Copy number: J-328(1)

Binding: Eighteenth-century English gold-tooled red morocco, with marbled pastedowns, bound for Lord Harley by Christopher Chapman. On both covers triple fillets form an outer frame, within which is a floral roll (cf. Nixon, ‘Harleian Bindings', pl. 13). Triple fillets form an inner frame within which is an ornamental roll (Nixon, ‘Harleian Bindings', pl. 14, Chapman roll no. 1). On both covers the ornamental centre-piece consists of Nixon, ‘Harleian Bindings', pl. 15, nos 1a, 1b, 5, 14a, 14b, and 16, with a small star stamp and a small circular ornamental stamp; many of these stamps are also illustrated in Oldham, Shrewsbury School Bindings, pl. xxxiii, I.v.12. The spine is decorated with Nixon, ‘Harleian Bindings', pl. 15, nos 3 and 8. The turn-ins are decorated with Nixon, ‘Harleian Bindings', pl. 14, Chapman roll no. 2.

Size: 292 × 209 × 31 mm.

Size of leaf: 279 × 192 mm.

Early marginal (and, in the Persius, interlinear) annotations, including comments on and corrections to the text, ‘nota' marks, and pointing hands. On [h6v] in a fifteenth-century hand a vita of Persius, incipit: ‘Aulus Persius Flaccus Tuscus fuit genereque clarissimus natus . . .’

On [a2r] a German seven-line initial ‘S' is supplied in green scrolling acanthus leaf on a grey ground with gold foliate decoration, and within a frame of pink, red, and gold, with foliate extensions into the margins in blue, green, pink, red, yellow, and grey; suspended from one piece of foliage is a scroll in yellow and grey, edged in red, containing a device in black resembling a chess pawn. Other one- to three-line initials, some with extensions into the margins, and paragraph marks (in the Persius only) are supplied in red. Early manuscript title on the lower edge in black ink.

Provenance: Johannes Storch (fl. c.1500); inscription on [a1r]: ‘Sum Joannis Storch'. Bamberg, Bavaria, Dominicans(?); partly erased inscription on [a2r]: ‘Ex bibliotheca f[ratrum] p[re]d[icatorum] apud c[iuitatem] B[ambergensem] 1646'. Edward, Lord Harley, later 2nd Earl of Oxford (1689-1741); evidence of binding (in ‘Harleian style'); upper corner of the front endleaf cut off; bought by Thomas Osborne; see Catalogus Bibliothecae Harleianae, I, no. 4005. Ralph Palmer (eighteenth-century); largely erased inscription on the recto of the front endleaf: ‘Bibliotheca Palmeriana'. Ralph Verney, 2nd Earl Verney (1712?-1791); damaged armorial book-plate (Howe, Book Plates, 30323). Purchased for £7. 7. 0; see Books Purchased (1786), 1.

SHELFMARK: Auct. L 2.28.

Copy number: J-328(2)

Binding: Nineteenth-century calf; the gold stamp of the Bodleian Library on both covers.

Size: 293 × 213 × 25 mm.

Size of leaf: 282 × 193 mm.

Early marginal and interlinear annotations, including corrections to the text (some over erasures), ‘nota' marks, and pointing hands, also occasional pen-trials. On the last endleaf an unread note in a fifteenth-century hand, and another note, on the Greek general Miltiades, ‘Miltiades Cimonis filius Atheniensis cum antiquitate . . .’

On [a2r] a woodcut border of white vine-scrolling, and, in the lower margin, an empty shield with a putto and a rabbit on each side, painted in maroon, blue, green, and gold; a seven-line initial ‘S' is supplied in gold on a blue ground, with reserved white decoration defined in maroon and green within the body of the letter; other one- to three-line initials supplied in red or blue.

Provenance: Purchased for £10. 0. 0; see Books Purchased (1828), 16, and note on [a2r]: ‘purchased 1828'.

SHELFMARK: Auct. O 5.34.