Lawrence, Kansas, Kenneth Spencer Research Library Pryce MS P2A:1

Abstract

155. Lawrence, Kansas, Kenneth Spencer Research Library Pryce MS P2A:1

(with 274 British Library Harley 3376 and 392 Bodleian Library Lat. misc. a. 3) Fragment of an Alphabetical Glossary

[Ker 240, Gneuss 436]

HISTORY: A single detached vellum leaf of an alphabetical glossary (in AB and ABC(D) order) of late lOc/ early 11c; a large part of the glossary remains as BL Harley 3376 [274), beginning 'Abacus' to words beginning in "Fu" (ed. Oliphant 1966), and another leaf is in the Bodleian (Lat. misc. a. 3 [392)) containing words beginning in "In". Harley acquired MS 3376 in 1720 and Joscelyn, Parker's librarian, had underlined OE words, but such underlinings are not present on the separated leaves, indicating that the separation took place before he used Harley 3376. Cooke (1997) argues that the hand is from Worcester. The Kansas and Bodleian leaves were part of the G. Libri sale at Sotheby's on 28 March 1859 and were purchased by Thomas Phillipps as lot 1118. They were acquired about 1946 by Philip and Lionel Robinson and sold in separate fragment-collections, one in 1953 to the Bodleian and this one in 1954 to Frank Glenn of Kansas City who sold it in the same year to the University of Kansas (Collins 1976: 45-46). Ker, in his Cat. (p. 313) of 1957, indicated this leaf was "untraced." In his "Supplement" of 1976 he implies that this leaf was edited by Oliphant, but in fact it was not and remains unedited, except for one gloss published by Napier (1900: no. 60) from the brief facsimile in the Libri Catalogue (1859: plate XXXVI). Bodleian has flesh recto and Kansas has hair recto, indicating that the two sheets could have been conjugate. If so, they would have been inner leaves of the quire, probably 3 and 6. Oxford, verso, line 20 ends 'lnsudandu<m>' and Kansas recto, line 1 begins 'In superu<m> mare.'