07 April 2015
A Giant from Our Collections: The Stavelot Bible
Readers of our blog will know that our manuscripts come in all shapes and sizes, and they vary from Books of Hours so tiny that they can fit in the palm of one’s hand, to enormous tomes that are almost impossible for one person to lift. Each of the two volumes of the Stavelot Bible exceeds the aircraft carry-on limit, with dimensions of 58 x 39cm, and weighing 40 lb, and the whole work takes four people to carry, two for each volume. Fortunately for scholars, bodybuilding is no longer a requirement to look at this manuscript as it has now been fully digitised and is available online as Add MS 28106 and Add MS 28107.
The writing, decoration and binding of this monumental Bible, made for the Benedictine abbey of Stavelot, near Liège, southern Netherlands, took four years to complete, and was finished in 1097.
Two monks involved in its production, Godderan and Ernesto, are identified in an inscription, although their roles are not specified: Godderan may have been the sole scribe, and Ernesto one of the artists. Its great size and legibility of script indicates that it would have been the principal Bible of the abbey, possibly used for daily services or for display on the high altar.
This image, which appears before the beginning of the New Testament, is one of the great monuments of early Romanesque art. It shows Christ in Majesty, holding a book and a Greek cross, with the globe of the earth under his feet, surrounded by the symbols of the Four Evangelists.
The two volumes of the Stavelot Bible contain 45 historiated initials in all. Unfortunately in some places initials have been cut out and blank spaces remain.
Not all initials are historiated. In this masterful composition from the beginning of the Liber Generationis in Matthew’s Gospel, the shape follows the outlines of the letter ‘L’ and animal and human forms struggle to escape from the swirling vines.
- Chantry Westwell
05 April 2015
The Divine Comedy Now Online
For those who enjoyed our blogposts on Dante’s Divine Comedy last year, the manuscript containing the images, Egerton MS 943, has now been published on Digitised Manuscripts. Here are a few of our favourite miniatures from this gorgeous manuscript, produced in northern Italy in the first half of the 14th century for a patron whose identity is unknown.
Inferno: In this part Dante is guided through Hell by Virgil and sees the torments of the Damned.
Purgatorio: Virgil and Dante climb out of Hell into Purgatory, where they meet the souls doing penance and climb the seven terraces representing the seven levels of suffering and spiritual growth.
Paradiso: In the third and final part, Dante is guided through Paradise by his lady love, Beatrice, who instructs him on the virtues of the seven celestial spheres and finally they enter the presence of the Divine.
- Chantry Westwell
02 April 2015
A Calendar Page for April 2015
To find out more about the London Rothschild Hours, take a look at our post A Calendar Page for January 2015.
Calendar page for April, with decorative border comprising a Zodiac sign, architectural column and roundels, and bas-de-page scene, from the London Rothschild Hours, Southern Netherlands (?Ghent), c. 1500, Add MS 35313, f. 3r
A pastoral scene greets us on the calendar page for April, with budding leaves on the trees heralding the onset of spring. Sheep and their lambs, a goat and two oxen are being shepherded out from half-timbered barns, to graze in the fields beyond. A cockerel, hens and their hatchlings scrabble about in farmyard, while in the background a woman stands churning milk for butter. The roundels depict the two main feast days for the month – for St George (on horseback, vanquishing a dragon with his lance) and for St Mark (seated at his desk and accompanied by his emblem, a winged lion). Taurus the Bull – the Zodiac sign for April – is standing at the head of page.
Detail of a bas-de-page scene of animals being let out to graze, Add MS 35313, f. 3r
Detail of a roundel depicting St George and the dragon, Add MS 35313, f. 3r
- James Freeman
29 March 2015
The Anglo-Saxon Origins of Medieval Justice
Our major Magna Carta exhibition is now open in London, but for those of you who can't come to the British Library in person, over the coming months we're going to showcase some of the exhibits on this blog. You may imagine that our story starts in the years immediately before the Great Charter was granted in 1215; but in fact the earliest items in our exhibition pre-date the Norman Conquest of England ...
Miniature of a king dictating the law (London, British Library, Royal MS 11 D IX, f. 6r)
‘No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land. To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice.’
So reads the most famous clause of Magna Carta, still valid in English law. But what do we know about the concept of justice before the 13th century?
The earliest surviving Anglo-Saxon law code was actually issued around the year 600 by King Æthelberht of Kent (r. 560–616), and was written in Old English. Meanwhile, the Bible provided models for good Christian kingship, as demonstrated in this 11th-century manuscript of the Hexateuch (the first 6 books of the Bible), on show in Magna Carta: Law, Liberty, Legacy.
The Old English Hexateuch (London, British Library, Cotton MS Claudius B IV, f. 59r)
Here is the biblical story of Pharaoh sentencing his chief baker to be hanged (Genesis 40:21-22). However, the 11th-century artist has dressed the figures in costumes of his own day: the king in the centre, holding a sword and a sceptre or rod, is surrounded by his counsellors; the condemned man, on the right, is being strung from the gallows. According to a 14th-century catalogue, this beautifully illustrated manuscript was kept in the monastery library at St Augustine’s Canterbury on the first shelf of its first bookcase. You can see this page in our Magna Carta exhibition, and the whole manuscript can be viewed on our Digital Manuscripts website.
The Ten Commandments were a particularly important model for the drafting of Anglo-Saxon law codes. They are referenced in the laws of Alfred the Great (r. 871–899) and formed part of the preface to his law book, grounding the secular laws in biblical precedents. God’s law is also specifically referenced in the longest Anglo-Saxon law code, which begins with the line, ‘I desire that justice be promoted and every injustice suppressed, that every illegality be eradicated from this land with the utmost diligence, and the law of God promoted’. This was issued by King Cnut (r. 1016–1035) with the advice of his counsellors. The text was drafted by Archbishop Wulfstan of York (d. 1023), and one of the eight surviving medieval manuscripts containing the text was produced in either York or Worcester in the 11th century. It was probably owned by the archbishop himself, and may contain his own annotations.
The Law Code II Cnut (London, British Library, Cotton MS Nero A I, f. 33r)
This item is also on display in our Magna Carta exhibition. When you see it in person, you realise that this pocket-sized book was deliberately made to be easily portable, perhaps by Archbishop Wulfstan himself.
It's quickly apparent that the concept of justice in medieval England was firmly established before King John came to the throne. We'll review why Magna Carta came to be granted in some of our later blogposts (look out for them on Twitter, @BLMedieval with the hashtag #MagnaCarta).
You can view the Old English Hexateuch and King Cnut's lawcode alongside other items relating to the history and legacy of Magna Carta in Magna Carta: Law, Liberty, Legacy, on at the British Library until 1 September 2015. They are also featured on our new Magna Carta website (Old English Hexateuch and lawcode of King Cnut).
26 March 2015
Greek Manuscripts Digitisation Project: The final seventy-five manuscripts go online
The third phase of the Greek Manuscripts Digitisation Project has now drawn to a close. In this update, we give details of the last manuscripts to be digitised in this phase. In the coming weeks, a number of additional posts will provide guides to specific themes and topics within the collection, and further outreach projects relating to the Greek manuscripts will be developed over the next year. We are most grateful to the generous benefactors who have supported the project, especially the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, and also many others, including the A. G. Leventis Foundation, Sam Fogg, the Sylvia Ioannou Foundation, the Thriplow Charitable Trust, and the Friends of the British Library.
We would also like to thank the many colleagues in the Library who contributed to this phase, especially Ann Tomalak, from Conservation; Neil McCowlen, Kristin Phelps, and Alex White, from Imaging Services; and Sarah J. Biggs and James Freeman, from Ancient, Medieval, and Early Modern Manuscripts. Their hard work (outlined in blogs here, here, and here) was essential to the timely completion of the project.
Add MS 34060, Collections of canons, with theological, liturgical, and historical pieces, and a few letters bearing on the relations between the Eastern and Western Churches. 12th and 15th centuries.
Add MS 39584, Parchment roll containing Ἀκολουθία τῶν Ἐγκαινίων: Office for the dedication of a church, with connected or similar offices. 14th century.
Add MS 39613, John Chrysostom, Divine Liturgy, in a Latin translation, ff 2r-29v, followed by the Greek original, ff 30r-59r. The Latin text differs from that in printed editions. France, probably Paris, between 1502 and 1506. Illuminated initials (ff 2r, 30r) and border (f 2r) of late French style. 16th century binding of light brown leather, blind-tooled, the panel formed by fillets alternating with four rows of impressions of a stamp of interlaced arcs of lattice work, five dots within the interlacement. The border is formed of lozenges enclosing roses. Brass clasps (one broken). Gilt and gauffred edges. The boards are from 16th century printed books: a Latin grammar with examples in French, a Latin servicebook, and another book in French.
Add MS 40755, The Divine Liturgies. Illuminated headpieces on ff 2r, 21r, and 46r, containing figures of Saints John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, and Gregory, standing under arches surrounded by a decorative border. An unfinished miniature of St Basil occurs on f 61r. Historiated initials on ff 9v, 14v, 19r, 27v, 28r, 31r, 44r, and numerous initials in gold and colours throughout. Written by the scribe Michael at the request of the patriarch Macarius in 1600, at the monastery of the Virgin at Demitrash, near Brusa. The former (17th-century) binding of crimson velvet over millboard with striped linen beneath, is kept separately.
Add MS 41660, Works by Ephraem the Syrian. 11th-12th century. A former 17th-18th century binding of yellow-brown blind-stamped leather over wooden boards is preserved separately under Add MS 41660/1.
Add MS 82951, Justin Martyr, Opera. Created in Venice in 1541, probably at the request of Guillaume Pelicier.
Add MS 82952, Maximus the Confessor, Preface to Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite; Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, De caelesti hierarchia and De divinis nominibus; David the Invincible, Prolegomena Philosophiae. Italy, 16th century.
Add MS 82953, Pseudo-Gregentius, Dialexis, and a collection of extracts from the Old Testament. 16th century.
Arundel MS 529, Theological extracts and letters, many relating to the Ecumenical Councils. Palimpsest, re-using at least five older manuscripts. Italy, S. (Salento, perhaps Otranto or Gallipoli). Dated 7 June 1111.
Arundel MS 539, Eusebius of Caesarea, Historia Ecclesiastica. Decorated headpieces in red and black ink (ff 2r, 164r). Small simple black initials highlighted in red. 1st half of the 16th century.
Arundel MS 542, Works of St John Chrysostom (some now attributed to Severianus Gabalensis). 10th century. Large foliate, geometric, or decorated headpieces in colours and gold with enclosed titles in red majuscules, and large coloured initials below at the beginning of texts. Simple headpiece with titles in red uncials, and large decorated initials in colour. Simple endpieces. Small initials in brown. Marginal drawing of a cross (f 223r). The old Arundel binding is kept separately as Arundel MS 542/1.
Arundel MS 543, St John Chrysostom, In Matthaeum homiliae. 11th century. 3 pink foliate headpieces and large decorated pink initials (ff 138v, 180v, and 187v) added in the 13th century as replacement folios. Original simple brown headpieces, and small simple pink or brown initials.
Arundel MS 550, Notebook of Johannes Cuno, containing a number of extracts from Greek and Latin authors, notes on grammar and metre, and other items. Italy, N. (Padua), c. 1506-1508.
Burney MS 34, Catena on the Octateuch (Rahlfs 424), and additional theological texts. Italy, N. E. (Veneto?), mid-16th century.
Burney MS 35, Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Interpretatio in Psalmos. Italy, Central. Written during Lent 1548.
Burney MS 44, Lives of martyrs celebrated from 4 to 31 Dec, in two volumes, Burney MS 44/1 and Burney MS 44/2. All except that for St John of Damascus are in the versions attributed to Symeon Metaphrastes. Completed in July 1184. Foliage headpiece, in red and brown (volume I, f 1r). Other simple headpieces. Large red initials, some decorated with foliate shapes. Small red or gold initials.
Burney MS 46, Works of Athanasius of Alexandria, in two volumes, Burney MS 46/1 and Burney MS 46/2. 2nd half of the 11th century-1st half of the 12th century.
Burney MS 47, St John Chrysostom, In Joannem (homiliae 1-45). Illuminated headpieces at the beginning of homilies 1-17. 11th century.
Burney MS 48, Commentaries of St John Chrysostom on the Pauline letters, followed by the Catholic Epistles (Gregory-Aland 643; Scrivener act 225; von Soden α 1402, X40), in two volumes, Burney MS 48/1 and Burney MS 48/2. 11th-12th century.
Burney MS 49, Homilies of St John Chrysostom on selected Pauline Epistles. Eastern Mediterranean (Corfu), 1430.
Burney MS 50, Apophthegmata Patrum (Collectio alphabetica), in two volumes, Burney MS 50/1 and Burney MS 50/2. Eastern Mediterranean (Crete) 1361-1362.
Burney MS 51, Two fragments of the works of St Gregory of Nazianzus, the first dating from the late 10th or 11th century, the second dating from the 14th century. Fragment I possibly from Constantinople.
Burney MS 52, Homilies and sermons of St Gregory of Nyssa. 12th-13th century.
Burney MS 53, Patristic miscellany, containing texts by Origen, Eustathius, Gregory of Nyssa, and the emperor Zeno. Italy, S. (Naples) or Central (Rome), c. 1580.
Burney MS 54, Collection of liturgical readings, prayers, verses, and tables. Includes the Liturgies of John Chrysostom and Basil of Caesarea. Eastern Mediterranean (Ephesus?) 1573. 7 diagrams, including the palms of hands relating to the cycles of the sun and the moon, stylised crosses, and geometric shapes (ff 2v, 4r, 5v, 6r, 49r, 49v, 51r). 6 architectural frames of a rounded arch framing a blank space (ff 16v, 18v, 20v, 24v (unfinished), 29v, 36v). Foliate headpieces in colours with birds and plants on gold grounds (ff 54r, 80r). Other foliate, woven, or geometric headpieces (ff 12r, 16r, 18r, 20r, 24r, 117v, 119r, 133v, 148r) in colours. Large zoomorphic initials, usually of birds in blue and red, or blue, red, and green. Large red or brown initials, many of or with foliate forms, some with other colours. Small red or brown initials. Knotted decorative forms.
Burney MS 73, Demetrius Cydones, Homily on St Lawrence (BHG3 978), followed by notes on the history of Jerusalem in Latin. Italy, N.?, 4th quarter of the 15th century.
Burney MS 76, Theodore Gaza, Introductio grammatica, Book I. Paris, 2nd half of the 15th century.
Burney MS 80, Heraclides Lembus' extracts from Aristotle, Politeia, extracts from Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, and Aelian, De natura animalium, and Epictetus, Enchiridion. 2nd half of the 16th century.
Burney MS 81, Heron of Alexandria, Pneumatica, with extensive Latin marginal annotations and many pen diagrams. Italy, mid-16th century.
Burney MS 87, Isocrates, Ad Nicoclem (TLG 0010.013), imperfect, with interlinear Latin translation. Italy, Central (Rome), 4th quarter of the 16th century-1st quarter of the 17th century.
Burney MS 94, Grammatical and medical treatises, including works by Manuel Moschopoulos, Thomas Magister, Rufus of Ephesus, and Oribasius of Pergamon. Italy, N. E. (Venice), 2nd half of the 15th century.
Burney MS 99, Greek compositions by Sir Ralph Winwood (b. 1562/3, d. 1617). England (Oxford), written between 1578 and 1589.
Burney MS 104. Commentary on and introduction to Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos. Written in 1543, possibly in Paris.
Burney MS 105, Pappas of Alexandria, Synagoge, imperfect, including extracts from the Mechanica of Heron of Alexandria. Italy, 2nd half of the 16th century.
Burney MS 112, 113, and 114, Religious texts copied by Matthew, Metropolites of Ephesus, in three volumes. Eastern Mediterranean (Ephesus), 2nd quarter of the 14th century.
Burney MS 127, Nicolas Floyd of Winchester College, Ραψῳδία βιβλικὰ. Passages from the Bible converted into Greek and Latin parallel verses. Winchester, 1652.
Burney MS 402, Collection of Greek and Latin inscriptions copied by Anthony Askew, M.D., in the Levant and Greece, with notes on their situation, size, state of preservation, etc. Completed on 24 January 1748.
Burney MS 408, Palimpsest, the upper (14th-century) text being homilies of St John Chrysostom on Matthew and John, and the lower fragments of a 10th century Gospel lectionary (Gregory-Aland l 338).
Egerton MS 265, Collection of novellae and other legal texts by Emperors Leo VI the Wise, Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, Nicephorus II Phocas, Cosmas Magister and Eustathius Romaeus. 15th century.
Egerton MS 266, Michael Attaliates, Πόνημα νομικὸν ἤτοι σύνοψις πραγματική (TLG 3079.002). The text from f 45r onwards differs from that in the TLG. The copyist writes on f 56r that the prototype was imperfect: 'τοῦτο περισσὸν ἦν, ἔλιπε δὲ τὸ τέλος'. Marginal comments (mainly in Greek, and a few in Latin) have been added throughout the text by at least two later hands. 15th century.
Egerton MS 622, Poems by Gregory of Nazianzus with interlinear glosses in the form of a mathematarion, and a dictionary copied and compiled by Basileios Μοσκοβόρρωτος. 16th century, incorporating parts of book printed in 1727.
Egerton MS 2339, Patristic florilegium; Thekaras, Horologion and hymns; prayers, imperfect. 16th century.
Egerton MS 2474, Collection of various texts from Pseudo-Plutarch, Synesius of Cyrene, Amphilochius of Iconium, Gregory of Nazianzus, Nicetas David and John Zonaras, with interlinear glosses and marginal scholia. Italy?, 17th century.
Egerton MS 2610, Four Gospels (Gregory-Aland 700). Canon tables in architectural frames in gold and colours (ff 3v-4r, 5v-6r, 7v-8r, 9v-10r). 4 miniatures of Evangelist portraits in colours on gold grounds (ff 12v, 91v, 144v, 230v). Large headpieces in colours and gold, with foliate patterns and birds (f 13r), and 4 large initials in colours and gold, at the beginning of the Gospels (ff 13r, 92r, 145r, 231r). Initials in gold. Simple head- and tailpieces in gold. Chrysography. 11th century.
Egerton MS 2626, Sozomen, Historia ecclesiastica (TLG 2048.001); Evagrius Scholasticus, Historia ecclesiastica (TLG 2733.001). Italy, Central (Rome), 1524.
Egerton MS 2707, Collection of ecclesiastical canons and other related texts. 13th century.
Egerton MS 2783, Four Gospels, imperfect (Gregory-Aland 714). 12th-13th century. 7 full-page miniatures in colours on gold grounds of the symbols of the Evangelists and Evangelist portraits (lacking a portrait of Luke) (ff 13r, 13v, 106r, 106v, 166v, 264r, 264v). Canon tables in red in frames, with foliate decoration (ff 5r-9v). Large headpieces in red with foliate patterns. Large initials in red with penwork decoration. Small initials in red. Simple headpieces in red. Text and rubrics in red. 18th century binding of brown stamped leather, with blind tooling and gold edges. On the inside of each cover there is a portion of a 13th-century manuscript of the Sententiæ of Peter Lombard.
Egerton MS 3155, Leitourgikon, containing the Liturgies of St John Chrysostom (ff 3r-21r), St Basil the Great (ff 22r-48r), and the Presanctified (ff 49r-58v). Eastern Mediterranean (Constantinople), 1644.
Egerton MS 3157, Nicephorus Callistus Xanthopulus, Synaxaria; Ephraem the Syrian, Sermo in pulcherrimum Ioseph, imperfect. 4th quarter of the 14th century. 33 drawings in ink and watercolours. Headpieces in brown and red, some with braided decoration. Headpiece and large decorated initial in watercolours (f 96r). Simple endpieces in red or brown. Initials in red, some with penwork decoration. Rubrics in red. The former contemporary binding of wooden boards and tooled leather, with metal bosses on each side kept separately as Egerton MS 3157/1.
Harley MS 5785, Gospel Lectionary (Gregory-Aland l 151), with ecphonetic notation. 12th century. 3 evangelist portraits in colours and gold of Matthew, Mark, and Luke (ff 66v, 143v, 187v). 18 headpieces in colours and gold with animals, birds, and/or floral and foliate motifs (ff 1r, 67r, 104r, 144r, 202v, 234r, 246r, 274r, 281r, 298v, 313r, 320v, 325v, 328v, 332r, 340r, 344r, 353r). 1 very large initial in colours and gold (f 289v). Major initials in colours and gold, some with anthropomorphic designs (e.g. 3v). Titles in gold capitals written over red. Marginal notations in red.
Harley MS 5796, New Testament (Gregory-Aland 444; Scrivener evan. 444, Act. 153, Paul 240; von Soden δ 551). 1st half of the 15th century. Headpieces with geometric and foliate decoration and initials with foliate decoration in gold and/or colours (ff 2r, 44r, 73r, 121r, 163r). Titles in display capitals in gold or red (ff 2r, 44r, 73r, 121r, 163r). Rubrics, decorated initials and scholia in red.
Harley MS 7509, Collection of copies of Greek inscriptions made in Asia Minor by William Sherard (1659-1728), Consul for the Turkey Company at Smyrna. 1st quarter of the 18th century.
Lansdowne MS 355, Miscellaneous letters of Greek patriarchs, metropolitans, etc., together with letters to John Covel, D.D. and his copies and drafts. 1652-1701.
Royal MS 1 B II, Old Testament: Major and Minor Prophets of the Septuagint version (Rahlfs 22). 1st quarter of the 12th century. Headpieces, initials and titles in carmine ink.
Royal MS 2 A VI, Psalter (Rahlfs 175). 12th century. Illuminated headpieces at the start of Psalms 1 and 77 (ff 22r, 154r).
Royal MS 16 C XI, Galen, De diebus decretoriis libri III. Italy, 1st quarter of the 16th century.
Royal MS 16 C XII,Astronomical works. 1544-3rd quarter of the 16th century.
Royal MS 16 C XIII, Photius, Bibliotheca Codex 239, and [Andronicus], De Passionibus. 2nd half of the 16th century.
Royal MS 16 C XV, Two works attributed to Gregory of Nyssa, with marginal notes by Isaac Casaubon and Patrick Young. 3rd quarter of the 16th century. Also digitised is the old Royal binding of this manuscript, now held as Royal MS 16 C XV/1.
Royal MS 16 C XVI, Artemidorus Capito, De urinis, and Hippocrates, Prognosticon, preceded by medical notes, mostly in Latin. 1st quarter of the 16th century, Germany?
Royal MS 16 D I, Works by or attributed to St Gregory of Nyssa. 13th century.
Royal MS 16 D III A and B, John Tzetzes, Antehomerica, with an imperfect Latin translation by Petrus Morellus. 4th quarter of the 16th century, France (Loches). Formerly owned by Isaac Casaubon.
Royal MS 16 D IV, Indices to the scholia of Tzetzes on Lycophron. Italy, 4th quarter of the 16th century.
Royal MS 16 D V, St Gregory of Nazianzus, Contra Julianum imperatorem 1-2 (Orationes 4-5). Italy, Central (Rome), 2nd half of the 16th century.
Royal MS 16 D VI, St Gregory of Nazianzus, Orationes 7, 8, 18, and 34, with the commentary of Elias of Crete. Italy, Central (Rome), 2nd half of the 16th century.
Royal MS 16 D VIII, Acts of the First Council of Nicaea, compiled by Gelasius of Cyzicus, followed by two works by Athanasius. Italy, 4th quarter of the 16th century.
Royal MS 16 D XI, St Gregory of Nyssa, selected works. Italy, N. (Venice or Trento), 2nd half of the 16th century.
Royal MS 16 D XV, Acts of the Second Council of Nicaea. Italy, N. (Venice or Trento), 3rd quarter of the 16th century.
Royal MS 16 D XVII, Clement of Alexandria, Paedagogus, Hymnus Christi servatoris, and an anonymous iambic hymn. 1st half of the 16th century.
Royal MS 16 D XVIII, Eustathius Macrembolites, Hysmene et Hysmenias; Achilles Tatius, Leucippe et Clitophon; and [Eustathius Antiochenus], Commentarius in hexaemeron. The works are from three separate manuscripts, bound together at some point after 1697. 1st half of the 16th century.
Sloane MS 324, Michael Apostolis, Oratio ad Discipulos Suos, autograph copy. Eastern Mediterranean (Crete), 1460?
Sloane MS 745, Hippiatrica or Horse Medicine. 13th century.
Sloane MS 1835, Extracts from Evagrius Scholasticus, Historia Ecclesiastica (TLG 2733.001; CPG 7500), with Latin translations by Petrus Joannes Olivarius, preceded by his dedication to Henry VIII. England?, 2nd quarter of the 16th century.
- Cillian O’Hogan
21 March 2015
True Nobility and Plagiarism
Being a royal librarian could be a lucrative business in the fifteenth century, as the career of Quentin Poulet illustrates. Born in Lille, he went from obscure scribe in a book-producer’s confraternity in Bruges in 1477-78, to keeper of the library of Henry VII in 1492. From the few records of his life that survive, we know that on 26th July 1497, he was paid £23 sterling for ‘a boke’ with a bonus of 10 marks on top from the royal purse. The ‘boke’ in question may well be Royal MS 19 C VIII, a copy of the Imaginacion de la vraie noblesse, which has just been photographed and uploaded to Digitised Manuscripts.
Miniature showing the young knight observing an archer and a carter as models for princely conduct, surrounded by a naturalistic scatter border, from the Imaginacion de la vraie noblesse, London and Bruges, c. 1496-97, Royal MS 19 C VIII, f. 41r
One might imagine why Henry was so chuffed with the present. The text is a knightly ‘mirror’ text, intended to offer moral guidance and instruction in courtly behaviour to its aristocratic reader – and what better reader than the ten-year-old Arthur Tudor, prince of Wales? For the heir apparent to Henry VII, this book could plausibly have formed part of his schooling. It offers edifying exempla: from the three aspects of nobility – love of God, love of justice, and love of good reputation – personified as three women, to the virtues embodied by the archer (his skill of focusing on a target) and the carter (his determination, or drive if you’re in the mood for a pun!). It warns how poor counsellors can lead a prince astray, while illustrating the divine right of kings in ruling over their realms.
Detail of the colophon of Quentin Poulet, Royal MS 19 C VIII, f. 97v
Poulet copied the manuscript himself, writing the text in an elegant Bâtarde script – a style of handwriting common among manuscripts produced under the patronage of the Burgundian court (as illustrated by the copy of the Mystère de la Vengeance made c. 1465 for Philip the Good, acquired last year by the British Library and now Add MS 89066/1 and Add MS 89066/2).
Miniature of Lady Imagination taking her leave of the young knight at the end of his pilgrimage, with the city of Halle in the background, Royal MS 19 C VIII, f. 90r
The text was not widely known in England: the only other known insular copy was made for Richard Neville, earl of Warwick, in 1464 (now Geneva, Bibliothèque publique et universitaire, MS fr. 166). Its obscurity may explain why Poulet was able to pass the work off as his own. The narrative frame of a pilgrimage from Lille to Halle (which town is illustrated in the background of many of the miniatures), and its attribution to a member of a prominent Flanders family, Hugues of Lannoy, also explain the text’s appeal to Poulet.
Detail of an historiated initial depicting the presentation of the manuscript by Quentin Poulet to Henry VII, Royal MS 19 C VIII, f. 1r
Poulet cannily repackaged the text, changing the title slightly from the Enseignement to the Imaginacion de la vraie noblesse, prefacing it with his own dedicatory introduction, and incorporating his name into the colophon at the end (which records the manuscript’s completion at the royal palace of Sheen on 30th June 1496). A historiated initial at the beginning of the preface depicts Poulet kneeling before Henry VII and offering him the book.
Miniature showing the young knight a man with severed arms, illustrative of his lack of honour, surrounded by a naturalistic scatter border and animal-rebus on the name of Quentin Poulet, Royal MS 19 C VIII, f. 32v – this image may be familiar to you from our Valentine’s Day post, An Illustrated Guide to Medieval Love
Poulet also had his name encoded into the decoration, in the form of a chicken (‘un poulet’, in French) emerging from a shell in one of the scatter borders that surround the miniatures. These borders contain naturalistic flowers and plants (pansies, roses, carnations and strawberry sprigs), animals, birds and insects (a bear, a jay, a grouse, an owl, a fly and a butterfly), and a cheeky monkey that is aping the gestures of the young knight (for more monkey business, take a look at our earlier post, Apes Pulling Shapes).
Miniature showing Lady Imagination introducing the young knight to the Three Aspects of Nobility, embodied as young women, surrounded by a naturalistic scatter border, Royal MS 19 C VIII, f. 11r
The manuscript contains six large illustrations, which were completed by the Bruges illuminator known to modern scholarship as the ‘Master of the Prayer Books of Around 1500’. (A note was added in pencil to f. 81v by Frederic Madden in 1845, drawing attention to the loss of the following leaf, which presumably contained a seventh miniature). His work is also found in Harley MS 4425, featured on this blog in our posts Sex and Death in the Roman de la Rose and The Height of Fashion, and Royal MS 16 F II, a compilation including poetry by Charles of Orléans. The British Library also holds one other copy of the Enseignement – Add MS 15469 – another illustrated but much less lavish production on paper.
- James Freeman
10 March 2015
The Greek Manuscripts of Robert Curzon, Part I
In Saturday's blog post, we featured Add MS 39591, a manuscript that was ‘improved’ in the 19th century for its owner Robert Curzon, 14th Baron Zouche. Today, we provide the first of a two-part guide to Curzon’s Greek manuscripts. Most of the 42 Greek manuscripts from Curzon’s collection have now been digitised as part of the Greek Manuscripts Digitisation Project. Curzon’s manuscripts are especially significant for two reasons: first, he almost always leaves detailed notes about his acquisition of individual items in the manuscripts (much material for future #FlyleafFridays here!), and second, a large number of his manuscripts retain Byzantine-style bindings. For these reasons, details are given below of provenance and/or bindings where these are particularly interesting or significant.
Add MS 39583. Fragments collected by Robert Curzon to illustrate the history of writing. The volume originally contained both Western and Oriental fragments, but the latter have now been transferred to their appropriate departments (Egyptian Antiquities, British Museum, and Asian and African Studies, British Library). The Greek contents are a fragment of a Greek Gospel lectionary (Gregory-Aland l 182); a leaf from a manuscript containing Ephraem the Syrian, Sermo Compunctorius (CPG 3908); and a miniature of St. Mark in the Byzantine style of the ?13th century, probably from a Greek Gospel-book.
Add MS 39584. Parchment roll containing Ἀκολουθία τῶν Ἐγκαινίων: Office for the dedication of a church, with connected or similar offices. 14th century. This roll has been photographed and will appear on Digitised Manuscripts in the coming weeks.
Add MS 39585. Octateuch (Rahlfs 426), imperfect. 11th century, possibly written in Constantinople, where it was by the early 15th century. Bound in boards covered with black leather, blind-tooled with a plain double-line border and a saltire cross, fastened by a leathern thong. On the front cover has been fastened a late Byzantine icon (which may be as late as the sixteenth cent.), given to Curzon (according to a note inside the cover, f i) at Jerusalem by his English servant, William Fuller. It is attached to the binding by a silver frame, in the corners of which are set four stones from Mount Sinai, while in each of the upper lower rims are six stones from the bed of the Jordan. The icon is on wood. The faces are raised, perhaps by means of wax, and the whole is varnished. A double row of saints is shown, which are as follows:-Top row, St John the Baptist, St Nicholas, St George, St Demetrios, Bottom row, Prophet Daniel, Holy Barnabas, Holy Sophronios, St Christophoros. The fore-edge image is listed on Digitised Manuscripts as f vi recto. Curzon acquired the manuscript at the Monastery of St Sabba near Jerusalem (f iii recto).
Add MS 39586. Psalter and Canticles (Rahlfs 1090), with later additions on extra leaves, original and inserted, at beginning and end. Much-defaced miniature of the Psalmist, f 1v. Decorated headpiece, f 2r. Initials, headings and points in red. Some scribblings and drawings in the margins. Early 11th century. Bound in boards covered with blind-tooled leather, originally red (17th century), each studded with five brass bosses, most of which are lost, and with traces of a clasp. On the board of the front cover (f i recto) is written Γαβρηλ Βγ. The fore-edge can be viewed on Digitised Manuscripts as f viii recto. Acquired at the Karakallou Monastery on Mount Athos, according to Curzon’s printed catalogue, though a note in the manuscript (f iv recto) states that the MS was bought from the Monastery of St. Sabba, near Jerusalem.
Add MS 39587. Psalter (Rahlfs 1091). According to Rahlfs, this manuscript and Add MS 39588 (Parham MS VI) were originally a single manuscript. 12th century. Binding is half black, modern English, by Charles Lewis, of black velvet studded on each cover with five silver bosses of open work in silver set with crystals. Acquired at the Monastery of St Sabba near Jerusalem (f i recto).
Add MS 39588. Canticles and other Services, imperfect (Rahlfs 1091), the continuation of the previous manuscript. 12th century. Initials and decorated headpieces in red. Two rough drawings on f 40v. Binding of brown leather. A note by Curzon on f i recto states 'I forget whether I got this MS. at Therapia, of an old woman, who lived at the top of the hill, behind Ld. Ponsonby's stables; from whom I got 4 bad MSS. of the 16th century or whether I got it at Athens, from a certain schoolmaster'. Rahlfs' belief that this manuscript was originally part of Add MS 39587 makes it more probable that Curzon acquired it at St Sabba (the source of Add MS 39587)
Add MS 39589. Psalter (Rahlfs 1092) with introduction and commentary based on that of Euthymius Zigabenus (PG 128), attributed in the manuscript to Nicephorus Blemmydes, imperfect. 2nd half of the 12th century. Initials and headings in red. Ornamental headpieces in red and green before the introduction to the commentary and the Psalter (ff 1r, 12r). On f 11v are the remains of a miniature, representing the Psalmist. Almost all the colour has flaked off, leaving only the outlines; the nimbus was of gold, and Δα(υεί)δ is written in red on the right of the head. Modern binding of blue velvet. Purchased by Robert Curzon in Therapia in 1837 for 1 dollar (f i recto).
Add MS 39590. New Testament, without the book of Revelation (Gregory-Aland 547). Contains Euthalian prefaces to the Epistles and prefatory notes and epigrams to the Gospels. 11th century, the flyleaves are taken from a 10th-century manuscript of sermons by John Chrysostom. In wooden boards covered with brown leather (possibly 15th century), blind-tooled, with ornamental borders and stamped medallions containing dogs, etc., metal bosses in the middle and at the four corners, several of which have been lost and, in two cases, replaced by modern nails. The fore-edge is listed on Digitised Manuscripts as f ix recto. Acquired at the Karakallou Monastery on Mount Athos (f ii recto).
Add MS 39591. Four Gospels (Gregory-Aland 548). At the end a 14th-century hand has added the oikoi (acrostic "αβγ-ο") from the Office of the Akathist. Mid-12th century. Initials, titloi, and numbers of Ammonian sections in gold and over red. Headpieces illuminated in gold and colours. Before each Gospel is a miniature of the Evangelist. The first of these (f iii verso) is modern, and it is not certain that there was an original miniature of St Matthew. The three original miniatures (ff 44v, 70v and 124v) have in each case a plain gold ground and show the Evangelist seated. These were significantly overpainted at the same time as the miniature of St Matthew was added.The first 8 lines of St. John's Gospel are written in gold over red. Some of the earlier folios (ff 2r-4r, 15v-16r) have been furnished with neums in red, and notes of lessons have been made as far as f 5r, in both cases by a later hand. The manuscript was "improved" for Robert Curzon in the 19th century.
Add MS 39592. Four Gospels (Gregory-Aland 549), with marginal commentary. 11th century. Gospel headings and initials on the first page of each Gospel in gold; other initials in magenta. Bound in a comparatively modern binding of boards covered with red velvet, with a leaf-like plate of silver-gilt at each corner, formerly clasped by cords of red and yellow. Images of the fore-edges can be foudn on Digitised Manuscripts as ff iii-v. Acquired at the Xenophontos Monastery on Mount Athos (f i recto).
Add MS 39593. Four Gospels (Gregory-Aland 550), with prefaces taken from the commentary of Theophylact, and synaxaria. 12th century. Decorated headpieces. Initials, lists of chapters, Ammonian section-numbers, and lection notes in red, much-faded. Binding of boards covered with black leather, blind-tooled, with cross on front cover, much rubbed. Acquired at the Karakallou Monastery on Mount Athos (f 2v).
Add MS 39594. Four Gospels (Gregory-Aland 551), with capitula, Ammonian sections, lection notes, and subscriptions. 12th century. Followed by synaxaria, added on paper in the late fifteenth century. Full-page miniatures of the Evangelists. Illuminated headpieces and initials. Other initials, headings, titloi, lection notes, and section numbers in varying tints. Binding is probably 16th century. Boards covered with dark brown leather. The upper cover has a blind-stamped border with a cross in the middle, the spaces left being filled irregularly with stamped designs, rosettes, rings containing birds, etc. The lower cover has a more regular pattern, also blind-stamped, a border enclosing a panel divided by diagonal lines crossing, the spaces being occupied by conventional designs. The fore-edge can be viewed on Digitised Manuscripts as f ii recto. Acquired at the Karakallou Monastery on Mount Athos (f i recto).
Add MS 39595. Four Gospels (Gregory-Aland 552). 2nd half of the 12th century. Illuminated headpieces and initials. The first page of each Gospel is written in gold over magenta. Initials and titloi in magenta. In a binding of wooden boards, covered with brown leather, probably 16th-17th century, with a blind-tooled pattern of a saltire in a panel. Acquired at the Monastery of St Sabba (f iii recto).
Add MS 39596. Four Gospels (Gregory-Aland 553). 13th century. Illuminated headpieces and Gospel initials. Titloi, chapter-numbers, subscriptions, intials, and capitula in red. Binding of wooden boards covered with dark brown leather, probably 16th century. The fore-edge can be viewed on Digitised Manuscripts as f iv recto. Acquired at the Monastery of St Sabba (f i recto).
Add MS 39597. Four Gospels (Gregory-Aland 554). Written in 1272. Illuminated headpieces and Gospel initials, other initials and titloi in red. Binding of blind-panelled black leather over wooden boards, 16th-17th century. Acquired at the Monastery of St Sabba for 10 dollars (f i recto).
Add MS 39598. New Testament, Acts and Epistles (Gregory-Aland 910), with Euthalian headings, preceded by Dorotheus of Tyre, Index Apostolorum et Discipulorum. Completed in 1009. Decorated headpiece in red and black before Acts. Headings, subscriptions and the first few words of each paragraph in red. Binding of wooden boards, covered with black leather: 16th-17th cent. Acquired at the Monastery of St Sabba (f ii recto).
Add MS 39599. New Testament, Acts and Epistles (Gregory-Aland 911), with ekphonetic neums, lection notes, and a marginal commentary, being a combination of the commentaries of Theophylact and Oecumenius on Acts, an abbreviated version of the commentary of Oecumenius on the Pauline Epistles, and a selection from the text now in Cramer's Catena (1840) on the Catholic Epistles. Imperfect at the end. The volume also contained Revelation, which was cut out by the Hegoumenos of the Karakallou Monastery, and which is now bound separately as Add MS 39601 (see below). The missing portion of the Catholic Epistles, now lost, may have been cut out at the same time. 11th century. In boards covered with brown leather, blind-tooled with a panel pattern and varnished, perhaps of the 16th century. Acquired at the Karakallou Monastery on Mount Athos (note on the inside front cover).
Add MS 39600. New Testament, Acts and Epistles (Gregory-Aland 912), with the prefaces of Euthalius and Theodoret. 13th century. Decorated headpiece in red at the beginning of Acts. Initials, subscriptions, titloi, and lection notes in red. The manuscript also contains a line-engraving of the Monastery of Simonopetra, dated 1836, which was included in the volume when it was rebound in red velvet in the 19th century. Acquired at the Simonopetra Monastery on Mount Athos (f i recto).
Add MS 39601. Revelation (Gregory-Aland 911 [=2040]), imperfect at the end, expl. 20:11, καὶ ὁ οὐρανός, καὶ τόπος, with a marginal commentary by Andreas of Caesarea, Commentarii in Apocalypsin (TLG 3004.001). Originally part of Add MS 39599 (see above), but the hand of the text (perhaps not that of the commentary) is different and a good deal smaller. 19th century binding of red velvet. Acquired at the Karakallou Monastery on Mount Athos (f ii verso).
Add MS 39602. Gospel lectionary (Gregory-Aland l 181). Written at Ciscissa in Cappadocia for the bishop Stephanos in 980: f 220v.Revised by Michael, a notary, at Ciscissa in 1049: f 221r. There is a note in Georgian on f 1r, discussed in a blog post by Adam McCollum. Decorated head-pieces and initials in red and blue, headings and neumes in red. A number of the initials are of zoomorphic or anthropomorphic form, e.g. O in the form of a fish (ff 6r, 138v, 157v), and E with a human hand for a cross-bar (ff 1r, 7v). Bound in red velvet with a clasp, the front cover studded with five gilt buckles. Acquired at the Karakallou Monastery on Mount Athos, according to Scrivener, Codex Augiensis p. 51.
Add MS 39603. Cruciform Gospel Lectionary (Gregory-Aland l 233). 12th century. Illuminated initials and finial ornaments at each angle of the cruciform text. Fully illuminated cruciform borders enclose the text on ff 1r, 42r, 112r. Tail-piece on f 196v. Neums in red, headings and rubrics in gold over red. The first two pages of text are also in gold over red. Modern but not recent binding of wooden boards covered with blue velvet, much worn. On both covers is a cross with a patterned border, between corner-ornaments, all gilt. The cross on the front cover has the inscription "IC XC NIKA".
Keep an eye out on the blog for the second part of this journey through the manuscripts of Robert Curzon, which will also include a bibliography.
- Cillian O’Hogan
07 March 2015
Spot the Difference!
Illuminated manuscripts of the Gospels often have portraits of the Evangelists preceding individual Gospel books. This is because leaves at the beginning and end of manuscripts tend to be the most likely to be lost or damaged, especially if manuscripts are left unbound for some time. You can see many examples of manuscripts with somewhat discoloured first and last leaves on Digitised Manuscripts
What this means for Gospel manuscripts is that St Matthew is on occasion missing from volumes nowadays - this is the case, for instance, in Add MS 24376 (Gregory-Aland 696), a Greek Gospel book we have looked at previously on the blog. Today, we’re highlighting a rather unusual manuscript – one for which a later owner commissioned a new portrait of St Matthew.
Robert Curzon, 14th Baron Zouche, was a renowned 19th-century traveller and manuscript collector. He journeyed widely in Greece and in the Near East, and amassed a sizeable collection of Greek and Oriental manuscripts. On his death, over two hundred of these manuscripts were placed on loan in the British Museum, and were bequeathed to the Museum in the will of his daughter, Darea Curzon, in 1917. These now constitute Add MSS 39583-39671, along with Oriental MSS 8729-8855, the latter being cared for by our colleagues in Asian and African Collections. Curzon published a catalogue of his collection in 1849. He retained a personal copy, which he annotated in subsequent years. This was presented to the British Museum along with the other manuscripts, and is now held as Add MS 64098. In a future blog post we will go into more detail on all of Curzon’s Greek manuscripts, but today we have space to focus on one.
Add MS 39591 (Gregory-Aland 548) was created in the mid-12th century, at which time, presumably, portraits of all four evangelists were added. But by the time Curzon acquired the manuscript from the Monastery of St Sabba, near Jerusalem, in 1834, the portrait of Matthew was no longer to be found. As a result, a new portrait was created, to complete the volume, and this is now f iii verso. You can see the clear difference between the quality and condition of the parchment of this leaf and that of f 1r, the beginning of the 12th-century manuscript proper.
In addition, the colouring is not characteristically Byzantine, and the image of Matthew is rather closer to that of Mark than that more typically associated with Matthew, as in, for example, Burney 19, above.
The same later artist has also touched up the other portraits in Add MS 39591. Here are Mark, Luke and John.
But the artist has left a tiny trace of his work in the portrait of St Mark. On Mark’s red cushion, some letters in Roman script can be seen. Presumably, a page containing these letters was put against the portrait of Mark while it was still damp, and these letters were transferred. The fact that they are in Roman script makes it more likely that this restoration work was done after the manuscript had left the Monastery of St Sabba, rather than before.
- Cillian O’Hogan
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