Boulogne-sur-Mer, Bibliotheque Municipale 189 Glossed Prudentius: "Cathernerinon;' "Liber Apotheosis;' "Peristephanon;' "Contra Syrnmachurn;' "Tituli Historiarurn"

Abstract

17. Boulogne-sur-Mer, Bibliotheque Municipale 189

Glossed Prudentius: "Cathernerinon;' "Liber Apotheosis;'

"Peristephanon;' "Contra Syrnmachurn;' "Tituli Historiarurn"

[Ker 7; Gneuss 805]

HISTORY: A well-presented manuscript of Prudentius (excluding the "Psychomachia"). Written in the late 10c and early l lc by up to five scribes ( of whom the first and last two were English and the third from Northern France according to Gameson 2002: 171). It was almost certainly written at Canterbury Christ Church, where Flemish scribes are known to have worked (Gameson 2002: 178 and n. 65). Heavily glossed in Latin as well as OE; the Latin glosses are those classified by Silvestre as in the French tradition, originating in northern France and comprising English and French manuscripts, including those glossed in OE (Silvestre 1957); Boulogne-surMer 189 is his "T" and has the glosses classed as "BII"; they do not appear to correspond to those published by Burnham (1905, 1910), nor to those of Arevalo (1788-1789), reprinted in PL 59-60. The OE glosses to Prudentius were written in the first part of the l lc in four hands at Canterbury Christ Church (Item 11 below). Glossator 1 is Bishop's Scribe xxii, who also wrote glosses in two manuscripts that are definitely from Canterbury Christ Church, viz. Cambridge, Trinity College B.14.3 (289) [78] and London, MS Cotton Domitian ix (190], ff. 2r-7v (Bishop 1959: 423), so the Christ Church provenance of the manuscript in the first part of the l lc is confirmed. The glosses, many in OE, are numerous, but tend to be grouped in clusters (consequently the Prudentius contents are described in some detail so as to provide a firm platform for study of the glosses). Construemarks in the manuscript are noted by Korhammer 1980: 57. The manuscript was at the abbey of St-Bertin at St-Omer in the 15c (and no doubt earlier), as indicated by the inscription at the bottom off. 4r ':. De libraria S<an>c<ti> Bertini:.' with 'n° 668' on f. 2r, and a shelfmark and second folio note at the top off. lr., 'retho<ri>ca 2° f' in parte' (as on the present f. 5r/al, the second folio of the Prudentius proper). At the French Revolution the manuscript presumably went to the depot in St-Omer, whence it went to the library at Boulogne-sur-Mer. Attention was first drawn to the presence of OE glosses (Item 11 below) by Mone 1839. The binding of the late 19c is in brown calf, presently covered in grey paper. On the rear end-leaf there is a note by the 'conservateur' dated 30 May 1884, probably written when the manuscript received its present binding, saying that the manuscript has 190 folios. Some cropping by a binder has occurred, resulting in the loss of prickmarks for vertical frame-lines.