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xcvi Chapter IX.—Sources of the Speculum. Alcuin’s Liber.
MS. Bibl. Reg. 6 A. XI., Library of the British Museum. On
parchment; of the twelfth1 century. This text begins on fol. 109 b,
line 28, and ends fol. 120 b, line 15. It concludes abruptly with
Capitulum xxxv., De quatuor uirtutibus, and is followed by a
distinct treatise, De elemosina, beginning fol. 120 b, line 16. Line
28, fol. 109 b reads: “ IncipzY epfsfola alqm'ni quaw edidit ad
Widonem Comite??i.” The MS. is occasionally glossed. The leaf is
ornamented2 on the margin to the left.
Further in comparisons important to this issue, the O.E. texts
of the Liber will be employed as follows :
1. V. MS. Cotton, Vespasian D XIV. 14, of the Museum Library.
On parchment: of the twelfth century, Nehab : Der altenglische
Cato, Berlin, 1879, p. 41. A description of MS. Vesp. D is to be
found in the Catalogue of Wanley, Hickes Thesaurus, Part II.,
p. 243, quoted in the third volume of the Grein-Wiilker, Bibliothek
der Angelsdchsischen Prosa; Angelsachs. Homilien und Heiligen-
leben3 (edited by Dr. Assmann), p. 246 : Codex membranaceus in
Octavo partim Latine, partim Saxonice diversis temporibus scriptus.
IMS. Vesp. D is described by Hickes as Capita quondam Theologica
excerpta ex libro Alcuini, and has been printed by Dr. Assmann in
Anglia, vol. xi. p. 371, as Uebersetzung von Alcuiris De Virtutibus et
Vitiis Liber ad Widonem Comitem. The text occurs third in a
volume described as : Miscellan. Saxonica. It occupies fol. 104 a—
118 5. The introduction, the lists of vices and virtues, the discussion
of the vices, and the peroration, are wanting. Sixteen chapters of
the original Liber are reproduced with marked fidelity.
2. I. MS. li. 33, University Library, Cambridge. A small quarto
on vellum; probably of the 12th century. MS. li has as a whole
neither been printed nor received literary notice in print to the
date of the present article. As “ Theological Extracts from Alcuin’s
Address to Count Guido of Warwick,” it is noted somewhat vaguely
in the Catalogue of the MSS. of the University Library. Intro-
duction, lists of chapters, discussion of vices, and conclusion are
deficient. It contains frequent glosses in Latin. In the history of
the transition of the language, MS. li may stand a few years nearer
the period of the Conquest than does MS. Vesp. D. This fact is at
1 The Catalogue ascribes the MS. to the eleventh century.
2 The decoration consists of grotesque faces in outline, following the text on
the left margin.
3 For information regarding MS. Vesp. D, the editor is indebted to a com-
■munication from Dr. Assmann, dated Jan. 12, 1895.
MS. Bibl. Reg. 6 A. XI., Library of the British Museum. On
parchment; of the twelfth1 century. This text begins on fol. 109 b,
line 28, and ends fol. 120 b, line 15. It concludes abruptly with
Capitulum xxxv., De quatuor uirtutibus, and is followed by a
distinct treatise, De elemosina, beginning fol. 120 b, line 16. Line
28, fol. 109 b reads: “ IncipzY epfsfola alqm'ni quaw edidit ad
Widonem Comite??i.” The MS. is occasionally glossed. The leaf is
ornamented2 on the margin to the left.
Further in comparisons important to this issue, the O.E. texts
of the Liber will be employed as follows :
1. V. MS. Cotton, Vespasian D XIV. 14, of the Museum Library.
On parchment: of the twelfth century, Nehab : Der altenglische
Cato, Berlin, 1879, p. 41. A description of MS. Vesp. D is to be
found in the Catalogue of Wanley, Hickes Thesaurus, Part II.,
p. 243, quoted in the third volume of the Grein-Wiilker, Bibliothek
der Angelsdchsischen Prosa; Angelsachs. Homilien und Heiligen-
leben3 (edited by Dr. Assmann), p. 246 : Codex membranaceus in
Octavo partim Latine, partim Saxonice diversis temporibus scriptus.
IMS. Vesp. D is described by Hickes as Capita quondam Theologica
excerpta ex libro Alcuini, and has been printed by Dr. Assmann in
Anglia, vol. xi. p. 371, as Uebersetzung von Alcuiris De Virtutibus et
Vitiis Liber ad Widonem Comitem. The text occurs third in a
volume described as : Miscellan. Saxonica. It occupies fol. 104 a—
118 5. The introduction, the lists of vices and virtues, the discussion
of the vices, and the peroration, are wanting. Sixteen chapters of
the original Liber are reproduced with marked fidelity.
2. I. MS. li. 33, University Library, Cambridge. A small quarto
on vellum; probably of the 12th century. MS. li has as a whole
neither been printed nor received literary notice in print to the
date of the present article. As “ Theological Extracts from Alcuin’s
Address to Count Guido of Warwick,” it is noted somewhat vaguely
in the Catalogue of the MSS. of the University Library. Intro-
duction, lists of chapters, discussion of vices, and conclusion are
deficient. It contains frequent glosses in Latin. In the history of
the transition of the language, MS. li may stand a few years nearer
the period of the Conquest than does MS. Vesp. D. This fact is at
1 The Catalogue ascribes the MS. to the eleventh century.
2 The decoration consists of grotesque faces in outline, following the text on
the left margin.
3 For information regarding MS. Vesp. D, the editor is indebted to a com-
■munication from Dr. Assmann, dated Jan. 12, 1895.