Auchinleck manuscript
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The Auchinleck Manuscript is currently contained in the National Library of Scotland. The exact date of its creation is ambiguous, though it most likely was written in the 1330s in London. The name is derived from Lord Auchinleck (the father of James Boswell), its discoverer and owner who donated the manuscript to the National Library of Scotland in 1744. Six scribes contributed in the making of this MS, though about 70% of the Auchinleck was written by Scribe 1. The MS provides a glimpse of a time period where much political tension was occurring in England, where the manuscript is thought to have been composed. L. Hibbard Loomis brought the significance of the manuscript to light in the 1950s when she posited that the manuscript is the result of a bookshop [(1942; rept. 1962) 'The Auchinleck Manuscript and a Possible London Bookshop of 1330-1340', PMLA, 57: 595-627. Reprinted in Adventures in the Middle Ages (New York: Burt Franklin): 150-187.]. Also thought to be the first extant anthology of Middle English since most anthologies before the Auchinleck MS were written in Latin and French. The Auchinleck MS thus exhibits a departure from that tradition and exemplifies the nationalization of England through reading and writing.
The Auchinleck MS is a codex of medieval narratives ranging from Saint's vitae to conversion tales. The order of the contents (and respective folio numbers) is as follows:
- The Legend of Pope Gregory (ff.1r-6v)
- f.6Ar / f.6Av (thin stub)
- The King of Tars (ff.7ra-13vb)
- The Life of Adam and Eve (E ff.1ra-2vb; ff.14ra-16rb)
- Seynt Mergrete (ff.16rb-21ra)
- Seynt Katerine (ff.21ra-24vb)
- St Patrick's Purgatory (ff.25ra-31vb)
- þe Desputisoun Bitven þe Bodi and þe Soule (ff.31vb-35ra stub)
- The Harrowing of Hell (ff.?35rb-?37rb or 37va stub)
- The Clerk who would see the Virgin (ff.?37rb or 37va stub-38vb)
- Speculum Gy de Warewyke (ff.39ra-?48rb stub)
- Amis and Amiloun (ff.?48rb stub-?61va stub)
- The Life of St Mary Magdalene (ff.?61Ava stub-65vb)
- The Nativity and Early Life of Mary (ff.65vb-69va)
- On the Seven Deadly Sins (ff.70ra-72ra)
- The Paternoster (ff.72ra-?72rb or ?72va stub)
- The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin (?72rb or ?72va stub-78ra)
- Sir Degare (ff.78rb-?84rb stub)
- The Seven Sages of Rome (ff.?84rb stub-99vb)
- Gathering missing (c1400 lines of text)
- Floris and Blancheflour (ff.100ra-104vb)
- The Sayings of the Four Philosophers (ff.105ra-105rb)
- The Battle Abbey Roll (ff.105v-107r)
- f.107Ar / f.107Av (thin stub)
- Guy of Warwick (couplets) (ff.108ra-146vb)
- Guy of Warwick (stanzas) (ff.145vb-167rb)
- Reinbroun (ff.167rb-175vb)
- leaf missing.
- Sir Beues of Hamtoun (ff.176ra-201ra)
- Of Arthour & of Merlin (ff.201rb-256vb)
- þe Wenche þat Loved þe King (ff.256vb-256A thin stub)
- A Peniworþ of Witt (ff.256A stub-259rb)
- How Our Lady's Sauter was First Found (ff.259rb-260vb)
- Lay le Freine (ff.261ra-262A thin stub)
- Roland and Vernagu (ff.?262va stub-267vb)
- Otuel a Knight (ff.268ra-277vb)
- Many leaves lost, but some recovered as fragments.
- Kyng Alisaunder (L f.1ra-vb; S A.15 f.1ra-2vb; L f.2ra-vb; ff.278-9)
- The Thrush and the Nightingale (ff.279va-vb)
- The Sayings of St Bernard (f.280ra)
- Dauid þe King (ff.280rb-280vb)
- Sir Tristrem (ff.281ra-299A thin stub)
- Sir Orfeo (ff.299A stub-303ra)
- The Four Foes of Mankind (f.303rb-303vb)
- The Anonymous Short English Metrical Chronicle (ff.304ra-317rb)
- Horn Childe & Maiden Rimnild (ff.317va-323vb)
- leaf missing.
- Alphabetical Praise of Women (ff.324ra-325vb)
- King Richard (f.326; E f.3ra-vb; S R.4 f.1ra-2vb; E f.4ra-vb; f.327)
- Many leaves lost.
- þe Simonie (ff.328r-334v)
