without reference to the original. An attempt to establish the relations of the several editions by collation with Riley's would, therefore, be fruitless.[1] Since it is desirable that these relations should be determined, I have edited again the copy found in the Liber Custumarum and collated it with other manuscripts and with various printed editions of the document.[2]
The only known medieval texts of the ordinance of 1184 are found in copies of a collection of laws made in the interest of the city of London during the reign of John.[3] The autograph of this compilation is not known to exist. The only contemporary manuscript is now divided into two parts. The first is Codex 174 in the John Rylands Library at Manchester and the second is Additional Manuscript 14252 in the British Museum. This copy of the compilation, however, does not contain the ordinance of 1184. The document which precedes the ordinance in the other copies is the last in Codex 174, and the document which follows the ordinance is the first in Additional Manuscript 14252. Professor Tout, who kindly examined for me the codex in the John Rylands Library, discovered that one folio[4] (or possibly two) had been cut out at the end.[5] The ordinance of 1184 was unquestionably on the missing folio. Of the later copies of the whole or of parts of this compilation only three have the ordinance of 1184. The Cottonian manuscript, Claudius D. ii, which is the one edited by Riley, was written about 1310; the manuscript numbered 70 in the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, was written about 1320; and the manuscript numbered 46 in the library of Oriel College, Oxford, was written about 1330. The Cottonian manuscript is generally the best of the three.
The text of the ordinance given below is taken from the copy on folio 71 of the Cottonian manuscript with slight emendations from the copies found on folio 109 of the Corpus manuscript and on folio 63 of the Oriel manuscript. The first is designated as A, the second as B, and the third as C. No conjectural emendations have been attempted, since one object of the present edition is to remove the difficulties caused by the guesses of previous editors. Extensions of words abbreviated in all three manuscripts are indicated by italics. The capitalization and
- ↑ I say this after making the attempt. Cartellieri experienced the same difficulty (Rev. Hist. lxxvi. 329, 330).
- ↑ Cartellieri has been insistent on the need of a new edition of this copy (ibid, and Philipp II, ii. 16, n. 2).
- ↑ This paragraph, with the exception noted, is based upon Liebermann's thorough studies of the relations of the manuscript copies of this collection in his Über die Leges Anglorum Saeculo XIII. ineunte Londoniis collectae, and ante, xxviii. 732–45.
- ↑ This would be fo. 127.
- ↑ Through the courtesy of Mr. Guppy, the librarian, Mr. Tout was able to have the binding opened.
