Formulary of English Chancery Writs
- Alana Bennett (Unlicensed)
- Toby Burrows
| Manuscript location | ||
|---|---|---|
| Place | ||
| Repository | University of Western Australia Library | |
| Collection | Special Collections | |
| Shelf mark | Rare 347.8 | |
| Former shelf mark | ||
| Manuscript name | ||
| Name | Formulary of English Chancery Writs | |
| Contents | ||
| Summary | The text, often known as the Register of Original Writs, consists of the formularies used by the Chancery. Each type of writing is explained with real and fictitious examples and is followed by Regulae for the writing of them. | |
| Physical description | ||
| Support | Vellum | |
| Dimensions | 170 x 118 mm. | |
| Extent | 210 leaves plus 6 contemporary flyleaves (ff. 85 and 210 blank) | |
| Collation | i-iii12 iv-viii10 ix12 x-xii8 xiii6 xiv-xv8 xvi10 xvii-xxiii8 | |
| Catchwords | Some catchwords present | |
| Signatures | ||
| Foliation | Contemporary foliation omits leaves after 84, 171 and 200 | |
| Condition | Some leaves stained and worn, some small holes, many signs of use but generally in sound condition | |
| Layout | 33-38 lines | |
| Scribes | Written in brown ink by several scribes | |
| Scripts | English charter hands | |
| Decoration | Paragraph marks and some initials in red (others left blank) | |
| Musical notation | ||
| Binding | Contemporary binding of thick wooden boards, covered with vellum, attached with leather thongs; strip torn from spine but binding sound; lacks clasps | |
| Seals | ||
| Accompanying material | ||
| History | ||
| Origin | England (London?), mid-fourteenth century | |
| Provenance | (1) Sample writs are dated up to 21 Edward [III], 1348, (f. 209) and Henry III is correctly described as proavus meus (f. 117b), though the description of the queen as Isabella (f. 2) shows that some items were adopted unchanged from earlier reigns. (2) Fifteenth-century inscriptions of Richard Hawkys of Stretton, Hertfordshire (ff. 1b, 162b), with note of purchase from Thomas Conham, Thavies Inn, London. Thavies Inn, of great antiquity, was one of the Inns of Chancery before being acquired by Lincoln’s Inn in 1549. (3) Passed from Richard Hawkys to John Hawkys, also of Stretton (inscription at end). (4) Other late medieval names include Hyncley, John Wylke, John Adame Parker, Cokayne (on Flyleaves) and the ownership inscription “Pilbaraough me possidet”. (5) John Fardoe (f. 206b); a note in a different but perhaps contemporary hand is dated 1609 (f. 92). (6) Locke, 30 August 1772 (end flyleaf and f. 112b). (7) Late eighteenth-century presentation by Sidney Lowe, widower, to Elizabeth Sedley, spinster (described in another inscription as Madame Lowe). | |
| Acquisition | Purchased from Alan G. Thomas, Catalogue 76 (1977), lot 3 ( £800) - presented by the Friends of the UWA Library | |
| Bibliography | ||
| Bibliography list | ||
| Analysis | ||
| Commentary | ||
| Description by | UWA Library, based on: Alan G. Thomas, Catalogue 76 (1977) | |
| Acknowledgements | ||
| Other descriptions | ||
| Digital copies |