Ancius Manlius Severus Boethius, a late fifth- and early sixth-century courtier imprisoned and eventually executed by the emperor Theodoric, wrote The Consolation of Philosophy in order to make sense of his predicament by considering the philosophical and theological implications of his misfortunes; while the logical argumentation tended to dominate in the prose sections, the verse sections added subtler persuasive points to the overall effect. Alfred the Great had the text translated into Old English prose as part of his program of learning; the metrical sections, however, were later translated from prose to Old English verse and appear in MS London, British Library, Cotton Otho A.vi, subsequently damaged in the Ashburnham House fire of 1731. The Metres were included as supplements to Franciscus Junius's Renaissance transcription of the prose text in Oxford, Bodleian Library, Junius 12 and were so treated in Cardale's edition of the Old English Consolation (also on display here); this is the second printed version of the Metres proper. This book is part of the personal collection of Professor Lewis Nicholson and is displayed through his courtesy.