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Detailed record for Egerton 3314

Part 1 ff. 1v-8v 
Author Compiled by Salomon
Title Mnemonic verses, notes, etc., on the compotus
Origin England, S. E. (Canterbury)
Date c. 1185
Language Latin
Script Protogothic
Scribe Possibly written by Salomon, monk and afterwards sub-prior of Christ Church, Canterbury
Decoration Initials in red or blue, some with simple penwork decoration. Tables in red, brown, and green or also blue (ff. 5, 8v). Diagram of a hand in brown and red (f. 6). The directions for calculating the moon of Septuagesima (f. 6r-6v) indicate 1184 as the date of compilation.
Dimensions in mm 225 x 165 (180 x 125)
 
Part 2 ff. 9-12v 
Title Instructions and mnemonic verses for finding the terms of Easter, and other moveable feasts.
Origin England, S. E. (Canterbury)
Date 2nd half of the 11th century, c. 1073
Language Latin
Script Protogothic
Decoration Small initials in red, green, blue, or brown, some with simple penwork decoration. Highlighting of letters in green or red.
Dimensions in mm 225 x 165 (various)
 
Part 3 ff. 14-17v; 34-37 
Author Hermannus Contractus
Title Treatise on the compotus, 'Ratio Gai cesaris de ordine anni', instructions for the discovery of the age of the moon, a table of moveable feasts, and other texts
Origin England, S. E. (Canterbury)
Date 2nd half of the 11th century, c. 1073
Language Latin
Script Protogothic
Decoration Large initial in red with penwork decoration (f. 14). Initials in red. Highlighting of words in red. Rubrics in red.
Dimensions in mm 225 x 165 (185/190 x 135)
 
Part 4 ff. 18v-32 
Title Astronomical calendar, with tables of moons, moveable feasts, etc., and tables for determining the date of Easter, etc., including a table of lunar cycles for the years 1064-1577 (f. 31v)
Origin England, S. E. (Canterbury)
Date 2nd half of the 11th century, c. 1073
Language Latin
Script Protogothic
Decoration Large KL letters in red or green with penwork decoration. Small intials in red or brown. Highlighting of letters in red.
Dimensions in mm 225 x 165 (various)
 
Part 5 ff. 41-44v 
Title Notes on computus based on Bede, etc.
Origin England, S. E. (Canterbury)
Date 2nd half of the 11th century, c. 1073
Language Latin
Script Protogothic
Decoration Large initials in red, green or blue. Rubrics in red. Tables with rectangular outlines in red.
Dimensions in mm 225 x 165 (195 x 125)
 
Part 6 ff. 45-72v 
Title Notes on computus and astronomy from various authors including Bede, Isidore, and Hrabanus Maurus
Origin England, S. E. (Canterbury)
Date 2nd half of the 11th century, c. 1073
Language Latin
Script Protogothic
Decoration Large simple initials in red or purple. Rubrics in red. Highlighting of letters in red.
Dimensions in mm 225 x 165 (180 x 125)
 
Part 7 ff. 73-75v 
Title 'Quomodo inueniri possint concurrentes et data cuiuslibet anni per manum'
Origin England, S. E. (Canterbury)
Date last quarter of the 12th century
Language Latin
Script Protogothic
Scribe Possibly written by Salomon, monk and afterwards sub-prior of Christ Church, Canterbury
Decoration Initials in red or green. Diagrams of hands in brown ink with numbers in red or green (ff. 73, 73v, 74v, 75). Pencil sketch of a hand) (f. 75v). Rubrics in red.
Dimensions in mm 225 x 165 (195 x 125)
 
Official foliation ff. 78 ( + 3 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the beginning and at the end + an unfoliated leaf after f. 12)
Form Parchment codex
Binding Pre-1600. Limp vellum binding.
Provenance Possibly written by Salomon, monk and afterwards sub-prior of Christ Church, Canterbury: his note (f. 1v).
The Benedictine abbey of Christ Church, Canterbury: formerly bound with Cotton Caligula A XV, ff. 120-153, the volume entitled 'Compotus Adelardi' in Prior Eastry's early 14th-century catalogue of books in the library of Christ Church, Canterbury (now Cotton Galba E. IV, f. 133v, printed by M. R. James, Ancient Libraries of Canterbury and Dover (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1903), p. 49, no. 287); its catalogue title 'Adthelardus de compoto' (upper margin, f. 1).
Addition of an 11th-12th century list of the Archbishops of Canterbury, Augustine- Anselm (consecrated 1093), with additions down to Richard of Dover (consecrated 1174) (f. 34).
Mid-12th century addition of twelve lines of verses (f. 18).
Note of a flood in Thanet and Sheppey, 21 January 1394, at the head of some other miscellaneous added memoranda and prognostications, 14th-15th century (f. 1).
Added tables to show the dates of Easter from 1406-1433 (f. 13); and from 1420-1447 (f. 13v).
? John Trendle, a monk of Christ Church, Canterbury (d. 1433): inscribed 'Quere residuum istius operis in tabula Johannis Trendle' (f. 33v) on added table of the dates of Easter 1269-1408 (ff. 32v-33v), written as a continuation of the table in Cotton Caligula A. XV, ff. 132v-139 (see the British Library catalogue),
Various other 13th-15th century added texts (ff. 37-40v).
Two post-medieval pressmarks 'Gr.' and '51' (f. 1).
John Dee (b. 1527, d. 1609), mathematician, astrologer, and antiquary: his 'Jupiter' sign (top righthand corner of f. 1); his annotations (ff. 60v-61).
William Cecil (b. 1520/21, d. 1598), 1st Baron Burghley, royal minister; his sale, 21 November 1687, lot 83 ; bought by Grey.
Thomas Grey (b. 1653/4, d. 1720), 2nd Earl of Stamford, conspirator and politician.
Robert Butts (b. 1684, d. 1748), bishop of Ely: his armorial book-plate (numbered as f. i, pasted onto the third flyleaf).
Bought by the British Museum in 1945, using the Bridgewater fund (£12,000 bequeathed in 1829 by Francis Henry Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgewater (b. 1756, d. 1829).
Notes Originally formed a single volume with Cotton Caligula A XV ff. 120-53. For a discussion of the original order see Willetts.
f. i is a book-plate.
Select bibliography N. R. Ker, Catalogue of Manuscripts containing Anglo-Saxon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957), pp. 173-76, no. 139.

Medieval Libraries of Great Britain: A List of Surviving Books, ed. by N. R. Ker, 2nd edn, Royal Historical Society Guides and Handbooks, 3 (London: Royal Historical Society, 1964), p. 36.

P. J. Willetts, 'A Reconstructed Astronomical Manuscript from Christ Church Library, Canterbury', British Museum Quarterly, 30 (1965-66), 22-30, pl. iv.

The British Museum Catalogue of Additions to the Manuscripts 1936-1945, 2 vols (London: British Museum, 1970), I, no. Eg. 3314.

Andrew G. Watson, Catalogue of Dated and Datable Manuscripts c. 700-1600 in The Department of Manuscripts: The British Library, 2 vols (London: British Library, 1979), I, no. 517.

Anne Lawrence, ‘Manuscripts of Early Anglo-Norman Canterbury’, in Medieval Art and Architecture at Canterbury before 1220, ed. by Nicola Coldstream and Peter Draper, British Archaeological Association Conference Transactions, 5, 1979 (Maney and Son, Leeds, 1982), pp. 101-11 (p. 108).

Richard Gameson, The Manuscripts of Early Norman England (c. 1066-1130) (Oxford: University Press, 1999) p. 105, p. 97 no. 370.

Michael Gullick, ‘Manuscrits et copistes normands en Angleterre (XIe-XIIe siècles), in Manuscrits et enluminures dans le monde normand (Xe-XVe siècles), ed. by Pierre Bouet and Monique Dosdat (Caen: Presses Universitaires, 1999), pp. 83-93 (p. 87 n. 15).

Helmut Gneuss, Handlist of Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A List of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 241 (Tempe: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2001), no. 411 (ff. 9-72).


Images
Part  1   ff. 1v-8v
Compiled by Salomon Mnemonic verses, notes, etc., on the compotus
* * *
 
Notes

f. 1
Notes		 Hand

f. 6
Hand		 Table

f. 123v
Table
 
Part  3   ff. 14-17v; 34-37
Hermannus Contractus Treatise on the compotus, 'Ratio Gai cesaris de ordine anni', instructions for the discovery of the age of the moon, a table of moveable feasts, and other texts
* * *
 
Coloured initial

f. 34
Coloured initial
Part  7   ff. 73-75v
'Quomodo inueniri possint concurrentes et data cuiuslibet anni per manum'
* * *
 
Hands

f. 73
Hands		 Hands

f. 73v
Hands		 Hands

f. 74v
Hands
 
Hands

f. 75
Hands
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