Lot 42

Saint Augustine, De Opere Monachorum, and other texts, in latin, illuminated manucript on vellum

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Description

133 leaves, including original flyleaf, 190mm. by 134mm., complete, collation: 1+ i-xvi^{8, xvii^{4 [of 6, blank v cancelled, blank vi pasted down], with horizontal catchwords and alphabetical leaf signatures, 26 lines, bounding-lines only ruled in ink, written-space 126mm. by 83mm., written in dark brown ink in a hybrid gothic bookhand, headings in bright red, capitals touched in red, 2- to 3-line initials throughout in red or blue,}} nine large decorated initials, five 4-line, four 6-line, in red or blue with elaborate and often very graceful penwork in red or purple, sometimes infilled with blue, green and liquid gold, marginal headings in final text in red, a stain on part of fol.27r, last leaves a bit dusty, generally in extremely fine original condition with original margins sometimes preserving the guidewords for the rubricator, contemporary binding of gently bevelled wooden boards sewn on 5 thongs and covered with dark brown leather double ruled in frame and saltire pattern, 4 metal bosses on each cover, stubs (only) of two clasps once attached to lower cover, corresponding metal catches on upper cover, medieval coloured vellum indexing tabs fixed to edges of the pages at the principal divisions of text, skilfully rebacked with part of spine laid on, other slight defects to binding, in a brown quarter morocco fitted case, title gilt

Provenance

Written for and doubtless at the house of Augustinian canons at St.Elisabethsdal, in Horne, in the province of Limburg, central Netherlands (near the German border), with contemporary tables of contents on the pastedown and flyleaf, in the same hand as the text itself, ending “Pertinet monasterio vallis sancte Elizabeth ordinis canonicorum regularium in comitatu hoernensi”, and with the seventeenth-century inscription in the outer margin of fol.2r, “Sum Canonicorum Regularium vallis S. Elisabeth in Comitatu Hornano”. The manuscript is dated by the scribe at the end of the last text, “anno domini M^o.cccc^o.lxiiii^o”.

Catalogue Note

text

This is an almost ideal medieval monastic manuscript, dated, localised, doubtless written in the abbey itself by the one of the canons, using the monastic punctus flexus punctuation, in almost perfect condition, in its original binding, with texts on the monastic life by or attributed to one of the greatest of all medieval authors, Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430). It comprises:

1. Folio 2r, “Incipit prefacio beati augustini episcopi de opere monachorum sumpta ex libro retractacionum, Ut de opera monachorum librum …”, the preface, with the text itself beginning further down, “Iussioni tue frater aureli tanto devotius …”, in 31 chapters, ending on fol.27v, “… se potissimum corrigendos”. The first two texts here are authentically by Augustine but extracted from a longer work, the Retractiones, written at the end of his life. The preface here is from book II, chapter 21; the text is as printed in Migne, Patrologia Latina XL:549.

2. Folio 27v, “Ex libro retractacionum sancti augustini episcopi in libro de vera religione, Tunc etiam de vera religione librum …”, the preface, with the text itself beginning on fol.30r, “Cum omnis vite bone ac beate …” (Migne, Pat.Lat. XXIV:121), ending on fol.75v, “… ipsi gloria in secula seculorum, Amen”.

3. Folio 76r, “Incipit liber aurelii augustini de pacienciam, Virtus animi que patiencia dicitur …” (Migne, Pat. Lat. XL:611), ending on fol.87v, “… donatum est caritati, Amen, Deo gracias”.

4. Folio 88r, “Incipit prologus beati augustini episcopi in librum de penitentia, Quantum sit appetenda gracia …” (Pat. Lat. XL:1113), the preface, with the text itself beginning on fol.88v, “Si fides fundamentum est penitencie …”, ending on fol.107v, “… in odore suavitatis, Amen”.

5. Folio 108r, “Prologus in verbis exhaustis fonte beato Presulis aurelii salienti gurgite lato ...Quorumdam librorum gloriosi et incomparabilis …, the preface, with the text itself beginning on fol.108v, “Florigerus liber …Da michi domine scire et intelligere quis sis …”, entirely extracted from named sources in the works of Augustine, usually called the Florigerus (sometimes Flores in contemplationem beati Augustini or Liber florum sancti Augustini), ending on fol.133r, “… per omnia secula seculorum, Amen, Explicit florigerus”, with the date quoted above.