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.
The Merthyr Fragment,
This material is held atNational Library of Wales / Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru
- Reference
- GB 210 NLW MS 21972D [RESTRICTED ACCESS].
- Alternative Id.(alternative) vtls004263174(alternative) (WlAbNL)0000263174
- Dates of Creation
- [15 cent., first ¼] /
- Name of Creator
- Language of Material
- Middle English.
- Physical Description
- 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. 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.
- Location
- ARCH/MSS (GB0210)
Scope and Content
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.
Access Information
Access to the original manuscript by authorised permission only. Readers are directed to use surrogate copies.
Acquisition Information
Bonham's; London; Purchased at auction, lot 13; 16 November 1983
Note
Varying form of title: Dernyn Merthyr.
Varying form of title: Canterbury Tales.
Title supplied by NLW cataloguers based on contents and modern usage.
Formerly part of NLW Minor Deposit 352.
Script: one hand, anglicana formata.
Ink: brown for text and glosses, red for paragraphs.
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.
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).
Incipit: [...]no[...] / [...]ne compleyne
Secundo folio: [...]om dwel[...]ng[...]
Ruled in drypoint. Double vertical lines ruled for the margin. Single column of forty lines per page.
Siglum Me.
Collation: These leaves were apparently ff. 2, 5, 7 of a quire (Manly and Rickert).
Locale: On the basis of language, the East Midlands is suggested by Manly and Rickert, Seymour and Mosser as a possible place of production.
Preferred citation: NLW MS 21972D [RESTRICTED ACCESS].
Other Finding Aids
Contents and marginalia transcribed in Estelle Stubbs (ed.), The Hengwrt Chaucer Digital Facsimile (Leicester: Scholarly Digital Editions, 2000).
Alternative Form Available
Online version available on the Library’s website $$u https://www.llgc.org.uk/cy/darganfod/oriel-ddigidol/digitalmirror-manuscripts/yr-oesoedd-canol/thehengwrtchaucerpeniarth/ (viewed July 2016)
Digital images of the fragments are available on CD-Rom in the Library's Reading Room.
Archivist's Note
April 2014.
Description compiled by Maredudd ap Huw, based on the work of previous describers, including Daniel Huws and Daniel W. Mosser;
Conditions Governing Use
Usual copyright laws apply.
Appraisal Information
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.
Custodial 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.
Bibliography
W. McCormick and J.E. Heseltine, The Manuscripts of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (Oxford, 1933), 548; J. M. Manly and E. Rickert (eds.), The Text of the Canterbury Tales, studied on the basis of all known manuscripts (Chicago, 1940), I, 361-364; D. Huws, 'The Merthyr Fragment', The National Library of Wales Journal, 25 (1987-1988), 114-121; M.C. Seymour, A Catalogue of Chaucer Manuscripts (Aldershot, 1997), II, 247; D. Mosser, 'Manuscript description', The Hengwrt Chaucer Digital Facsimile, ed. Estelle Stubbs (Leicester, 2000).
Additional Information
Published