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Bible

French (Paris)
Medieval (Gothic)
late 13th century
Place of Manufacture: Paris, France

Medium/Technique Tempera, ink, pencil (modern), and gold on parchment; bindings of leather over boards with gilding
Dimensions Overall (page dimensions): 16.9 x 12.3 cm (6 5/8 x 4 13/16 in.)
Credit Line Denman Waldo Ross Collection
Accession Number00.17
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope

DescriptionBible with 591 folios (ff) and 4 leaves:

ff. 1 - 575: Bible, Old and New Testaments, with the common set of prologues (as in Ker, I: 96-97)
Desiderii mei desiderata…/…gratia domini nostri Iesu Christi cum omnibus.
Pentateuch (Stegmüller 285); Joshua (Steg. 311); Judges; Ruth; Kings I-IV (Steg. 323); I Chron. (Steg. 328 ); II Chron. (Steg. 327); Ezra (Steg. 330); Nehemiah; "II Ezra" [= III Ezra]; Tobias (Steg. 332); Judith (Steg. 335); Esther (Steg. 341); Job (Steg. 344); Psalms; Proverbs (Steg. 457); Ecclesiastes (Steg. 462); Cantica Canticorum; Sapientia (Steg. 468); Ecclesiasticus ("Multorum nobis et magnorum," biblical introduction to Ecclesiasticus, treated as a prologue); Isaiah (Steg. 482); Jeremiah (Steg. 487); Lamentations; Baruch (Steg. 491); Ezechiel (Steg. 492); Daniel (Steg. 494); Minor Prophets (Steg. 500); Hosea (Steg. 507); Joel (Steg. 511); Amos (Steg. 515, 512, 513); Obadiah (Steg. 519 ); Jonah (Steg. 524, 521); Micah (Steg. 526); Nahum (Steg. 528); Habbacuc (Steg. 531); Zephaniah (Steg. 534); Haggai (Steg. 538); Zacharias (Steg. 539); Malachi (Steg. 543); Maccabees (Steg. 547, 533); II Macc.; Matthew (Steg. 590); Mark (Steg. 607); Luke ("Quoniam quidem multi conati" (Luke 1: 1-4, treated as a prologue), Steg. 620); John (Steg. 624); Romans (Steg. 676); I Cor. (Steg. 685); II Cor. (Steg. 700); Galatians (Steg. 707); Ephesians (Steg. 715); Phillipp. (Steg. 728); Collosians (Steg. 736); I Thess. (Steg. 747); II Thess. (Steg. 752); I Timothy (Steg. 765); II Timothy (Steg. 772); Titus (Steg. 780); Philemon (Steg. 783); Hebrews (Steg. 793); Acts (Steg. 637); Canonical epistles (Steg. 809); James; I Peter; II Peter, I John, II John, III John, Jude; Apocalypse (Steg. 839).

ff. 576 - 591v: Jerome's index to the Bible, A - E only.
Aaz apprehendens…/Elchath porto [ ] vel portcula su[ ] porto… [ends imperfectly].

2 columns of 47 lines of text per folio in Latin. Bounding lines in light black plummet, full-length top to bottom, writing lines light black plummet, crossing intercolumnar space and full-length across top line, prickings for bounding lines only.

Too tightly bound to collate. Some catchwords extant (e.g. f. "207" verso), but mostly trimmed. Modern arabic pencil foliation skips ff. 2 and 236, so reaches "303" instead of "305", after which every ten folios are numbered for some time.

Written in a Gothic minuscule in brown ink, with red rubrics. Folio 1 verso: full-length "I" historiated with 7 days of creation, each showing Christ in benediction with symbol of the day, each in its own roundel in a framed panel alternating salmon and blue background with some silver. Books and first prologue begin with 5-line initials in gold and colors with scrolling infill or grotesques, with tails and ascenders into upper or lower margin, 83 in all. Psalms in liturgical division, with initials at Psalms 26, 38, 52, 68, 80, 97, and 109. Prologues begin with 3-line initials in colors, 60 in all. Chapter initials alternate 2-line initials in red with blue filigree or blue with red filigree into upper or lower margin. Psalm verses begin with 1-line initials alternating red and blue.

Late 13th-century marginialia and corrections throughout.
InscriptionsEighteenth-century (?) signature (smudged and illegible) on f. "320." Dealer's description pasted inside front cover. MFA bookplate inside front cover, with gift inscription from Dr. Denman W. Ross.
ProvenanceBy 1900, Dr. Denman W. Ross (1853-1935), Cambridge, MA; 1900, gift of Dr. Denman W. Ross. (Accession date: February 2, 1900)