Page:King Alfred's Old English version of St. Augustine's Soliloquies - Hargrove - 1902.djvu/23



1. Manuscript. — There exists but one manuscript of the Old English version of Augustine's Soliloquies. It is in the British Museum, and is known as Cotton Vitell. A. 15, being the Beowulf manuscript, and in the same hand as the Beowulf. A transcript of this unique manuscript, made in the 17th century by Francis Junius, is in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, being known as Jun. 70. I. Since this latter is a mere copy, with only such slight changes as ð for þ, it is of no significance, and for our purpose can safely be disregarded. The Cottonian manuscript, therefore, is the sole basis of our text, and is always the one referred to, unless otherwise stated.

The manuscript is of parchment, and is in a good state of preservation, except for the lack of the beginning and the end, and the existence of a few torn places and blotches. Its dimensions are about 7 ¾ by 5 ¼ inches, and there are 18 lines to a page. The part we still possess begins on folio 4, and extends to folio 57a. The writing is in a large, clear hand, and, as the facsimiles show, may be read with ease.

Concerning the red strokes found, on the average, once or twice on each page of the manuscript up to folio 21b, Birch says: 'The red strokes are the work of a later scribe going over the manuscript, and appear to be for emphasis or to mark a capital. It occurs most frequently in the I, ic, ða, god, ac, ða cwæð heo, ða cwæð ic, ꝥ ic.' And further as regards the existence of two hands: 'Nor can I clearly determine if there is any change of hand.