Beinecke MS 363               England, s. XVII^^1/4
William Roper, The Lyfe of Sir Thomas More Knighte

1.  f. iii recto  [Title-page:]  The Life, Araignment, and Death, of the
famous learned, Sir Thomas More Knight:  Somtymes Lord Chauncellor
of England.

2.  f. iii verso  Engraving of Sir Thomas More, half-length, to right,
standing, pointing to scroll in right hand, with inscription:  Effigies Thomae
Mori.  Quondam supremi totius Anglice Cancelarij dignissimi omnique Virtutis ac
scientiarum, genere ornatissimi, Clarissimo Domino Gosuino Batsonio in
Cancellaria Brabantica Regiae Maiestati a Consilijs dicata.

3.  ff. 1r-73v  This Sir Thomas More was borne in London, his ffather was a
stadient of Lincolns Inn, and brought him vpp in the lattyn tounge...master
John Heywood and his wife at a supper amidst theire discourses.  Finis.

     E. V. Hitchcock, ed., The Lyfe of Sir Thomas Moore, Knighte..., EETS
Original series 197 (1935) pp. 5-104; Beinecke MS 363 is mentioned on p. xxvi
where the editor notes that it was "Mr. Murray's copy" (then owned by Mr. W.
Fagg), used for the text established by T. Hearne, ed., Guilielmi Roperi Vita
D. Thomae Mori Equitis Aurati...(Oxford, 1716).  Cf. Provenance
below.

     Paper (watermarks:  Heawood, Coat of Arms 481), ff. iii (contemporary paper)
+ 73 + ii (contemporary paper), 195 x 149 (146 x 99) mm.  Ca. 23 long lines.
Frame-ruled in red ink; prickings in lower margins.
     I-XVIII^^4 (+ 1 leaf added at end). Quires signed in upper margin near gutter,
recto.  Catchwords for each page, within frame-ruled space.
     Written in neat chancery script.
     Illuminated title-page, f. iii recto:  double blue frame with sprigs of
berries and leaves on both sides and gilt designs above and below.  Gold initial
on f. 1r marks the beginning of text.
     Binding:  s. xvii-xviii [?].  Part of a book rebound in limp vellum,
gold-tooled, with holes for two ties.

Written in England, probably in the first quarter of the 17th century.
Inscription on final flyleaf, verso:  "he died in the yeare 1535 [subtraction
table:] 1679 [minus] 1535 [=] 144 yeares since S^^r Thomas Moore died."  Note
on f. ii verso:  "Ap. 10. 1723/  Collat. & perfect/ P. J. Wright."  From the
collection of Alexander Murray of Broughton in the early 18th century
(bookplate; signatures on title-page and f. 1r).  Belonged to Mr. W. Fagg, 275
Church Rd., Crystal Palace, S. E. 19 (cf. Hitchcock, op. cit., p. 2; art. 3
above).  Bookplate of Edward May (inside front cover).  Christie's sale (9 Dec.
1965, no. 202); purchased from C. A. Stonehill in 1966 for the Albert H. Childs,
Yale '61, Memorial Collection.

Barbara A. Shailor