Page:The Library, volume 5, series 3.djvu/183

MIRACLE CYCLES. 171 indication of their antiquarian origin that in each case the scribe has dated and signed his work. The earliest manuscript of the cycle is one dated 1591 in the possession of the Duke of Devonshire. It is written in a very clear hand without ornament. Five leaves are missing at the start, the text beginning with the second pagent. I call this manuscript D. Next comes a manuscript at the British Museum, Additional 10305, dated 1592. Written in a care- ful hand, with more ornament than any of the other manuscripts. Mutilated at both ends; no as well as the smallest of the manuscripts. Speakers' names are centred : these and the stage directions and Latin quotations in the text are in red. Speeches are divided, and stage dire&ions marked off by treble rules with elaborate finials. A head-line giving the name of the craft is enclosed in rules, and more elaborate ornaments decorate the head-titles. Rules surround each page. The stanzas are in no way divided, but the shorter lines, normally the fourth and eighth, are sometimes filled out with stars. Written through- out in a good English hand, clear, but more laboured than that of D. At the end of each play is a signature: 'by me Georgi Bellin 1592.' This manuscript was the one printed by Wright: hence the designation W. 1600. K. In the British Museum, MS. Harley 2013. Measures 11^x7^ inches. Perfect, containing 205 folios. The rubrica- tion is similar to that of W, and the ornament is also somewhat similar though much less elaborate. Moreover, rules divide the quatrains or half stanzas. There is a head-line, and stars are some- times used. At the end of several of the plays occurs a signature : 'per me Georgi Bellin 1600.' Written throughout in a good English hand more flowing than that of W. At first sight there appears little resemblance between the two, and one might be inclined to suggest that Bellin was the scribe of the original manu- script from which both are copied. There are, however, some peculiar resemblances of detail between them, and when we take into account the similarity of ornament in the two cases, we shall perhaps conclude that the balance of probability is in favour of both