     space.
          I^^8 (structure uncertain, f. 208 cut out), II-IX^^24, X (-8, after
     f. 411; no loss of text), XI^^24 (-7, f. 434), XII^^24 (-1, f. 452; -12,
     13, ff. 463-64; -24, after f. 473). Catchwords, lower right between lower
     horizontal lines near gutter, on verso. Unidentified marks, in red,
     in lower margin, at end of each quire and beginning of subsequent quire,
     perhaps for the binder.
          Written in tiny gothic textura by a single scribe.
	     Good initials for the beginning of each book and prologue, 10- to
     4-line, blue or pink, with various shades combined in a single letter,
     with white highlights, often with prominent floral serifs in blue,
     pink, red, orange, and yellow, against pink and blue grounds; grounds
     for body of letter and serifs in opposite colors. Elaborate descenders,
     ascenders, as serifs, but often with biting dragons. Letters filled
     with curling floral motifs, often with dragon-head terminals, and
     biting dragons. The initials on f. 214r (Esther) and f. 220r (Job) are
     more elaborate than the others. 2-line initials for each chapter, blue
     or red, with red or blue flourishes. Running headings and chapter
     numbers in red and blue, with flourishes. Rubrics throughout.
          Binding: s. xix. Printed vellum fragment, in large gothic letters,
     with portion of John 4.

          Written in England in the second half of the 13th century; early
     provenance unknown. Presented to Yale in 1938 by Charles E. Bushnell.

     Bibliography: Faye and Bond, pp. 26-27, no. 81.

     Barbara A. Shailor