FRAGMENT OF A PRAYERBOOK, IN GERMAN [GERMANY, 14TH CENTURY]

a fragment, vellum, c.135x125mm, part of a bifolium, 2 columns, preserving the upper 23-24 lines of 3 columns, and part of the 4th, with original foliation ‘lxvii’ and ‘lxxvi[..]’ (perhaps the outer bifolium of a 10- or 12-leaf quire), one side almost fully legible, the other rather worn, recovered from use as a book-cover

The text appears to be a series of readings for different days, e.g. ‘Fritag der apostel. In den tagen Petrus tet uf sinen munt und sprach … In dem buche Levitici. In den tagen redete der herre zum Moysen …’, but it is not clear whether it is a private devotional book, as we would expect for a book in the vernacular, or, as suggested by the original foliation, a volume for quasi-liturgical use. The incipits ‘In den tagen …’ recall the formulaic phrase ‘In illo tempore …’ with which a Lectionary’s liturgical readings frequently begin.