DIMEV 6650
IMEV 4154
NIMEV 4154
Whoso will over read this book
The ‘Long Charter of Christ’ (B text) — 414 lines in
couplets
Note: For the A Text see
2859; for the C
Text see
1913.
Title(s): Long Charter of Christ
Subjects: charters, of Christ; devotional treatises; instruction, religious
Versification: —
two-line —
aa
Manuscript Witnesses:
1.Source: Cambridge UK, Cambridge University Library Ee.2.15, ff. 107-111
First Lines:…Nowe derworthy Sowle herkyn to me
And a newe Ioye I shall
telle the…
Last Lines:…To that blysse I may the brynge
That of nought made alle
thyng
Note: Missing lines 1-68.
Attributed Title: þe Chartur (RT)
Editions: Spalding, Mary Caroline.
The Middle English Charters of Christ.
Bryn Mawr, PA: Bryn Mawr College, 1914: 46-81.
2.Source: Cambridge UK, Cambridge University Library Ff.2.38, ff. 47
vb-50
va
First Lines:Who so will on rede this boke
And wyth hys goostly eye þeron
loke
To odur scole dar he not wende
To saue hys soule fro the
fende…
Last Lines:…To blysse y may the brynge
That of noght made all
thynge
Attributed Title: here foloweþ þe chartire of criste (f. 47vb)
Facsimiles: McSparran, Frances, and Pamela R. Robinson.
“Introduction.”
Cambridge University Library MS Ff.2.38.
London: Scolar Press, 1979.
Editions: Spalding, Mary Caroline.
The Middle English Charters of Christ.
Bryn Mawr, PA: Bryn Mawr College, 1914: 46-81.
3.Source: Cambridge UK, Cambridge University Library Ii.3.26, ff. 238
ra-240
First Lines:Hho so euyr will rede this boke
And with gostly ey
thereyn loke…
Last Lines:…to that blysse he may vs brynge
That made of noȝt all
maner thynge
Attributed Title: Bona carta gloriose passionis do / minum nostri Ihesu christi (f.
238ra); Explicit Carta Ihesu Cristi (f. 240)
Editions: Spalding, Mary Caroline.
The Middle English Charters of Christ.
Bryn Mawr, PA: Bryn Mawr College, 1914: 46-81.
4.Source: Cambridge UK, Cambridge University Library Ii.4.9, ff. 42
v-47
First Lines:Ho so euyr wyll rede ouyr this boke
And wyth his gostely yere In
loke…
Last Lines:…Be twen to iewes was I putt
Ihesu hygh g kynge of
ryght
Note: An incomplete text.
Attributed Title: Explicit feoffemente Ihesu (f. 47)
Editions: Spalding, Mary Caroline.
The Middle English Charters of Christ.
Bryn Mawr, PA: Bryn Mawr College, 1914: 46-81.
5.Source: London, British Library Cotton Caligula A.II, ff. 77
ra-79
rb
First Lines:Who so wyll ouer Rede thys boke
And with hys gostly ye þer on
loke…
Last Lines:…Ihesu yn þat holy place
Graunte vs to se þy holy
face
Note: ‘Amen / Explicit’ by scribe at end, f.
79rb.
Attributed Title: Carta ihesu cristi (by scribe in upper margin, f. 77 and as RT on
verso leaves thereafter); Charta Jesu Christi (f. 1, sixteenth-century
list of contents)
Editions: Spalding, Mary Caroline.
The Middle English Charters of Christ.
Bryn Mawr, PA: Bryn Mawr College, 1914: 46-81.
6.Source: London, British Library Harley 2382, ff. 111
v-118
First Lines:Wwoso wil ouer rede this boke
And with gostly eyen ther on
loke…
Last Lines:…To that blisse y may the bryng
that of myght made al
thyng
Attributed Title: Testamentum Cristi (ff. 112-118, as RT, by scribe); Explicit
Testamentum Cristi (f. 118, after end of text, by scribe)
Editions: Furnivall, Frederick James,
ed.
The Minor Poems of the Vernon Manuscript, Part 2.
EETS
o.s. 117 (1901; repr. 1973): 637-57.
7.Source: Cambridge MA, Harvard University, Houghton Library, Richardson 22, ff. 82
v-89
v
First Lines:Who so wole ouer rede þis booke
And wiþ his gostly
yȝe þereon loke
To oþer scole þar he nat wende
To
saue his sowle fro þe feende…
Last Lines:…To þat blysse I may þe brynge
That of nowht made all
þynge
Note: 422 lines; does not end imperfectly.
8.Source: Corning, NY, Corning Museum of Glass 6 [olim Currer], ff. 123
v-130
v
First Lines:Who so wyll euer rede þis boke
& with hys gostly eyen
þer on loke
To oþer scole þer he not wende
To save hys
soule from þe fende…
Last Lines:…To þat blys I maye þe bryng
Þat of nouȝt
made all þyng
Note: 414 lines.
10.Source: Canterbury, Canterbury Cathedral Library Addit. 46, ff. 4
v-4
First Lines:who wyll euer rede…
…oulke to odyr scole there…he
wyn…
Last Lines:…for loue of the nyne monces with he y was to take
mendys for
thy trespas or y yn to thys
wordel was borne
Amen
Note: The resized fragment bears a number ‘4’ what is the verso of
the leaf. Copied as prose.
Editions: Boffey, Julia, and A. S. G. Edwards.
“Unrecorded Middle English Verse Texts in a Canterbury Cathedral Library
Manuscript.”
Medium Ævum
72 (2003): 49-62: 55.