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Beinecke MS 404 Northern France, s. XIII/XIV Rothschild Canticles (in Latin) Restricted material. May not be seen without the permission of the appropriate curator. View digital images from the Beinecke Library’s Digital Images Online database The following entry was researched and written by J. Hamburger. 1. f. 1r Unidentifed arms, later addition; ff. 1v-4r, 5r, 6v-7r, 8r, 9r, 10r, 11r have tinted drawings added s. XIV^^1; ff. 12v-105v Emitte agnum domine dominatorem terre de petra deserti ad montem filie syon...Bernardus orauit domine duc me ubi es. dixit ei barnarde non facio quoniam si ducerem te ubi sum annichilareris michi et tibi. ff. 4v, 5v-6r, 7v, 8v, 9v, 10v, 11v-12r, 13v, 15v-16r, 17r, 18r, 19v-20r, 21v-22r, 23v-24r, 25v-26r, 27v, 28v-29r, 30v, 31v, 32v-33r, 34v-35r, 36v-37r, 38v-39r, 40v-41r, 42v-43r, 44v-45r, 46v-47r, 48v-49r, 50v, 51v, 52v, 53v-54r, 55v-56r, 57v-58r, 59v-60r, 61v-62r, 63r, 64v-65r, 66v-67r, 68v-69r, 70v-71r, 72r, 73v-74r, 75v-76r, 77v-78r, 79v-80r, 81v-82r, 83v, 84v-85r, 86r, 87r, 88v-89r, 90v-91r, 92v-93r, 94v-95r, 96v-97r, 98v-99r, 100v-101r, 102v-103r, 104v-105r, 106v blank; f. 107r and upper portion of 107v are erased (see art. 8) A florilegium comprised of a series of meditations and prayers. The text, apparently a unicum, is a cento of biblical, liturgical, and patristic citations, with some additional material spuriously attributed to St. Bernard. The most important sources are the Song of Songs, the other Wisdom books, the Prophets, and, in the Trinitarian section, Augustine's De Trinitate. With the exception of f. 14r, the text occurs only on alternating versos. For a more complete description of the text and layout, see M. R. James, Description of an Illuminated Manuscript of the XIIIth Century in the Possession of Bernard Quaritch (London, 1904), which is, in part, inaccurate, and J. F. Hamburger, "The Rothschild Canticles," Ph.D. dissertation, Yale University, forthcoming, which will include an edition of this text. 2. ff. 107v-112v [Unidentified tract on the vices and virtues:] Sub superbia continentur hec qui secuntur. Inanis gloria que est est appetitus laudis humane...Caritas est uirtus quam homo diligit deum super se et super omnia propter deum et proximum suum sicut se ipsum propter deum. 3. ff. 113r-114v In damasco erant diuerse herbe de natura speciali...adam erat pauperrimus hominum quia mandatum dei trangressus est et promeruit mortem. Tract on the monstrous races; R. A. Wisby, "Marvels of the East in the Weiner Genesis and in Wolfram's Parzifal," Essays in German and Dutch Literature, ed. W. Robson-Scott (London, 1973) pp. 9-10 and n. 40; J. B. Friedman, The Monstrous Races in Medieval Art and Thought (Cambridge, Mass., 1981) p. 94, 214, n. 25, and 233, n. 12; and H. W. Janson, Apes and Ape-Lore in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (New York, 1957) p. 94. 4. ff. 115r-119v [Seven exempla:] Nota quod quidem nobilis mulier cum esset in ecclesia tempore hyemali quedam paupercula mulier post tergum suum gemebat pre angustia frigoris...[final exemplum, f. 119r:] Nota de clerico dormienti cui uidebatur quod demones ducerent animam eius ad infernum...vidit ibi omnia peccata sua que confessus est intrauit religionem. 5. ff. 120r-121r [Excerpts attributed to John Chrysostom, Augustine, and Bernard, from an unidentified florilegium:] Crisostomus otium mors est et uiui hominis sepultura ... Augustinus in epistola ad yponenses. si modo tanta custodia tanta intentione cum magno labore agitis ne in aliquos cruciatus transitorios incidatis. ff. 122r, 123r tinted drawings; ff. 121v, 122v, 123v blank 6. ff. 124r-132r Acceptio personarum iudicare digne de subditis nequeunt qui in subditorum causis sua uel odia uel gratiam secuntur...postremus gradus est omnium uitiorum peremptorius ut de hoc mundo credas te cotidie migraturum. f. 132v blank Excerpts from the Pharetra, a florilegium probably composed by an anonymous Franciscan working before 1264 (see R. H. and M. Rouse, Preachers, Florilegia and Sermons: Studies in the "Manipulus florum" of Thomas of Ireland [Toronto, 1979] pp. 41 and 204-205). For a printed edition of the text, see Bonaventure, Opera omnia (Vatican City, 1596) v. 6 (Part 8) pp. 103-208. 7. f. 133r [Moral sayings, including verses on the confession of sins:] Omnis mulier fornicaria est quasi stercus in uia comes...Illa autem aggrauant peccatum et hoc scitur per hos uersus. Aggrauat ordo locus peccata scientia tempus. Etas conditio numerus mora copia causa et modus in culpa status altus lucta pusilla. 8. ff. 133v-140v Quid est predestinatio. predestinatio est ea ordinatio que ante creatum seculum quosdam ad suum regnum preordinauit...[f. 139v, mid-page:] Scriptum est pater non portabit iniquitatem filii nec filius patris. Si filii parentibus// [text continues without a break on f. 139v:] //leti sunt. De absentibus amicis solliciti. Cum autem omnes simul ueniunt amplius gaudebunt...[f. 140v:] Si autem uelociter contigerit pro alterius sancti merito fit ut sancto Mart// [text completed in another hand, s. XV?:] //ino episcopo anima latronis apparuit cuius altare destruxit. Two excerpts from the Elucidarius attributed to Honorius of Autun, Book II.28-45 and Book III.27-30; PL 172.1109-76. See Y. Lefevre, L'Elucidarium et les lucidaires, Bibliotheque des ecoles francais d'Athenes et de Rome 180 (Paris, 1954). Ultra-violet photography has revealed that the passage from Book III originally continued on f. 107r-v with the words "anima latronis" and continued through III.32. The passage probably was erased after the manuscript was misbound (see physical description). 9. ff. 141r-142r [Five exempla:] Item beatus bernardus. cum esset in quodam castro et haberet socium secum intrauit lectum cum autem deberet dormire domina domus uenit ad lectum suum...Item non desperet peccatrix sed beatam uirginem habeat in memorie et cito resiliet a peccato. ff. 142v-144v originally left blank; ff. 142v and 144v covered with indecipherable notes in faint lead [?]; ff. 143r and 144r with added drawings of Hermit Saints. 10. ff. 145r-149r Excerpts from Ecclesiastes 2.16-8.5 and Hebrews 11.1-12.15. ff. 149v-152v originally left blank; ff. 150r, 151r, 152r with added drawings of Hermit Saints. ll. ff. 153r-160v Excerpts from Proverbs 11.1-15.4. 12. ff. 161r-166v [Biblical passages, with excerpts attributed to John Chrysostom, Gregory, Augustine, Bernard, and the glossa ordinaria, possibly from a glossed Bible:] Job qui dicit etiam si occiderit me sperabo in eum...Tertio amandus est quia benefitiis suis [?] meruit. bernardus multum de nobis deus meruit. 13. ff. 167r-174v Proverbs 30.1-31.31; Jerome, Prologue to Ecclesiastes, Memini me hoc ferme... (Stegmueller, v. 1, no. 462); excerpts from Ecclesiastes 1.1-2.16. 14. ff. 175r-182v Excerpt from Ezekiel 3.19-20; excerpts from Proverbs 1.1-10.21. 15. ff. 183r-185v [Tract on the death and assumption of the Virgin:] Maria uixit post mortem domini xiiijs annis vs ebdomadis preceptis...quesierunt et non inuenerunt sed capillos inuenerunt. 16. f. 186r-v [Tract on the Ten Commandments and the Seven Sacraments:] Hec sunt x precepta domini que deus scripsit in duobus tabulis lapideis...Quattuor de istis sacramentis possunt iterari tria non possunt iterari. 17. f. 187r-v [Tract on the five signs of the Epiphany:] In epiphania domini erant v signa...tunc erat xxxij annorum et xiij dierum postea uixit ihesus usque ad parasceuen. 18. f. 188r-v Iheronimus in octauo libro super ezechielem...deus qui est sapientia et monitor tocius philosophie in libro salomonis. The Penitence of Solomon; see H. Weisweiler, Das Schriften der Schule Anselms von Laon und Wilhelm von Champeaux in deutschen Bibliotheken, Beitraege zur Geschichte und Theologie des Mittelalters, v. 33, 1-2 (Muenster/Westfalen, 1936) p. 238, and A. Derolez, Lambertus qui librum fecit: Een codicologische Studie van de Liber Floridus-Autograaf (Ghent, Universiteitsbiliotheek, Handschrift 92), Verhandelingen van de koninklijke Academie voor Wetenschappen, Letteren en Schone Kunsten van Belgie, Klasse der Letteren, 40, no. 89 (Brussels, 1978) p. 159. 19. ff. 189r-190r Vnde uerissime apparet quod sicut oculus uespertilionis se habet ad lucem...uide ergo ipsum purissimum esse si potes et occurret tibi quod ipsum non potest cogitari. ut ab alio acceptum. (f.189r) Dicendo cum dyonysio ad deum trinitatem. summitas superessentialis et superdeus superoptime christianorum inspector...Benedictus dominus in eternum et dicet omnis populus fiat fiat amen. (f. 190r) O herte vrunt timothee wachte dat niemen ongeleerde dese dincen hore...o herre leid ons in dat heimeliche verborgen onbekinte clare stilnisse der lutren gemoude di ougen nies [?] en hant [to which is added, in the same hand:] Animalia sancta ambulabant ante facies eorum vbi erat impetus spiritus illic et ambulabant. ff. 190v-192v blank Two abridged excerpts from Bonaventure, Itinerarium mentis in deum, chapters 5.4-5 and 8.4, to which has been added a paraphrase of the Pseudo-Dionysius, De mystica theologia, chapter 1.1, in Ripuarian dialect of Middle High German. The compiler recognized that the second excerpt from the Itinerarium is itself a paraphrase of chapter 1.1 of the e mystica theologia. No complete Low German translation of De mystica theologia is known. Another, non-identical Low German paraphrase of chapter 1.1 occurs in a Sammelhandschrift in Kloster Ebstorf (Niedersachsen), MS IV, 12, ff. 297v-298v, for which see W. Stammler, "Meister Eckhart in Norddeutschland," Zeitschrift fuer deutsches Altertum 59, N. F. 47 (1922) p. 206. All three passages added, s. XIV^^1, on folios originally left blank. ff. 190v-192v blank Parchment, of uneven quality in arts. 2-19, ff. iii (modern parchment) + 192 (+ 2 unfoliated blanks between ff. 96 and 97), 118 x 84 mm., severely trimmed. Art. 1: ff. 12v-105v. 118 x 85 (ca, 99-85 x 54) mm. Written by Scribe 1 (see below) in 18-20 long lines; ruled in hard point on text pages only, single vertical bounding lines, single or double horizontal bounding lines, full across, at top of written space; many text pages without rulings for text. Prickings for vertical bounding lines in lower margin. I^^4 (+ 5 leaves: two bifolios, ff. 1 and 2 and ff. 4 and 9, and a single leaf, f. 3), II^^4 (+ 2 leaves, ff. 11 and 14), III^^6 (-2, loss of miniature facing text on f. 16v, originally conjoint with f. 20, now attached to f. 17, a singleton), IV^^8 (-6, loss of miniature facing text on f. 26v, stub now between ff. 24v and 25r), V-VI^^8, VII^^8 (-7, loss of text facing miniature on f. 51r), VIII^^8, IX^^8 (-4, loss of miniature facing text on f. 62v), X^^8 (-6, loss of miniature facing text on f. 71v), XI^^8, XII^^8 (-4, loss of text facing miniature on f. 86v; ff. 84 and 86 inverted), XIII^^8, XIV^^4, XV^^8. Arts. 2-18: ff. 107v-188v. 118 x 84 (ca. 93-85 x 53-55) mm. Arts. 4-5, 6 (ff. 124r-125r), 9-18 written by Scribe 1 in 17-21 long lines; ruled in hard point (except gatherings XVI, XVIII-XX, ruled in lead), single vertical bounding lines, double horizontal bounding lines, full across, at top of written space, single lower horizontal bounding line, some full across. Prickings for vertical bounding lines in lower margin. Arts. 2 and 6 (ff. 125v-132r), 7-8 written by Scribe 2 in 16-19 long lines, ruled in lead, single vertical bounding lines, single horizontal bounding lines. Prickings in lower margin for vertical bounding lines remain on some folios; in gathering XIX (arts. 7-8) there are prickings in the upper margin 53 mm. apart that do not, however, correspond to either the vertical or the horizontal lines. The anomaly suggests that the gathering was ruled and written upside down. XVI^^6, XVII^^8 (+ 2 leaves, ff. 113 and 114; the stub of f. 113 now appears between ff. 106 and 107; the stub of f. 114 appears between ff. 122 and 123; f. 114 may have been part of a bifolium as its stub shows traces of several letters), XVIII^^8 (+ 2 leaves, a bifolium, ff. 123 and 132, added by Scribe 2 when he completed the gathering), XIX^^8, XX^^4, XXI-XXII^^8, XXIII^^6, XXIV-XXV^^8, XXVI^^6 (+ 4 leaves, a singleton, f. 183, at the beginning of the gathering, and three singletons, ff. 187-189, at the center, between ff. 186 and 190). Art. 19 written by Scribe 3 on unruled blanks. The gatherings containing arts. 2-19 are evidently misbound. The correct order can be partially restored as follows: XXV, XXII, XXIV, XXI (arts. 10-14: Biblical excerpts). The erased passage from the Elucidarius (art. 8) on f. 107r-v indicates that XVI originally followed XIX. The date of the addition to art. 8 at the end of XIX suggests that the manuscript was misbound as early as the fifteenth century, perhaps during rebinding. The use of scraps and the evidence of the original pastedown in XXVI (arts. 15-19) suggest that it always occupied the final position. The order of the gatherings containing arts. 3-6, and 9, as well as their placement relative to the others, remains conjectural. Written by three scribes. Art. 19 (ff. 189r-190r) written by Scribe 3 in an informal gothic bookhand, no later than s. XIII/XIV. Scribes 1 and 2 collaborated on the rest of the manuscript: arts. 1, 3-5, 6 (ff. 124r-125r), 9-18 written by Scribe 1 in a neat, but somewhat irregular gothic bookhand, arts. 2, 6 (ff. 125v-132r), 7-8 written by Scribe 2 in an undisciplined gothic bookhand. Minor corrections in various hands throughout; erasures of several brief passages in art. 1 (e.g., f. 95v, with a note added: hunc locum necesse est). The manuscript is outstanding for the quality and complexity of its program of illustration. In its original state it included at least fifty full-page miniatures, of which forty-six survive, one-hundred-and-sixty smaller miniatures, and forty-one historiated initials. Twenty-three tinted drawings were added on blank and added folios at a later date (s. XIV^^1). The decoration is the work of at least three artists. The miniatures, initials, and marginal decoration are the work of two hands, one of whom contributed only two full-page miniatures (ff. 61r and 64r) that depend on the style usually associated with the name of Master Honore. The other, predominant hand works in a flatter, more linear style associated with Northeastern France. Among the most closely related manuscripts are a Book of Hours, Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery MS 90, which can be localized to the diocese of Therouanne, and a Vincent of Beauvais, Speculum historiale, Boulogne, Bibliotheque Municipale MS 131, written in 1297 for Eustache Gomer of Lille, abbot of St.-Bertin (we thank M. A. Stones for bringing the manuscript in Boulogne to our attention). (For these and other related manuscripts see M. A. Stones, "The Illustration of the French Prose Lancelot in Flanders, Belgium and Paris, 1250-1340," Ph.D. dissertation [University of London, 1971] v. 1, pp. 208-24; "Sacred and Profane Art: Secular and Liturgical Book Illumination in the Thirteenth Century," The Epic in Medieval Society: Aesthetic and Moral Values, ed. H. Scholler (Tuebingen, 1977) pp. 100-112, esp. p. 108, n. 27; "The Minnesota Vincent of Beauvais Manuscript and Thirteenth-Century Book Decoration," The James Ford Bell Lectures, no. 13 (Minneapolis, 1977). Full-page miniatures, in art. 1 only, some divided into two or three registers, in blue or orange frames, surrounded by a narrow gold band, with orange lozenges at the corners, each with an ivy spray, in black ink with five gold leaves; predominantly blue or vermilion tesselated or tooled gold grounds; two (ff. 25r and 55r) with fleurs-de-lis in lozenges (see Provenance). On each text page in art. 1 there is a smaller miniature, 9- to 5-line, with a witness who gesticulates towards the full-page miniature on the facing page; each miniature in a blue and/or pink frame with gold squares in the corners. Almost every folio in arts. 2-18 with at least one small miniature 10- to 5-line, framed as above. Arts. 11 and 14 illustrated almost exclusively with historiated initials, 6- to 4-line, blue, pink and/or orange against grounds of the same colors, with short ivy branches extending from the serifs, many with grotesque terminals. M. R. James, op. cit., describes the subjects, which are too numerous to be listed here. Individual miniatures have been discussed by E. M. Vetter, Die Kupferstiche zur Psalmodia Eucharistica des Melchior Prieto von 1622, Spanische Forschungen der Goerresgesellschaft, 2nd series, 15 (Muenster/Westfalen, 1972) pp. 209-10, ff. 18v-19r; idem, "Virgo in sole," Festschrift fuer Johannes Vincke (Madrid, 1963) v. 1, pp. 367-417, esp. 386-87 and fig. 9 of f. 64r, incorrectly identified as f. 63v; M. Levi d'Ancona, The Iconography of the Immaculate Conception in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (New York, 1957) pp. 24-25, fig. 6 of f. 64r, incorrectly identified as f. 63v; M. Evans, "Allegorical Women and Practical Men: The Iconography of the Artes Reconsidered," Medieval Women, ed. D. Baker (Oxford, 1978) pp. 305-329, esp. p. 319 and pls. 28-29 of ff. 6v-7r; idem, "The Geometry of the Mind," Architectural Association Quarterly 12, 4 (1980) pp. 32-55, esp. pp. 47, 55, and fig. 22 of f. 102r; P. Verdier, Le couronnement de la Vierge: les origines et les premiers developpements d'un theme iconographique (Montreal, 1980) pp. 84 and 95, n. 66, pls. 81a-b of ff. 64r and 73r; F. O. Buettner, Imitatio Pietatis: Motive der christlichen Ikonographie als Modelle zur Veraehnlichung (Berlin, 1983) p. 124, n. 187, f. 73r; L. F. Sandler, "Jean Pucelle and the Lost Miniatures of the Belleville Breviary," Art Bulletin 66, 1 (1984) pp. 73-96, esp. pp. 82 and 91-92, pls. 11, 25, 26 of ff. 15r, 19r, and 40r (identified inaccurately as the miniature complementing the text on f. 97v). For the iconographic program, see the forthcoming dissertation by Hamburger, op. cit. Illuminated initials, 2- to 1- line, in art. 1 only, gold against irregular blue or pink grounds, with white filigree, edged in black, some of the 2-line initials with ivy borders, as above. The borders, especially in arts. 2-18, are populated with grotesques and other marginal illustrations, the majority apparently non-narrative and without reference to the adjacent texts and miniatures, in the same style as the miniatures by the predominant hand (see L. M. C. Randall, Images in the Margins of Gothic Manuscripts [Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1966] passim). Names of Hebrew letters in art. 13 in red. Lower outer corners cut from ff. 167-192. Marginal decoration on many folios severely trimmed. Gold has flaked off considerably from the full-page miniatures on ff. 13r, 15r, 19r; some flaking of gold on ff. 6v, 18v, 25r, 34r, 44r, 51r. Binding: ca. 1966. Bound in two volumes (I: ff. 1-96; II: ff. 97-192) in native tanned vermilion Nigerian goatskin, by J. Greenfield, without any adhesive touching the bookblock itself. Previously bound in brown leather in a single volume. Written in Northern France at the turn of the 14th century, as indicated by the style of the decoration. The fleurs-de-lis in the backgrounds of the miniatures on ff. 25r and 55r need not refer to a member of the French royal house. Unidentified 19th-century coat of arms on f. 1r: gules, three hares' heads proper, with the motto Tunc satiabor. Collection of William Alexander Douglas, Duke of Hamilton and Brandon. Given by him in 1856 to the Reverend Walter Sneyd, according to a note formerly on a flyleaf no longer present in the manuscript (see M.R. James, op. cit., p. 1, and Hidden Friends: The Comites Latentes Collection of Illuminated Manuscripts, exh. cat., Sotheby's, 20-28 September 1985, no page numbers, same page as entries 21-23). Sneyd sale, Sotheby's, 16 Dec. 1903, no. 513. Bernard Quaritch, London. Collection of Edmond de Rothschild, MS 98 (his sale Paris, Palais Galliera, 24 June 1968, no. 1). Acquired from H. P. Kraus in 1968 as the gift of Edwin J. Beinecke. Bibliography: Exhibition Catalogue, pp. 202-03, no. 29, pl. 12 of f. 84r. A. N. L. Munby, Connoisseurs and Medieval Miniatures (Oxford, 1972) p. 114. R. W. Pfaff, Montague Rhodes James (London, 1980) pp. 195-96. Barbara A. Shailor et al.