7 THE BRUT CHRONICLE. Here may a man heren how Englonde was firste callyd Albyon and thurghe whom hit hadde ye name. In ye nobyl lande off Syrrye ther was a nobyl Kyng and a myghty that men callyth Dioclician yat wel and worthely hym gouernyd and rewlyth thurgh his nobyl Cheualrye.. Fol. 126: . . And yan ye kyng entryd into ye town and restyd hym In the Castell tyl ye towne was sett in reule and in gou'nance. Then follows an English poem of 151 lines (which begins

and ends with

And more yey schulde undyrtake

A castell for oure kynge to make

Amen say we all ffor charyte)

This ends on the reverse of fol. 128, and is followed by 21
leaves which continue the history down to the holding of
Parliament at Westminster in 1445, where it breaks off, leaf
150 being torn away.

Small folio, MS. ON VELLUM AND PAPER MIXED, 38 lines
to the page, written in a small cursive hand; in the original
boards covered with whitish leather

£ s. d.

About 1455-60 50 0 0

This MS. belonged in 1463-70 to Abbat John Nuton of Battle
Abbey, and was probably written for him within the walls of that
famous house. There are several notes recording his ownership (one
of them written by Sennahoi Mastiw Johannes Witsam) and his
initials I N appear on the first page.

The poem on the Siege of Rouen is found in some copies of the
Brute Chronicle, but is rare.

8 CHAUCER ON THE ASTROLOBE.

Fol. 1: [PETRUS PEREGRINUS] Incipit Tractatus Magnetis. Amicorum intime, quandam magnetis. lapidis naturam occultam a te interpellatus rudi narratione tibi reserabo.. Fol. 6a: Explicit tractat' magnetis Incipit tractatus Arsmetrie. . Fol. 18b: . . pporcio que superius dicta est in omnibus. ASTRALABIUM [by CHAUCER]: Lytil Lowys my sone I pseyue wele by ctayne euidence thin abilte to lerne science tochyng nombres and pporcōns. And as wele consider I thi besy prayer in special to lerne the tretis of the Astralaby... Fol. 31a:. But the contrarie pties thu schalt seen be the cowrs of the mone. Ffor the mone mevith ye contrarie from othre planetes as in here epicircle but in none othre

maner.

3 parts in 1 vol. sm. folio, MS. ON VELLUM by an English hand, 31 leaves, 34 lines to the page with rubrications and coloured initials, and a number of finely drawn diagrams; in a fifteenth-century limp parchment wrapper England, about 1410 36 0 0

A MS. of Chaucer needs no recommendation, but of the Treatise on the Magnet it has to be observed that this is the first work ever written on the subject, apart from mere allusions and from the problematic existence of Chinese treatises. According to Gilbert (the author of the famous book De Magnete) Petrus Peregrinus Maricurtensis wrote his Epistle before 1300.

› CICERONIS RHETORICA. Etsi negociis familiaribus impediti Small
4to. MS. ON VELLUM, in a clear and handsome Italian hand; 77 leaves,
24 lines to the page; in russia, gilt edges, from the libraries of Dr. Drury
and Sir Thomas Phillipps
About 1400-1410

On the first fly-leaf there is an inscription apparently of the late part of the fifteenth
century describing the MS. as "Hic codex est Monasterii Sti. Johannes Baptiste in
Rebdorff ordinis Čanonicorum Regularium diui Augustini episcopi eystetn dyocesis Et
continet in see Rethoricam Tullii."

4 4 0

10 COUNTESS OF ESSEX AND OVERBURY MURDER. Page 1: Divorse betwn Lady Francis Howard and Robert Earl of Essex 1613. Page 33: The Proceedings against Richard Weston at his Arraignement (for the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury). Pa. 85: Confession of Sir Jarwes Elvash. Pa. 98: The Arraignement of Anne Turner. Pa. 129: The Confession of James Ffrancklin. Pa. 150: The proceedings againste Sir Thomas Monson.

Small 4to. MS. on paper; bound for James I whose crown and shield are stamped on the sides, in the small whole-gilt form which was only used for his private library

1616

With the bookplate (about 1750) of Archdeacon Sharp.--This copy must have been made for the King, who was deeply interested in the whole affair, since the lady who had obtained the divorce and poisoned Overbury, was the wife of his favourite Carr Earl of Somerset.

11 DIOGENES LAERTIUS. Laertii diogenis vitae atque sententiae eorum qui in philosophia claruerüt lib. I. inc. This intitulation on p. 4 is preceded by a dedication of 3 pp. headed Clarissimo ac optimo uiro Cosmo de medicis Ambrosius in domino aeternam salutem.

£ 1

4 4

Small folio, FINE MS. ON VELLUM, 240 leaves, 28 long lines to
the
page, in clear and handsome Roman characters; many illuminated
initials with interlaced ornamentation, and on the first page a full border
of similar character, enclosing in its lower portion an escutcheon; calf
About 1450 15 0 (

The escutcheon is: azure, a fess or charged with three bezants azure; a lion or in
chief, and three bezants or in base. It seems to be a modification of the Medici arms.
This copy was probably made from the autograph MS. then in the possession of
Cosmo de Medici; which had been presented to him before 1439 by the translator,
Ambrogio Camaldolese.

12 ELIZABETH (Queen) and the Cinque Ports.
interest, two of which bear her signature, as

cover

Documents of historical below, stitched in a folio

1546-1604 18 18

1. Letter to Lord Cobham, Warden of the Cinque Ports, ordering restitution of a
Dutch ship seized under letters of reprisal at Dover

3 May, 1560

With the Queen's signature "Eliz.," and seal; a copy of portion of the
treaty of 1542 enclosed.

2. Warrant to the Warden of the Cinque Ports, authorising him to give licence for
private ships to attack and seize the pirate vessels in the narrow seas. "Elizabeth"
22 May, 1577
3. Henry VIII's Summons to the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports to obtain lists of
men holding property to a certain value in any of the said Ports 30 November, 1546
4. Certificate from the Mayor of Rye addressed to Sir Thomas Cheney testifying
no inhabitant within the liberties of that town was liable to assessment under the
conditions of the King's summons. With seal
12 January, 1546-7

5. Extracts from Orders issued by Richard II and Henry IV relating to subsidies
from inhabitants of the Cinque Ports

About 1577

6. Letter from the Commissioners for the control of the subsidies from the Cinque Ports,
to the Constable of Dover, for the attendance of jurors on the matter 3 April, 1565
With the signatures of Thomas Wotton, Warham St. Leger, and Hugh
Cartwright.

7. Letter of the Commissioners to the Lieutenant of Dover Castle on the same subject,
signed by Cotton, Cartwright, and Hendle
10 April, 1565
8. Sir Thomas Fane's Letter to the Warden of the Cinque Ports (Lord Northampton)
relating to the payment of the garrison of Dover Castle, etc. Signed "Tho. Ffane"
Boston, 17 Oct., 1604

13 EUCLID. Fol. 1 reverse: In hoc libro continetur Geometria Euclidis cum
commento magistri Campani. Fol. 2a: Pvnctus est cuius pars non

est. Linea est longitudo sine latitudine cuius extremitates sunt
2. puncta.. Fol. 165b: . . Finitur 15 liber. Explicit geometria
Euclidis cu comento magistri campani

Small folio, the text in large letters, the commentary in small characters,
the first 43 pp. illustrated with neatly-drawn diagrams; hf. bd.

About A.D. 1300 42 0

On the obverse of the first leaf is an inscription "Magistri Adolphi de Werda" written in the fourteenth century; and on the last page in an English hand of the early part of the fifteenth century "Liber iste fuit Domini Armachani."

This is one of the most ancient examples of the complete medieval Euclid which can be purchased.

14 FESTUS. Pauli Diaconi compendium operis Festi Pompeii de Verborum significatione, 8vo. MS. beautifully written in Roman letters, UPON FINE VELLUM, 148 leaves, 24 lines to the page; hf. bd. from the Drury and Phillipps libraries

About 1460

By an Italian hand. The dedication by Paulus Diaconus to Charles the Great is
found at the end.
15 FIERABRAS. ENGLISH METRICAL ROMANCE OF THE SOWDON

OF BABYLOYNE. Page 1:
Page 1: [G]od in glorye of myghteste
moost | That al thinge made in Sapience | By vertue of
woorde and holy goost | Gyvinge to man grete excellence |

Pa. 81: Here endithe the Romaunce of the Sowdon
of Babyloyne And of Fferumbras his sone who conquerede
Rome And Kynge Charles off Ffraunce with xii Dosyperes
toke the Sowdon in the feelde And smote of his heede . .

Small folio, MS. ON VELLUM, 41 leaves, 42 lines to the
page; hf. bd., from the libraries of Richard Farmer,
George Steevens, Octavius Gilchrist, Richard Heber, and
Sir Thomas Phillipps, UNIQUE

About 1450 80 0 0

An article of the highest interest and value in early English poetical literature. As a specimen, here are some lines from the second page

Hit bifelle by twyxte March and Maye

Whan kynde corage begynneth to pryke

Whan frith and felde wexen gaye
And every wight desireth his like

Whan louers slepen with opyn yze

As nightyngalis on grene tre

And sore desire pat thai cowde flye
That thay myghte with here louer be

16 GERVASE OF TILBURY'S Chronicle. Fol. 1: Incipiüt Ocia Imperialia
a Mgro Geruasio edita . .

Small folio, MS. on paper, 65 leaves, double columns, 38 lines to the
column; red morocco, from the Phillipps library
About 1440-50

A general chronicle by an Englishman, but dedicated to the Emperor Otto IV.
Its peculiar interest has been pointed out by Thomas Wright, as a storehouse of old
legends and superstitions popular in England.-It is bound up with the following
printed books:

GUIDO COLONNA. Fol. 1: Prologus historie Troiane Incipit prologus
super historia destructōis Troie: composita per iudice Guidonem de
columna messanensem. 87 leaves, double columns, 43 lines to the column;
with signatures a-l in eights (al a blank leaf cut away)

(Strassburg? about 1480)
GESTA ROMANORUM. Fol. 1: Gesta Romao. Foliù Primù,
Ex gestis
small folio, printed in double columns, on numbered
leaves; the last leaf of Table wanting S. n. (Cologne, about 1485)

Not in Hain. Each leaf is numbered on back and front, and there would be
99 leaves if the last one were not missing. The colophon occupies five lines at the top
of the second column of leaf XCij obverse.

17 GRATIANI COLLECTIO DECRETALIUM

small folio, MS. ON VELLUM BY AN ENGLISH HAND, 195 leaves, double columns, 55 lines to the column, with numerous painted initials; hf. bd.

4 14 6

(Reading Abbey,) about 1225 18 0 0

With James Bowen's name and the date 1745 written on the first leaf. There are also two leaves of paper prefixed by him, giving within ornamental designs a neatly written account of the book.

The first leaf of the MS. is missing, but it only contained a part of the Tabula; the work itself is complete, beginning on what is the fifth leaf of the book.

This is in a similar handwriting to the Gregorius described above, but the letters

are much smaller and the number of lines more numerous.

The last two leaves contain a number of Papal rescripts which do not belong to the text but are supplementary in matter.

Greek MSS.:

20 SAYINGS AND HOMILIES OF THE HOLY FATHERS, in Greek, smallest 4to. MS. on paper, beautifully written, 220 leaves, 32 lines to the page; in a sixteenth-century binding About 1300 3 30 Among the holy personages are Barsanuphius, Clement, Dionysius Areopagita, Pambo, Daniel Stylites, Macarius, Marcianus, Basilius, Anastasius Sinaita, Agathonicus, Moyses the Abbot, Ephraim, Simeon, Ignatius, Dorotheus, Apollo, etc. etc.

21 SYNESIUS Νικάνδρῳ. Ἐγὼ ὁ Συνέσιος ἐγεννησάμεν

. (Epistles of Synesius, in Greek) sm. 4to. MS. on paper, 178 leaves, 24 lines to the page; bds.

(Levant,) 1766 100

22 ISAAC SYRUS. Tov Ισαὰκ τοῦ Σύρου Επισκ. Νινευι . Λόγοι ασκητικόι, small 4to. MS. on paper, 158 leaves, 17 lines to the page; calf (Levant,) about 1740 0 10 || 23 HYMNS OF THE GREEK CHURCH. Αρχή . τῶν σημαδίων . . παρὰ Tŵv TоINTŵv Taλacóvte kai véwv . . sm. 4to. MS. on paper, with MUSIC in pneums on every page of the text, 253 leaves, 22 lines to the page; in the original stamped binding (Levant, about 1600) 2 0 24 ANTHOLOGIUM. Avboλóyιov μŋvì ZETTEμßpių.. sm. 8vo. MS. on paper, with Ανθολόγιον μηνὶ Σεπτεμβρίῳ MUSIC in pneums on every page of the book, 214 leaves, 24 lines to the page; in the original stamped binding

Καταλογος

(Levant, about 1620) 1 5

25 Karaλoyos.. [Lambros (Spyridion) Catalogue of the Codices in the Monastery of the Virgin in the island of Andros], in Greek, 8vo. sd.

Athens, 1898 05

In 104 numbers, describing 500 or 600 distinct articles, ranging in date from the 13th to the 18th century. 26 GREGORII (S.) MORALIUM LIBRI XVI, folio, FINE ENGLISH MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM, 207 leaves, written in double columns, 43 lines to the column, with fine painted initials of decorative design; hf. bd.

(Reading Abbey,) about 1150 30 0 The handwriting is of remarkable beauty and regularity. It is the finest kind that was used in the Reading books, and is recognisable by any one who has seen the better volumes of that library.

The signature of Rog. Reynoldes (about 1580) appears on the first page, with a statement of the cost of the book as 3 shillings. It had previously belonged to Clement Burdett, and had cost him £1. 10s 4d, according to his memorandum on the first page of Book VII. It does not bear the name of James Bowen (about 1740) but from the binding we know that it belonged to him, along with other books from Reading Abbey. Finally it passed into the hands of Sir Thomas Phillips.

26*HIGDEN'S POLYCHRONICON. Leaves 1-8 contain the Tabula. Leaf 9: Liber Pmus. Incipit pfacio in historiā que dr. policronica. Capitulu pmum. Post pclaros artiū scriptores. Leaf 106: Pfacio seda. . . Pfacō tcia. . Leaf 1846 Incipit liber Septimus Fol. 222b: .. contractis trengis et induciis inter reges utrosque discessum est. Annoque Dni Milliō CCCXXXIX Rex Angl E tercius post congestum deuastauit destruxit combussit et spoliauit in regno Francie villas Mille VCC et vi quarum quelibet habuit ecclesiam parochialem, exceptis castris et maneriis magnorum dominorum, et aliis fortaliciis, et expectauit Philippum de Valesio regem Francie per duos dies continue in campo qui tunc noluit venire.

Small folio, ENGLISH MS. ON VELLUM, FROM THE LIBRARY OF CROYLAND ABBEY, in double columns, 42 lines to the column; with 7 fine large illuminated initials (one of which is intended to pourtray Higden himself) and numerous ornamental capitals in blue and red; bound in old gilt

£ s. d.

russia, with the elaborate engraved bookplate of Maurice Johnson of Spalding (1735) Liber Croylandie, about 1370 50 00

This must have been transcribed from the author's earliest text, for he ultimately continued it down to 1357, suppressing the final passage which appears in the above Croyland copy. The inscription "Liber Croylandie on the first page of the text appears to have been written about 1440. The book had previously belonged to Magister Thomas of Grantham (about 1370-80) according to his inscription on the flyleaf; and to Dominus Richardus Blesworthe (about 1410-20) whose name is written on one of the margins.

7 HILARY OF POITIERS. Fol. 1: Incipit prologus in uită beati Siluestri pape.. me de greco in latinum transferre precepisti . beatissime pater. . Incipit uita. Siluester igitur cum esset infantulus . . This life ends at the top of leaf 12 obverse. Incipit prefacō in uită beati Hylarii pictauorum episcopi . . Fortunatus. . Încipit uita Igitur beatus Hylarius. Fol. 14: Epla beati Hylarii ad Apram filiam. Fol. 156: Incipit translaco corporis sci Benedicti Cum diu gens langobardorum infidelitatis sue tenebras . . Fol. 186: Explicit translatio corpis sci benedicti z sce scolastice sororis eius. Pauca de mirabilibus que per beatum Benedictum. . ipso quiescente .. Fol. 24b: . . cui manet honor et indeficiens semper et usquequaque imperium in scla

seculorum Amen.

Small folio, MS. ON VELLUM, 24 leaves, double columns, 38 lines to the column; in a sixteenth century calf binding, rebacked with vellum About 1190-1200

770

3 HISTORICAL AND ANTIQUARIAN OPUSCULA, in Latin, small 4to. MSS. ON VELLUM, collected in a single volume, with a limp parchment About 1280-1370 36 0 0

cover

Very interesting and curious. Evidently the work of successive scholars in some English monastery. The contents are as below. The book was formerly in the collection of Sir John Savile (temp. Jac. 1).

Fol. 1, a leaf of a sermon or discourse" de Avaritia"
About 1280
Ff. 2-28, a Chronicle of England, Scotland, and France, in Latin, wanting a leaf
or so at beginning, and therefore commencing the narrative with A.D. 626.
It ends with the year 1347, at which time the writer left off
Ff. 29-31, MERLINUS. The Prophecies, in Latin, 4 pp. 42 lines to the page

About 1350

About 1320

F. 31, Descripcio Scocie. Only 20 closely written lines, written evidently before 1325.
It mentions Robert Bruz of Anenderdale and William Ferrers of
Kircebrigg. (The latter died in 1325).

31-32, De conditionibus bone Uxoris, 7 lines.

32, De Arte Amandi, a poem of 90 verses beginning

Principio quod amare velis reperire labora
Qui nova nunc primum miles in arma ruis

and ending: Oscula qui sensit si non et cetera sumpsit
Fol. 33, De Babilonia, 17 lines; De Monte Oliveti, 11 lines.

About 1320

Forty verses beginning Cur mundus militat sub vana gloria.
Confessio Marie Egipt. quam fecit Zozimo "Germine non humili . . .”

121 verses

About 1320-30

Fol. 34, another piece on the same, beginning Hoc novi tutum quondam sic esse
locutum

About 1350

36b, Lamentatio super excidio vrbis Troiane. 66 verses, beginning with
the well-known Pergama flere volo

About 1350

37-43, Alexandri Epistola ad Aristotelem. Nuper tui memor.
drawings of heads

with two

About 1350

44.46, De Purgatorio ostenso Sto. Patricio in Hibernia. Cum in Hybernia
predicare uerbum Dei Scs Patricius atz miraculis gloriosis choruscaret
6 pp. left incomplete

47, a continuation of the discourse on fol. 1

HYGINUS, etc.

Cicero de somnio Supionis, 8 leaves

de Peticione Consulatus, 15 leaves

Hyginii Poeticon Astronomicon opus

About 1370

About 1280

de Mundi ac sphere declara

tione. 75 leaves, including a drawing of the Scemma Sphericum.
Dated at the end 1487