RESTRICTED. Use digital reproduction or facsimile (PR2411.M15 1972). Original available by special permission only.

Macro manuscripts of three morality plays [manuscript], ca. 1440-1475.

75 leaves : ill. ; 210-221 x 146-164 mm

Contains three morality plays: (1) Wisdom, or, Mind, will and understanding, copy ca. 1475 (leaves 98-121; 220 x 164 mm); (2) Mankind, copy ca. 1475 (leaves 122-134; 221 x 164 mm); (3) The castle of perseverance, copy ca. 1440 (leaves 154-191; 210 x 146 mm). A.W. Pollard believes the original dates of the compositions to be respectively, 1460, 1475, and 1425. Illustration of castle on leaf 191 verso is the earliest known stage diagram for an English play (Pen's excellencie, p. 23). Leaf 98 verso contains doodles.

Commonly known as "Macro manuscripts" and "Macro plays" in reference to Cox Macro, former owner.
Scribe of Mankind and Wisdom is possibly Thomas Hyngham, from the abbey of Bury St. Edmunds, East Anglia.
This is a PRELIMINARY RECORD. It contains unverified data from catalog cards and may contain incorrect or incomplete information. Please email catalog@folger.edu for assistance.

Macro plays: The castle of perseverance, Wisdom, Mankind. A facsim. ed. with facing transcriptions. Edited by David Bevington. New York : Johnson Reprint Corp., 1972.
Gibson, Gail M. "The Macro manuscripts and the making of the morality play." In Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, v. 113 (2019): 255-295.
Edited by F.J. Furnivall and A.W. Pollard, The macro plays, Early Eng. Text Soc., extra ser. 91 (1904, 1924); and by M. Eccles for the same Society (1969).
"The pen's excellencie" : treasures from the manuscript collection of the Folger Shakespeare Library / compiled and edited by Heather Wolfe. Seattle : Distributed by University of Washington Press, 2002, p. 23.
Infinite variety: exploring the Folger Shakespeare Library / edited by Esther Ferington. Seattle : Distributed by University of Washington Press, c2002, p. 51.

Disbound from 19th century binding with Hudson Gurney coat of arms and title "Macro Mss no. 5 article 3" on front and back covers, and spine title: "Old Plays Temp: Henry VI"

Mankind and Wisdom belonged in the 15th century to Hyngham, a monk, perhaps of Bury St. Edmunds -- Cox Macro -- Hudson Gurney copy.

Exhibited: Mapping Early Modern Worlds, Folger Shakespeare Library, February 14-July 1, 1998.
Exhibited: "The Pen's Excellencie" : Treasures from the Manuscript Collection of the Folger Shakespeare Library, curated by Heather Wolfe, Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C., February 6- June 8, 2002.

Ricci, S. de. Census of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts in the United States and Canada (suppl.), 5031

Mankind (Morality play)
Wisdom (Morality play)
Castle of perseverance (Morality play)

Blog post about Folger Shakespeare Library V.a.354: "What to do about the Macro manuscripts?", The Collation (20 October 2015)
Blog post about Folger Shakespeare Library V.a.354 fols. 98v and 121v: "Doodles and Dragons", The Collation (12 November 2015)
Digital image(s) of Folger Shakespeare Library V.a.354

V.a.354

Purchased August 7, 1936 from Bernard Quaritch by Folger Director Joseph Quincy Adams for $5,625 USD/£1125 GBP. Previously purchased by Quaritch at a Sotheby's auction on March 30, 1936 (no. 170), and listed in their 1936 catalog 520, no. 784.

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