Licence: In copyright
Credit: Sales catalogue 1: Lathorp C. Harper, Inc. Source: Wellcome Collection.
7/92 page 1
![MANUSCRIPTS 1. BENEDICTINE NUNS’ RULE. [The Rule, Martyrology, and Calendar, in Lat- in.] Manuscript on 168 leaves of vellum, rubricated throughout, about 7/2 x 9% inches. In the original binding of wooden boards, part of calf covering present, back missing, but original heavy vellum strips, on which volume is sewn, remain- ing. Enclosed in cloth drop-back case. (France, ca. 1100 and later.] $1,250.00 A REMARKABLE EXAMPLE OF A MEDIEVAL NUNNERY’S “BOOK,” from the Abbey of Notre Dame of Saintes, France. Mainly written about 1100 with additions until after 1400. Such volumes as this contained all material relating to the convent community: dates of death among the nuns and lay sisters, names of benefactors, and additions to the roll of saints and martyrs from the region of the Charente Inférieure, in southwestern France. This was probably the only book, aside from liturgical works, the nunnery owned. The Calendar covers the first 46 pages, with several dates entered on a page. Under each are listed the obituary records of nuns, lay sisters, and donors to the convent who died on that date, through several successive centuries. Such a record, of course, is invaluable for the study of genealogy and local history. The Martyrology was an enlargement, required of religious houses, of the framework established by St. Jerome in the fourth century. In it were recorded additions from local sources to the roll of saints and martyrs. A number of Spanish names occur, as might be expected in this region. This section of the volume forms a rich source of unpublished hagiographic material. Concluding the book is the Rule of Saint Benedict, beautifully transcribed and care- fully rubricated; a fine example of the devotional reading of a convent before the advent of printing. A manuscript volume of this early period is obviously very rare. The present is of double appeal because of its contents and its vivid reflection of medieval convent life. BY AN ARTIST OF THE BIBLE OF BORSO D’ESTE IN THE ORIGINAL CUIR-CISELE BINDING 2. BREVIARIUM ROMANUM. Manuscript in Italian Gothic letter on 414 leaves of vellum, double columns, 34 lines to the page {the first, eighth and last leaves genuine blanks); beautifully illuminated with four wide borders in gold and col- ors, 18 large historiated and 72 smaller initials in gold and colors, as well as hun- dreds of paragraph initials in red, blue and gold, with delicate pen-work orna- mentation extending into margins. 4to (25 mm. x 18 mm.), original Saracenesque cuir-ciselé binding of calf over wooden boards, elaborately tooled in a panel of Mauresque design enclosing a lozenge-shaped panel formed by four fillets sur- rounding a central medallion of similar design bearing traces of original gilt; the whole enclosed in a border of interlaced vine-work; the back tooled in five panels Pea a](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b33160296_0007.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
No text description is available for this image
No text description is available for this image
No text description is available for this image