Digital Index of Middle English Verse: No. 874

DIMEV 874

IMEV 539

NIMEV 539

Blessing give them Jesu Christ That listeneth John Evangelist

‘In principio in englissh’ (Gospel In die natalis ad altam missam) with a Prologue of ten lines

Note: For other versions see 463 and 2479.

Title(s): In principio in englissh

Subjects: scripture texts, Engl. trans. of; translations

Manuscript Witnesses:

1.Source: Oxford, Bodleian Library Eng. poet. a.1 (SC 3938) [Vernon MS], f. 171vb-171vc

First Lines:

Blessyng ȝif hem Ihesu crist
þat lustneþ Ion þe Ewangelist…

Last Lines:

…Þat we mow come to his halle
Amen Amen so sei we alle

Attributed Title: In die natalis domine ad altam missam / In principio erat verbum et verbum erat (f. 171vb)

Facsimiles:

Doyle, I. A., ed. The Vernon Manuscript. A Facsimile of Bodleian Library, Oxford, MS Eng. poet.a.1, with an introduction by A. I. Doyle. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1987.

Scase, Wendy, and Nick Kennedy, eds. A facsimile edition of the Vernon manuscript: Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS. Eng. Poet. A. 1. Oxford: The Bodleian Library, 2011.

2.Source: Oxford, Bodleian Library Laud misc. 463 (SC 1596), ff. 136v-137

First Lines:

Blessing ȝeue hem Ihesu Crist þat listeneþ Iohan þe euangelist
In latyn hou he seiþ vs to þe spelle of In principio…

Last Lines:

…And þus endeþ þe In principio Ihesu graunte vs reste & ro
þat we mote come to his halle Amen amen so seye we alle

Attributed Title: In principio erat verbum & c. (f. 136v)

3.Source: London, British Library Cotton Tiberius E.VII, Part I, ff. 119vb-120rb

First Lines:

In þe biginning was þe sun
euy[ ]with his fader alwai to won…

Last Lines:

…We se him plainly in an place
fulfild of gudenes and of grace

Note: Without the prologue of ten lines; text in square brackets illegible due to fire; after title, Latin text “In principis erat uerbum et cetera.”

Attributed Title: In die natalis domini euangelium secundum Iohannem (rubric, f. 119vb)

4.Source: London, British Library Harley 4196, ff. 16va-17ra

First Lines:

In þe begining was þe sun
Euyn with his fader alway to won…

Last Lines:

…We se him plainly in ilk place
ffulfild of gudenes and of grace

Note: Prologue lacking. Preceded by Latin, “IN principio erat uerbum & cetera.”

Attributed Title: Incipit hic secunda particula euangelii Ostensio diuinitis in christo In die natalis domini euangelium secundum Iohannem (rubric, f. 16va)

Editions:

Heuser, Wilhelm. “With an O and an I.” Anglia 27 (1904): 283-319: 297-300.

Nevanlinna, Sara. The Northern Homily Cycle: The Expanded Version in MSS Harley 4196 and Cotton Tiberius E.vii. 3 vols. Memoires de la Societé Neophilologique de Helsinki. Helsinki. 38 (1972); 41 (1973); and 43 (1984): I.227-230.