Manuscript on paper of Frère Laurent, Somme le Roi (The Book of Vices and Virtues). Written presumably for Agnes of Burgundy, Duchess of Bourbon, who died at Moulins-sur-Allier in 1476
Description:
In French., Watermarks: ff. ii-5, Briquet Armoiries 1876; ff. 6-315, similar to Briquet Lettre P 8527., Script: Written by two scribes in batarde script. Scribe 1) ff. 1r-100v, 131r-217v; Scribe 2) ff. 101r-130v, 217v-312r, 313r., At the beginning of each book there are spaces (9 to 13 lines) left blank for miniatures. 4- to 2-line initials for each book and for a few chapters, gold against blue and red grounds with silver or white filigree, with coarse gold ivy and black hair-spray. 2-line initials in blue or red for chapters; 1-line initials, blue or red, in table of contents. All initials with guide-letters. Chapter numbers and paragraph marks in red. Rubrics throughout., and Binding: Eighteenth century. Edges red. Brown calf, spine gold-tooled, with a red label: "Miroir du Monde M. S. S. Antiq."
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Laurent, Frère.
Subject (Topic):
Conduct of life, French literature, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript fragment on parchment of the Song of Moses from a Psalter
Description:
In Latin., Script: written in gothic script (littera textualis), below top line., and Decoration: 1-line initials alternate red and blue; punctuated with the punctus; hyphenation is in the same ink as the text.
Manuscript on parchment of Jacopo Ariani (?), 200 Sonnets addressed to a lady called Laura. With Alberto Maffei, Colophon in the form of a sonnet addressed to the readers
Description:
In Italian., Script: Written by Alberto Maffei in a small calligraphic Humanistica Semitextualis Formata., Each sonnet opens with a Capital in gold ink, the three subsequent stanzas with alternating red and blue Capitals. On the opening page (f. 2r), however, the opening Capitals are in gold on a square blue background dotted with gold, above each of the two sonnets floral ornaments have been painted in red and gold ink and in the lower margin there is a medallion within a gold wreath adorned with ribbons and containing the coat of arms of the Ariani family flanked by the initials "I.A.". ff. 1 and 52 are stained purple and the text of artt. 1 and 3 is written in gold ink, the headings being executed in silver ink. On both pages silver and gold floral ornaments in three margins. The ones in the lower margins end in Capital "A" (for "Albertus")., and Binding: Nineteenth century. Blue velvet over cardboard with blue watered-silk doublure. Gilt edges.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Ariani, Jacopo.
Subject (Topic):
Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Italian poetry, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript, on vellum, in two scribes' hands, of this collection of verse saints' lives
Description:
In Middle English., Text is substantially complete, lacking two leaves at the beginning, one in the middle, and probably several at the end., Layout: single columns of 42 and 39 lines, respectively., Script: English cursive bookhand (two scribes)., Decoration: numerous initials in blue with red penwork., and Binding: eighteenth-century full calf.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Topic):
English literature, English poetry, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript leaf, on parchment, containing portions of the life of Saint Mary of Egypt and the opening of the life of Saint Alphage
Description:
In Middle English., Leaf has been trimmed for use in a binding., Layout: single-column. Now 28 lines., Script: early Anglicana., and Decoration: rubricated.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Topic):
English literature, English poetry, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript fragment on parchment of a copy of the South German Homiliary containing parts of Homily II.
Description:
In Latin., Script: written in Caroline minuscule, which Bischoff (on the basis of his inspection of other leaves of the same manuscript) dated to the second quarter of the ninth century., and Decoration: the homily on fol. 1v begins with a 3-line initial "T" outlined in orange and filled and surrounded with brown; 1-line initials are in orange uncials and are set apart from the text between the double vertical bounding lines; punctuated with the punctus and punctus versus.
Manuscript fragment on parchment of a southern German homiliary from the Carolingian period
Description:
In Latin., Script: Written in Caroline minuscule; the letters have been almost entirely retraced due to (perhaps 11th century) water damage., Decoration: 2-line intials in brown uncials; some highlighting in red; traces of a rubric between the two sermons; punctuation consisting of the punctus, punctus versus, and punctus elevatus., and Another copy of this homilary is found in Beinecke MSS 482.4 and 484.2.
Manuscript fragment on parchment of a south German homiliary containing Homily II.
Description:
In Latin., Script: written in Caroline minuscule, which Bischoff has dated to the second quarter of the ninth century., and Decoration: the text is divided by paragraphs into short sense units, each beginning with a 1-line uncial in red that is set apart from the text; rubrics in red uncials; punctuated with the punctus, punctus elevatus, and punctus versus.
Manuscript on goatskin of Specchio delle donne; Pseudo-Bernard of Clairvaux, Planctus beatae Mariae and Meditatio super Salve Regina; St. Bonaventure, Meditatio in Orationem Dominicam; and various other prayers and devotions
Description:
In Italian., Script: Copied by one hand in Gothico-Humanistica Libraria/Formata with single-compartment a., Decoration: Headings, paragraph marks, and 2-line plain initials in red. Art. 9 entirely written in red. A 6-line historiated initial with acanthus extensions and burnished gold bezants in the margin on f. 1r: half-length figure of Christ as Man of Sorrows, sitting in the Tomb among the Instrumens of the Passion. The illumination is attributed to the Master of the Vitae imperatorum., and Binding: Contemporary brown leather over wooden boards with square edges, damaged and rebacked; sewn on three split leather thongs. Marks of four small bosses on each cover. Marks of one clasp probably attached to the front cover. Title inscription on a partly preserved paper label on the spine: “[S]pech[io] / [d]ell[e] / [d]on[ne]." At the bottom, there are remainders of a printed paper label with handwritten number "**9."
