[Brut chronicle, middle of the 15th century] | Collections | The Huntington

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[Brut chronicle, middle of the 15th century]

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Description: A legendary and historical chronicle of England named after its first hero, Brutus, a descendent of Aeneas and the epic founder of Britain. It begins with Brutus' conquest of Albion and continues through the death of Henry V and the assumption of the crown by Henry VI. Also includes an epitome of English history, a prophecy and medical recipes.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Date: [England, middle of the 15th century]
Call number: mssHM 136
Provenance: Contemporary side notes. Notes on front flyleaf vi verso and back flyleaf ix verso: "fol. inscript. s. 26."; on f. 1, "pr. 1l 13s 4d." On back flyleaf viii verso, a large trial calligraphic initial with faces; similar smaller trial flourish on f. 158. Twice the name of John Leche, late 15th century or early 16th century, appears, possibly by the same person who copied sections 1 and 4, on front flyleaf iii, "Liber Johannis Leche"; on back flyleaf i, "Liber Johannis Leche de Wico Malbano in Com. Cestr." A series of scribbles in the same sixteenth century hand in the upper margins of every few leaves throughout the book often contains the name of Dorothy Helbarton. Other sixteenth century notes: back flyleaf vii verso, "Franciscus Dorington huius liber possessor legittimus"; back flyleaf viii verso, birth notices of Arthur Cole (27 November 1519) and Ursula Cole (10 March 1521). Seventeenth century owners: front flyleaves iii and iv, "Joseph Sond"; front flyleaf vi, "Will Persall"; f. 1, "George Culcheth his Booke 1666" and "1681 J. Bagnalls." Thorpe catalogue (1836) lot 252; Sir Thomas Phillipps' name and the date 1858 on front flyleaf iii; his MS 8858. Acquired privately by Henry E. Huntington through A. S. W. Rosenbach in 1923.

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Brut chronicle, in English : [manuscript]
Manuscripts
ff. 1-154v. [Brut Chronicle]. Incipit: Some tyme in the noble lande & Roialme of Surrie ther was a myghti and Worshipfull king called dioclician. Explicit: And thanne the king entered the cite and the Castell and rested him þer and sette the cite in gouernaunce and rule. English. F. W. D. Brie, ed., The Brut or the Chronicles of England. EETS os 131 and 136 (London 1906-08) 1-391 to the year 1419. HM 131 is of the expanded version discussed by Brie, Geschichte und Quellen der mittelenglischen Prosachronik The Brute of England oder The Chronicles of England (Marburg 1905) 82-83, possibly of Group C; this text seems abbreviated, but complete unto itself; the chapters are numbered to 210 erroneously due to frequent skipping of numbers or of chapters. For extant manuscripts, see L. M. Matheson, "The Middle English Prose Brut: A Location List of Manuscripts and Early Printed Editions," Analytical and Enumerative Bibliography 3 (1979) 254-66, including HM 131. With a first introduction ("Here begynneth Brute in englysshe the Whiche declareth and treteth of All the kinges and of all the notable actes and dedes the whyche hathe bene done in this lande sithe the furste begynnyng of this lande") and a second introduction ("The prolog of this boke declareth howe this lande was furste called Albion after the eldest doughter of king dioclician of Surrie that Was called Albine") that precede the text.
mssHM 131
Chronicle of England : [manuscript]
Manuscripts
ff. 1-2v: [Three notes on chronology, added in 15th cent.]: Notandum est quod secundum Cestrensem in libro polecronice libro 1o capitulo 4o octo fuerunt modi calculandi annos ... Novissime vero christiani Anno ab incarnatione domini supputarunt; Nota quod sex sunt etates seculi prima ab Adam usque ad noe ... a christo usque ad finem mundi; Et nota quod in presente volumine ... versus finem mundi. [ ff. 1v-2v blank] ff. 3-88: [Chronicle of England; dates entered in the margins; some fifteenth century side notes in the hand of the scribe; extensive notes by various hands of the seventeenth century in Latin and in English in the margins and on f. 88v]: Incipit: Britannia que et Anglia dicitur a Bruto nomen est sortita que ante ipsius adventum albion dicebatur. Est autem insula illa beatissima omnium insularum. Cuius insule Brutus post expulsos gigantes habitator ... Explicit: In cuius rei evidenciam quidam legatus apostolicus in socia tunc existens dictam camisiam postmodum domino pape ut dicitur deferebat. [ff. 87v-88v blank].
mssHM 48570
Brut chronicle, in English : [manuscript]
Manuscripts
ff. 1-115v. [Brut Chronicle]. Incipit: //Fraunce and Whanne he come Aȝene intoo þis londe he bylded A fayre tone and now as a Cytee and callyt hit Ebrac. Explicit: nay he shulde notte be transled the same Erle Thomas of lancaster Untoo the tyme that he Was//. Latin. Brut Chronicle, beginning and ending defectively and with breaks in the text; on f. 116, two unidentified fragments of the text. F. W. D. Brie, ed., The Brut or the Chronicles of England. EETS os 131 and 136 (London 1906-08) 15-35, 36-61, 63-107, 108-14, 130-66, 190-193, 194-96, 250-51, 260-63; on ff. 70-74, Cadwalader episode occurring here between Brie's chapters 101-102:"How kynge Cadewalder that Was kyng Cadwalyn sone that regned after his fadar And he Was the laste kyng off Bretonis Capitulo Centessimo xo, After the dethe off Cadwalyn regned his sone Cadwalere Well and nobly and his Modre was suster off kyng Peandra. . .For his synnes And he hadde not longe dwelled there that he ne dyed the xii kalendere off may the ȝere off grace vic 1xxix et cetera." For a list of manuscripts, see L. M. Matheson,"The Middle English Prose Brut: A Location List of Manuscripts and Early Printed Editions," Analytical and Enumerative Bibliography 3 (1979) 254-66, including HM 133.
mssHM 133
Brut Chronicle, in English : [manuscript]
Manuscripts
ff. 1-166v. [Brut Chronicle]. Incipit: //þat þey wold al make amendis And so þey departid oute from hir fadiris chambir. Explicit: & wan him there grete worship & gre of þe feld// [catchword:] And in þe next. English. F. W. D. Brie, ed., The Brut or the Chronicles of England. EETS os 131 and 136 (London 1906-08) 3-5, 12-33, 49-297, 299-357, 365-369 ; HM 113 is listed among the defective and therefore not classifiable manuscripts by Brie, Geschichte und Quellen der mittelenglischen Prosachronik, The Brute of England oder The Chronicles of England (Marburg 1905) 85. For a list of the manuscripts, see L. M. Matheson, "The Middle English Prose Brut: A Location List of the Manuscripts and Early Printed Editions," AEB 3 (1979) 254-66, including HM 113. Status of text: Defective initially, internally and finally. f. ii recto-verso. [Missal, fragment]. Latin. Contains the canon of the mass as in the Sarum missal, ed. F. H. Dickinson (London 1861-63) cols. 620-25. Layout: 2 columns. Other Decoration: 2-line gold initial on white-patterned particolored ground. Survived as pastedown in the present volume; now lifted. Assigned Date: s. XIV/XV. f. iv recto and verso. [Jacobus de Voragine]. Legenda aurea, fragment. Incipit: //hominibus innatam uxorem viro subici. Explicit: sed iuxta paschalem terminum variatur//. Latin. Contains the end of Nereus and Achilleus, all of Pancratius and all of De festivitatibus quae occurrunt infra tempus peregrinationis, as in Th. Graesse, ed. (Bratislava 1890) 338-41. Layout: 2 columns of 38 lines ruled (frame only?) in a pinkish ink. Other Decoration: Plain decorative initials, 1-line, in the ink of the text; rubric in red. Assigned Date: s. XV.
mssHM 113
[Piers Plowman; Mandeville; Troilus; etc., middle of the 15th century]
Manuscripts
Collection of Middle English texts, comprised of Langland's Piers Plowman in the B-text with substantial readings from A and C; a defective version, subgroup B, of Mandeville's Travels; the Middle English poem Susannah; "The legend of the Three Kings" an excerpt from John of Hildesheim's Historia Trium Regum; Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde; and a translation of Peter Ceffons' Epistola Luciferi ad Cleros.
mssHM 114
Book of Hours, use of Paris: [manuscript], middle of the 15th century
Manuscripts
ff. 1-12v: Full calendar in French; major feasts in red. ff. 13-27v: Pericopes of the Gospels, that of John followed by the prayer, Protector in te sperantium &; Oratio beate marie virginis, Obsecro te & et michi famulo tuo &; Alia oratio beate marie virginis, O Intemerata & orbis terrarum. De te enim ... ff. 28-29: Hours of the Virgin, use of Paris; the prayer, Ecclesiam tuam quesumus domine&, concludes the hours from lauds through compline; f. 89v, ruled, but blank.ff. 90-108v: Penitential psalms and litany. ff. 109-112v: Short hours of the Cross. ff. 113-116v: Short hours of the Holy Spirit. ff. 117-170v: Office of the Dead, use of Paris. ff. 170v-188: Prayers as follow: Les quinze ioyes nostre dame, Doulce dame de misericorde &; les cincq plaies nostre seigneur, Doulx dieu doulx pere sainte trinite &; Sainte vray croys aouree &; Illumina oculos meos & Omnipotens sempiterne deus qui ezechie regi &; Ave domine ihesu christe verbum patris &; Ave verum corpus natum &; Anima christi sanctifica me &; Domine ihesu christe qui hanc sacratissimam carnem &; Gaude virgo mater christi que per aurem concepisti & Deus qui beatissimam et gloriosam virginem mariam in conceptu et partu &; Stabat mater dolorosa &; Pietatem tuam clementissime ihesu qui mortem subiciens&; ff. 188v-189v, ruled, but blank.
mssHM 1130