Beinecke MS 373               England, s. XIII/XIV
Isidore; John of Wales

I. 1.  ff. 1r-40v Summum bonum deus est quia incommutabilis est et
corumpi omnino non potest...bonum est corporaliter remotum esse a mundo sed
multo est melius uolunta//

     Isidore, De summo bono; PL 83. 537-693.  Text defective:  missing one leaf
between ff. 14-15 (portions of 1.29-2.1), ff. 23-24 (portions of 2.23-29), and
3 [?] leaves between ff. 34-35 (portions of 3.5-6); text ends abruptly at 3.17.


II. 2.  ff. 41r-168v  //reuerebitur imperialem potenciam ut legem
posset preuaricari diuinam.  Cumque rufinus uerbis plurimis uteretur...Quantum
enim gaudium erit glorie conditoris asistere presentem dei uultum cernere prout
ait Gregorius liber 2 omelia 22.  Ibi enim//

     John of Wales, Communiloquium (Summa de regimine vitae humanae); for
his life and works see W. A. Pantin, "John of Wales and Medieval Humanism,"
Medieval Studies Presented to Aubrey Gwynn, S. J., ed. J. A. Watt, J. B.
Morrall, F. X. Martin, O. S. A. (Dublin, 1961) pp. 297-319.  Text begins
abruptly at Pars I, Dist. 1, cap. 2 and ends abruptly at Pars VII, Dist. 3;
in addition, one quire is missing after f. 100 (old foliation skips from 78 to
91) and one leaf between ff. 164-165.

     The codex is composed of two separate and incomplete segments.

     Part I:  ff. 1-40, parchment, 183 x 134 (131 x 85) mm. 37 long lines.  Ruled
in crayon or lead; single vertical bounding lines, full length, with an
additional pair of rulings in outer and lower margins on ff. 1-12.  I^^12,
II^^12 (-3), III^^12 (-1), IV^^6 [?].  Catchwords along lower edge, enclosed by
rectangles.  Small gothic bookhand in light brown ink.  Initials, 4- to 2-line,
alternate blue with red penwork designs and red with blue penwork designs.
Paragraph marks alternate red and blue.  Spaces left for rubrics.
     Part II:  ff. 41-168 (old foliation:  19-100 where it stops), parchment,
194 x 133 (137 x 85) mm.  Ruled in crayon; single vertical and double horizontal
bounding lines, full length and full across, with additional pair of rulings
in lower margin.
Remains of prickings (slashes) in all margins except inner.  I-X^^12, XI^^10
(-5, 10).  Catchwords in lower margin, verso, often enclosed by rectangles.
Small gothic bookhand; later hand, s. xv, added appropriate pars and
distich numbers as running headlines; scattered marginalia throughout, some
in Anglicana script. Decoration similar in style and scope to Part I.
     Binding:  s. xx.  Bound in tan suede [?] with early, printed board
pastedowns.

Written in England at the end of the 13th or beginning of the 14th century;
signature  of "John Houldford", s. xv^^2, in lower margin of f. 101r, written
upside down.  Part II of the manuscript was well used in the 15th century, for
there are several series of numbers in the margins that appear to be chapter or
indexing references, in addition to the running headlines.  Acquired from S.
Harrison Thomson in 1968 with the Edwin J. and Frederick W. Beinecke Rare Book
Endowment Fund.

secundo folio:  ei et altitudo

Barbara A. Shailor