Lost Manuscript

Babel MS 27

The two known fragments provide two near-complete sheets from an alphabetical list of books, predominantly theological. The only dates of publication recorded are 1594 and 1595; we might hypothesise that they were included to draw attention to the latest available works, suggesting that this may have been written in 1595 or 1596. The number of Catholic works demonstrate that this list was made on the Continent and was presumably sent to an English book-seller.

The fragments provide sections covering the letters G to K and M to R; we can surmise, then, that there would have been at least three and perhaps four other sheets. Each was simply folded down the middle to provide two tall thin folios. 

Textual information

Subject: 
Documentary
Title of work: 
List of published books
Language: 
Latin

Palaeography

Type of script: 
Italic
Place of production: 
Germany?
Date of production: 
s. xvi ex

Material information

Material: 
Paper
Layout: 
Single column per page
Ruling: 
none

Dimensions

Page: 

mm (h) x mm (w)

Number of lines: 
36?
Number of columns: 
1
Height of minims: 
1mm
Space between lines: 
6mm
Height of written space: 
260+mm
Width of written space: 
90+mm

History and further information

Provenance: 

We may assume that this list was sent to the book-seller who, having discarded it, had it used in the binding. A parallel, in a very similar binding, is provided by Harsnett H.a.26.

Number of folios represented: 
4
Date last updated: 
Sunday, December 6, 2015 - 12:51