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Detailed record for Stowe 39
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| Author |
Richard Rolle (attributed to) |
| Title |
The Abbey of the Holy Ghost (ff. 4-10); Vado mori; Desert of Religion (ff. 10v); Debate for the Soul (f. 32r-32v) |
| Origin |
England |
| Date |
1st half of the 15th century |
| Language |
English |
| Script |
Gothic cursive |
| Decoration |
5 full page miniatures in colours and some gold (ff. 8v, 9, 10, 11, 32v). 22 large miniatures in colours and usually gold, illustrating the text (ff. 10v, 11v, 12v, 13v, 14v, 15v, 16v, 17v, 18v, 19v, 20v, 21v, 22v, 23v, 24v, 25v, 26v, 27v, 28v, 29v, 31v, 32). 20 full-page and 1 large (f. 30v) diagrammatic trees in green and often other colours and gold with text written on the leaves (ff. 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31). 2 large initials in gold on a dark blue background, with foliate decoration in gold, red, and blue forming a two-sided border (ff. 4, 10v). Large initials in colours and gold with foliate decoration extending into the border. Paraphs in red. Highlighting of letters in red. |
| Dimensions in mm |
265 x 190 (205 x 150) |
| Official foliation |
ff. 34 (+ 3 unfoliated paper flyleaves) |
| Form |
Parchment codex |
| Binding |
Post-1600. Green leather; the eddges of the leaves with red stripes. |
| Provenance |
? Made for a Benedictine nunnery (see Scott 1996 II p. 193).
Rev. Gastrell: inscribed 'The Gift of the Rev Mr Gastrell Jan. 11 1756 to Richd. Greene Apothecary Lichfield' (f. 33).
Richard Greene in 1756 (b. 1716, d. 1793), antiquary and museum proprietor, of Lichfield: his book-plate (inside upper cover); inscribed 'Lichfield 9 October 1767 Sir/ I beg your acceptance of this MSS to enrich your collection/ Richd Greene/ To Thos Astle' (f. 33).
Thomas Astle (b. 1735, d. 1803), archivist and collector of books and manuscripts in 1760: inscribed 'Thos Astle/ Janry 7th 1768' and his notes (ff. 1v-2); see also inscription above.
Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville (b. 1776, d. 1839), 1st duke of Buckingham and Chandos, of Stowe House, near Buckingham inscribed with the press-mark ' 3 No. 26' (f. 3) corresponding to his catalogue; see O’Conor 1818-1819.
Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville (b. 1797, d. 1861), 2nd duke of Buckingham and Chandos: sold in 1849 to Lord Ashburnham.
Bertram Ashburnham (b. 1797, d. 1878), 4th earl of Ashburnham, of Ashburnham Place, Sussex.
Bertram Ashburnham (b. 1840, d. 1913), 5th earl of Ashburnham: purchased by the British Museum from him together with 1084 other Stowe manuscripts in 1883. |
| Notes |
The pictorial subjects follow closely those in Cotton Faustina B. VI, Pt. II (see Scott 1996 II p. 193).
Scott 2007 p. 144 notes that scenes arranged in registers are uncommon in English manuscripts. |
| Select bibliography |
Charles O'Conor, Bibliotheca Ms. Stowensis: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Stowe Library, 2 vols (Buckingham: Seeley, 1818-1819), II, 147-49.
Catalogue of the Stowe Manuscripts in the British Museum, 2 vols (London: British Museum, 1895-1896), I, no. 39.
Carleton Brown, A Register of Middle English Religious & Didactic Verse , 2 vols (Oxford: Bibliographical Society, 1916-1920), I: List of Manuscripts, p. 369.
Two East Anglian Pictur Books : A Facsimile of the Helmingham Herbal and Bestiary and Bodleian Ms. Ashmole 1504, ed. by Nicholas Barker (London: The Rorburghe Club, 1988), pp. 9,-10, pl. 15.
John B. Friedman, Northern English Book Owners and Makers in the Late Middle Ages (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1995), pp. 90, 195-97, 246..
Kathleen L. Scott, Later Gothic Manuscripts 1390-1490, A Survey of Manuscripts Illuminated in the British Isles, 6, 2 vols (London: Harvey Miller, 1996), I, 67 n. 32, 68 n. 1, 75 n. 59; II, 183, 193 [with additional bibliography].
Julia Boffey, 'The Charter of the Abbey of the Holy Ghost and its Role in Manuscript Anthologies', Yearbook of English Studies, 33 (2003), 120-130 (pp. 127, 129).
Kathleen Scott, 'Scribal Activity in English Manuscripts c. 1400-c. 1490: A mirror of the craft?', in Pen in Hand: Medieval Scribal Portraits, Colophons and Tools, ed. by Michael Gullick (Walkern, Herts: Red Gull Press, 2006), pp. 115-49 (p. 132, fig. 29, no. 38).
Kathleen L. Scott, Tradition and Innovation in Later Medieval English Manuscripts (London: British Library, 2007), pp. ix, x, xi, 45, 61-86, 141, 144, 146-67, figs. 53-55, 62, 68-70. |
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f. 4
Illuminated initial |
f. 8v
Nuns |
f. 8v
Nuns |
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f. 8v
Detail |
f. 8v
Detail |
ff. 8v-9
Nuns |
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f. 9
Nuns |
f. 9
Detail |
f. 9
Detail |
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f. 10
Mary and Child |
ff. 10v-11
Preacher |
f. 14
Tree |
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ff. 22v-23
Lion and bear |
f. 23v
Living Cross |
f. 24
Tree |
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f. 24v
Building |
ff. 31v-32
Dialogue with Death |
f. 32
Dialogue with Death |
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f. 32v
Debate for the Soul |
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