Crispin MS 31 is a 14th C English manuscript copy of Sermones Quadragesimiles; Distinctiones Theologicae by Jacopo de Voragine. It is interesting to us because it comprises 261 leaves of handmade paper plus 69 leaves of vellum, which is fairly atypical for this period. de Voragine was a Genoese Dominican monk who was an prominent writer most known for chronicling the lives of the saints in the Golden Legend, one of the most popular Medieval works. Special Collections has an early printed copy of Golden Legend in the Michael Wilson Collection–the 1527 edition printed by Wynken de Worde.
Crispin 31 is decorated with several fanciful drawings and flourishes within and around the text. Below are just a few.
leaf 190 verso:
leaf 127 recto:
leaf 183 verso:
