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Anselm of Canterbury, De Concordia, in Latin, decorated manuscript on vellum [northern France, mid twelfth century]
Description
- Vellum
Provenance
provenance
1. Written in a scriptorium in northern France in the mid twelfth century.
2. Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872); his MS.290; bought by him in Paris; his sale in our rooms, 15 June 1908, lot 18.
3. Sir Norman Moore (1847–1922); acquired by him in the Phillipps sale; by descent to his sale in our rooms, 25 June 1985, lot 53.
4. Bergendal MS.107 (once bound with its sister codex, Bergendal MS.75, see previous lot): Bergendal catalogue no.107; Stoneman, 'Guide', p.196.
Catalogue Note
text
This fine and notably early manuscript contains the De Concordia by Anselm of Canterbury (c.1033-1109; see previous lot), a text on the thorny intellectual problem that if God knows everything including the future, does man have free will? It was composed late in his life in 1107/8, when he returned to his office as archbishop of Canterbury, following his famous dispute with Henry I and long exile in Normandy. A sermon and an extract from the third book of Augustine of Hippo's, Confessiones, follow on fol.19r-22v, the latter ending imperfectly "...et de futuro longum erit".