St John's College L.22 (James 374)
Life of John Fisher. English, seventeenth century.
'The life and manner of death of that most holy Prelate and Constant Martir J ohn Fisher Bishop of Rochester and Cardinall of the holy Church of Rome', seventeenth-century copy. Beg.: 'In the yeare of our redemption 1459 ...'; ends: '... in his heavenly Kingdome where he raygneth for ever and ever. Amen'. At the end (p. 111), in the same hand, is this couplet: 'This booke was made in praise of him whose name / Shall ever bee in most renowned fame. J. C. [Joseph Creswell?]' The conclusion of this life, from another MS, is printed by Thomas Hearne in Peter Langtoft's Chronicle (1725/1810), pp. 551-60. This Life survives in numerous copies, and has been attributed, if a little cautiously, to Dr Richard Hall (of Pembroke and Gonville and Caius Colleges, d. 1604). The earliest copy seems to be BL, Arundel MS 152 (T. E. Bridgett, Life of Blessed John Fisher (London, 1890), pp. 451-8).
315x205 mm. [iv]+111+i+[iv] pp. On new flyleaf the inscription: 'Chester Pern Col. S. Johan. A.M. dedit'. Perne (d. 1753) was adm. at St John's in 1717, aged sixteen. On the original back cover some calculations, apparently contemporary with the main text. College bookplate (eighteenth century) inside front cover.
Single secretary hand (mid or late seventeenth century), a clean copy, with some correction of errors in transcription. Paper, several folios apparently repaired at the time of binding. Leather binding (?eighteenth century) for a work originally circulated in paper covers.