Details

Standardized Title:

Contemplations of the dread and love of God.

Subjects:

God -- Worship and love -- Early works to 1800.
Fear of God -- Early works to 1800.
Lollards.
Sermons, English (Middle).
Fear of God.
God -- Worship and love.

Form/Genre:

Sermons.
Codices.
Manuscripts, English (Middle) -- 14th century.
Manuscripts, English (Middle) -- 15th century.
Manuscripts, Medieval.

Language:

Middle English.

Summary:

Manuscript copy of the text, Contemplations of the dread and love of God, sometimes erroneously attributed to Richard Rolle. This text covers f. 1-131 of the manuscript; it begins in the middle of the early section, What ys charite; how and whi thou schalt love God, and lacks the final leaf where this text ends and the next begins. Followed by additional prayers, poems, and homilies. These include prayers to Jesus, the Blessed Virgin, St. John the Baptist, St. Katherine and others. Also includes texts on virtues and on the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost.

Notes:

Ms. codex.
Title supplied by cataloger (J.E. Krochalis). Spine title illegible.
Collation: 1-16⁸, 17⁸ (lacks one leaf of center bifolium), 18⁸ (lacks outer bifolium), 19⁸ (leaf 5 of quire torn, stub visible; not included in modern foliation). It appears that as many as three quires are missing from the front of the manuscript. (This collation taken from a description by Jim Stokes, written in August 1979; a copy is on file in the library).
Foliation: Parchment, i (modern paper) + 148 + i (modern paper), [1-148]; modern foliation in pencil, upper right recto; unnumbered fragmentary leaf between f. 146-147.
Layout: Written in 15 long lines; frame-ruled in ink.
Script: Written in two different Anglicana book hands. Folios 1-145v are written in a single hand; a second, later scribe copied the remaining folios.
Decoration: Some catchwords ornamented with illustrated figures. Headings in red. Paragraph marks and initial capitals in blue, capitals on pen-work grounds of red.
Binding: Modern leather binding (CCAHA, 2015); endpapers added by "Wilmot, Master Binder at the Bodleian," December 1945 (pencil note inside former back cover, visible in digital facsimile); formerly in an 18th-century leather binding with broken spine and hinges (remnants shelved with manuscript).
Origin: Written in England, circa 1400.
Much descriptive information taken from a 1977 Library Chronicle article by J. E. Krochalis (a copy is on file in the library). According to Krochalis, the title "Contemplations of the dread and love of God" was given to the work by Wynkyn de Worde when he printed it in 1506.
According to J. E. Krochalis, one of the short poems (f. 135r-v; inc.: I þe honor w[i]t[h] al my mygt ... ) has been published in modern anthologies.
Imperfect. Possibly up to three quires lacking at the beginning; also one leaf each between f. 131-132; 135-136; 141-142; and 146-147 (the last survives partially as a torn fragment).
Book block in generally good condition. Stains; first and last leaves soiled. Ink on some folios has worn off to the point of illegibility, especially on earlier folios.
Description of the manuscript by Jim Stokes, dated 18 August 1979, is on file in the library. This is the source of the collation and some other details.
Also on file in the library is a photocopy of an example of the signature of the poet Thomas Moore, from Houghton Library, Harvard.

Penn Provenance:

Formerly owned by Thomas Moore and R. Rich (f. 141v, in 18th-century hands).
Formerly owned by Sir Robert Leicester Harmsworth.
Sold at auction at Sotheby's as part of the Harmsworth Trust Library, 15 October 1945, no. 2136, to George Goyder.
Formerly owned by George Armin Goyder (British businessman and collector), 1908-1997 (pencil note inside back cover).
Sold by Bernard Quaritch, catalog 641 (1946), no. 856 (catalog entry on file at the library).

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. 49 (Ms. English 2).

Publications about:

Krochalis, Jeanne Elizabeth. "Contemplations of the dread and love of God: two newly identified Pennsylvania manuscripts." The Library Chronicle 42 (1977), pp. 3-22. This is the source of much of the description of the manuscript and its contents. A copy is on file in the library.

Cited as:

Contemplations of the dread and love of God (Ms. Codex 197). Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania.

Contributor:

Rolle, Richard, 1290?-1349, attributed name.
Moore, Thomas, former owner.
Rich, Richard, active 1610, former owner.
Harmsworth, R. Leicester (Robert Leicester), Sir, 1870-1937, former owner.
Goyder, George, former owner.

Contains:

Treatise on the love of God and how one should attain to it.
I þe honor w[i]t[h] al my mygt.

OCLC:

155962809