Beinecke MS 368               Germany or Bohemia [?], s. XV^^med
Claustrum animae, etc.

1.  ff. 1r-31v Incipit liber qui intytulatur Claustrum anime.  Abbas huius
claustri est iugis meditacio diuine presentie.  Sed quia non est locus vbi non
deus sit...eorum clemenciam exorantes ipsorum offensam toto cordis, conomine
[sic]
precanentes.  f. 32r-v, a list of those discussed (Abbas, Prior, Subprior,
etc.)

     Claustrum animae; Bloomfield, Virtues and Vices, no. 0049 (MS 368 not
listed).

2.  ff. 33r-39v Ad laudem et gloriam benedicte ac indiuidue trinitatis Patris
et filij et spiritus sancti.  Et ad veneracionem sanctissimi sacramenti preciosi
sancti corporis et sanguinis domini nostri ihesu christi ad satisfaciendum
vestro pio ac salubri desiderio quod impletum delectet animum nostrum.  Et ut
magis
excitari possit...nec plus nec minusque quam opporteat sumat sub certa mensura.
Quod nobis et michi concedere dignetur etc.  Deo gracias.

     Meditationes ad venerationem sancti Sacramenti altaris.

3.  ff. 39v-45v Item prima inclinacio sacerdotis est dei humilitas.  Introitus
est desiderium prophetarum...Semper recole sy magistrum dominum.  In tua domo
materiali recepisses et cetera.  Celi et terre dominum recepisti.  f. 46r-v
ruled, but blank

     Explicatio Missae et omnium ad eam pertinentium; arts. 2 and 3 may be
part of the same treatise [?].

     Paper (unidentified bull's head with crescent wedged between horns), ff. i +
46 (early foliation 328-374) + i, 219 x 155 (149 x 96) mm.  Frame-ruled in brown
ink.  Prickings at outer edges.
     I^^10, II-IV^^12.  Catchwords along lower edge, near gutter, verso.
     Written by one scribe in gothic cursive, with loops.
     Initial on f. 1r (4-line) and 2-line initials in orange.  Headings,
underlining, and strokes on 1-line capitals in orange.
     Brown stains near gutter, ff. 1-3, not affecting text.
     Binding:  s. xix.  Dark brown, watered cloth, with a gold-tooled title on
front cover:  "Claustrum Animae.  Mss. Saec. XV."

Written perhaps in Eastern Germany or Bohemia in the mid-15th century, formerly
part of a larger volume (ff. 328-74); early modern provenance unknown.
The following
evidence of ownership is similar to that in Beinecke MS 385:  stamp with
monogram of letters "FG" (on f. 1r and 45v); small rectangular tag with "Nro.
50" in black ink (pasted inside front cover); notes of a 19th-century owner:
"45 blaettern" (front pastedown), "Claustrum Animae (f. 1R-32V).  Von fol. 33R
bis 45V.  Meditationes ad venerationem SS^^i Sacramenti Altaris et Explicatio
Missae et omnium ad eam pertinentium.  MSS. Saeculi XV."  on front flyleaf, and
"R. L. L." on f. 45v.  Belonged to S. Harrison Thomson.  According to a pencil
note inside front cover it was no. 1 in his collection, and he acquired it in
Prague in 1924.  The earlier provenance cited above, however, corresponds
closely to that in Beinecke MS 385 in which Thomson states that he bought it in
Oxford in 1926.  It is probable that Thomson acquired both manuscripts in the
same place, whether Oxford or Prague.  Purchased from Thomson in 1967 with the
Edwin J. and Frederick W. Beinecke Fund.

Barbara A. Shailor