OESJD II.5; on Psal. 144.15
[fol. 3r] Psalme.144. Verse.15:
Blessed are the people yt be soe
yea blessed are ye People whose
God is the Lord.
The first part of this Text hath relation to Temporall blessings; Blessed are the People that are soe. the 2d part to spirittuall: yea blessed are the People whose God is ye Lord. His left hand is vnder my head, Cant.2 6 sayes ye Spouse, yt sustaines mee from fallinge into murmuringe or diffidence of his Prouidence; [fol. 3v] because out of his left hand hee hath giuen me a competenc of temporall blessinges. But his right hand doth embrace me sayth the Spouse there his spirittuall blessings fill me, possese me, soe yt noe rebellious thought breakes out within me, noe outward temtation breakes in vppon mee. Soe allsoe say’s Sollomon againe, Pro:3. 16. In his left hand is riches & glory (temporall blessings) & in her right hand length of days, All yt accomplisheth & fullfills the Eternall Joys in of the Sts. in Heauen. The Person to whome Sollomon attribuits [fol. 4r] this right & left hand, to receiue the blessings of both sorts: And ye person is wisdome, & a wise man may reach out his right hand & his left hand to receiue the blessings of both sorts: And the person whome God Wisedome represents there, is Christ himselfe. Soe yt not onely a worldly wise man but allsoe a Christian wiseman, may reach out both hands to both kinds of blessings, right & left, Spirittuall & Temporall. And therefore Iterrogo vos filij regnj cœlorusgustine; Lett me aske you who are Sonnes & heires to ye kingdome [fol. 4v] of heauen Progenie resurrectionjs in æternum; you that are ye ofspring of the resurrection of Christ Iesus, & haue yoaerction hereafter for all yt present possessio
As then there is dextra & sinstra Beatitudo a right-handed & a left handed blessednesse in this Text soe there is dextra & sinstra Interpretatio, a right & a left Exposition of ye Text. And as these blessednesses Temporall & Spirittuall are seales & testimonyes of Gods Loue, though not both of equall strength, & equall euidence: Soe both ye Interpretations of those are vsefull for our edification though they be not both of equall authority. That which we call Sinstra [fol. 5v] Interpretationem (the left interpretatiov his direct word presents it thus beat
1.a Inter prelatio. First then to make our best vse of the first sence, That Temporall things conduce not at all to Blessednesse. St. Cyprians wonder is just Deum nobjs soljs contentum esse, nobjs non sufficere Deum; That God should thinke Man enough for him, & man should not be satisfyed wth God. That God should be content wth Filj da mihj cor, my Sonne giue me thy hart; and [fol. 7r] man should not be content wthFilj da mihi Cor Pater da mihj spiritum, my God, my Father grant me thy Spirit; but must haue Temporall additions too. Non est castu..him: thou hast noe tryall yett. And this Argument discendend from yt Father to his Children from ye Diuel there, to those Followers of his whome Mal: 3 44. the Prophet Malachy reprehends for sayinge It is in vaine to serue God; for what profitt is it yt we haue kept his Commaundements: where men are willinge to preferr there Frends, we heare them often giue these Testimonys of them, He hath good parts, & you neede not be ashamed to speake for him; He hath [fol. 8r] mony in his Purse, & you neede not be sorry to speake for him; He vnderstands ye world, he knows how things passe, & he hath a discreete, a ss supple, and an appliable disposition, & he may make a fitt instrument for all yoto gett the whole world & loose his owne Soule? And therefore yt opinion yt there was noe profitt at all noe degree towards Blessednesse in these Temporall things preuayled soe farr, as yt it is easy to obserue in there Expositions vppon the Lords Prayer yt ye greatest part [fol. 8v] of the Fathers doe euer Intepret yt Petition Da nobjs hodie Giue vs to Day this Day our dayly bread, to be intended onely of Spirittuall Blessinges, & not of Temporall: soe St Hierome sayes; when we aske yt bread Illam petimus, quj panis vinus est, et descendit de Cœlo, we make our petition for him who is the bread of Life, & descended from the bosome of his Father, & soe he referrs it to Chrt: & in him who is the bread to the whole Mystery of our Redemption. And Athanasius & St Augustine too (and they two are all one) referr it to the Sacramentall bread: That in yt Petitioja quia necessaria, we must pray, & wee must labour for Temporall thinges, because they are necessary for vs, we cannot liue without them Ideo non quærenda, quia necessaria, sayes St Chrysostome, Soe much as is necessary for our best Estate, God will giue vs without this Laborious anxiety, of minde & wthout eatinge ye bread of Sorrowinge in this Life. Non sperandum, de superflujs, non [fol. 9v] desperanduour wills a mans will) Lett the Inimicm and a powerful man who hath a minde to yt thou hast, and remember Naboths Case. And this enuious man can take away Temporall things from thee against thy Will. But Spirituall [fol. 10r] blessings cannot be soe taken Fidem nemo perdidit; insj qui spreuerit, sayes St. Augustine. Noe man euer lost his Fayth but he yt thought it not worth the keepinge; And ye spirittuall blessings of a Faythfull man are neuer lost totally; though he fall into Sinnes of Infirmity, though he fall into Scruples of matter of Fayth, yet there is Semen Dej (ye seede of God) in him, all is not Lost.
But for Jobs Temporall Estate, sayes St Augustine all was Lost. And least any man should say Vxor relicta erat Job had not lost all, because he had his wife left; Misericordem putatis Diabolujem? Doe you thinke yt Job lighted vppon [fol. 10v] a mercifull & good naturd Diuel, yt the Diuell did this out of Pitty & Compassiomeans instrumt he deceiued ye first man; And by yt same instrumt he practiseth vppon Job. Suawo world, those who pursued Temporall blessings onely went wth most earnestly and with lesse successe to theyre workes, To correct ye generall distemper, yt generall vehemency vppon Temporall thinges, St. Jerome, & as many of the Fathers as accompany him in yt Interpretatio
[fol. 12r] We are now come to the 2d. Interpretatiosic, in wt the Blessednesse is placed in this Text Quibus sic. Blessed are ye People yt are soe , yt is soe as is mentioned in ye 3 former Verses. And 3ly. an other In Quib
Now first this blessednesse, As noe Phylosopher could tell vs among ye Gentiles wt true blessednesse is; So no Grammarian harmony or consent of many, Or whither thjs Asherej be an Adverb (and signify Beatè, and soe be an Acclamation; Oh how [fol. 13r] happily, how blessedly are such men provided for, yt are so! they cannot tell.
Whatsoeuer it be it is ye very first word, yt Dauid begins his booke of Psalmes withall, Beatin for ym in the right vse of ym. As man yt hath noe Land to hould by it, nor little to recounu neufolde for yt which we haue layde vp out for Chrt: word, hee [fol. 14v] seemes to thinke it to great vsury to take ten fold for yt wch we haue layde out for Christ: And therefore he reades in yt place Accipitet septies tantum, He shall receiue seauen times as much in this life. But in both ye Euangelists Matthew & Mark the ouerflowinge bounty & retribution of God is soe expressed CentupluVir Homo, yt[fol. 15v] he was borne a man & not a beast Lactantius addes in Platoes behalfe, when he cites yt place out of him, Quod natus Vir, that he was borne a man & not Woeman) Yf he found a farther happinesse, Quod Grecus, yt he was borne a Gretian, & not a Barbarian, Quod Atheniensis, yt he was borne in the Towne wch was ye Receptacle, and dwellinge of all wisedome, & Quod tempore Socratjs, yt he was borne in ye time of Socrates, yt soe he might haue a good example as well as good rule for his Life. As all we owe to God an Acknoledgmt. of Blessednesse, yt we are borne, in a Christian Church, in a reformed Church in a Monarchj, in a Monarchj composed of Monarchies, & in the time of such a Monarch who is a Peace-maker, & preseru
In Quibus - This was our first Coninsiderationduulued in this one little particle (soe) Blessed are ye People yt are so. That is so as a Prayer is made in ye 3 former verses yt they might. Now as the Maledictions yt were threatned to Dauid were presented to him by the Prophet in ye 3 formes of Warr, of Famine, of Pestilence: So thease Blessings wch are Comprised in those 3 Verses, may welbe reduced to 3 contrary to those 3 [fol. 17r] maledictions; to the Blessinge of Peace, contrary to Dauids warr, That there v: 14. may be no Inuasion; To ye Blessinge of Plenty, contrary to Dauids Famine, That v: 13. our Barnes may abound wth all sortes of Corne; To ye Blessinge of Health, contrary to Dauids destroyinge Sicknesse, That o
For the first Temporall blessinge of Peace, we may consider ye Louelynesse ye amiablenesse of yt. yf we looke vppon ye horror gastlynesse of Warre, either in Effigie, in yt Picture of Warr wch is drawne euery where in omen & facinerous men couet to draw themselues into ye Skirts & Suburbs of those Cittyes, yt so they may be neerer the Spoyle wch they make vppon Passengers. In all kingdomes yt border yppon other kingdomes, & in Ilands wch haue no other border, but the Sea, particular men, who by dwellinge in those skirts & borders, may make theyre Profitt of Spoyle, delight in hostility, & haue an auersnesse & detestation of Peace; But it is not so within, they who till ye[fol. 18r] Earth, & breede vp Cattell, & imploy theyre Industry vppon Gods creatures accordinge to Gods ordinance, feele ye benefitt, & apprehend the sweetnesse & pray for ye continuance of Peace.
This is the blessinge in wch. God soe Copia.very often expresseth his gratious purpose to his People That he would giue ym Peace, & Peace wth Plenty. Oh yt my People had harknend to me, sayth God, I would haue humbled theyre Enimyes (there is theyre Peace) & I would haue filled them wth ye fatt of wheate, and wth the hony out of the Rocke (& there is theyre Plenty) Persons who are preferrd for theyre Seruice in the Warr proue often suspitious to ye Prince. Joabs confidence in his owne merrit and seruice [fol. 18v] made him insolent towards ye kinge & the kinge jealous towards him: But noe man was more suddainly, nor more safely preferd then Joseph for his Counsell to resist Penury, & to Preserue Plenty, & aboundance wthin ye Land. St. Basil in an Homily wch he made in a time of Dearth & Drought (in wch he expressed himselfe wth as much Elegancy as any where, (and euery where I think with as much as any man) while he sayes there was in ye Skyes. Tristjs serenitas et ipsa puritate molesta, that the Ayre was ye worse for beinge soe good, & the fowler for beinge soe fayre: And where he inuerts the words of our Sauiour Messis magna, operarij paucj, says Chr: Here is a grete greate haruest but few Laborers: but operarij multj, messis parua, [fol. 19r] says Bassill, here are Workemen enough, but noe Haruest to gather. In yt Homily he notes a barrennesse in yt wch vsed to be fruitfull, & frutefullnesse in yt wch. vsed to be barren. Terra sterilis et aurum fœcundum (ye Earth was barren, & Gould was fruitfull) He prophecied of our times, when not onely soe many Familys haue halfe ye Contry for ye Citty in theyre Persons, but haue brought theyre lands into ye Citty they haue brought all theyre Euidences into ye Scriuoners shopps, & changed all theyre renewinge of Leases euery 7 yeares, into renewinge of Bondes euery 8 Moneths. They haue taken away to inflict barronnesse vppon land, & extort a fruitfullnesse from Gold by Vsiry. Monsters may be gott by vnnaturall mixtures but [fol. 19v] there is noe race noe propogation of Monsters; Mony may be raysed by this kinde of vse, but non hærebit, it is the sweate of other men and it will not stick to thine heire, Nay communly it bringes not that outward blessinge of Plenty wth. it: For for the most part, we se noe man liue more pennuriously, more sordidly, then thease men doe.
The 3d. of thease Temporall blessinges is health, without which both ye other are noe more to any man then ye Rainebow was to him who was ready to drowne Quid mihj, sj peream ego, sayes he, wt am I ye better yt God hath past his word & sett to his Seale in ye Heauens, yt he will drowne the world noe more, if I bee drowned my selfe? Wt’s all yeworld Peace in ye World to me, if I haue Rebellions & [fol. 20r] Earthquakes of shakinge & burninge in my selfe Feauers in my body? Wt’s all ye Plenty in the world to me, yf I haue a Languishinge Consumption in my bloud & in my marrow? The Heathens had a Goddesse to whom they attributed ye care of ye body Deam Carnam. And we yt are Christians acknowledge Gods first Care of man was his body, he made yt first, and his last care was is reserued for his body too, at ye Last Resurrection, wch is principally for the benifitt of ye body. There is a care belongs to the health of & comelynesse of the body. When ye Romans canonized Palloreto haue they worshipped them onely because they feared ym. Sicknesse is a second sword of God, & health is his blessinge; for when Ezekiah had assurance enough yt he should recouer & liue, yet he had still a sence of misery in yt he should not haue a perfect state of health. What Esay. 38. shall I say? sayes he, I shall walke weakely all my yeares, in ye bitternesse of my Soule. All Temporall blessinges are insipid & lastlesse wthout Health.
In QuibSuites accesse, & ye Lawyer may be blessed in ye increase of Suites, & ye Merchant may be blessed in ye increase of Meanes of gettinge, yf he come to get as well by trading takinge as tradinge; but yf all be not blessed ye People is not blessed: yea yf these Temporall blessinges reach not to ye Prince [fol. 21v] himselfe, the People are not blessed. For in fauorabilibus Princeps e populo, is a good rule in ye Law. In things benificiall, ye kinge is one of ye People. when God sayth by Dauid, Let all the ^people^ Blesse ye Lord, he doth not exempt the kinge from yt duty, & when God sayes by him too, God shall blesse all ye People, God doth not exempt not exclude kings from yt benifitt. And therfore where such thinges conduce to ye beinge, and well beinge, to ye substance & State, to yeSeremony Cerymony & Matie. of the Prince, be not cheefrefully supplyed & seasonably administred there, yt blessing is not fully fallen vppon ym. Blessed are ye People yt are soe, for ye People are not so, yf ye Prince be not so. Nay ye People are not blessed, yf ye blessinge [fol. 22r] be not permanent. For it is not onely they that are aliue now, yt are ye People; but ye People is ye succession. Yf we could imagine of a blessinge of Peace wthout permanency, we might call a nights sleepe, though in ye midsts of an Army, Peace. But it is onely ye prouision for the permanency & continuance, yt makes thease blessinges. To thinke of, to prouide against Famine or sicknesse, & warr yts the blessinge of Plenty, health & Peace. One of Christs principall titles was yt he was Princeps Paijs; & yet this Prince Peace sayes Non, venj mittere Pacekind security. But here in our Text we haue a religious Kinge Dauid yt first prayes for thease blessinges (for the 8 former Verses are a Prayer) & then Prayses for the acknowledgmt of them: For this Text is an Acclamatory, a Gratulatory glorifyinge God for them. And when these two meete in the Consideration of Temporall blessinges, A religious care for them, a religious confessinge of ym. Prayer to God for ye gettinge, of Prayse to God for ye haueinge, Blessed is that People, yt is, head & members, Prince & Subiect, present & future people yt are soe, soe blessed, so thankful for theyre blessinges.
[fol. 23r] We come now ad dextra....yett God cared more for our soules yn for those 2000 hoggs wch he suffered to perish in the Sea when yt man was disposessed. A Dram
[fol. 23v] Beatitudo This blessednesse then yu se is placed Last in the Text not yt it is can not be had till our end till the next Life; In this case ye Nemo ante obituof degree of Blessednesse wch can be had to haue ye Lord our God. Consider ye makinge vp of a naturall man & you shall see yt he is a conuenient Tipe of of a Spirittuall man too: First in ye Naturall man we conceiue there is a Soule of vegetatioability true ability to produce good fruits; for he hath wherwithall. And then God giues this rich Man ye blessinge of vnderstandinge his Riches, how to employ thenotheyr Riches noe more then the Okes of the Forrest doe theyre owne Acornes. But last of all God giues him ye blessinge of discerninge ye mercy & purpose of God in giuinge him these Temporall blessinges and ther is his Immortall Soule. [fol. 24v] Now for the Riches ym selues (wich is his first Suooule) he may haue them, ex traduce, by deuolution afrom his Parents, & ye Ciuil wisedome how to gouerne his Riches, to purchase, where to sell, where to giue, where to take (wch is his 2d soule) this he may haue by his owne acquisitioaeuery Temporall blessinge; this is infused by God alone, & ariseth neither from Parents, neither from the wisedome of God this world; how worldly wise soeu
In Quibconsider propose a God, yt there is one, & then appropriate this God to our selues yt he be our God, & lastly be sure, yt we haue ye right God, yt our God be ye Lord. For for ye first, He yt enterpriseth any thinge, seakes any thinge, posseseth any thinge wthout recourse to God, wth out acckowl [fol. 26r] acknowledginge God in yt Action, he is an Athist. If he be an Athist euery where but in his Catich.isme, if onely then he confesse a God, when he is asked doest thou beleeue yt there is a God, & neu
Noster.And this appropriates him soe neare to vs as yt he is therby Deus Noster: For it is not enough to finde Deuue inaccessible, a light yt we cannot comprehend. A God yt enjoyes his owne eternity, his owne Peace his owne Blessednesse, respects not vs, reflects not vppon vs, [fol. 27r] communicates nothinge to vs. But it is a God yt is Deus noster, Our’s as we are his Creatures, Our’s as we alre like him, made to his Image, Our’s as he is like vs in assuminge our shape Nature Our’s as he hath descended to vs in his Incarnation, & ours as we are ascended wth him in his gloryfication. Soe yt wee doe not consider God as our God, except wee come to the consideration of God in Christ. God & Man. It is not enough to find Deuby in any other fashions, yn ye true Church of God doth; for there he is Deus Noster, as he is receiued in the vnanimous consent of ye Catholiqboughs ^bodyes^ [fol. 27v] they are but rotten boughs, gangreened Limbes, fragmentary chippes, blowne of by theyre owne Spirritt of turbulency, fallen of by ye weight of theyre owne Pride, or hewen of by ye Excomthey are but rotten for there is nihil nostrum, nothinge in commune amongst ym, nothinge yt goes through ym. all. All is singular, all is meumeus as he is Deus noster a part of yt Church wth. wch. he hath promised to be till ye end of ye world; & as I am an obedient sonne of yt mother wch is ye Spouse of Chr: Iesus. For as St. August: sayes. of yt Petition, Giue vs this Day our dayly bread vnde dicimus De nostrum, How come wee to aske yt wch is ours? Quomodo Nostru
[fol. 29r] Now as wee are thus to acknowledge DominusGod, & thus to appropriate yt God, soe wee must be sure to conferr this honor vppon ye right God, vppon him who is the Lord. Now this name of God, wch is translated Lord heere, is not the name of God wch. presents him wth relation to his Creatures, For soe it is a Problematicall, a disputable thinge, whether God could be called the Lord before there were any Creatures. Tertullian denyes absolutly yt he could be called Lord till then. St Augustine is more moddest, he sayes, Non audeo dicere, I dare not say yt he was not, but he does not affirme yt he was. Howsoeuer, the name heere is not the name of Relatioh, The Lord & ye offspringe of the Lord, & none is of the offspringe of the Lord, but God yt is ye Sonne & ye Holy Ghost. Soe yt this perfect Blessednesse consists in this, The true knowledge & worshipp of the Trinity.
And this blessinge, yt is ye true Religion Populall the People both Prince & People; & yn the blessinge consists in this That both Prince & People be syncerely affected one to ye true Religion And then ye People: And then ye People includes all ye people, And soe ye blessing consists in this, yt there be an vnanimity, a consent in all, in matter of Religion. And lastly ye People includes ye future People, & there ye blessinge consists in this, That our Posterity may enioy the same purety of Religion yt we doe. The first Tentation yt fell among ye Apostles, carried away one of them; Judas was transported wth ye tentation of Mony; & how much? for [fol. 31r] 30 peeces. And in all likelyhoode he might haue made more profitt yn yt out of the priuy purse. The first Tentation carried one, & the first Persecution carried away 9 when Chr: was apprehended, none were left but tow, & of one of these 2 St Jerome sayes Vtinam fugisset et non negasset Christum, I would Peter had fled too, & had not scandalized the cause more by his stay in denyinge his Master. For a man may stay in the outward profession of true Religion wth such purposes & such ends, as he may thereby the more damnify the Cause, & damnify his Soule more yn yf he went away to yt Religion, to wch his Conscience (though ill rectifyed) directs him.
[fol. 31v] Now though when such Tentations & when such Persecutions doe come, ye wordes of our Sauiour Christ will allwayes be true Feare not little Flocke, for it is Gods pleasure to giue you ye kingdome: Though God can lay vp his seede-corne in any little corner: yet the blessinge included heere is not in yt little seede-corne nor in ye corner, but in ye Plenty when all the People are blessed, And ye blessed spirrit blowes where he will & noe dore noe windowe is shutt against him. And therefore lett vs blesse God for ye greate mercy blessinge to vs, in giuing vs such Princes as make it theyr care, Ne bona caduca sint ne Mala recidiua, That ye blessinge wch we enioy by them, may neubdepart from vs, yt those miserys wch we felt before ym. may neu
[fol. 32r] Almighty God make allwayes to vs, all to vs all, Prince, & People, these Temporall blessinges, wch we enioy now, Peace & Plenty, & Health, seales of his Spirrittuall blessinges: And that Spirrittuall blessednesse wch we e
To wch glorious sonne of God. &c
Finis.
Publishing statement
Publisher: The Oxford Edition of the Sermons of John Donne
General Editor: Peter McCullough
Funder: Arts and Humanities Research Council
Availability: This XML document is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 License.
Transcription notes
Transcription by Erica Longfellow.
Transcription proofread and technical description by Mary Morrissey.
Transcription checked and coded by Elizabeth Williamson.
The Manuscript
Institution: St Paul's Cathedral Library, London
Shelfmark: MS 52.D.14
OESJD siglum: P
Manuscript Content
Item no: 1
Locus: ff. 3r-32r
Title: Psalme.144. Verse.15: Blessed are the people yt be soe yea blessed are ye People whose God is the Lord.
Incipit: The first part of this Text hath
Explicit: inestimable price of his incorruptible bloud.
Final Rubric: To wch glorious sonne of God. &c Finis.
Bibliography: OESJD Vol. II.5; P&S Vol. III.2
Note: Textual matter around the sermons: Title page, f.1r 'SERMONS MADE BY I. Donne. doctor of Deuinty & Deane of Pauls - Ano: Domini: 1625. Kni: Chetwode'
Item no: 2
Locus: ff. 33r-60r
Title: 1 Timothy: 3:16. And, wthout Controuersy, greate is the Mystery of Godlynesse: God was manifest in the flesh, Justifyed in ye Spirrit, seene of Angells, preached vnto the Gentills, Beleeued in the world, Receiued into Glory
Incipit: This is noe Text for an Howre-glasse.
Explicit: bloude.
Final Rubric: To wch: the glorious sonne of God &c. Finis
Bibliography: OESJD Vol. II.6; P&S Vol. III.9
Note: Textual matter around the sermons: Slip of paper pasted into the left margin of f.33r: 'This sermon I could not finde, in either of the two volumes.'. Title page, f.32v '1625. The Second Sermon Preached by John Donne Dotr: of Deuinity & Deane of PAVLS KNIGHTLEY CHETWODE'
Item no: 3
Locus: ff. 80r-105r
Title: Hosea 2.5.19 I will mary thee vnto me for euer
Incipit: The word, which is the hinge on
Explicit: corruptible bloud.
Final Rubric: To whome wth the father &c. Finis.
Bibliography: OESJD VII.2; P&S Vol. III.11
Note: Textual matter around the sermons: Title page, f.79v: '1626. THE FOVRth SERMON by John Donne Doctor of Deuinity & Deane of Paules - Knightley Chetwode'. Comment on f.79v: 'Preached at St: Clements at Mr: Washingtons Mariage'
Item no: 4
Locus: ff. 106r-177r
Title: 2 Cor: 4.6. Preached at the Spittle on Easter Monday 1622. For God who Commaunded light to shine out of darknesse hath shined in or Hartes, to giue ye light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in ye face of Iesus Christ
Incipit: The first booke of ye Bible begins wth the
Explicit: face of Iesus Christ.
Final Rubric: FINIS.
Bibliography: OESJD Vol. VIII.2; P&S Vol. IV.3
Note: Textual matter around the sermons: Slip of paper pasted into the left margin of f.105r: 'This sermon I could not finde, in either of the two volumes.'. Title page, f.104v: 'THE F SERMon by Iohn Donne Doctor of Deuinity & Deane of Paules - Knightley Chetwode: Anno Domi: 1625'. End of sermon, f.177r: 'Knightley Chetwode'
Physical Description
Material: Paper, quarto, 277 leaves 200 X 150 mm.
Foliation: The manuscript has recently been foliated by Mr Wisdom, Librarian, and Mr Wisdom’s foliation (taking the page with Katherine Butler’s ownership mark as f. 1) has been observed in the transcription following. The manuscript reverses at f. 230, with ff. 196-230r being blank.
Collation: There are no signatures. There appears to be extensive and complex quiring, which, combined with the tight binding, makes it practically impossible to work out the collation.
Condition: The manuscript is in excellent condition.
Hand(s) description
Hand 1, responsible for materials on ff. 3-174r, belongs Knightley Chetwode. This copyist of the four Donne sermons and the court sermon by Joseph Hall signs his name on the title page (either fully or with initials) of each sermon. His hand is a mix of late secretary and round hand features, and is neat and easily legible. He uses black and brown ink, with multiple changes throughout the volume, including in some cases between the body of the text and marginal comments, marginal corrections, and supralinear corrections, for example on f.49v-50r. Chetwood finally wrote some elaborately flourished additions, like the title page on f. 105v or the 'Finis' on f. 177r.
Hand 2 is unknown, and responsible for some supralinear correction and comments on pasted slips: ff.33r, 37r, 105r.
Hand 3 is unknown, and responsible for some supralinear corrections on ff. 110v, 135v. There are yet other hands in the manuscript, most notedly that of Katherine Butler, who inherited the manuscript and turned it into a commonplace book. However, since none of these other hands in the manuscript contribute to Donne's sermons, they are not further described here.
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