The Structure of the Exeter Book Codex (Exeter, Cathedral Library, MS. 3501)

Exeter Cathedral Library MS. 3501 contains the largest and most varied collection of Old English poetry extant. The manuscript, commonly known as the Exeter Book, was most probably written in the third quarter of the tenth century, and it has remained at Exeter since at least the end of the eleventh century. ¹ The Exeter Book we now have, however, and which we usually think of as an extensive but organized collection of miscellaneous verse forms from the Anglo-Saxon period, is most probably not the volume envisioned by the scribe who wrote it. This study presents and interprets codicological and palaeographical evidence which indicates that the Exeter Book codex is a compilation of three manuscript booklets. The contents of these booklets are shown in the following table. Table 1 Contents of the Three Proposed Booklets

First Booklet: [8r -52v]
Christ I	Guthlac A
Christ II	Guthlac B
Christ III
Second Booklet: [53r -97v]
Azarias	Widsith
Phoenix	Fortunes of Men
Juliana	Maxims I
Wanderer	Order of the World
Gifts of Men	Riming Poem
Precepts	Panther
Seafarer	Whale
Vainglory	Partridge [lines l-2a]
Third Booklet: [98r-130v]
Homiletic Fragment III	Descent into Hell
[lines 3-16 of 'The Partridge']	Almsgiving
Soul and Body II	Pharaoh
Deor	Lord's Prayer I
Wulf and Eadwacer	Homiletic Fragment II
Riddles 1-59	Riddle 30b
Wife's Lament	Riddle 60
Judgment Day 1	Husband's Message
Resignation A	The Ruin
Resignation B	Riddles 61-95.