Preston Take 2

April 3, 2020 in Manuscript Studies, Uncategorized

Pile of documents and manuscript fragments within melanex protective sheets, with 2 medieval documents from Preston Saint Mary at the top. Photograph by Mildred Budny.

Revisiting a Set of 13th-Documents
in Latin from Preston in Suffolk

With a Winning Competition

In our earlier blogpost on this subject, Full Court Preston, we showcased 2 single-sheet documents which came from a shared location, from dates there separated across generations, and with or without their original seals. We called them Preston Charters 1 and 2, now preserved in a private collection.  Charter 2 lies at the top of the pile in the image here at the left.

Now, having had the opportunity to examine the full set of medieval charters from Preston which came as a group into that collection, we can call these two by their present owner’s numbering system (in these cases, Preston Charters 5 and 7), as we also announce the winner of our competition to transcribe and translate one or other, or both, of this selected pair.

Other reports on our website examine single-sheet medieval and later documents with, or without, their original seals.  These reports appear

Document in 5 lines on paper, dated 22 February 1345 (Old Style), with red wax seal. Image reproduced by permisison.

Document from Grenoble dated 22 February 1345 (Old Style), with wax seal.

1) In our blog on Manuscript Studies  (see its Contents List):

2) In The Illustrated Handlist, Part II.  “Documents on Vellum”

3) In Starter Kit, giving a brief introduction to a group of 14 medieval Seal Matrices (mostly, it appears, from England)

The Preston set came up for sale in London some years ago, apparently as a single batch, preserved together and sent forth together, after centuries and generations with a common heritage. Their origin relates to Preston (now known as Preston St Mary), near Ipswich, in Suffolk in England.

Now we revisit them, with a view of the set in full — insofar as it survives as a group of documents, plus some of their wax seals and a now-empty pouch for a seal.  We announce the winner of our competition to transcribe and translate the first 2 documents, as first introduced in our blog, with observations about their specific characteristics.  Other posts will report on other documents in the set, taking them pair by pair.

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