Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- [15 cent., first ¼] (Creation)
Level of description
File
Extent and medium
5 ff. (ff. 1-3 original medieval folios; ff. 4-5 paper fragments of [c. 1800]) : Parchment (ff. 1-3), paper (ff. 4-5) ; approx. 270 x 190 mm., written space approx. 210 x 120 mm. (all dimensions approximate, as a result of damage).
Daniel Huws states that 'a series of sewing holes can be seen on all three leaves. These holes show that the manuscript was sewn only once and that the binding was on six bands'. On deposit at the the Library in 1937, the leaves were tipped into a printed copy of John Davies, Antiquae Linguae Britannicae Dictionarium Duplex (London, 1632). The leaves were removed from the copy, and repaired, sometime before 1940, before being returned loose to the copy. In December 1987, the repair work of circa 1940 was removed, and the leaves encapsulated and filed. They were removed from their sleeves for digitisation in November 2013, and in March 2014 placed within individual glass panels to facilitate future handling, storage and exhibition. The file of 1987 has been retained.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Archival history
The names ‘Lewis ap Ieuan’ and ‘Lewis ap William’ (f. 3) show that the fragment was in Welsh hands by s xvi/xvii. Marginalia show that the dictionary was in the hands of Wiliam Bodwrda (1593-1660), rector of Aberdaron, Caernarfonshire by the middle of the seventeenth century. It then appears to have been owned by John Williams (c. 1680-1717) of Pont-y-gwyddel, Llanefydd, Denbighshire, before being given by him to Robert Lewis (c. 1665-1744) of Carnau, Llanfair-yn-Neubwll, Anglesey in 1707. Lewis certainly owned the printed volume and the fragment, for he annotated both. Both volume and fragment seem to have passed to Robert Williams (1790-1839) of Bedw-lwyn, Aberdâr, Glamorgan, and remained in that county until deposited at NLW in 1937 by their then owner, the Reverend Lewis Christmas Simons, rector of Merthyr Mawr, Glamorgan (when it became known as Minor Deposit 352). In 1983, the volume and fragments were withdrawn from the Library by their owner, Mrs Margaret M. Skidmore (daughter of Revd. Simons): the fragments were auctioned on 16 November 1983 by Bonhams in London, and purchased by NLW. The present whereabouts of the dictionary are unknown, but photocopies of all pages bearing significant annotations were made before it left the Library.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Bonham's; London; Purchased at auction, lot 13; 16 November 1983
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Three surviving folia of a lost manuscript in Middle English, written by a professional scribe during the first quarter of the fifteenth century, containing parts of the ‘Nun’s Priest’s Link' and 'Nun's Priest's Tale’ from Geoffrey Chaucer’s 'Canterbury Tales'. Textual contents: f. l recto, VII2784-2820 (B2, 3974-4010) and 'Here endeth the p(ro)loge and bygynneth the tale'; f. 1 verso, VII2822-2860 (B2, 4012-4050); f. 2 recto, VII3021-3058 (B2, 4211-4248); f. 2 verso, VII3060-3098 (B2, 4250-4288); f. 3 recto, VII3184-3222 (B2, 4374-4412); f. 3 verso, VII3223-3262 (B2, 4413-4452).
The folia were formerly tipped in at the back of a copy of Dr John Davies’s Antiquae Linguae Britannicae Dictionarium Duplex (1632). Linne R. Mooney has suggested that the Merthyr Fragment may be in the hand of Adam Pinkhurst; see Alexandra Gillespie and Daniel Wakelin (eds.), The Production of Books in England 1350-1500 (Cambridge, 2011), p. 199n.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Item: 2.1. Action: Digitized. Action identifier: Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI). Date: 20140805. Site of action: NLW. Authorization: NLW. Authorizing institution: Bill Endres of the University of Kentucky. Extent: ff. 1-3. Type of unit: Pages.
Accruals
System of arrangement
According to Manly and Rickert, originally pasted in 3, 2, 1 order at the back of the printed volume. Arranged at NLW according to perceived textual order, with medieval leaves preceding later-dating modern paper fragments.
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
- Middle English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Middle English.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Condition: The leaves had decayed before they were pasted into the dictionary; many letters are rubbed away and small holes eaten in the parchment. Edges are decayed. The upper part of each leaf has been badly damaged (and f. 2 cut), so that from 10 to 15 lines are lost wholly or partly.
Finding aids
Contents and marginalia transcribed in The Hengwrt Chaucer Digital Facsimile, ed. by Estelle Stubbs (Leicester: Scholarly Digital Editions, 2000).
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Digital version available http://hdl.handle.net/10107/4630951 (July 2016)
Digital images of the fragments are available on CD-Rom in the Library's Reading Room.
NLW MS 11903D consists of photostat facsimiles and photographs of the manuscript.
Related units of description
Publication note
W. McCormick and J. E. Heseltine, The Manuscripts of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (Oxford, 1933), p. 548.
Publication note
The Text of the Canterbury Tales, studied on the basis of all known manuscripts, ed. by J. M. Manly and E. Rickert (Chicago, 1940), I, 361-364.
Publication note
D. Huws, 'The Merthyr Fragment', The National Library of Wales Journal, 25 (1987-1988), 114-121.
Publication note
M. C. Seymour, A Catalogue of Chaucer Manuscripts (Aldershot, 1997), II, 247.
Publication note
D. Mosser, 'Manuscript description', The Hengwrt Chaucer Digital Facsimile, ed. Estelle Stubbs (Leicester, 2000).
Notes area
Note
Varying form of title: Dernyn Merthyr.
Note
Varying form of title: Canterbury Tales.
Note
Title supplied by NLW cataloguers based on contents and modern usage.
Note
Formerly part of NLW Minor Deposit 352.
Note
Script: one hand, anglicana formata.
Note
Ink: brown for text and glosses, red for paragraphs.
Note
Decoration: Paragraph marks in red. Daniel Huws noted the possibility of a missing four-line initial at the beginning of the Nun's Priest's Tales (beginning B2, 4012) on f. 1 verso, either because of non-insertion, or damage. The capital initial letter of each line is spaced 3-4 mm. to the left of the rest of the line.
Note
Marginalia: Rubricated gloss 'Salomonem' on f. 3 recto at VII3205 (B2, 4395). Later glosses on ff. 2-3 are described and edited by Ceridwen Lloyd-Morgan in The Hengwrt Chaucer Digital Facsimile, ed. Estelle Stubbs (Leicester, 2001).
Note
Incipit: [...]no[...] / [...]ne compleyne
Note
Secundo folio: [...]om dwel[...]ng[...]
Note
Ruled in drypoint. Double vertical lines ruled for the margin. Single column of forty lines per page.
Note
Siglum Me.
Note
Collation: These leaves were apparently ff. 2, 5, 7 of a quire (Manly and Rickert).
Note
Locale: On the basis of language, the East Midlands is suggested by Manly and Rickert, Seymour and Mosser as a possible place of production.
Note
Preferred citation: NLW MS 21972D [RESTRICTED ACCESS].
Alternative identifier(s)
Virtua system control number
GEAC system control number
Access points
Subject access points
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Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Description follows NLW guidelines based on ISAD(G) 2nd ed.; AACR2; and LCSH
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
April 2014.
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
Sources
Archivist's note
Description compiled by Maredudd ap Huw, based on the work of previous describers, including Daniel Huws and Daniel W. Mosser;
Digital object metadata
Latitude
Longitude
Media type
Image
Mime-type
image/jpeg