Manuscripts

Fall of princes: manuscript, [between 1440 and 1460]

1 of 329

Description: Manuscript of Fall of princes by John Lydgate. Includes sketches and miniatures.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Date: 1440-1460
Call number: mssHM 268
Creator: Lydgate, John (1370?-1451?)(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: In Library, 1930s. Possibly in the collection formed by James Sotheby in the seventeenth century. Armorial bookplate of C. W. H. Sotheby on the front pastedown; sale of Col. H. G. Sotheby, Sotheby's, 24 July 1924, lot 24 with plate of f. 109v to A. S. W. Rosenbach. Precise source and date of acquisition by Henry E. Huntington unknown.
Restrictions: RESTRICTED. Use digital reproduction in the Huntington Digital Library. Original available by special permission only.
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The nativite of oure lady : [manuscript]

Manuscripts

ff. 1-109v; ff. 110-112, modern; f. 112v blank. [John Lydgate]. [Life of Our Lady]. Incipit: A Floure of vertu full longe kept in cloos. Explicit: That the fortune made debonayre/ For to susteyne þe honour of her toun//. Rubric: The Nativite of oure lady Capitulo primo. English. Text preceded on ff. 1-2v by a chapter list and a prologue, " O thouȝtfull hert plunged in distresse/ With slombre of slouthe þis long wynterys nyȝt. . ." Ends defectively; on ff. 110-112, Book 6, vv. 327-462 replaced in an imitative anglicana hand on modern parchment: "And thourgh hire helpe and meditacion. . .To kepe and saue fro all aduersyte. Amen." IMEV 2574 . J. A. Lauritis et al., eds., A Critical Edition of John Lydgate's Life of Our Lady. Duquesne Studies Philological Series 2 (Pittsburgh 1961), group b; see p. 42; this manuscript included in the collation; the text in HM 115 divided into 36 chapters (as is the chapter list), rather than the 82 of the Caxton edition or the 87 of the Lauritis edition.

mssHM 115

[Prose and poetry]: manuscript, [between 1475 and 1500]

Manuscripts

Poems and prose by Geoffrey Chaucer, John Lydgate and others. See Digital Scriptorium for full description.

mssHM 140

[Religious prose andverse]: manuscript, [between 1450 and 1467]

Manuscripts

Religious prose and verse by Richard Maidstone, John Lydgate and others. See Digital Scriptorium for full description.

mssHM 142

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Manuscripts and correspondence

Manuscripts

The collection consists of 8 manuscript poems and sonnets by Eliza Fall and 45 letters (one is incomplete) from Fall to William Henry Harrison (1795?-1878) concerning her efforts to have a volume of poetry published. Fall's letters discuss her poetry, her nom de plume "Mary Maynard" and her reasons for keeping her identity secret, and John Ruskin (1819-1900) and his work.

mssHM 42764-42816

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Eliza Fall Papers

Manuscripts

Letters from Eliza Fall to William Henry Harrison, the editor, concerning the publication of her volume, Poems, under the pseudonym Mary Maynard. John Ruskin is a frequent subject of discussion in the letters along with several other leading literary figures of their day. The collection includes several manuscript versions of her poems and a translation of a poem by Johann Ludwig Uhland.

mssHM 42764-42816

Regiment of princes : [manuscript]

Manuscripts

ff. 1-82v. [Thomas Hoccleve]. Regiment of Princes. Incipit: Musyng vpon the restelesse besynesse/ Wyche that this troubly worlde hath ay on honde. . .[f. 32:] Hic incipit prologus de principum regimine, Hy noble and myȝty prince excellent/ my lord the prince o my lorde gracious. Explicit: Hic trattat de principum regimine incipiendo de fide servanda, Now gracious prince agayn that the corone/ honour thou schal with ryal dignite. . .In swyche a cas ys wysdam to schaunge/ good ys your counsell be to your foos straunge//. Latin. IMEV 2229. F. J. Furnivall, ed., Hoccleve's Works. EETS es 72 (London 1897); 1 leaf missing after f. 29 with loss of stanzas 233-240; 4 leaves missing after f. 30 with loss of stanzas 249-280; 1 leaf missing after f. 67 with loss of stanzas 577-584; text ends defectively at the end of stanza 704 with loss of the final 76 stanzas, presumably 9 to 10 folios. Disorder in the text with respect to the printed edition: on f. 39v, in stanza 352, line 2460 precedes line 2458; on f. 76v, stanza 659 is copied between stanzas 654 and 655. That the scribe was copying from his exemplar page by page is shown by the disorder on f. 51: stanzas 421 and 422 were copied in their correct order at the top of f. 48v; they were then repeated after stanza 440 at the top of f. 51 (conjunct to f. 48, in positions 5 and 8 of quire 5); the scribe evidently became aware of his error at the end of stanza 422, because its last line was not copied; the scribe then placed the required stanza 441 in the outer margin, copied stanzas 442 and 443 in the normal text space, but was forced to place stanza 444 in the outer margin to recoup space and catch up with his exemplar for the beginning of f. 51v. For a list of 43 manuscripts, including HM 135, see M. C. Seymour,"The Manuscripts of Hoccleve's Regiment of Princes," Edinburgh Bibliographical Society Transactions 4 pt. 7 (1974) 253-97. ff. 83-86v. [Mirror of the Periods of Man's Life]. Incipit: //Go from me & make the a frere/ Myn age ys now in xl ȝere. Explicit: Wyth outen synne thedyr to wende/ Wyth loue to sen that fayre face. Amen. [space] Here ys wryten how mankynde dothe wende/ Wanne the lyf ys browȝt to the ende. Explicit totum. Latin. IMEV 1259. F. J. Furnivall, ed.,"Mirror of the Periods of Man's Life," Hymns to the Virgin and Christ. EETS os 24 (London 1867) 58-78; with respect to the printed edition, the stanzas in HM 135 are: 39, 41-43, 46-47, 44-45, 35, 54, 52-53, 49, 63, 59, 55-58, 48, 50, 61-62, with a leaf missing after f. 85, 74 (last 2 lines only), 77-81.

mssHM 135

Fall of princes: manuscript, [between 1440 and 1460]

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The nativite of oure lady : [manuscript]

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Eliza Fall Papers

Regiment of princes : [manuscript]