Oxford, Bodlein Library, MS. Bodley 97 (1928) Aldhelm: "De laudibus virginitatis"

Abstract

349. Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS. Bodley 97 (1928)

Aldhelm: "De laudibus virginitatis"

[Ker 300, Gneuss 545]

HISTORY: Dated to the late 10c by Gwara (2001: 1.180), to the early llc by Ker (Cat.). At Christ Church, Canterbury; on f. i recto is written the Christ Church shelfmark 'D[istinctio] ii^a G[radus] v^us', which M. R. James notes as demonstrating that the codex was at least until the 1330s still at Christ Church (no. 48 in Prior Henry Eastry's catalogue of 1337; James 1903: xlv, 21, 506). Another (late 15c) inscription indicates it was later transferred to St. Augustine's: 'de librario Sancti Augustini | Extra Cantuar[iam]'. On the same page an inscription shows it was owned by William Darell (d. 1580) in 1565: '1565 | A<nno> E. R. 7' and to the right 'W Darell possessor hui<us> libri', both boxed in ink, the latter somewhat embellished. Above, '.ldelmus de laude uirginitas (late 13c). The shelfmark 'MS. Bodl. 97' is written below in pencil. Presented to the Bodleian in 1602 by Sir Walter Cope (d. 1614).

[Note: Ff. ii recto-iv verso are blank except for folio numbers in pencil at upper right and shelfmarks on f. ii recto. At the top margin of f. lr is written '.s x: (see James 1903: 506) and to the right the old ('NE A. 6. 7') and new shelfmarks. "NE;' often seen in ligature, indicated "New End" as located in the Bodleian; manuscripts were kept in cases marked "A-F" and were arranged by case-letter, shelf number, and number of the order on the shelf. "NE" was prefixed in the 17c and continued until the mid-18c (see Hunt 1953: xii-xiii). Barker-Benfield (2008: 2.1376) notes that James (1903: 521) erroneously identifies Bodley 97 as no. 1431 of the 15c St. Augustine's catalogue (second fol. does not match).]