YALE UNIVERSITY BEINECKE RARE BOOK AND
MANUSCRIPT LIBRARY GENERAL COLLECTION OF RARE BOOKS AND
MANUSCRIPTS MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE MANUSCRIPTS
Osborn a50
[London] 1502.
Meghen, Peter, scribe, [Moral and theological treatises copied for Christopher Urswick].
In Latin.
ff. 142 : parchment ; 215 x 135 mm.
This material is open for research.
Peter Meghen (d. 1537), of 's-Hertogenbosch in Brabant; scribe who copied works for
several English clients, including Christopher Urswick and John Colet, and served
as a courier for Erasmus and Sir Thomas More. Meghen's other patrons included Cardinal
Wolsey, and he became Writer of the King's Books in the 1520s and served until his
death in 1537. His nickname, "Cyclops," referred to his having only one eye.
Manuscript, on parchment, containing copies of several treatises: 1) Tractatus de
Sacramento Corpus Christi, by Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury (ff. 1-26); 2) De
Vero Sapientia, Dialogus I and II, attributed here to Petrarch (now believed to be
by Nicholas of Cusa) (ff. 27-50v); 3) De Invidia, Niccolò Perotti's translation of
a sermon by Basil the Great, with a preface addressed to Pope Nicholas V (ff. 51-63);
4) De invidia et odio, Niccolò Perotti's translation of a work by Petrarch, with
a preface addressed to Pope Nicholas V (ff. 63v-68v); 5) De fortuna virtute ve nominum:
ad Nicolaum quintum pontificem maximum, by Niccolò Perotti (69-73v); 6) Epistle
LXVII to Simplician, by St. Ambrose (ff. 74-79v); 7) Ex sermonibus quadragesimalibus:
Sermone de correctione fraterna, by Leonardo di Utino, O.P. (80-86v); 8) Speculum
regis Edwardii tercii, attributed here to Simon Islip, Archbishop of Canterbury (now
recognized as the work of William Pagula) (ff. 87-148, with skip from 89 to 100);
9) De tenenda obedientia et evitanda superbia, by St. Augustine (ff. 148-152).
Purchased from Bernard Quaritch (Christie's London sale, 2010 June 2, lot 208) on
the James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Fund, 2010.
In a Humanistica script.
Original foliation in red, from i to clii, skips from lxxix to c.
Rubrics and foliation in red. Historiated initial and full-page border on ff 1v.;
seven large and twenty-two small illuminated initials, all in a Northern Netherlandish
style ("Masters of the Dark Eyes").
Colophon (ff. 142v) in red states that the manuscript was written for Christopher
Urswick by "Petrus Meghen monoculus."
Spine label: Vrsyke de sacra: euch:. Spine date at foot: MCCCCCII.
Binding: 19 century full paneled brown calf, blind-stamped. Five-compartmented spine.
Peter Meghen, Moral and Theological Treatises Copied for Christopher Urswick. James
Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library,
Yale University.
Subjects:
Meghen, Peter, -- scribe.
Nicholas V, Pope, 1397-1455.
Urswick, Christopher, 1448?-1522.
Conduct of life -- Early works to 1800.
Envy -- Early works to 1800.
Kings and rulers -- Early works to 1800.
Lord's Supper -- Early works to 1800.
Sermons -- Early works to 1800.
Wisdom -- Early works to 1800.
Manuscripts, Medieval -- Connecticut -- New Haven.
England -- 1066-1485.
Great Britain -- 16th century.
Great Britain -- 1066-1485.
Manuscripts, Medieval -- England -- 16th century.
Manuscripts, Renaissance -- England -- 16th century.
Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library.