Beinecke MS 395               England, s. XIII/XIV
Anglo-Norman Poetry

Restricted material. May not be seen without the permission of the appropriate curator.

1.  ff. 1r-68r  [f. 1r-v:]  //Ore sui ci deuant tei si ferai ton comant/ Or
escotez beal pere entent que te dirai/...[I]oseph est en egypte od ses freres
remes/ Ben a garde le regne les set anz sunt passez// [text resumes imperfectly
on f. 2r:]  Nous sumes de lor filles co est la verite/ Nous ni auom nul
dreit nest pas nostre herite/...Deu de qui oistes que ne furent conoissanz/ Sil
conurent ou le paing froissanz.

     Herman de Valenciennes, Bible, beginning imperfectly.  For a recent
printed text cf. I. Spiele, ed., Le Romanz de Dieu et de sa Mere,  Publications
Romanes de l'Universite de Leyde 21 (Leiden, 1975) with a transcription of
Paris, B. N. fr. 20039.  Folio 1r-v corresponds to pp. 219-21 (verses
1922-99); ff. 2r-61r correspond to pp. 223-341 (verses 2078-6684).  Folios
61v-68r of Beinecke MS 395 are not included in the printed edition. According to
P. Meyer, "Notices sur quelques manuscrits francais de la Bibliotheque
Phillipps, a Cheltenham," Notices et extraits des manuscrits de la
Bibliotheque Nationale 24 (1891) p. 198, the copyist made numerous errors.
On the sources for this work see F. Mehne, Inhalt und Quellen der Bible des
Herman de Valenciennes (Ph. D. diss., Vereinigten Friedrichs-Universitaet
Halle-Wittenberg, 1900).

2.  ff. 68r-75r Ci comence la sumption nostre dame. S. Mar.  Seignurs
ore escotez que deu vous beneie/  Por sa mort preciose qui nous dona la uie/...
Toz soient herbergez la sus en ta maison/  Amen ma douce dame ton liure isi
finom.  Amen.

     Herman de Valenciennes, L'Assomption de Notre Dame.  Often found, as
here, following the poem on the Bible by the same author.
For the text see Spiele, op. cit., pp. 343-58.  See also Meyer,
op. cit., pp. 207-09.

3.  ff. 75r-97v [Added in margin, s. xiv-xv:] Ici commense comme le pere
enseyndist Son fyz de Sen et Sauoir.  [text:] Li pere sun fiz chastiot/ Sen e
sauer li enseignot./ Beu fiz dist il a mei entent/...Dit ai assez pur vous
guarnir./ Ki cest orrez or vous voil taisir./ E ki cest liure aura escrit/ Deus
lui doint ioie sanz delit.  Amen.  [added by the original hand:] Si vous
volez estre amiable receuez ces treis moz [marked to delete:  en]
ubliance sanz.  Fetes ceo ke lem vous dit. e coe que lem vous prie.  Pernez
coe que lem vous done e ne grucez mie.  Suffrez en pacience coe que lem vous
die.  Si vous [marked to delete:  ces] viuez si faitement.  Donc
viuerez vous amiablement.  Ki cest romanz escrit/ De deu seit il beneit.

     Petrus Alphonsus, Disciplina clericalis, followed by three moral
precepts; eds. A. Hilka and W. Soederhjelm, "Petri Alphonsi Disciplina
Clericalis," Annales Societatis Scientiarum Fennicae 49, no. 4 (1922)
p. xv, MS C of version B; text:  pp. 79-138.  D. Tyson ("The Epitaph of Edward
the Black Prince," Medium Aevum 46 [1977] pp. 98-104) discusses a section of
the Disciplina clericalis which appears in MS 395, f. 96v; MS 395 is C in
the sigla, as Phillipps 4156.  See also Meyer, op. cit., pp. 209-10.

4.  ff. 98r-110r  //Pluie en cel tens la terre ne suprent/ Mes une funtaine de
parais descent/ Ki tute la terre aruse communement/...Ore sumes seignurs uenu
desque a la fin/ Del liure ke lem apele Genesim.  Explicit liber Geneseos.
f. 110v blank

     Poem in Anglo-Norman on Genesis, lacking first folio; A. Vising,
Anglo-Norman Language and Literature (London, 1923) p. 42, no. 9.  See also
Meyer op. cit., pp. 210-11.

5.  ff. 111r-129v Ci comence Trebor. oii a maint beau dit et profitable.
Trebor reconte sa traitie/ E sil reconte sanz feintie/...Tant kil truisse escrit
doctriner/ Entre ces lettres le pora trouer.

     Robert de Ho, Les Enseignements de Robert de Ho, in 2904 lines, ed. M. V.
Young (Paris, 1901) pp. 31-155.  The only other known copy is Paris, B. N. fr.
25408, which breaks off after line 2363.  See also Meyer, op. cit., pp.
212-19.

6.  ff. 129v-130v Ces sont les realmes de diuerses terres.  Or a esgarde
danz ernuls/ Qui trop e [with abbreviation stroke] sages et veizous/
Que ki que metreit paiens de la...Ore uous ai dit trestot le veir/
Si cum il ert al mien espeir.

     Extract of 180 lines from the romance Partenopeus de Blois; printed by
Meyer, op. cit., pp. 220-24, who lists seven other complete or fragmentary
manuscripts of this romance in French verse.

7.  ff. 131r-145r Iesu Crist par seint eustace/ Nus tra[ns]mette la sue
grace/...Ke nus puissum estre ueisin/ En la ioie del ciel sanz fin. Amen.

     Vie de saint Eustache; see H. Petersen, "Trois versions inedites de la
Vie de Saint Eustache en vers francais," Romania 48 (1922) pp. 365-402.
This appears to be the only copy of one of the 11 known French metrical versions
of this work (Meyer, op. cit., pp. 224-28).  Folios 141 and 142 have been
misbound, so that lines 1603-1922 follow f. 150 (see art. 8).

8.  ff. 145r-152v Curteis est deus ki tut cria/ Qui tut guuerne e tuit fet
a/...Riens ne dutez ne tant ne quant/ Mes bien creez ke cist vus mand.  Issi
finist/ De prestre iohan lescrit.

     Letter of Prester John to Emperor Manuel Comnenus, tr. into Anglo-Norman
verse by Raoul d'Arundel; this is the earliest translation of the letter (ante
A.D. 1100), and the only one known in French verse.  Two folios of art. 7 have
mistakenly been bound in between ff. 150 and 151 (see above).  In R. Vitale,
"Edition and Study of the Letter of Prester John to the Emperor Manuel of
Constantinople:  The Anglo-Norman Rhymed Version" (Ph.D. diss., Univ.
Maryland, 1975), MS 395 is used to establish the text.  See also Meyer,
op. cit., pp. 228-35.

9.  ff. 153r-179r Ci comence le Bestiaire en franceis.  Qui ben comence
et ben define/ Cest uerite seue et fine/...Ke nous al ior del iugement/ Seiom a
sa destre partie/ Amen Amen chascun en die.  f. 179v blank

     Guillaume le Clerc, Bestiaire; ed. R. Reinsch, Le Bestiaire, Das
Thierbuch des normannischen Dichters Guillaume le Clerc (Leipzig, 1890)
pp. 219-402 (ending at line 4136).  MS 395 is Reinsch's U (pp. 30-31); he groups
it with several other Anglo-Norman copies, including London, B. L. Egerton MS
613; Oxford, Bod. Lib. Bodley 132; and Paris, B. N. fr. 902 (p. 33).  See also
Meyer, op. cit., pp. 235-36

10.  ff. 180r-183v Hic incipit liber sompniorum et lunarum.  luna prima.
Fet fu Adam.  Bon est a totes riens comencer.  Enfant qui nest ert pruz et
sages. et soffra perilz en eaue...E ki le setime ior de Marz ou en lutime ior
daueril se seignera//

     M. Foerster, "Vom Fortleben antiker Sammellunare im englischen und in
anderen Volkssprachen," Anglia 67-68 (1944) p. 154; Meyer, op. cit.,
pp. 236-38, cites several manuscripts with similar texts, including London,
B. L. Royal 16. E. VIII, Paris, B. N. fr. 2039, and Oxford, Bodl. Lib.
Digby 86.

11.  ff. 184r-188v  //A deu ala al ciel quant del siecle departi/ Ki deu sert
ne faut pas que li ne seit meri/...Quant vendrum a granz nuces que ne seum
forsclos/ Amen chescun die ceo nus ad dit Beros.  Amen.

     Le voyage du Chevalier Owen au purgatoire de saint Patrice, lacking 1
folio (90 lines) at beginning; ed. M. Morner, Le Purgatoire de saint Patrice
par Berol (Ph.D. diss. Lund, 1917), from this manuscript (see pp. xii-xiii)
and the one other known copy of the same text (Tours, Bibl. Municipale MS 948,
s. xiv).  See also Meyer, op. cit., pp. 238-46.

12.  ff. 189r-224v Qui uolt oir e uolt saueir/ De rei en rei de eir en eir/...
vint en bretaigne saint germains/ Si li enueia sant romains/ Ki del apostolite//
catchwords:  De rume ont la poeste

     Wace, Roman de Brut, lines 1-7141; ed. I. Arnold, in Societe des
anciens textes francais (Paris, 1938) v. 1, pp. 5-379.  Arnold lists MS 395
(then in the Phillipps collection) as Z (pp. xiii-xiv), and considers it in the
family of, but inferior to, Durham, Cathedral C. IV. 27. I, and Lincoln,
Cathedral no. 104 (both of s. xiii; see p. xxviii).  See also Meyer, op.
cit., pp. 246-47.

     Parchment (poor quality), ff. ii (parchment) + 224 + ii (parchment), 300 x
200 (253 x 170) mm.  Written in 2 columns of 36-42 lines of verse, ruled in
lead (below top line).  Triple vertical bounding lines to left of written
space and between columns (initials of verses placed on center ruling), double
or triple vertical bounding lines at right of written space, double horizontal
lines at top, center and bottom of written space, all full length and full
across.  Prickings
(dots, slashes, or triangular tears) at outer edges, sometimes near gutter;
extra pair often appears several mm. within the row of prickings for the
central and lower horizontal bounding lines.
     A tight modern binding prevents the precise collation of the manuscript.
I^^12 (-1, -2, +1 leaf glued in at beginning), II-VII^^12, VIII^^16 (-15, -16
at end of art. 3), IX^^8, (at least one leaf missing at beginning, see
art. 4), X^^5 (structure uncertain), XI^^6, XII-XIII^^12, XIV^^8,
XV^^4 (misbound in the following order:  141, 142, 151, 152), XVI-XVII^^12,
XVIII^^6, XIX^^7 (structure uncertain), XX-XXII^^12.
     Written by 6 scribes in large gothic bookhand.  Scribe 1:  ff. 1r-75r,
111r-130v, 153r-183v (characterized by decorative descenders in final line of
text); Scribe 2:  ff. 75r-97v (z with small horizontal crossbar); Scribe
3:  ff. 98r-110r, 131r-152v, 189r-201v, 212v-216v (exaggerated ascenders in top
line of text); Scribe 4:  ff. 184r-188v; Scribe 5:  second column of f. 201v
(crude script); Scribe 6:  ff. 202r-212r, 216v-224v (poorly formed).
     4-line initials, divided blue and red (ff. 111r, 153r, 189r), with penwork
in red and blue or red only.  3- and 2- line initials, red with blue penwork or
vice versa (quire VI lacks flourishes on initials).  Paragraph marks in red or
blue; some rubrics at beginning of articles.  1-line initials stroked with
yellow or red.  Ink drawings in margins include King Arthur (f. 189r).
     Early repairs with parchment throughout; no loss of text.  Waterstains, ff.
221v-224r.  Rubbing on f. 224v has caused some loss of text in col. a.
     Binding:  s. xix.  Diced red/brown calf, gold-tooled.

Written in England at the end of the 13th or beginning of the 14th century;
early provenance unknown, but some
15th-century glosses, in Middle English and Latin, occur in the text.
Unidentified shelf-marks "585" and "L.2" and inscription on f. 1r:  "In
Chartophyl [?] [Greek]."  Many notes of an unidentified English owner (s. xix) in
library files.  Acquired from Thorpe by Sir Thomas Phillipps (no. 4156, note
inside front cover and damaged tag on spine).  Phillipps sale at Sotheby's,
29 Nov. 1966, no. 49.  Sold by B. Quaritch (Cat. 880, 1967, no. 2).  Bought
from C. A. Stonehill, in 1968, by Edwin J. Beinecke for the Beinecke Library.

Bibliography:  J. Vising, Anglo-Norman Language and Literature (London,
1923) p. 96, no. 302.

Barbara A. Shailor