Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- [c. 1470], [mid-20 cent.] (Creation)
Level of description
File
Extent and medium
MS II.1: iii, 212 ff. (ff. i-ii and 212 are paper flyleaves of the late nineteenth century; f. iii tipped in on stub of third flyleaf of same; stub of a fourth remains between ff. ii and 1) ; 140 x 105 mm. (written space 125 x 90 mm. in quire 1, elsewhere 100-110 x 70-80 mm.); 19-24 long lines, up to 36 in quire 1.
MS II.1a: 5 ff. ; 300 x 210 mm.
MS II.1: Originally bound on three bands, now half-bound in calf, on five bands, in the same style as MSS II.6, II. 8, [19 cent.]; lettered 'ANTIENT ENGLISHE POETRIE &C. MS.' and 'PORKINGTON MS. No. 10'.
Context area
Name of creator
Archival history
'H. Hattun' in a scroll at the foot of f. 52 verso might be the scribe of quires 4-7 and the first leaf of quire 8 (ff. 27-59 verso), or the patron for whom the volume was intended. 'John ap Dd ap Gruff' ap Holl'' in hand of the ?early sixteenth century (f. 26), repeated by a later hand of c. 1600; pentrials, [mid 17 cent.], include names of John Owen (ff. 4 verso, 5, 26), Griffyth Owen (ff. 4 verso, 5, 7 verso), William Marice [sic], John Williams, 'Petty Constable of the parish of Llanarmon', and Robert William (all on f. 4 verso), suggesting the manuscript was at Clenennau by this period; probably transferred to Brogyntyn thereafter.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
A miscellany of texts in prose and verse, mainly in English but a few in Latin. The volume was written by sixteen scribes (see Daniel Huws (1996), pp. 190-199, now superseding Auvo Kurvinen (1953)), with writing styles varying from bastard secretary (ff. 8 verso-11) to fere-textura; ink varying from light to very dark brown and dark sepia. A selection of ten texts from the manuscript was published in Early English Miscellanies in Prose and Verse, ed. by J. O. Halliwell (London, 1855).
Among the main texts are the Arthurian romance 'Sir Gawaine and the Carle of Carlyle' (ff. 12-26), a treatise on the limning of books (ff. 33-52 verso), a life of St Catherine of Alexandria (ff. 91-129) and a prose version of the Middle English poem 'The Siege of Jerusalem' (ff. 157 verso-184). Ancilliary materials, [mid-20 cent.], comprising typescript notes relating to the manuscript are filed separately (Brogyntyn MS II.1a).
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Access to the original manuscript by authorised permission only. Readers are directed to use surrogate copies.
Conditions governing reproduction
Usual copyright laws apply.
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
English, Latin.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
A detailed list of the contents is available at https://archives.library.wales/external_documents/brogii1.pdf.
William Marx, Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales (Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru), Aberystwyth, The Index of Middle English Prose, Handlist 14 (Cambridge, 1999), pp. 19-27.
Generated finding aid
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Digital version available http://hdl.handle.net/10107/4398349 (April 2016)
Digital version available https://www.library.wales/discover-learn/digital-exhibitions/manuscripts/the-middle-ages/a-middle-english-miscellany
Available on microfilm at the Library (MS II.1 only): NLW Film 1046 (filmed March 1989) and MEICRO BROGYNTYN MS II.1 (filmed 2002).
Related units of description
Publication note
Auvo Kurvinen, 'MS Porkington 10: description with extracts', Neuphilologische Mitteilungen, 54 (1953), 33-67.
Publication note
Daniel Huws, 'Porkington 10 and its Scribes', in Romance Reading on the Book: Essays on Medieval Narrative Presented to Maldwyn Mills, ed. by J. Fellows and others (Cardiff, 1996), pp. 188-207.
Publication note
Folios 193 verso-194 verso : Michael Twomey, '"Morgan le fay, Empress of the Wilderness": A newly recovered Arthurian Text in London, BL Royal 12.c.ix', Arthurian Literature, 25 (2008), 67-91.
Publication note
Folios 129-130 : Nancy P. Pope, 'A Middle English Satirical Letter in Brogyntyn MS II.1', ANQ, 18.3 (Summer 2005), 35-39.
Notes area
Note
Title based on contents.
Note
Formerly Porkington MS 10.
Note
Collation: 1-2 (10), 3 (6), 4-26 (8), 27 (1) (see further Daniel Huws (1996), cf. Auvo Kurvinen (1953), pp. 34-38). Leaf signatures: ii-iv on ff. 14-15 (quire 2), of pattern ii-iv on leading leaves of quires 4-7, 10-11, 22-3; of pattern 1-4 on versos of leading leaves of quires 12-16, 18-19. Quire signatures on quires 2, 5, 6, 12-20, 22-26. Catchwords enclosed in scrolls, decorated in red.
Note
Two-line initials in red passim, three-line in quire 1, also two- and three-line initials in blue in quire 1. Some initials infilled in pale yellow, some with simple decoration in bluish-green on shafts; headings, paragraph marks and some line-fillers in red; verse initials and some capitals touched in red.
Note
Dated in accordance with Daniel Huws (1996), p. 202.
Note
Preferred citation: Brogyntyn MS II.1 [RESTRICTED ACCESS].
Alternative identifier(s)
Virtua system control number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Catherine, of Alexandria, Saint. (Subject)