Legal Book Collecting in Late Medieval Bristol: The Case of Harvard, Houghton Library, MS Richardson 40

Abstract

From the late-thirteenth through late-fifteenth centuries, among the most frequently produced and widely disseminated books in England were unofficial, common law statute-based miscellanies known as Statuta Angliæ or ‘statute books’. In ca. 1470, a large format, de luxe, yet highly standardized, version of this codicological genre emerged; likely produced on a speculative basis, it survives in approximately two dozen exemplars. This thesis takes as its focus a member of this latter group: Cambridge, MA, Harvard University, Houghton Library, MS Richardson 40 (ca. 1460– 70). After reviewing current scholarship on these codices—examining several key issues and clarifying previous descriptions to enhance our understanding—it endeavours to establish a likely provenance for MS Richardson 40, exploring the ways in which both the manuscript and the broader genre resonate with the life of the proposed patron, Philip Mede (d. 1476), merchant, twice MP, and thrice Mayor of Bristol.