Beinecke MS 85                                                        France, s. XV^^1
Boethius, De consolatione philosophiae, etc.

     1. f. 1r blank, f. 1v    [Title page:] Anicij manlij seuerinj boecij
     exconsulis ordinarij atque patricij philosophice consolationis liber
     primus incipit.

     2. ff. 2r-210v    Carmina qui quondam studio florente peregi Flebilis
     heu mestos cogor inire modos...probitatis cum ante oculos agitis
     iudicis cuncta cernentis. explicit boecius.

          L. Bieler, ed., CC lat. ser. 94 (1957) pp. 1-105.

     3. ff. 3r-56v    Excerpts from the commentary of Nicolas Trevet (in
     margins) on Boethius, Book I.1.1 - II.5.34.

          Parchment, ff. i (parchment) + 210 + i (parchment), 153 x 110 (75
     x 48) mm. Written in 12 long lines (with no verse divisions for poetry); 
	single vertical bounding lines, upper horizontal, single or double,
	full across. Ruled in pale red ink; prickings along upper, lower, and 
	outer edges.
          I^^10, II-XXV^^8. Catchwords with decorative flourishes in gutter;
     remains of leaf signatures (e.g., h1, h2, etc.) on recto.
          Written by two scribes in an ornate and elegant gothic bookhand.
     1: ff. 1v-154v; 2: ff. 155r-210v. The marginal commentary is in a neat
     informal batarde (ink paler than that used for text).
          Plain initial, 3-line, in blue at beginning of text; other
     initials, 2-line, in red throughout text to mark the beginning of
     poetry and prose sections. Title page (f. 1v): alternating lines of
     blue and gold.
          Grease stain in margins at end of codex; bottom of f. 81 trimmed.
          Binding: s. xix. Brown sheepskin, blind-tooled. Repaired.

          Written in France in the first half of the 15th century, with
     ample margins apparently intended for glossing. Note on f. 1r (s.
     xvii): "dono domini de la Frezeliere" may indicate that it belonged to
     Carolus Frezeau de la Frezeliere, bishop of La Rochelle in 1673 (d.
     1703). Acquired from Goldschmidt's in 1943.

     secundo folio: [falla]cem mutauit

     Bibliography: Faye and Bond, p. 27, no. 85.
          E.T. Silk, "A New Manuscript of Boethius' Consolatio,"
          Gazette 18
     (1944) pp. 46-47.

     Barbara A. Shailor