Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Reg. lat. 946 Hugo Floriacensis, "Historia regum Francorum monasterii Sancti Dionysii;' Ps.-Turpinus, "Historia Karoli Magni;' Dares Phrygius, "Epistola at Sallustium'' and "Historia Troiana;' Julius Valerius Polemius, "Epitome de Gestis Alexandri;' M. Junianus Justinus, "Epitoma Historiarum Phillippicarum Pompei Trogis"; list of bishoprics of Rouen, Law X Æthelred (OE)

Abstract

480. Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana,

Reg. lat. 946

Hugo Floriacensis, "Historia regum Francorum

monasterii Sancti Dionysii;'

Ps.-Turpinus, "Historia Karoli Magni;'

Dares Phrygius, "Epistola at Sallustium'' and

"Historia Troiana;'

Julius Valerius Polemius, "Epitome de Gestis Alexandri;'

M. Junianus Justinus, "Epitoma Historiarum

Phillippicarum Pompei Trogis";

list of bishoprics of Rouen, Law X Æthelred (OE)

[Ker 392; Gneuss 917]

HISTORY: Although written throughout by one scribe of the 13c, the main part of the manuscript (ff. 1-71) now falls into two booklets, A1 and A2, laid out almost identically, but with Booklet A 1 showing 59 lines of writing and Booklet A2 60. From the 15c table of contents on f. lv and the gap in the early roman numbering of the folios (wants nos. xxiv-xxxvii) it is evident that there were originally 14 leaves (one slightly large quire?) between what are now quires II ending on f. 23 and quire III beginning on f. 24 which contained another work. So what is now treated as Booklets A1 and A2 was originally all one integrated unit with more material between them.

Booklet B, ff. 72-6, comprises a bifolium wrapped around three singleton leaves, with the OE decree of King Æthelred written on the verso of the third of these in England in the first half of the 11c, possibly Worcester or York (Stokes 2014: 108-9). All the leaves in this booklet are ruled for 20 long lines in a spacious format on good-quality membrane, probably for a de-luxe service book (Ker, Cat.), but were left blank and not used for that purpose. The whole quire somehow went to Normandy where in the 12c additions were made on the verso side of the front leaf and the two following ones; since the ruling on f. 73 differs slightly from the others it is also possible that this leaf was added in Normandy to accommodate the desired text (cf. Gameson 2003: 159).

The manuscript shows annotations, including a table of contents, on ff. 1v-2v in the hand of Alexandre Petau (1610-72), son of Paul (1568-1614), a former owner. In 1650, the Petau library, including this manuscript, was bought by Queen Christina of Sweden and became part of her library, which, following her death in Rome in 1689, went to the Vatican in 1690, where this one received the stamp of Pope Alexander VIII (1689-91) on ff. 1r, 71 v, 72r and 75v, suggesting the possiblity that Booklets A and B were brought together permanently in the Vatican (see also description of Reg. lat. 204 [477], "History" and Callmer 1977: 156, 170-1, 217-34, 220-2).

The binding is of plain white membrane on cardboard and the two paper endleaves are bound with it, but there is no papal stamp or other indication of it having been provided in the Vatican. Previous descriptions by Berger 1879: 26-7 and by Pellegrin 1978.