| Collection | GB 0231 University of Aberdeen, Special Collections |
| Level | Fonds |
| Ref No | MS 21 |
| Title | Ranulf Higden, historiographer: Polychronicon |
| Date | 1387 |
| Extent | 1 volume |
| Creator Name | Higden; Ranulf (1280-1364); historiographer |
| Administrative History | Higden; Ranulf (1280-1364); historiographer |
| Custodial History | From J. Gordon. Coll. Reg.
At the bottom of f. 1: This book was gifted/ to the King's College of Aberdeen/ by Mr Charles Gordon Son/ to the laird of Strath'...h/ 5 (?) Aprill (?) 1683 (?).
Other names of owners occur:
On 13 b - Liber O. Johannis Hay de Yestir 1554.
On 171 b - Mr Allexander Fraser of Frasebrughe knicht (17th century).
On the flyleaf (xix century) the initials W. P. B. and some modern notes on Trevisa. |
| Source | This book was owned by John Hay, fourth lord of Yester (d 1557), in 1554, and by Alexander Fraser of Fraserburgh in the 17th century. It was presented to King's College, Aberdeen, by Mr Charles Gordon (son of the laird of Straloch?), in c 1683. Lord John Hay of Yester was also owner of two manuscripts in the Pepysian Library at Magdalene College, Cambridge (See M.R. James's Catalogue of Medieval Manuscripts, p. 19 - numbers 1576 and 1584). |
| Description | Ranulf Higden's 'Polychronicon', books 1 - 6, translated by John de Trevisa.
The Polychronicon of R. Higden in the English version of John Trevisa.
Tables. Latin I. English 8, imperfect, ending in Latin.
Prologue . . . . . . . . . . f. 12
After solempne & wise writers of art-
A leaf is gone after f. 12 (Rolls ed., i. 18, l. 12 to 371 b).
A large blank piece of 13 is cut out. The text ends in col. 2:
the yere of grace of the prince tha(t) regnet.
A note follows: hic nihil deficit quia scribitur in prima pagina
reuolucionis alterius folii.
Accordingly, 13 b, 14 a are blank. Text continues 14 b. Cap. 5.
De orbis dimensione etc. Iulius cesar by counsail (l.c. i. 41).
Lib. II.52: two quires transposed; ff. 67-74 should follow 75-82.
Lib. III. 71 b: after c. 5, lese therefore (l.c. III. 155, l. 16), is
a gap to 'the whiche the lif of man' in c. 18 (f. 83): l.c. III. 291, l. 2.
In c. 33: after 'porta collina the consuls' (IV. 69, l. 3) a gap
to c. 41 (40) 'hit after his owne name ludgate' (f. 99) (l.c. IV. 187, l. 2).
Lib. IV. 103: in cc. 3, 4 a gap of a leaf 'Cesar louy'-'drynke'
(IV. 309, l. 2-325, l. 8).
Lib. V. 130 b: defective after c. 33 'Etheldredus kyng' (l.c. VI. 351, l. 6).
Lib. VI. 156 begins imperfect in c. 10
(l.c. VII. 13, l. 12).
A leaf gone in cc. 14, 15: another in 25, 26.
Lib. VII. begins 171 b ending with the page 'Ayenst wynter'
King William cum yn to (VII. 251, l. 22). |
| Access Status | Open |
| Language | English, Latin |
| Physical Description | Vellum, 15 3/4 X ff. 171, double columns of 45 lines. Early 15th Century (near 1400). Modern binding and clasps. Collation: I(8), 2, 3(8), 4(8)-15(8), 16(8), 17(10), 18(8)-20(8), 21, 22(8), 23. Quires 10 and 11 are transposed: after 10 is a gap of a quire: again after 13 a quire gone:after 14 1 leaf: after 20 further losses, and the end is gone. |
| Finding Aids | See M. R. James, 'A Catalogue of the Medieval Manuscripts in the University Library Aberdeen' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1932).
Ronald Waldron, Henry Hargreaves, The Aberdeen manuscript of Trevisa's translation of the Polychronicon: a workshop crisis and its resolution. 1992. Series: Scriptorium: international review of manuscript studies ; 46.2. Bruxelles : Centre d'etude des manuscrits.
N.B. There is a published version of Trevisa's text in the Rolls Series edition by Babington and Lumby (1858-1896). Please note that this publication does not refer to MS 21 in Aberdeen University Library, but to MS 204 at St. John's College, Cambridge (M.R. James p. 108). |