Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 039: Vincent of Beauvais OP, Speculum naturale, books 2-17

purl.stanford.edu/hk996jn1247

Title:

Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 039: Vincent of Beauvais OP, Speculum naturale, books 2-17

Alternate Title:

Vincentii Speculum Naturale I-XV

Language:

Latin

Extent:

ff. 384 + 6

Dimensions:

240 Height (mm) and 215 Width (mm)

Approximate Date:

[ca. 1300 - 1325]

Provenance:

At top of f. 1r (xv-xvi) is the word or name May. On f. 384v near the bottom in old pencil: I (or X) C. xii. At top of f. 1r an inscription has probably been cut off. I have an impression from the character of the writing (coupled with the press-mark, if press-mark it be, at the end) that the book is from Norwich Priory.

Table of contents:

Speculum naturale, books 2-17

Description:

CCCC MS 39 is an early fourteenth-century copy of the Speculum naturale, the encyclopaedia of natural history by Vincent of Beauvais OP (1189/94-c. 1264). M. R. James suggested that the book might be from Norwich cathedral priory, but that has been rejected by subsequent research.