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THE LEAVES FROM A LECTIONARY IN LATIN, WITH TEXTS FROM JOHN AND EXODUS on one leaf and LUKE, LEVITICUS AND DANIEL on the other.
(Germany: Late 11th or early 12th century.). Largest bifolium measures 221 x 275 mm. (8 7/8 x 10 3/4"). Single column, 25-27 lines, in a late Caroline hand.
Rubrics in orange, each bifolium with one or more one one-line initial in orange, and one or more large (four- to five-line) initials in orange. With marginal notations in a later hand. Recovered from a binding, and thus with some soiling, abrasions, glue residue, and other small problems; the pages nearly complete, but with a couple of letters and/or lines cut away from one side of each bifolia, with more extensive abrasions on one side, affecting legibility, but very good specimens overall, the better side in each case quite clear and readable.
Once part of a Lectionary (a collection of scriptural readings appropriate for Masses through the year and other ceremonial occasions), these attractive, mostly legible binding fragments display an excellent transitional script with both Caroline minuscule and proto-gothic characteristics. The present examples include short lessons or "lectiones" taken from the Old and New Testaments, including, among other passages, excerpts from John, in which Christ casts the sellers out of the temple, and Daniel, relating the prayers of the three men who refused to bow to Nebuchadnezzar's golden idol. The lovely script here shares much in common with the pure Caroline miniscule of earlier centuries--particularly in the overall legibility of the text, the space between individual letters, and the limited use of ligatures and abbreviations; also of note is the exclusive use of the long "s" (unless at the beginning of a sentence), and the ampersand as a general abbreviation for the letters "et" occurring anywhere in a word (e.g., "propheta," written "proph&a" here). Evidence of a progression toward proto-gothic script can also be observed here in the appearance of certain letter forms, such as the closed "g," a more oval "o," and the use of two forms of "d" (both upright and Uncial, the latter with a sloping shaft). There is added interest here in the form of marginal notations in a later hand--probably dating from the time these bifolia were in situ as binding waste. (ST20509a-b)
Price: $2,250.00