Beinecke MS 331               England, s. XV^^med (post 1435)
Richard Rolle, The Fire of Love, etc. (in Eng.)

1.  pp. 1-134 [Preface:]  At the reuerence of our lorde Ihesu
criste to the
askyng of thi desire Suster Margarete couetyng...[text, f. 1v:]  More
have I mervailed
then I shew forsothe when I felt first my hart wax warm and trewly...he sal
serue to the hee Emperoure in World of Worlde.  Amen.  Explicit liber de
Incendio amoris Ricardi Hampole heremite translatus in anglicum instancijs
domine Margarete heslyngton recluse per fratrem Ricardum mysyn sacre theologie
Bacallarium tunc Priorem lincolniensem ordinis carmelitarum.  Anno domini
millesimo cccc^^mo.  xxxv^^to. in festo translacionis sancti martini Episcopi
quod est quarto nonas Iulij per dictum ffratrem Ricardum Mysyn.  scriptum et
correctum.

     Richard Rolle, The Fire of Love, English translation of Richard Misyn.
R. Harvey, ed., EETS, Orig. Ser. 106 (1896) pp. 1-104; M. Sargent is preparing
a critical edition of Rolle's original Latin texts of the Incendium Amoris
and Emendatio Vitae, with the Middle English text on facing pages.

2.  p. 134 Those this boke be evile to rede/  As in englishe not veray ornate/
yet to hevyn it wil the lede/ Thy mynd ther to therfor associate/  And inwardly
be not desolate/  The entent ther of do thou take/  And pray for hym that dyd yt
make/  [signed] com^^d R. Hutton.  pp. 135-36 ruled, but blank

     Poem added, s. xvi, by Richard Hutton (see Provenance).

3.  pp. 137-167 [Preface:]  This boke is of mendyng of life or ellis of
the reule of lifyng...[text:]  Tary thou not to oure Lord to be turned ne put itt
not fro day to day for oft tymes cruelte [changed later to cruelty] of deede
vaneshes...with dedes of thankyng in World of Worlde.  Amen.  Thus endis the
xij.  Chapiters of Richard Hampole in to english translate be ffrere Richard
Mysyn to informacion of cristen saules.  Anno domini millesimo quadringentesimo
tricesimo quarto.

     Richard Rolle, The Mending of Life, English translation of Richard Misyn.
Harvey, op. cit., pp. 105-31; see art. 1 above.  Text missing between
ff. 148-49:  as the spouse said of hir selfe [ch. 4]//...//this and slike other
oure synnys...[ch. 6]; printed text:  pp. 114-16.

4.  pp. 168-174 Who that lufes or likes to here/ of gude mens lifes that are
has bene/...In mynde of him oft he it kist/ Ihesu that there vppon was done.//
[catchwords:  ffull commonly]

     Verse life of John of Bridlington (d. 1379); M. Amassian, "A Verse Life of
John of Bridlington," Neuphilologische Mitteilungen 71 (1970) pp. 136-45;
C. F. Sleeth, "Textual Observations on a Verse Life of John of Bridlington,"
Neuphilologische Mitteilungen 74 (1973) pp. 128-30.  Square brackets, in
red, punctuate text.

     Parchment (thick, furry), ff. 87 (paginated "ffolio .1." - 174, s. xvii).
235 x 169 (178 x 111) mm.  Written in ca. 34 long lines, pp. 1-167; ca. 34
lines of verse, pp. 168-174.  Frame-ruled in pale brown ink or crayon;
double upper horizontal bounding lines; remains of prickings in outer and lower margins.
     I-IX^^8, X^^8 (-3, between pp. 148-149), XI^^8.  Extra threads around sewing
supports indicate at least one missing gathering at both beginning and end of
codex.  Quire and leaf signatures (e.g., h iiii) in lower right corner, recto.
Catchwords, enclosed by scrolls that may be decorated with red, in lower margin
toward right, verso; drawings accompany catchwords:  p. 96 hand, p. 144
grotesques, p. 158 bird.
     Written by a single scribe in bastard Secretary script (cf. similar style of
writing in Parkes, Cursive Book Hands, p. 15, i).  Marginal and interlinear
glosses by several hands, s. xvi-xvii.
     Blue initials, 2-line, with elaborate pen-work flourishes, in red: zigzags
along the margin and foliage designs in and around the body of letter.
Underlining, initial strokes, and simple helical line-fillers, in red.
     Binding:  s. xv.  Original, wound sewing on seven small, double, tawed-skin
supports laced into grooves on the inside of oak boards and pegged.  Covered in
pink, tawed skin with two strap-and-pin fastenings, flower-shaped pin bases on
the lower board.  Fastenings wanting and supports breaking.  Original pastedowns
from an antiphonal (England, s. xiii) with parts of the office for Stephen at
Matins and at Lauds; musical notation on 4-line red staves.  Text on front
pastedown:  //Adoremus regem magnum dominum qui in sanctis...de ambulatione
uenit ad eum et uirga quam manu//; text on back pastedown:  //peregit et iesum
a dextris uirtutis dei...sacratissimum beati stephani corpus statim terre
motus//.

Written in England in the middle of the 15th century (post 1435), in a Northern
dialect with some standardization according to J. J. Smith.  Inscription on p.
167 indicates that the codex was given to Richard Hutton by William Garleke,
rector of Merrow, in 1508:  "Possessor huius libri magister Ricardus [?] Hutton
Anno domini millesimo Quingentesimo octauo ex dono domini William Garleke,
Rectoris de marowe."  Numerous marginal and interlinear notes in hands of s.
xvi-xvii illustrate that the text was being read for comprehension in this
period; annotations include corrections (often by one individual on comments
made by another), glosses on particular words, and whole passages transcribed
in the margins.  One scribe, s. xvii, has written in lower margin of p. 1:
"in this boke where you finde any words marked ouer them with the figures 1, 2,
3 etc. you may read those words as they are there markt for better understanding
it."  A similar inscription also occurs on p. 50.  Signature of s. xv^^2
(partially erased) on p. 151:  "Richard hennage."  Early modern provenance
unknown.  Acquired from C. A. Stonehill in 1965 as the gift of Edwin J. and
Frederick W. Beinecke for the Beinecke Library.

secundo folio:  Vtward.  And

Barbara A. Shailor