Late fifteenth-century manuscript of the Brut Chronicle, ending imperfectly in 1413. Several leaves are wanting. An incomplete note in another hand (f. 46v) says: 'This chronicle was mayde the xth yere of the reynge of kynge Henry the viiith by the right renouned and myghty...' (ends abruptly).
Contents: Brut Chronicle, beginning 'Here begynneth a boke in Englysshe tunge called Brute... the whiche conteyneth ccxxxviii chapiters withoute the prolog or protogoll. The prolog of this booke declareth... of hem many oon. Some tyme in the noble lond of Surry...'; and ending imperfectly at f. 136v, 'ihesu haue mercy amen. Of kinge Henry the vth borne at Monmouth in Wales son to king Henry the iiiith: ed. F.W.D. Brie, The Brut (see Bibliography below), p. 373. Chapters are not numbered after 110 on f. 57.
There is a gap in the text: f. 3v ends 'evell taches and governaunces' (Brie, p. 2 line 18) and f. 4r begins 'shuld comme to much honor and worship' (Brie, p. 6 line 3).
Script: Several secretary hands: changes at f. 45 line 18 and at f. 47 (beginning of the fourth quire). Written space: 175 x 135 mm. 28-38 long lines; the closer spacing begins at f. 68, where the number of lines rises from 31 to 34.
Secundo folio: n/a (first quire is lacking the second leaf).
Decoration: One 5-line initial in burnished gold on a blue and red ground with white penwork, with foliate border extensions terminating in ivy leaves and bezants (f. 3r). Numerous 3-line initials in red ink with brown penwork flourishes and infill.
Other features: ff. iii and iv are vellum flyleaves containing lists of early English kings and a list of archbishops of Canterbury from Augustine to Matthew Parker, 16th century.
Description derived from N.R. Ker, Medieval manuscripts in British libraries, vol. III, Lampeter-Oxford (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1983), p. 418. By permission of Oxford University Press.