Lot 33

Regula et Cerimoniae Fratrum ordinis minimorum Sancti Francisci de Paula, and other texts written for the Order of Minims of St. Francis de Paula, in Latin, manuscript on paper

Estimate

3,000 - 5,000 GBP

bidding is closed

Description

83 leaves (1 blank), 138mm. by 102mm., complete, collation: i^{9 (i a singleton), ii^{4, iii-vi^{8, vii-ix^{10, x^{8, horizontal catchwords, written space 100mm. by 80mm., single column, ruled for 18 lines in black ink in two sizes of the semi-humanistic hand of}}}}}Hugh de Varenne, initials, explicits and some elaborate line-drawn acanthus-leaf sprays in same, a small number of leaves with damage from acidic ink (see fols. 1 & 7 for examples), else in good condition, contemporary blind-stamped calf over pasteboards with roll-stamped designs of birds and foliate panels, small burn to centre of lower board, remains of paper label on spine: Reg[ula] Fr[a]trum minor[um], and holes for two ties

Provenance

provenance

1. Written by Hugh de Varenne in Nigeon, a member of the Order of Minims or Hermits of St. Francis of Assisi, in 1528: his dated inscription on fol. 54r. The book was then in the library of a convent of the order on 28 April 1561: inscription upside down at base of fol. 83r records the reception either of a new friar or possibly of the book itself (unfortunately with the names thoroughly erased); monastic pressmark 'Iº29' at the base of fol. 1r.

2. Umberto Saba of Trieste (1883-1957); perhaps sold in the 1930s when the University of Bologna also acquired manuscripts from his collection: sale catalogue cutting pasted inside front board with the collector's name and year of death added.

Catalogue Note

text

The Order of Minims was founded by Francis de Paula (1416-1507), himself a Franciscan friar, aesthetic and mystic who lived a life of great penance and abnegation. He was widely respected in life, and canonised by Pope Leo X in 1519. Pope Sixtus IV granted the order the privileges of mendicant friars in 1473, and in 1493 the first version of their rule was confirmed by Pope Alexander VI. The inscription on fol. 83r makes it clear that this manuscript contains the third version of the rule (that still observed by the order today), which was confirmed by Pope Julius II on 28 July 1506, and which imposed among other penances strict abstinence from the eating of red or white meat. More specifically, this version is that of the saint's own Correctorium, which consists of ten chapters corresponding to the parts of the rule, and determining the penance to be inflicted on those who fail to adhere.

This manuscript also contains copies of two related texts. At its beginning it has a Sequitur modus induendi novicium or 'Office for the reception of novices', and it ends with a Cerimonie Fratrum ordinis minimorum, or 'Description of the Rites of the Order', with entries detailing the actions, prayers, and readings appropriate for a wide range of the activities of the friars, such as De modo celebrandi missam ('the method of celebrating mass'), Modus recipiendi fratres ad professionem ('the method of receiving brothers to profession'), as well as more mundane items such as De conformitate habitum ('On the uniformity of monastic habits').

This is a manuscript from the first decades of the existence of this order, written only seven years after the canonisation of the saint, and some thirty-four years before the desecration and near-complete destruction of the saint's body by Huguenots. In addition it was written in one of their principal communities, that at Nigeon, near Paris, which was founded alongside sister houses at Plessis-les-Tours and Amboise immediately after the order was introduced into France by royal favour in 1482.