Decorated initial on a fragment of a leaf from a Bible, in Latin [Germany, c.1150-1200]

fragment, c.223x165mm, plus folded edges of 10mm to left and 15mm to right, with a LARGE DECORATED INITIAL ‘P’ (opening ‘Petrus’), preserving 27 lines of 1 column and part of the 2nd column, inscribed ‘Bassus’, recovered from a binding with usual wear

Provenance: This fragment probably comes from a monumental monastic Bible, perhaps used for reading in the refectory during meals. It is now sold from a private UK collection.

Text: The recto (the reverse) contains the end of the book of James (3:6–13, and a portion of the next column, with parts of 4:7–5:1); this is followed on the verso by the end of the summary list of 23 chapters, followed by a short ‘Argument’ (i.e. prologue), and 1 Peter 1:1–4. It would be possible to work out how many lines there were per column, and thus the approximate overall leaf-size: between the end of the recto and the beginning of the verso there must originally have been space for about 20 verses of biblical text and 21 chapter-headings.