John Bale

Verse

'Awake ye ghostly p[ar]sons awake awake'

Unpublished.

BaJ 1

Copy of a 21-line anti-Catholic poem ascribed to Jon Bale.

In: A large folio volume of prose tracts, verse, and devotional material, in a single secretary hand but for a series of engrossed indentures in a formal professional hand on ff. 3r-17v, written from both ends (ff. 1r-84v and ff. 1ar-51av respectively), 134 leaves in all. c.1603.

Inscribed names Gilbert Rye and William Norris and a reference (on f. 6av) to Doctor Gylbart.

The entries were at one time given separate library EL numbers ranging (intermittently) from EL 1183c to EL 6172 at one end and from EL 1183a to EL 6206 from the reverse end.

This MS separately classified as EL 2048.

Prose

Acta Romanorum pontificum

First published in 1558.

See also BaJ 23.

BaJ 1.2

Extracts from Bale's dedication to Bucer, Bullinger, Calvin, and Melanchthon of his Acta Romanorum pontificum (1558).

In: A quarto volume of state tracts, 131 leaves.
BaJ 1.3
A transcript of Bale's dedication to Sulcer, Bullinger, Calvin, and Melanchthon of his Acta Romanorum pontificum (1558). 18th century.
The Actes of Englysh Votaryes

First published in Wesel [i.e. London], 1546.

BaJ 1.5

Extracts.

In: A folio volume of miscellaneous papers, 333 leaves.

Among the Irish collections of Sir George Carew (c.1556-1612), administrator and diplomat. Afterwards among collections of William Laud (1573-1645), Archbishop of Canterbury.

BaJ 1.8

Extracts, headed collections out of the Acts of John Bale English votarie.

In: A quarto verse miscellany, almost entirely in a single cursive secretary hand, with a later title-page supplied in 1832, x + 116 leaves (plus blanks), in 19th-century black leather elaborately gilt.

Inscribed (f. 1r), possibly by the compiler, Richardus Jackson 1623 and Richard Jackson his booke, who is described in a later pencil note as perhaps the brachygrapher. On ff. 113v-16r, in a later hand, is a Catalogue of ye Books lately belonging to ye. Rev. Mr Jackson Rectr of Tatham.

c.1628-30s.

Also inscribed (f. 1r) John Pecke. Sold by Thomas Thorpe, bookseller, in 1831-2. Among collections of James Orchard Halliwell (from 1872 Halliwell-Phillipps) (1820-89), literary scholar and book collector. Bought by him in 1871 from Sotheran's, London.

A 247-page transcript of this volume made c.1830 is in the Folger Shakespeare Library, MS M.b.26.

Anglorum Heliades

Unpublished (complete).

*BaJ 2

Copy, in a humanistic italic hand, with rubrication, with occasional neat autograph insertions by Bale, the work beginning with a dedicatory epistle to John Leland, ff. 3r-4v dated 1536, subscribed (f. 112v) Finis Autore Ioanne Bale, and with an index (ff. 113r-17r).

In: A quarto formally prepared volume of three works by John Bale, 256 leaves, in modern green half morocco gilt.

Brief extracts from this MS printed in Monumenta historica Carmelitana, pp. 341-2, 365-6. Recorded and discussed in Davies, p. 237 (x); in Harris, p. 137; in McCusker (1942), pp. 99-101; and in Fairfield, pp. 161-2. Facsimile of ff. 11v-12v (Bale's account of himself) in Harris, pp. 131-4. A complete transcript made by Thomas Baker (1656-1740) is in the British Library (Harley MS 7031, ff. 144-98v).

The answer of John Bale pryst vnto serten artycles vniustlye gadred vpon hys prechyng

First published in McCusker (1942), pp. 6-11. Synopsis in Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII, XI (London 1888), 446-7. Recorded in Fairfield, p. 163.

*BaJ 3

Autograph MS, headed The aswer of John Bale pryst vnto sten artycles vniustlye gadred vpo hys prechygs, on nine pages of six quarto leaves, foliated in pencil 182r-7v. [January-February 1536/7].

The first page inscribed Rastell / ffelde / J Bale and the name Rastall also on the last page.

In: A folio guard-book of independent Tudor state papers, stamped foliation 1-252.

Edited from this MS in McCusker.

The battayle of Iohan Wycleffe and serten other cristen souldyours ageynst the synagogue of sathan or malygnaunt churche of the romishe pope

Unpublished.

*BaJ 4

Bale's copious autograph notes and additions neatly entered throughout the volume, relating to Wycliffe and used for Bale's own work on the subject, particularly extensive additions occurring on ff. 61v-3v (sketches of various people including Bale himself), 91v (1 column), 127v (2 cols), 157r (1 col.), 161v-2v (4 cols), 222r-3v (8 cols), and 223r-v (tabula in 3 cols).

In: A mid-15th-century MS volume of writings in Latin relating to John Wycliffe and the Lollards, viii + 224 leaves, in double columns on parchment throughout, in black embossed calf over wooden boards.

This MS recorded in Davies, p. 237 (xiii), and in McCusker (1942), p. 106.

Carlile, Christopher: Duo libri, Preface

See BaJ 25.

Catalogus episcoporum ex Carmelitarum ordine prodeuntium

Unpublished.

*BaJ 5

An autograph list by Bale of English and Irish Carmelite bishops, 29 lines.

In: A 14th-century small folio MS of Philippus Roboti, De gestis Carmelitarum, and its translation by Thomas Bradley (Scrope), Bishop of Dromore), in two accomplished hands, with rubrication, 153 leaves, in later calf (rebacked).

This MS recorded in McCusker, The Library (1935), 153 (No. 80). A transcript of this list made in March 1655/6 by Sir James Ware (1594-1666) is in the Bodleian (MS Rawl. B. 479, f. 74v), and a transcript made by Henry Wharton (1664-95) is at Lambeth Palace (MS 590, p. 148).

Catalogus priorum generalium ordinis Carmelitarum

Unpublished. This work corresponds to the Catalogum Generalium... recorded in Bale's Scriptorum illustrium (1557), I, 703.

*BaJ 6

Autograph, beginning Bertoldus lemouicarum aquitanie….

In: A quarto composite volume of various works in the hand of John Bale, 400 leaves, in stamped leather (rebacked). c.1527-33, with additions to c.1540?.

Among collections of John Selden, MP (1584-1654), lawyer, historian, and linguistic scholar.

This MS recorded in Davis, p. 236 (vi), and in McCusker (1942), p. 103. See also Fairfield, p. 161.

*BaJ 7

Copy, possibly autograph.

In: A small quarto composite volume of tracts in Latin relating to the Carmelite order, in two or more hands, 47 leaves, in contemporary vellum. Early 16th century.

Once owned by Lord William Howard (1563-1640), of Naworth Castle, antiquary. Among collections of John Selden, MP (1584-1654), lawyer, historian, and linguistic scholar.

This MS recorded in Fairfield, p. 158.

Collectiones

Unpublished.

*BaJ 8
Autograph volume of collections; 42 quarto leaves.

Fols [1r-8v] (paginated 1-16) comprising extracts from the Historia Britonum of Nennius (or Gildas), headed Incipiunt excerptiones de libro Gildae sapientis, quem composuit de primis habitatoribus Britanniae, quae nunc Anglia dicitur, et de excidio eius and beginning A principio mundi usque ad diluvium sunt anni 2242…; ff. 17r-50v (but ff. 18, 24, 38-41, 48-50 blank) comprising extracts from lives of saints, &c.

*BaJ 9
In: A small quarto composite volume of tracts in Latin relating to the Carmelite order, in two or more hands, 47 leaves, in contemporary vellum. Early 16th century.

Once owned by Lord William Howard (1563-1640), of Naworth Castle, antiquary. Among collections of John Selden, MP (1584-1654), lawyer, historian, and linguistic scholar.

*BaJ 9.5

A volume of tracts, including one by Robert Bale, prior of Burnham Norton, and three by Walter of Coventry, possibly scribal exercises which Bale set for young friars at Cambridge, certain of the incipits and annotations being in his early and later hands.

In: A small quarto composite volume of tracts in Latin relating to the Carmelite order, in two or more hands, 47 leaves, in contemporary vellum. Early 16th century.

Once owned by Lord William Howard (1563-1640), of Naworth Castle, antiquary. Among collections of John Selden, MP (1584-1654), lawyer, historian, and linguistic scholar.

This MS recorded and discussed in McCusker, The Library (1935), 152 (No. 63), and in Fairfield, p. 158.

*BaJ 10

A single leaf containing Bale's autograph index (in red ink) to an unidentified MS presumably relating to the Carmelite order; the first column beginning Iordanus monarchus, fo. 23…

In: A folio composite volume of ecclesiatical letters and papers, 218 leaves, in calf.

Unpublished. This MS described in McCusker (1940), p. 106 (but it is on paper, not on vellum as reported here).

*BaJ 11

Autograph compendium of notes and extracts chiefly relating to the Carmelite order, including extracts from John Baconthorpe, Liber sententiarum, and Philippus Riboti, De gestis Carmelitarum, inscribed at the beginning in a later hand Collectiones Johis Balei manu propri...ano 1570 die. 23. Aprilis. c.1548-60.

In: An octavo volume, comprising two works in separate hands, the first an anonymous Angliæ descripto & historia up to 1546 (ff. 1r-100v), 194 octavo leaves, in old calf gilt (rebacked).

Unpublished (complete). Brief extracts from this MS printed in Monumenta historica Carmelitana. Recorded and discussed in Davies, p. 237 (xviii); in McCusker (1942), pp. 101-2; and in Fairfield, p. 164.

*BaJ 12
Autograph duodecimo volume of collections relating to the Carmelite order, consisting chiefly of six offices of the principal Carmelite saints, on 42 leaves of paper and parchment. c.1514-23.

Unpublished (complete). Brief extracts from this MS in Monumenta historica Carmelitana; recorded and discussed in Davies, pp. 236 (i), 245 (with facsimile examples of ff. 4, 35 in plate I); in Greg, English Literary Autographs, plate XXXI (with facsimile examples of ff. 1, 19v); in McCusker (1942), pp. 106-8; and in Fairfield, pp. 157-8.

*BaJ 13
Autograph octavo volume of collections relating to the Carmelite order, beginning (with anno Mundi 4186) Helias propheta…. Early 16th century?

Donated to the Bodleian Library, in 1710, together with BaJ 16, by Sir Hans Sloane, Bt (1660-1753), physician and collector. Formerly Bodleian pressmark NE. C. 4. 14, but missing since before 1726.

Discussed in Falconer Madan, A Summary Catalogue of Western Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library at Oxford (1905), 315, No. 27636, and in McCusker (1942), pp. 105-6.

*BaJ 14
Volume of collections, at least partly autograph. Early 16th century?

Formerly in the library of Sir Robert Cotton (1571-1631), with his shelfmark Vitellius D. IV. No longer among the Cotton MSS (in the British Library) and probably destroyed, with many of the Cotton MSS, in a fire in 1731. Extracts from Cotton MSS made by George Harbin (c.1665-1744), historical writer and librarian, now at the University of Kansas (MS C63), do not include this MS.

Discussed in McCusker (1942), pp. 102-3.

Collectiones Gallicæ

Unpublished (complete).

BaJ 15

Autograph volume of various works, memoranda and verses, some by Bale, some by other authors, relating to the Carmelite order, untitled; beginning (f. 1) Domino Marco de furno Carmelite…, and evidently corresponding to the Collectiones Gallicæ… recorded in Bale's Scriptorum illustrium (1557), I, 703.

In: A quarto volume in John Bale's hand of various works relating to the Carmelite order, 202 leaves. c.1527-8.

Brief extracts from this MS edited in Monumenta historica Carmelitana. Recorded and discussed in Davies, p. 236 (iv); in McCusker (1942), pp. 97-8; and in Fairfield, p. 159.

Collectiones Germanicae

Unpublished (complete).

*BaJ 16
Autograph volume of notes, verses, and other matter relating to the Carmelite order, beginning (f. lv) Ex magistro historiarum…, including (ff. 140r-55r) lives of certain saints, xiii + 217 quarto leaves, in contemporary leather. c.1522-7, with additions to 1533.

Owned in 1697 by Dr Francis Bernard; afterwards by Sir Hans Sloane, Bt (1660-1753), physician and collector; and on 28 June 1710 by Thomas Hearne (1678-1735), Oxford antiquary. Donated to the Bodleian by Mr Tanner, of Norwich.

Brief extracts from this MS edited in Monumenta historica Carmelitana. Recorded and discussed in Davies, p. 236 (iii), with a facsimile of f. 37v in plate II, after p. 244; in McCusker (1942), pp. 104-5; and in Fairfield, pp. 158-9.

Cronica seu fasciculus temporum ordinis Carmelitarum ex varijs

Unpublished. This work corresponds to the Fasciculum ex omnibus... recorded in Bale's Scriptorum illustrium (1557), I, 703.

*BaJ 17

Autograph.

In: A quarto composite volume of various works in the hand of John Bale, 400 leaves, in stamped leather (rebacked). c.1527-33, with additions to c.1540?.

Among collections of John Selden, MP (1584-1654), lawyer, historian, and linguistic scholar.

This MS recorded in Davies, p. 237 (ix), and in McCusker (1942), p. 103.

De preclaris ordinis Carmeli scriptoribus ac theologis, cathalogus

Unpublished. This work corresponds to the Scriptores a Bertoldo... recorded in Bale's Scriptorum illustrium (1557), I, 703.

*BaJ 18

Autograph throughout, with rubrication, beginning Caeteraru militantis ecclte religionu…, with an index on ff. 250r-6v.

In: A quarto formally prepared volume of three works by John Bale, 256 leaves, in modern green half morocco gilt.

This MS recorded and discussed in Davies, p. 236 (viii); in McCusker (1942), pp. 99-101; and in Fairfield, p. 163.

Divae Annae vita

See BaJ 20.

Examinatio magistri Guilhelmi Thorpe sacerdotis

First published in Select Works of John Bale, ed. Henry Christmas, Parker Society (Cambridge, 1849), pp. 61-133. Recorded in Davies, p. 237 (xv), and in McCusker (1942), p. 106.

See also BaJ 4, BaJ 28.

*BaJ 19

Autograph Latin translation by Bale of the examination of William Thorpe for heresy in 1407, in 21 consecutive columns, on ff. 98v-103v of Bale's foliation.

In: A mid-15th-century MS volume of writings in Latin relating to John Wycliffe and the Lollards, viii + 224 leaves, in double columns on parchment throughout, in black embossed calf over wooden boards.
Fasciculus Carmelitarum

See BaJ 17.

Historia vetustissima, et vita satis admirabilis sanctissime matris Anne

Unpublished. This work seems to correspond to the Diue Anne vitam... which Bale lists among his own works in Anglorum Heliades (BaJ 5), f. 112, although in the present MS he says he copied it from an ancient MS (? by Walter Bornius): see McCusker (1942), p. 98. Also recorded in Davies, p. 236 (v).

*BaJ 20

Autograph, the first chapter beginning In consilio ephesino…..

In: A quarto volume in John Bale's hand of various works relating to the Carmelite order, 202 leaves. c.1527-8.
Illustrium Maioris Britanniae scriptorum summarium

First published in Wesel [i.e. Ipswich], 1548.

*BaJ 21
Bale's copious and often extensive autograph additions in his exemplum of the printed quarto edition of 1548, xi + 255 leaves now in modern calf, prepared for the enlarged edition published in 1566. [1548-58].

Bought by David Laing in London in 1819.

This volume recorded in Davies, p. 258 (16); in McCusker (1942), p. 49; and in McCusker, The Library (1935), 164-5.

BaJ 21.5

Extracts.

In: A volume of entomological and antiquarian notes, 75 leaves, in vellum. 19th century.

Later in the library of Sir Thomas Phillipps, Bt (1792-1872), manuscript and book collector: Phillipps MS 18210.

In fasciculum zizaniorum

See BaJ 28.

Index Britanniae scriptorum

First published in Oxford, 1902, ed. R.L. Poole and Mary Bateson.

The work, and its shortcomings, discussed in James P. Carley, Misattributions and Ghost Entries in John Bale's Index Britanniae Scriptorum: Some Representative Examples Ex bibliotheca Anglorum regis, in Anglo-Latin and its Heritage: Essays in Honour of A.G. Rigg on his 64th Birthday, ed. Siân Echard and Gernot R. Wieland, Publications of the Journal of Medieval Latin, 4 (Turnhout, Belgium, 2001), pp. 229-42.

*BaJ 22

John Bale's autograph Index Britanniae scriptorum, untitled, with supplementary lists of works by foreign and anonymous authors, extracts from monastic catalogues, and other materials.

In: An autograph octavo volume of collections by Bale for a list of works by British authors, i + 227 leaves. c.1549-57.

Among collections of John Selden, MP (1584-1654), lawyer, historian, and linguistic scholar.

Edited from this MS in Oxford edition 1902, ed. R.L. Poole and Mary Bateson. Recorded in Davies, p. 237 (xvii); in McCusker (1942), p. 104; and in Fairfield, p. 163.

The Laboryouse Journey and Serche of Johan Leylande for Englandes Antiquitees, Geven of hym as a New Yeares Gyfte to King Henry the viii

See LeJ 90-95.

A Mysterye of Inyquite
Opus Ioannis Lelandi, de illustribus uiris Anglice nationis, epitomatum, ac plerisque in locis emendatum et auctum

This version unpublished.

*BaJ 23

Autograph MS of Bale's epitome of Leland's Commentarii de scriptoribus Britannicis (LeJ 50-3), with autograph notes on papal history (material for Acta Romanorum pontificum) and other extracts.

In: Autograph volume of writings by John Bale, 174 quarto leaves. c.1552-7.

Donated in 1667 by William Corker, AM, Fellow.

This MS recorded and discussed in Davies, p. 237 (xvi); in McCusker (1942), pp. 108-9; and in Fairfield, pp. 163-4.

Perpaucorum carmeli scriptorum ab helia thesbite, ad bertoldum primum ecrum magistrum generalem, Cathalogus

Unpublished. This work corresponds to the Scriptores ab Helia... recorded in Bale's Scriptorum illustrium (1557), I, 703.

*BaJ 24

Autograph throughout, with rubrication, beginning Presens cathalogus paucos admodu…, with an index on ff. 154r-5v.

In: A quarto formally prepared volume of three works by John Bale, 256 leaves, in modern green half morocco gilt.

This MS recorded and discussed in Davies, p. 236 (vii); in McCusker (1942), pp. 99-101; and in Fairfield, pp. 162-3.

[Preface to Christopher Carlile's Duo libri]

Unpublished.

BaJ 25

Copy, in the hand of Christopher Carlile, of a prefatory epistle by Bale, addressed to Johann Operinus, prefixed to Carlile's Duo libri, quorum alter fiduciam maiorum, et nostram eandem tradit: alter Christum nec animo, nec corpore inferos penetrasse; beginning pontificiorum errores innumerabiles sunt…

In: Christopher Carlile's own complete quarto MS of his work, dated (f. 3r) Non. Iul. 1560. Emdae 1560.
A retourne of James Canceller's raylinge boke upon hys owne heade

Unpublished.

*BaJ 26
Autograph, with a dedicatory epistle to Francis Russell (1526/7-85), second Earl of Bedford, dated from Canterbury, 6 July 1561, and an epistle to the reader, with ff. 1-2 marked up for intended (though not executed) printing by John Day (1521/2-84), iv + 44 quarto leaves, in a vellum wrapper (a recycled 13th-century document). 1561.

Among the Fairhurst Papers: i.e. state and ecclesiastical papers, many once belonging to the Archbishop of Canterbury, acquired by John Selden, MP (1584-1654), lawyer and historical and linguistic scholar, and his executor Sir Mathew Hale (1609-76), judge and writer, which were found and purchased c.1939 by James Fairhurst (d.1999), of Oxford.

Facsimile of the first page in Sotheby's sale catalogue, 15 October 1963, lot 495. Facsimile of f. 22r in IELM, I.i (1980), Facsimile III, p. 55.

Romanorum Episcoporum Successio

Unpublished Latin work in seven libri.

BaJ 26.2

Copy.

In: A folio miscellany of Latin and English ecclesiastical writings, in several neat secretary and italic hands, one small neat italic hand predominating, ii + 151 leaves (including blanks), in quarter-calf boards. Mid-17th century.

Ex dono bookplate of Thomas Sherlock (1678-1761), Bishop of London, 1761.

BaJ 26.4
Extracts from the Scriptorum from Bale's lives of Geoffrey Chaucer.
Scriptores a Bertoldo

See BaJ 18.

Scriptores ab Helia

See BaJ 24.

Scriptorum illustrium Maioris Brytanniae catalogus

First published in Basle, 1557. Reprinted in facsimile (Farnborough, 1971).

BaJ 26.5

Extracts, relating to Bale's The lyfe of Jhone Garland, a most excellent philosopher.

In: A folio composite volume of alchemical and other manuscripts.
BaJ 26.6

Extracts from Bale's MS additions to the Scriptorum (BaJ 21, BaJ 27).

In: A small octavo composite notebook, in a small cursive hand, in Lation and English, 219 leaves, in 19th-century half morocco.

Compiled by Thomas Tanner (1674-1735), Bishop of St Asaph, ecclesiastical historian, scholar and book collector, in preparation for his Bibliotheca Britannico-Hibernica (1748).

Early 18th century.

Donated by John Loveday.

BaJ 26.8
A small folio MS written by Roger Gale (1672-1744), antiquary, correcting and amplifying Bale's Scriptorum, c.200 leaves. c.1700.
BaJ 27
Bale's autograph annotations and additions in his exemplum of the printed edition of 1557 (Part I). [1557-63].

Bale's MS marginalia in this exemplum printed in Joannis de Trokelowe, Annales Eduardi II, ed. Thomas Hearne (Oxford, 1729). Facsimile of p. 226 (with Bale's annotations) in Theodore Besterman, The Beginnings of Systematic Bibliography, 2nd edition (London, 1936), facing p. 22.

BaJ 27.5
A transcript of Bale's dedication to William Williams of the section on Irish writers in his Scriptorum illustrium Maioris Brytanniae catalogus, Part II (Basle, 1559), pp. 231-2. 18th century.
Tabula eorum que Ioannis Wicleui in tempora respiciunt vsque ad folium presentis libri. 120

Unpublished. This work corresponds to the In fasciculum zizaniorum... which Bale records in his Illustrium...scriptorum summarium (1548), f. 243.

See also BaJ 4, BaJ 19.

*BaJ 28

Bale's autograph index to Thomas Walden, Fasciculus zizaniorum Magistri Iohannis Wyclif, beginning Abhominatio desolationis, fo. 107, preceding a scribal copy of the Fasciculus with Bale's annotations.

In: A mid-15th-century MS volume of writings in Latin relating to John Wycliffe and the Lollards, viii + 224 leaves, in double columns on parchment throughout, in black embossed calf over wooden boards.

The Fasciculus, without Bale's notes, was edited from this MS in Fasciculi Zizaniorum Magistri Johannis Wyclif, ascribed to Thomas Netter of Walden, ed. Walter Waddington Shirley, Rolls Series 5 (London, 1858), with a facsimile of f. 91 (which includes annotations by Bale) as the frontispiece. Recorded in Davies, p. 237 (xiv), and in McCusker (1942), p. 106.

Upon the Revelation

Unpublished.

BaJ 28.5

Extracts, headed notes taken out of Jon Bale vpon the Revelation, beginning He that delyteth not to behold the condicyon of his owen Cytye is not to bee Reckned for a Lovyng Cetezen....

In: A large folio volume of prose tracts, verse, and devotional material, in a single secretary hand but for a series of engrossed indentures in a formal professional hand on ff. 3r-17v, written from both ends (ff. 1r-84v and ff. 1ar-51av respectively), 134 leaves in all. c.1603.

Inscribed names Gilbert Rye and William Norris and a reference (on f. 6av) to Doctor Gylbart.

The entries were at one time given separate library EL numbers ranging (intermittently) from EL 1183c to EL 6172 at one end and from EL 1183a to EL 6206 from the reverse end.

This MS separately classified as EL 6167.

Varia doctorum virorum

Unpublished (complete).

*BaJ 29

An autograph collection of notes and writings relating to the Carmelite order, some works by Bale, some by other authors, including (ff. 197-220v) some lives of saints (beginning Oratio fratris Martini persone ytali Carmelite…).

In: A quarto composite volume of various works in the hand of John Bale, 400 leaves, in stamped leather (rebacked). c.1527-33, with additions to c.1540?.

Among collections of John Selden, MP (1584-1654), lawyer, historian, and linguistic scholar.

Brief extracts from this MS edited in Monumenta historica Carmelitana. Recorded and discussed in Davies, pp. 236 (ii), 240 (with a facsimile of f. 23v in plate II, after p. 244); in McCusker (1942), pp. 103-4; and in Fairfield, pp. 159-61.

The Vocacyon of Ioha Bale to the Bishoprick of Ossorie in Ireläde

First published in Rome, 1533. Reprinted in Harleian Miscellany (London, 1745), VI, 402-28 (1810 edition, VI, 437-64).

BaJ 30
Copy, in a roman hand, on vellum throughout (c.13.5 x 11 cm), 54 pages, closely cropped at the head, in modern morocco gilt. Early-mid-16th century.

A transcript of this MS made by William Reeves (1815-92), Bishop of Down, Connor and Dromore, is Trinity College Dublin MS 1090.

BaJ 30.2

Copy, in a secretary hand, headed Out of a booke called The vocation of John Bale to the Bishoprick of Ossory in Ireland, his psecutions in the same & finall delliurance.

In: A folio composite volume of state papers, in various professional hands, 226 leaves, in modern half-morocco.

Among collections of Sir James Ware (1594-1666). Subsequently owned by Henry Hyde (1638-1709), second Earl of Clarendon, politician (constituting Clarendon MSS Vol. 45). Bookplate of the Rev. Jeremiah Milles (1714-84), Dean of Exeter, antiquary (Milles Collection Vol. XXXIX).

BaJ 30.5

Extracts, in a professional secretary hand, headed Out of the Booke called the Vocacon of John Ball to the Bishpricke of Ossory in Ireland, his psecucon in the same, and finall deliuerance.

In: A folio volume of tracts and letters relating to Ireland, in several hands, 236 leaves, in contemporary vellum boards.

Old pressmark F. 3. 16.

Dramatic Works

King Johan

First published in London, 1838, ed. John Payne Collier, Camden Society. Edited by John Henry Pyle Pafford and W.W. Greg, Malone Society (Oxford, 1931). Edited by Barry B. Adams (San Marino, California, 1969). The Complete Plays of John Bale, ed. Peter Happé, 2 vols (Woodbridge, 1985), I, 29-99.

*BaJ 31
Copy, in a professional secretary hand, on 35 folio leaves, with Bale's numerous autograph revisions constituting a later expanded version. c.1536-63.

Later owned by William Stevenson Fitch (1792-1859), Suffolk antiquary. Sold in 1832 to William George Spencer Cavendish (1790-1858), sixth Duke of Devonshire.

Edited from this MS by all editors. Described and the different texts represented in the MS distinguished in Adams. Complete facsimile of the MS in Willy Bang, Bales Kynge Johan, nach der Handschrift in der Chatsworth Collection, Materialien zur Kunde des älteren englischen Dramas, 25 (Louvain, 1909). Facsimiles of four pages in Malone Society edition. Photomicrograph of a correction and a photograph of a watermark in the MS in R.B. Haselden, Scientific Aids for the Study of Manuscripts, Transactions of the Bibliographical Society, Supplement 10 (Oxford, 1935), figs. VI and VII. Discussed in Janet Ing Freeman, The Postmaster of Ipswich: William Fitch Stevenson, Antiquary and Thief (London, 1997), 93-110; in Jeffrey Leininger, The Dating of Bale's King John: A Re-Examination, Medieval English Theatre, 24 (2002), 116-37; and in Arthur Freeman and Janet Ing Freeman, John Payne Collier: Scholarship and Forgery in the 19th Century (New Haven, 2004), 220-24, 1126-7.

The Resurrection of Our Lord

A miracle play of c.1530-60 of unknown authorship, but possibly by Bale, who lists among his own works two plays on the buriall and resurrection of Christ. First published, ed. J. Dover Wilson, Bertram Dobell, and W.W. Greg, Malone Society (Oxford, 1912).

BaJ 32
A fragment of a copy of the play(s), in a professional secretary hand, 17 small folio leaves, in old calf.

Paginated 17-28, 37-38, with running heads The first dayes playe, and 43-58, 63-66, with running head The second dayes playe.

c.1580-1630.

Bookplate of T. Brayne, Oswestry, Shropshire.

Edited from this MS, with facsimiles of pp. 23, 50-1, in Malone Society edition. The MS recorded in Davies, p. 237 (xi).

Annotations and Marginalia in Printed Books and Manuscripts

Bale, Robert, prior of Burnham Norton. Cronea parua siue exordium sacri ordinis Carmelitarum, &c.

See BaJ 9.

Bede. Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum
*BaJ 33
Autograph copy (f. 2v) of an eight-line epitaph on Bede, headed Epitaphu Bedæ venerabilis p br and beginning Beda Dei famulus monachoru nobile sydus, subscribed Obiit Beda (735, with Bale's notes on Bede, signed Joan. Bale, written by him in a 12th-century MS of works by Bede and others on 119 folio vellum leaves, in modern calf. Early 16th century.

Inscribed (f. 1r and elsewhere) Jure me tenet Franciscus St. John. Later owned by Sir James Palgrave. His sale, 20 November 1862, lot 90.

This MS not recorded in McCusker.

Histori-arumet chronicorum totius mundi epitome, &c.
*BaJ 34
Autograph annotations, on the flyleaves and in the third item, in a composite volume of four 16th-century printed works owned by Bale.

Comprising (1) François Lambert, Farrago [Strasbourg?, 1525]; (2) Reno Vatio Ecclesiae Nordlingiacensis (1525); (3) Histori-armet chronicorum totius mundi epitome [n.d.]; (4) Andreas Alciatus, Emblemata (Paris, 1535).

Langland, William. Piers Plowman
*BaJ 34.5
A three-line inscription by Bale, concerning Robertus Langlade, inside the lower cover of a folio-size volume of early-15th-century verse tracts, in several professional hands, i + 219 leaves of vellum, in 16th-century tooled calf over wooden boards with remains of clasps. Early 15th century.

Later owned by Adam Clarke (1760?-1832). Sotheby's, 20 June 1836 (Clarke sale), lot 352. Thorpe's sale catalogue (1836), Supplement item 509. Then owned by Clifton W. Loscombe. Sotheby's, 19 June 1854 (Loscombe sale), lot 1167, to Upham for Bertram Ashburnham (1797-1874), fourth Earl of Ashburnham. Sotheby's, 1 May 1899 (Ashburnham sale), lot 78. Quaritch's sale catalogue No. 193 (1899), item 54. Acquired by Henry E. Huntington in 1918 from the collection of Ross C. Winans then in the hands of G.D. Smith.

The inscription discussed in R.B. Haselden and H.C. Schulz, Note on the Inscription in HM 128, Harvard Library Bulletin, 8 (1935), 26-7. Facsimile of the inscription in George Kane, Piers Plowman: The Evidence for Authorship (London, 1965), facing p. 37.

Matthew of Westminster. Flores historiarum
*BaJ 35

Autograph marginal annotations by Bale on ff. 3v, 6r.

In: A folio volume of 14th-century chronicles, in accomplished hands, with rubrication, in double columns, on vellum throughout, 123 leaves, in old blind-stamped calf.

Variously owned by Nicholas Brigham (d.1558), officer of the Exchequer and antiquary; William Darell (d.c.1580), clergyman and antiquary; Sir James Ware (1594-1666), antiquary and historian; Henry Hyde, second Earl of Clarendon (1638-1709), second Earl of Clarendon, politician; James Brydges (1674-1744), first Duke of Chandos, of Cannons, Middlesex, politician and patron of music; the Rev. Richard Widmore (1681-1764), historian and Librarian at Westminster Abbey; and (in January 1763) Thomas Secker (1693-1768), Archbishop of Canterbury.

This MS recorded in McCusker, The Library (1935), 150-1 (No. 26).

Peter of Ickham. Compilatio de gestis Britonum et Anglorum à Bruto Rege ad annum 1465
*BaJ 36

Possibly Bale's autograph annotations.

In: A tall folio volume of several works, in accomplished hands, with rubrication, on vellum throughout, 146 leaves, in old calf gilt (rebacked). 15th century.

Once in the library of John, first Baron Lumley (c.1533-1609), collector.

Plurimorum Paparum bullae de privilegiis concessis fratribus Carmelitis

Unpublished?

*BaJ 37

Bale's autograph annotations on ff. 128-9.

In: A tall folio composite volume of papal bulls and other works, in accomplished hands, on vellum throughout, 147 leaves, in later calf gilt (rebacked). 15th century.
Riboti, Philippus. De gestis Carmelitarum

See BaJ 5, BaJ 11.

Scala mundi

Unpublished?

*BaJ 38

Possibly Bale's autograph annotations.

In: A tall folio volume of several works, in accomplished hands, with rubrication, on vellum throughout, 146 leaves, in old calf gilt (rebacked). 15th century.

Once in the library of John, first Baron Lumley (c.1533-1609), collector.

Triveth, Nicholaus. Historia sex regum Angliae &c.

Unpublished?

*BaJ 39
Bale's autograph annotations and index, including a Latin epitaph on King John, in a 16th-century MS.

This MS recorded in McCusker, The Library (1935), 151 (No. 38).

Walden, Thomas. Facsiculus zizaniorum Magistri Iohannis Wyclif

See BaJ 28.

Wireker, Nigel. Speculum stultorum, &c.

Unpublished?

*BaJ 40
Bale's autograph annotations in his composite volume of seven MS fragments written in the 12th to15th centuries, 206 vellum leaves.

Comprising: (ff. 1r-24v) Wireker's Speculum and three short poems on the Fall of Troy; (ff. 25r-52v) the Chronicle of Martinus Polonus; (ff. 53r-4r) a list of Pictish and Scottish kings; (ff. 55v-121v) a series of largely Franciscan texts; (ff. 144r-75v) part of a MS from Ramsey Abbey containing the Historia tripartita of Cassiodorus, lives of saints, &c; and (ff. 176r-205r) Thomas Rudborne, Chronica.

Early 16th century.

Sotheby's, 28 November 1973, lot 610, to Kraus. Description and facsimile example in the sale catalogue, pp. 102-8 and plate 29.

This volume probably corresponds to items 27, 48-9, 57, 77-8, 133, 152-3, 170-3 in the list in McCusker, The Library (1935), 149-62, but is not there recorded.

Wycliffe, John. [Opera]

Unpublished?

BaJ 41
Annotations, supplying titles, incipits. etc., attributed to John Bale, in a 14th- or 15th-century quarto MS volume of tracts by John Wycliffe, 219 vellum leaves (plus blanks), in old speckled leather (rebacked).

Inscribed (at foot of f. 1r) Robert Cotton Bruceus: i.e. signed by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton, first baronet (1571-1631), antiquary and politician.

This volume recorded in McCusker, The Library (1935), 163. The attribution to Bale is doubtful.

Letters

Letter(s)
*BaJ 42

Autograph letter signed by Bale, to Thomas Cromwell, [c.January 1536/7].

In: A folio composite volume of state letters, in various hands, c.410 leaves.

Edited in McCusker (1942), pp. 12-13. Facsimile in Greg, English Literary Autographs, plate XXXI(a-b).

*BaJ 43
Autograph letter signed by Bale, to Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, 30 July 1560.

Lamenting the dispersal of books and manuscripts after the Dissolution of the Monasteries and recording books Bale had found in Cambridge college libraries (a list largely corresponding to items in his Index Britanniae scriptorum).

1560.

Edited in H. R. Luard, A Letter from Bishop Bale to Archbishop Parker, Cambridge Antiquarian Society, Antiquarian Communications, III (1878), 157-73. Edited, with a facsimile of the first page, in Timothy Graham and Andrew G. Watson, The Recovery of the Past in Early Elizabethan England (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 16-30. Recorded in McCusker (1942), p. 109. Discussed in David N. Dumville, John Bale, Owner of St Dunstan's Benedictional, N&Q, 239 (September 1994), 291-5, where it is suggested that the benedictional mentioned in the letter (the oldest book that euer I sawe yet) may be that now in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, fonds latin no 943. Also discussed in Yoko Wada, Bale to Parker on British Historical Texts in Cambridge College Libraries, Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society, 10 (1994), 511-19.

*BaJ 44
Autograph letter signed by Bale, to Josias Simler, 4 March 1559. 1559.

Edited with a facsimile, in Theodor Vetter, Litterarische Beziehungen zwischen England und der Schweiz im Reformationszeitalter (Zürich, 1901), pp. 39, 43. Recorded in McCusker (1942), p. 110.

Miscellaneous Extracts from Bale's Works

Extracts
BaJ 45

Extracts, headed Initia librorum apud Baleum de Scriptoribus Britannicis, saltem quoad historiarum et Chronicorum auctores.

In: A folio composite volume of miscellaneous MSS in Latin and English, compiled by Brian Twyne (1581-1644), antiquary, xiv + 204 pages. c.1622.

Among the collections of Brian Twyne.

BaJ 46

Extracts from one or more works by Bale, headed John Bale his questions and beginning Wch is best of right or reason?.

In: A tall folio composite volume of state and miscellaneous papers, in verse and prose, in several hands, 87 leaves, in 19th-century mottled leather.

Possibly assembled by a barrister of the Middle Temple.

BaJ 47

Notes from Bale's works.

In: A folio volume relating to Chester. 17th century?

Formerly owned by G.F. Wilbraham, of Delamere House.

Recorded in HMC, 4th Report (1874), Appendix, p. 416.