Details

Subjects:

Confession -- Catholic Church -- Handbooks, manuals, etc. -- Early works to 1800.
Confession (Canon law).
Pastoral theology -- Catholic Church -- Early works to 1800.
Pastoral theology -- Catholic Church.
Sacraments -- Catholic Church -- Early works to 1800.
Sacraments -- Catholic Church.
English poetry -- Middle English, 1100-1500.
English poetry.
English poetry -- Middle English.
Confession -- Catholic Church.

Form/Genre:

Codices.
Poems.
Manuals (instructional materials)
Treatises.
Manuscripts, Latin.
Manuscripts, Medieval.
Handbooks and manuals.

Language:

Latin, with a poem in Middle English.

Summary:

The Oculus sacerdotis in three parts: prima pars (discussion of the sacraments, beginning with baptism, also known as the sinistra pars oculi, f. 1r-34r); liber secundus, (discussion of confession, known as the pars oculi, f. 34v-63r); and tertia pars (on the education of the laity concerning the sacraments, commandments, sins, virtues, etc., known as the dextera pars oculi, f. 63r-91r); with a poem, "Erthe oute of erth," in Middle English, and sententiae in Latin in a later hand on f. 91v. Sententiae: 1. Da tua dum tua sunt post mortem tunc tua non sunt (no. 4861 in Walter). -- 2. Post mortis morsum vertit dilectio dorsum / Ffinita vita finit amicus ita (no. 22027 in Walter) -- 3. Qui non wlt dum quit cum vellet forte nequibit (no. 24417 in Walter).

Notes:

Ms. codex.
Title supplied by cataloger (Zacour-Hirsch).
Hic incipit prima pars libri oculi sacerdotis. Ignorantia sacerdotum populum decipit ... (f. 1r).
Foliation: Parchment, iv (modern paper) + 91 + iv (modern paper); [1-91]; modern foliation in pencil, upper right recto.
Layout: Written in 2 columns of 51-54 lines; ruled in ink; prickings visible.
Script: Written in an Anglicana formata script.
Decoration: 17-line red and blue puzzle initial with red penwork ornamentation (f. 1r); 2-line, 3-line, and 6-line initials in blue with red penwork ornamentation throughout; rubricated headings and paragraph markers.
Binding: Blue morocco by Sangorski & Sutcliffe.
Origin: Written in England, probably between 1390-1425.
The name Hamond or Ramond Johannes appears at the end of the poem and sententiae in a contemporary hand in the right hand margin (f. 91v).

Penn Provenance:

Sold in the collection of E. S. Dewick at auction at Sotheby's, 17 Oct. 1918, lot 108.
Sold in the collection of Sir Robert Leicester Harmsworth at auction at Sotheby's, 15 Oct. 1945, lot 2053.
Sold by Raphael King, London, 1952.

Cited in:

Described in Zacour, Norman P. and Hirsch, Rudolf. Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Libraries of the University of Pennsylvania to 1800 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1965), p. 8 (Ms. Latin 33).
Boyle, L.E., "The Oculus Sacerdotis and some other works of William of Pagula," Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, fifth series 5 (1955), pp. 81-110. A copy is shelved with the manuscript.
Walter, Hans. Proverbia Sententiaeque Latinitatis Medii Aevi, 5 vols.
A codicological description (typescript) by Forman, n.d., is shelved with the manuscript. He dates the hand of the Oculus Sacerdotis to 1390 and discusses and transcribes the poem, Erthe oute of erthe, and the sententiae.

Cited as:

UPenn Ms. Codex 721

Contributor:

Dewick, E. S. (Edward Samuel), 1844-1917, former owner.
Harmsworth, R. Leicester (Robert Leicester), Sir, 1870-1937, former owner.

Contains:

Erthe oute of erthe.

OCLC:

155985492