YALE UNIVERSITY
BEINECKE RARE BOOK AND MANUSCRIPT LIBRARY
GENERAL COLLECTION OF RARE BOOKS AND
MANUSCRIPTS
PRE-1600 MANUSCRIPTS
Beinecke MS 212 France, s. XV^^4/4
Salic Law
1. ff. 1r-37r Incipit lex salica. R. Theodericus rex francorum cum
esset cathalones elegit viros sapienter qui cum in regno suo
legibus...[text:] De mamnire. [sic] R. Si quis ad malum legibus
dominicis mannitus fuerit et non uenerit si eum...[ends in the section
entitled:] De eo qui filiam alienam acquisierit et se retraxerit. Si
quis filiam alienam...et dimidium culpabilis iudicetur. Explicit hic
liber legis salice.
2. f. 37r-v [contemporary addition:] Si vero .l. porcos furatus
fuit...et pleraque alia in lege salica passim corrupta reperiuntur. [in
a later hand:] .917.
K. A. Eckhardt, ed., Pactus Regis Salicae in Monumenta Germaniae
Historica (Legum sectio I, Regum nationum germanicarum 4, 1) (Hanover,
1962) pp. 18-234.
Parchment, ff. i (contemporary parchment) + 37 (pagination, s.
xvii, 1-74) + i (contemporary parchment). Written in 22 long lines;
single horizontal and vertical bounding lines, full across. Ruled
faintly in red; prickings in all margins.
I-IV^^8, V^^4 (+ 1, f. 37). Remains of original leaf signatures
(e.g., bij), on recto. Catchwords perpendicular to text on inner
bounding line.
Written in a neat batarde by a single scribe who also made
interlinear and marginal notes. Corrected by at least one later hand.
One full compartmentalized border, f. 1r, divided into diagonal
bands, outlined in red ink, blue and beige curling acanthus against a
plain parchment ground and flowers, red and blue, on stems with green
leaves, against a beige ground. One 4-line initial (rubbed), f. 1r, red
with gold highlights on a blue ground with white highlights; 2- and 1-
line initials throughout, painted in brushed gold against red or blue
grounds. Line endings red and/or blue, with gold highlights. Rubrics
throughout.
Binding: s. xv-xvi. Original sewing, including pastedowns, on four
tawed, slit straps which are laced into wooden boards. Red and olive
green endbands. Covered in brown calf, blind-tooled with concentric
borders, the center filled in with vertical lines of animals facing in
opposite directions. There are two catches on the lower board and
attachments, presumably for a metal clasp hinge, on the upper.
Rebacked.
Written in Northern France probably in the last quarter of the
15th century; inscription and date on f. i recto: "En Vsu et scriptura
1573." Inscription inside front cover, in hand of 16th century (visible
under ultraviolet light): "Dono possideo/ G Selb DX [?]". Signature of
"Jac. Roch" with date "20 Aprilis 1793" on f. 1r; later inscription
"Bought of Mr. Roche of Cork [probably identifiable as James Roche,
1770-1853; DNB, v. 17, p. 69]." Belonged to Sir Thomas Phillipps (no.
3899; stamp and notation inside front cover; tag on spine). From the
library of George Dunn of Woolley Hall near Maidenhead (1865-1912,
booklabel and inscription" [Greek]/ G D./ May 1903" inside front cover;
his sale at Sotheby's, 2 Feb. 1914, no. 1573). Two unidentified entries
from sales catalogue pasted inside front cover and on first flyleaf.
Belonged to Henry Fletcher; gift of Mrs. Henry Fletcher in 1953.
secundo folio: qui clauem
Bibliography: Faye and Bond, p. 41, no. 212.
Barbara A. Shailor