Ownership Inscription And List Of Contents, In A Volume Of Works By St. Augustine, St. John Of Damascus, And Others

This manuscript was apparently made towards the end of the 13th century for a member of the Grey family, whose heraldic arms are incorporated into the decoration of the first page; but within a generation or so it had found its way to Ramsey abbey, as it has the ownership inscription of the abbot, Simon.

One of the key features of interest is that the manuscript has been annotated with the indexing symbols devised by Robert Grosseteste (c.1175-1253), bishop of Lincoln, one of the greatest minds of the 13th century (‘Grosseteste’ is a nickname, and is French for ‘big head’).

Facing the start of the text, this flyleaf is inscribed with a list of the many works contained in the volume, headed in the same handwriting by the ownership note of Simon, abbot of Ramsey from 1316 to 1342: ‘Liber domini Simon. abbatis Rameseye’.