ABSTRACT
Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Laud. Misc. 406 (L)
On palaeographical evidence, this is dated to the end of the twelfth century, possibly from northern France. It is written in one hand throughout, and contains, apart from the three poems, several theological works (e.g. Eugenius of Toledo, Pseudo-Damasius, various prologues to the Psalter). The manuscript today measures 226×161 mm (written text 155×105 mm) and is written throughout in a single column of 22 lines (apart from fol. 45v) with plummet ruling; paragraph marks identify major and minor division, while alternating red and green initials mark each verse. The gathering of the poems is of eight folios (four bifolia) quires, without catchwords but having consecutive numbers on the verso of the last folio of each quire. The fourth quire is of five folios (missing leaves in the third, fourth and fifth positions in between fol. 26v and 27r), which accounts for a lacuna in the text between lines 323 and 454. Minims are separated, u and n differentiated and double consonants, in most parts, avoided. It prefers h before o at the beginning of words and ph to f. Its orthography of biblical names is at times inconsistent (Nicanor spelled also as Nichanor (ll. 726, 729), Apollonius/Appollonius (ll. 44, 884 and 893) and Ioppe/Iope (ll. 892, 894)).
