ABSTRACT
It has frequently been pointed out that although there are only three extant manuscripts of the Collection in Five Books, all differing from one another, a number of others were probably in circulation in the eleventh and twelfth centuries and that it is likely that many of the derivative collections depended on these now ‘lost’ manuscripts or derivatives based on these manuscripts. The Collectio Angelica can shed some light on this. Of all the major canonical collections compiled in the eleventh century, the south Italian Collection in Five Books is sorely in need of a complete critical edition and study. The Collectio Angelica with its unusual readings of the Henrician canons suggests that a thorough comparison of all of the canons be made with those in the Collection in Five Books to discover if it is possible that a different or longer version of the Collection in Five Books at one time existed.
