Manuscripts

London, British Library, MS Cotton Vespasian E xi Composite

  • Welsh, Latin
  • s. xiii
  • Welsh manuscripts
  • vellum
Identifiers
Location
Collection: Cotton manuscripts
Shelfmark
Cotton Vespasian E xi
Type
manuscript miscellanies
Composite. It consists of two independent parts which were bound together in the 17th century, when both were held in the Cottonian library:
  1. ff. 1-45: Welsh lawbook, with additional texts written by the same scribe. In 1613, the lawbook was without binding or cover. Holes suggest that it was sewn on three bands.
  2. ff. 46–132: letters of Peter of Blois. This part was separated from a codex of St Augustine's, Canterbury, whose other part is now preserved as London, British Library, MS Arundel 282.(1)n. 1 Daniel Huws, ‘Descriptions of the Welsh nanuscripts’ in The Welsh king and his court... (2000): 415–419.
Provenance and related aspects
Language
Welsh, Latin
Date
s. xiii
(1) Welsh lawbook (ff. 1-45, 133-134): mid-13th century;
(2) ff. 46–132: 13th century.(2)n. 2 Daniel Huws, ‘Descriptions of the Welsh nanuscripts’ in The Welsh king and his court... (2000): 415–419.
Hands, scribes
Additions
Glosses on ff. 15r–v and 16.(3)n. 3 Daniel Huws, ‘Descriptions of the Welsh nanuscripts’ in The Welsh king and his court... (2000): 415–419.
Codicological information
Material
vellum
Dimensions
17.7 cm × 13.2 cm
177 x 132 mm.(4)n. 4 Daniel Huws, ‘Descriptions of the Welsh nanuscripts’ in The Welsh king and his court... (2000): 415–419.
Collation
The quires of the lawbook are of irregular length: (1) ff. 1–12; (2) ff. 13–26; (3) ff. 27–36; (4) ff. 37–43, presumably a blank; (5) one leaf followed by ff. 44-45. In the original binding, the last quire appears to have come at the beginning. Ff. 133-134 probably represent the final parchment flyleaves in the original binding.(5)n. 5 Daniel Huws, ‘Descriptions of the Welsh nanuscripts’ in The Welsh king and his court... (2000): 415–419.
Palaeographical information
Layout
Two columns, except ff. 1r, 1v and 2r, which use continuous lines (even though the ruling had been made for two columns).(6)n. 6 Daniel Huws, ‘Descriptions of the Welsh nanuscripts’ in The Welsh king and his court... (2000): 415–419.
Distinct units
ff. 1-45

Welsh lawbook.

ff. 46-132

Letters of Peter of Blois. This part was separated from a codex of St Augustine's, Canterbury, whose other part is now preserved as London, British Library, MS Arundel 282.

133-134

Flyleaves, originally part of the Welsh lawbook.

Table of contents
Legend
Texts

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  1. - If a catalogue entry is both available and accessible, a direct link will be made. Such links are blue-ish green and marked by a bookmark icon.
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  3. - When a text has been ‘captured’, that is, a catalogue entry exists but is still awaiting publication, the same behaviour applies and a crossed eye icon is added.

The above method of differentiating between links has not been applied yet to texts or citations from texts which are included in the context of other texts, commonly verses.

Locus

While it is not a reality yet, CODECS seeks consistency in formatting references to locations of texts and other items of interest in manuscripts. Our preferences may be best explained with some examples:

  • f. 23ra.34: meaning folio 23 recto, first column, line 34
  • f. 96vb.m: meaning folio 96, verso, second column, middle of the page (s = top, m = middle, i = bottom)
    • Note that marg. = marginalia, while m = middle.
  • p. 67b.23: meaning page 67, second column, line 23

Sources

Notes

Daniel Huws, ‘Descriptions of the Welsh nanuscripts’ in The Welsh king and his court... (2000): 415–419.
Daniel Huws, ‘Descriptions of the Welsh nanuscripts’ in The Welsh king and his court... (2000): 415–419.
Daniel Huws, ‘Descriptions of the Welsh nanuscripts’ in The Welsh king and his court... (2000): 415–419.
Daniel Huws, ‘Descriptions of the Welsh nanuscripts’ in The Welsh king and his court... (2000): 415–419.
Daniel Huws, ‘Descriptions of the Welsh nanuscripts’ in The Welsh king and his court... (2000): 415–419.
Daniel Huws, ‘Descriptions of the Welsh nanuscripts’ in The Welsh king and his court... (2000): 415–419.

Secondary sources (select)

Huws, Daniel, “Descriptions of the Welsh nanuscripts”, in: T. M. Charles-Edwards, Paul Russell, and Morfydd E. Owen (eds), The Welsh king and his court, Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2000. 415–424.
Huws, Daniel, Medieval Welsh manuscripts, Cardiff and Aberystwyth: University of Wales Press, 2000.
Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
November 2010, last updated: July 2022