Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 270: Missal of St Augustine's, Canterbury

Description

Alternative title
Missale (S. Aug. Cant.)
Type of resource
mixed material
Extent
ff. 195 + 2
Date created
[ca. 1000-1099]
Language
Latin
Material
Vellum
Layout
normally 20 lines to a page
Height (mm)
266
Width (mm)
173
Collation
1 flyleaf, 1(4) (+ 1 or 6 wants 1) 2(8)-6(8) (wants 4, 5) 7(8)-21(8) (+ 2 after the 7th) 22(8)-25(8) (wants 8), 1 flyleaf: in 19 a slip is added after 7.
Writing
in a magnificent large round upright minuscule
Foliation
ff. a-b + 1-146 + 146a + 147-163 + 163a + 164-196 + i + c-d
Provenance
Main hand ischaracteristic of St Augustine's, Canterbury.
Additions
The first flyleaf (f. 1r) is from an xith cent. copy of Bede's History, 29 lines to a page, finely written in the Christ Church hand: Beda famulus Christi et presbiter. Historiam gentis anglorum ... necnon et orientalium anglorum.
The last flyleaf (f. ir), 32 lines to a page, in a different hand contains: Bede, Historia Ecclesiastica I 2: ta fuit qui anno ab urbe condita quingentesimo nonagesimo tertio ... occidenti libiorum a meridiano.

Abstract/Contents

Summary
This Missal is written in the beautiful round script particularly associated with St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury, in the second half of the eleventh century. We know that this manuscript was written after 1091 because it contains a mass for the translation of St Augustine in this year. As such it shows the typical English script of the eleventh century being written well after the Norman Conquest, in contrast to the spiky script written at nearby Christ Church at this time. T. A. M. Bishop identified the work of some of CCCC MS 270's scribes in other manuscripts from St Augustine's, Canterbury. Arguments on textual grounds that the manuscript must have been written before 1100 are unconvincing in themselves, but this style of script would not be expected to have lasted very long into the twelfth century. The manuscript has flyleaves written in late eleventh- or twelfth-century script, containing text from Bede's Historia ecclesiastica. It is possible that these leaves were not taken from a dismantled copy of Bede's work, but were rather leaves rejected during the production of a manuscript, and if so then they may have been used in the binding of MS 270 at an early date.
Contents
Missal of St Augustine's, Canterbury

Bibliographic information

M.R. James Date
xi
Downloadable James Catalogue Record
https://stacks.stanford.edu/file/druid:qc440sn5939/MS_270.pdf
Superseded Interim Catalogue Record
https://stacks.stanford.edu/file/druid:sn353wq3451/270.pdf
Contains:
  • Missal of St Augustine's, Canterbury. 2r-196v
    Note:
    ff. 174r-181v and 182r are in a large bold pointed hand, ff. 182v-196v in a tall narrow round hand, On ff. 12r, 16r, 46r, 48v, 51v, 54r, 71v, 92v, 98r, 101v are fine polychrome decorative initials in many of which purple is used, The text of the volume was printed by Mr Martin Rule (Cambridge, 1896) with two pages in facsimile, and a most elaborate and ingenious Introduction, in which Mr Rule contends that this Missal is copied from one given by Gregory to Augustine. Mr Rule has presented to the College a manuscript volume written by himself entitled A Study of MS. C.C.C.C. 270, which is preserved in the manuscript class
TJames
228
Stanley
O. 22
Repository
UK, Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, Parker Library
Location
MS 270

Access conditions

Use and reproduction:
Images courtesy of The Parker Library, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. For higher resolution images suitable for scholarly or commercial publication, either in print or in an electronic format, please contact the Parker Library directly at parker-library@corpus.cam.ac.uk
License:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License
Download