This compact Parisian bible contains the letter and prologue of Saint Jerome, the Latin text of the Vulgate, and an alphabetical list of Hebrew names with their interpretations. The final folio contains notes and finding aids in an early hand. The book was produced in the mid-thirteenth century. It is decorated with seven historiated initials (Saint Jerome, fol. 1r; the Seven Days of Creation, fol. 5r; Solomon Teaching, fol. 297r; the Martyrdom of Isaiah, fol. 338v; Hosea Speaking to God, fol. 427r; Saint Paul, fol. 529r; and the Ascension, fol. 163v). Foliate illuminated initials, some inhabited with zoomorphic motifs, mark the beginning of the remaining books. Chapters are marked by alternating red and blue initials with contrasting marginal sprays.
Support: Parchment; Extent: iv+653+iii; 156 x 100 mm bound to 163 x 110 mm; Foliation: Modern foliation in pencil, upper right recto; Collation: 1 (22), 2-10 (24), 11 (22), 12 (8), 13 (24), 14 (4), 15-20 (24), 21 (24, -18), 22-25 (24), 26 (22), 27-28 (24), 29 (24, +1 +24); Signatures: Partially cropped original signatures in brown ink, generally marking a-m, visible in some lower right rectos of first halves of gatherings; erased signatures from later rebinding in lead, visible in lower right recto positions; Catchwords: Partially cropped horizontal catchword visible in lower right corner at fol. 292v
Two of columns of forty-eight lines, ruled in lead; written area: 113 x 68 mm
Gothic--textualis; single-compartment a
Seven historiated initials in the style of the Mathurin atelier (attributed by Debra Taylor Cashion); eighty-two five-to-seven-line illuminated initials at beginning of each book, some inhabited; alternating red and blue initials with penwork elongations in alternating colors, running titles throughout
For a full list of Decorations in this manuscript please see the Content and Decorations section by clicking on the [i] button in the top left corner of the image viewer above.
Fols. i-iii are modern parchment flyleaves; fol. iv is an older but not original flyleaf
"On fol. iiir is a faint modern inscription and a pasted-in paper slip in micrographic script, in Italian"
Fol. ivr signed "George Livermore, Dana Hill, Cambridge;" and "From the library of his royal Highness the duke of Sussex. Bought in London 1845."
Fol 1r: signed "E. Lib. Mariae Francisci Duchesne de Beaumanoir, 1823." ; a Valerius Maximus, Factorum et dictorum belonging to the same owner, with a similar inscription, can be found at Harvard: Houghton Library, Harvard, MS Lat. 48
Historiated initial showing the Seven Days of Creation on fol. 5r originally terminated with the Crucifixion, now removed; transfer visible on facing leaf; catalogue of the Biblioteca Sussexiana (1827) mentions the Crucifixion as intact
Corrections, notations, and marginal drawings by contemporary hands throughout
Paris, France
Mid- 13th century
Circa 1900, French, brown morocco, gilt spray tooling on sides and back, brown morocco doublures with gold tooled borders, by Émile-Philippe Mercier (1855-1910); front doublure stamped MERCIER SC. DE CUZIN
Latin
Marie-François Duchesne de Beaumanoir (1823); Duke of Sussex, London; his sale London (1844) to Thomas Thorpe; George Livermore (1809-1865), Dana Hill, Cambridge, MA; William Stuart sale, London (6 March 1895, n. 4) to Nichols; Robert Hoe, New York; his sale, Anderson Auction Company, New York (8 January 1912, II, n. 2426); A. S. W. Rosenbach, Philadelphia; John Frederick Lewis, Philadelphia; given by his widow, Anne Baker Lewis, to the Free Library of Philadelphia in 1936
Paris, France
Mid- 13th century
Latin
Marie-François Duchesne de Beaumanoir
This compact Parisian bible contains the letter and prologue of Saint Jerome, the Latin text of the Vulgate, and an alphabetical list of Hebrew names with their interpretations. The final folio contains notes and finding aids in an early hand. The book was produced in the mid-thirteenth century. It is decorated with seven historiated initials (Saint Jerome, fol. 1r; the Seven Days of Creation, fol. 5r; Solomon Teaching, fol. 297r; the Martyrdom of Isaiah, fol. 338v; Hosea Speaking to God, fol. 427r; Saint Paul, fol. 529r; and the Ascension, fol. 163v). Foliate illuminated initials, some inhabited with zoomorphic motifs, mark the beginning of the remaining books. Chapters are marked by alternating red and blue initials with contrasting marginal sprays.
Fols. i-iii are modern parchment flyleaves; fol. iv is an older but not original flyleaf
"On fol. iiir is a faint modern inscription and a pasted-in paper slip in micrographic script, in Italian"
Fol. ivr signed "George Livermore, Dana Hill, Cambridge;" and "From the library of his royal Highness the duke of Sussex. Bought in London 1845."
Fol 1r: signed "E. Lib. Mariae Francisci Duchesne de Beaumanoir, 1823." ; a Valerius Maximus, Factorum et dictorum belonging to the same owner, with a similar inscription, can be found at Harvard: Houghton Library, Harvard, MS Lat. 48
Historiated initial showing the Seven Days of Creation on fol. 5r originally terminated with the Crucifixion, now removed; transfer visible on facing leaf; catalogue of the Biblioteca Sussexiana (1827) mentions the Crucifixion as intact
Corrections, notations, and marginal drawings by contemporary hands throughout
Gothic--textualis; single-compartment a
Seven historiated initials in the style of the Mathurin atelier (attributed by Debra Taylor Cashion); eighty-two five-to-seven-line illuminated initials at beginning of each book, some inhabited; alternating red and blue initials with penwork elongations in alternating colors, running titles throughout
For a full list of Decorations in this manuscript please see the Content and Decorations section by clicking on the [i] button in the top left corner of the image viewer above.
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