Oxford, Bodleian Library, Lat. Misc. d. 13 + Lat. Misc. d. 30 (SC 30572+30584) Unidentified Latin Chronicle of England: "Cronica imperfecta''

Abstract

393. Oxford, Bodleian Library,

Lat. misc. d. 13 + Lat. misc. d. 30 (SC 30572 + 30584)

Unidentified Latin Chronicle of England:

"Cronica imperfecta"

[Ker 339]

HISTORY: These single leaf fragments from a 12c Latin chronicle were formerly pastedowns from Oxford bindings of around 1600 (Ker 1954: items 945, 959, 963, 964). According to Ker ( Cat.), the presence of characteristic markings from Christ Church, Canterbury (on Lat. misc. d. 13, f. 5; on Lat. misc. d. 30, ff. 5v and 9) suggest that the fragments come from a 'Cronica imperfecta' listed in its medieval catalogue (James 1903: 49, no. 283). Ker (Cat.) dates the fragments to "XII1 " (see also Gameson 1999: no. 740. Gameson notes that an additional fragment is in a private collection in London). Webber dates the script to the first quarter of the 12c and groups it with "Christ Church manuscripts, which do not contain the Christ Church Style of script" (Webber 1995: 154 and n. 41; 158). De Hamel has identified a further fragment now in Japan, Keio University Library l 70X@9@18/18. The strip, recovered from a binding, covers the years 54-58 CE (De Hamel 2004: 23 and Pl. 3-1). The period covered in Lat. misc. d. 13 is from around 70 BCE to 516 CE. The fragments of Lat. misc. d. 30 cover the beginning of time to the Jewish Captivity. Also included is a chronology of the Roman emperors from Augustus to Justinian. E. W B. N[icholson) records on the front pastedown of Lat. misc. d. 13: "These fragments were from S.1.3. Med and V 1.4&5 Med. and were found by me in the collection of fragments kept as 'Palaeographical specimens:" Subsequently he added "Others have since been found in A.2.2 Med. and added:' There is a further, unsigned note: "Fol. 24a,b was taken from the binding of Ms. Queen's Coll. 299 and presented by the Provost and Fellows in December 1945. Fol. 1-2 were bought in 1953 with a collection of fragments from bindings, the rest of which is now Ms. Lat. misc. a. 3:' The Queen's College fragments had been given to the college by Griffin Powell in 1599 (Ker 1954: 89, item 945). Lat. misc. d. 13 is recorded as items 945 (ff. 24a,b), 963 (ff. 19-22), 964 (ff. not given), 976 (ff. 4-7). On the Oxford binding of c. 1600 from which the Queen's College fragments were removed see <https://www.queens.ox.ac. uk/ sites/ www.queens.ox.ac. uk/files/299. pdf>

Lat. misc. d. 30 has the following notice on its front pastedown: "Some of these fragments came from H.1.3. med. and C. 7. 16 art. E. W B. N[icholson]:' Lat. misc. d. 30 is recorded as items 959 (ff. 3, 4, 7 8), 969 (ff. 2, 5, 6, 9). Dumville regards the 'Cronica imperfecta' as "probably a production of the last years of the Anglo-Saxon period but now surviving only in fragments of a unique manuscript in Canterbury script of the early twelfth century" (Dumville 1974-76, repr. 1990: XIl.106). In Dumville's opinion, the sources of the 'Cronica imperfecta' "correspond closely to those employed by the F-scribe" of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (Dumville 1983: 48).