Manuscript on paper, with parchment for outer and inner conjugate leaves of each quire, composed of four "booklets" or units of similar format. Part I: 1) William of St. Thierry, Epistola ad fratres de monte Dei, formerly attributed to Guigo and Bernard of Clairvaux. Part II: 2) Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermo in festo annuntiationis B. V. Mariae. 3) Bernard of Cluny [?], Sermo de villico iniquitatis, formerly attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux. 4) Bernard of Cluny, Preface to art. 3. Part III: 5) Bernard of Clairvaux, De gradibus humilitatis et superbiae. 6) Jean, l'Homme de Dieu, Tractatus de ordine vitae et morum institutione, formerly attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux. Part IV: 7) Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermo I pro Dom. VI post Pentecosten. 8) Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermo II pro Dom. VI post Pentecosten. 9) Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermo II pro Dom. VI post Pentecosten. 10) Anonymous sermon on the Virgin Mary. 11) Nicholas of Clairvaux, Sermo in natali S. Benedicti de euangelio. 12) Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermo in obitu Domini Humberti
Description:
In Latin., Watermarks: Part I: unidentified P in gutter. Parts II-IV: similar in design to Briquet Lettre Y 9182-84., Script: Part I (ff. 1-34): Written by a single scribe in well formed upright gothic script exhibiting batarde influence in the long descenders. Part II (ff. 35-46): Written in a script similar to that of Part I, but with less batarde shading. Part III (ff. 47-82): Written possibly by the same scribe as Part II. Part IV (ff. 83-99): Written in small cramped gothic script similar to those in I-III., Part I: Carefully executed red and blue divided initial, 8-line, on f. 1r; infilled and surrounded by delicate foliage designs in red and purple ink, on a green ground, with flourishes extending down inner border. Similar initial, f. 1v, without green ground and with blue scroll design for crossbar. Headings, paragraph marks, initial strokes, underlining, and Nota marks in red. Part II: Fine initial, 8-line, on f. 35r, divided red and blue, infilled and surrounded by six foliage designs in red penwork on green ground, with a central flower of six petals touched with yellow. Plain blue initial, 3-line, on f. 39v, with some floral designs in body in natural color of paper; red initials, 2-line, ff. 40r and 45v. Headings, initial strokes, underlining and corrections, in red. Paragraph marks in red or blue. Guide-letters for rubricator. Part III: Divided initial I, red and blue, 10-line, on f. 47r, with red and purple foliage designs on green ground surrounding initial, and with flourishes extending down inner margin. Blue initial, 4-line, on f. 68v, infilled and surrounded by penwork designs in red. Plain initials, 2-line, headings, initial strokes, paragraph marks, corrections, and some marginal notes, in red. Guide-letters and instructions for rubricator. Part IV: Blue initial, 5-line, on f. 83v, with interior floral designs in natural color of parchment; body infilled and surrounded by red penwork designs extending down inner margin. Initials, 5- to 2-line, headings, paragraph marks, in red., and Binding: 16th-17th centuries (?). Original sewing on four tawed, slit straps, the spine rounded and the supports prominent and defined. Plain, wound endbands on vegetable fiber cores, the covering leather saddle-stitched around them. Covered in dark brown calf with round and lozenge-shaped tools in diamonds and triangles formed by intersecting fillets in a central panel in a double outer frame. One fastening, the catch on the upper board and the strap wanting. Turk's head knot placemarks on the fore edge. Rectangular label removed from upper edge of front cover; two modern brown labels, stamped in gold, on spine: "Bernardi Varia" and "M. S." Original front pastedown: lower portion of a parchment bifolium (Germany, 15th century) of the Doctrinale of Alexander of Villa Dei with lines 1056-79 visible on verso and 1520-44 on recto. Ca. 5 mm. between lines of text. Binding restored.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Bernard, of Clairvaux, Saint, 1090 or 1091-1153., Catholic Church, and Cistercians.
Subject (Topic):
Didactic literature, Latin (Medieval and modern), Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval, Monasticism and religious orders, Sermons, and Theology
Manuscript on parchment (thick, furry) of Speculum humane salvationis. With Pseudo-Bonaventura, Meditationes de passione Christi
Description:
In Latin., Script: Written by two scribes in similar gothic textura bookhands. Scribe 1 (ff. 1r-90v) in brown ink. Scribe 2 (ff. 91r-104v) in a darker ink and more compressed script. A few marginal comments and corrections of 15th-16th centuries., The manuscript originally contained 192 miniatures, of which 29 have been entirely and 1 (f. 53r) partially removed. Those remaining are drawn in light brown ink and tinted in brown and yellow washes with touches of red. The miniatures on ff. 7r-38v have been redrawn in black ink by a second hand. A dirty tan ground has been added to miniatures on ff. 67v and 68r., 2-line calligraphic initials, blue, at the beginning of each chapter and "figura" or type (I-initials, 6-10 lines; at the bottom of the page, e.g., f. 29v, the I breaks and runs beneath the lowest line of text), with elaborate, angular penwork and flourishes, in red (some, e. g., ff. 17r and 21r, with faces). On ff. 91r-104v 2-line blue initials, plain; spaces for some initials, including a 6-line initial on f. 91r, left blank. 1-line red or blue initials, some of the blue with red penwork. Capital A's in each Amen alternate red and blue. Guide-letters for initials throughout. Paragraph marks, blue. Tituli, inscriptions in miniatures, chapter numbers, and pagination in red throughout. Guide-numbers for pagination still visible, especially on ff. 58v-60r., The parchment is worn and dirty, with many torn and slashed folios. Apart from the folios which are missing entirely, the upper portions (with miniatures) on ff. 47, 53 and 57 have been removed., and Binding: Fifteenth century. Dutch or German? Sewn on six double, tawed cords laced into beech boards and pegged in three holes. Endband cores laid in grooves and pegged. There is an inner cover of pink, tawed skin. Over this is a chemise of thin, white tawed skin stitched to a heavy outer, tawed pigskin cover which extends about 25 mm. at the head, 70 mm. at the fore-edge, and was whip-stitched at the edges. The tail edge has been cut down. Two straps are attached to the upper cover and tacked to the extending skin at the fore-edge with a narrow, tawed thong. There are two square marks where pins were attached to the lower cover. The original sewing cords have broken and have been replaced, a part of the book resewn, and part of the chemise pocket cut away. The ends of the fastening straps and the endbands are wanting.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Topic):
Devotional literature, Latin (Medieval and modern), Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript on parchment (leaves are very uneven due to irregular trimming) originally composed of roughly executed full-page illustrations and diagrams that constitute the Speculum theologie
Description:
In Latin., Script: Inscriptions written in gothic bookhand, additions in either textura or running scripts (ff. 2r. 7v)., The illustrations on ff. 1r-7v are drawn in red ink, heightened with green, orange, and yellow. The diagram on f. 8r is drawn in brown and red, touched with blue, red, yellow and gold., Folio 8r darkened and rubbed with some loss of text., and Binding: Nineteenth century. Half bound in mottled brown goatskin, gold-tooled, with a red label. Marbled paper sides.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Topic):
Didactic literature, Latin (Medieval and modern), Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval, and Theology
Manuscript on parchment of 1) Statuta capituli generalis, with the years 1158 and 1180-1190 mentioned in red. 2) Liber usuum. 3) Super instituta generalis capituli apud Cistercium. 4) Liber usuum conuersorum. 5) Carta caritatis
Description:
Probably produced at the abbey of Fontaine-Jean in Northern France, to which it belonged in the late 16th century. The Cistercian abbey of Fontaine-Jean, near Montargis, between Sens and Orleans, was a daughter house of Pontigny founded in 1124., In Latin., Script: Written by one scribe in large, even bookhand. Additions by various hands, 13th-17th centuries; some lost due to trimming., Four large initials, ff. 1v, 38r, 86r, and 93r (12-, 29-, 8-, and 9-line), light brown with crude running pattern of clover-leaf-like forms in brown ink, filled with brown, green and red spiral foliage with flowers and dragon-head terminals, on blue and red grounds decorated with triplets of white dots. One elaborate, but crude, calligraphic initial, f. 118v, 9-line, divided red and green, accompanied by red and green foliate motifs, framed in green. Numerous initials throughout, 7- to 2-line, red or blue, and occasionally green, with blue, red or green foliate penwork, some extensive. 1-line initials, red or blue, alternating. Rubrics throughout, some in text, others in margins. Wavy red line-fillers., and Binding: Nineteenth century. Brown calf, blind- and gold-tooled, with mottled, mauve paper sides. On spine: "Constitutions du monastre de Fontaine-Jehan".
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Cistercians.
Subject (Topic):
Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval, and Monasticism and religious orders
Manuscript on parchment (goatskin) of Nicolaus de Osimo (Auximo) OFM (d. after 1453), Supplementum Summae Pisanellae, an alphabetically arranged supplement to the Summa de casibus conscientiae of Bartholomew of Pisa (Bartholomaeus de Sancto Concordio, d. 1347). Produced at the Franciscan convent of Santa Maria degli Angeli near Milan
Description:
In Latin., Script: Apparently 8 scribes, all writing Southern Gothica., Decoration: The decoration of artt. 1-4 consists of heightening of the majuscules in yellow; blue or red paragraph marks. In art. 3 the chapters normally open with a 2-line (rarely 3-line) flourished initial with penwork extensions in the left margin or in the intercolumnar space, alternately red with purple or blue penwork and blue with red penwork; the first lemma of each letter opens with a 3- or 4-line flourished initial filled with foliage and with more developed marginal extensions. The text opens on f. 5v with a 5-line dentelle initial with green and blue background heightened with gold and white, followed by 5 lines of text mostly in majuscules. The decoration of art. 7 is similar to that of art. 3 but less carefully executed., and Binding: Eighteenth century (?). White parchment over pasteboard, with two modern brass clasps fixed to the front cover. On the spine green leather label with gold-tooled title "SUMA MAGISTRA". On the bottom edge the title "Summa Pisa****" is written.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Nicholas, of Osimo, -1453. and Franciscans
Subject (Topic):
Manuscripts, Canon law, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Latin literature, Medieval and modern, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript on parchment (thin, good quality) of 1) Tacitus, Annales XI-XVI. 2) Tacitus, Historiae I-V. Written for King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary (1458-90), perhaps by Italians at his palace of Buda
Description:
In Latin., Script: Written by a single scribe in a well formed humanistic script., Twelve initials, 7- to 2-line, at beginning of each book (2 at the beginning of the Annales), gold edged in black, with white vine ornament, against a panelled ground of blue, green and mauve, with white dots, outlined with one or two thin white and one black line; ivy, drawn or pen, with triangular gold leaves or dots, projecting from corners into margins. On f. 1r, the initial includes a putto in the vinework; in the lower margin, coat of arms of Corvinus, type A (quarterly, first and fourth barry of 8 gules and argent [Hungary]; second and third gules, a lion rampant and queue-fourche argent [Bohemia]; an inescutcheon azur with raven sable holding an annulet or, with bordure or [Hunyadi family]. Workmanship of fair quality; style Northern Italian (?)., and Binding: Fifteenth century. Sewn on three tawed, slit straps laid in channels in beech boards. The straps are pegged and the channels filled in with plaster as are the endband grooves and the edge channels cut out for the clasps. The primary endband is plain, wound, and sewn on a tawed core and the secondary is beaded and colored. The core is laid in a groove and pegged. The square spine is given a slightly round shape by the bevelling of the boards and is lined with a tawed skin. Covered in dark, brick-red goatskin with a cusped shield azur, charged with a crow sable (Hunyadi family), in the center of each board; blind-tooled rope work, punch dots and other ornamentation gilt, gold-tooled or painted. "Cornelius Tacitus" is tooled along the head of the lower cover and is also written down the fore-edge with black ink. There are four fastenings, the brass catches on the lower board, with three of them covered over with added leather. The clasps are the same color as the cover and are reinforced with parchment. They are pegged in channels at the edges of the board, underneath the cover. The clasps and a little leather of the spine and the upper board are wanting.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut, New Haven., and Rome
Subject (Name):
Matthias I, King of Hungary, 1443-1490. and Tacitus, Cornelius.
Subject (Topic):
Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Latin prose literature, Manuscripts, Medieval, and History
Manuscript on goatskin parchment of 1) St Basil of Ancyra, De vera integritate virginitatis. Translated into Latin by Ambrogio Traversari between 1423-1424; 2) St John Chrysostom, Adversus oppugnatores vitae monasticae. Translated into Latin by Ambrogio Traversari in 1420
Description:
In Latin., Script: Copied by one scribe, writing in Humanistica Semitextualis with a few Gothic features., Pale red rubrics. Text undecorated, with the following exceptions: plain 2-4-line initials (Capitalis) in red or blue on pp. 1, 152, 155, 188; 5-line white vinestem initial integrated in a three-margins-left border in the same style on p. 3; the initial and border have been attributed by Albinia C. de la Mare to Giovanni d'Antonio Varnucci (1416-1457)., and Binding: 19th-20th centuries; brown morocco over cardboard. Both covers are blind-tooled with frames of fillets and four different flower tools. Five raised bands are on the spine.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Traversari, Ambrogio, 1386-1439.
Subject (Topic):
Fathers of the church, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval, and Monastic and religious life
Manuscript on parchment (trimmed) of Book of Hours with Full calendar, in French
Description:
In Latin., Script: Written in batarde script., Miniatures and an extensive cycle of border vignettes by Jean and Jacquelin Montlucon who were active in Bourges between 1477 and 1492. The calendar pages are framed by gilt columns and entablatures in the antique manner with the occupations of the month and signs of the zodiac in the outer margin and a Creation cycle in the lower margin. Eleven half-page miniatures framed in magenta and gold with cusping at the top; fanciful architectural bases, surrounded by simulated grey-black marble with joined wings and foliage branches in gold. Twenty-three miniatures, 8-lines in height, in magenta and gold frames, each with a full border of flowers and acanthus, birds and grotesques on compartmented gold and white grounds. Text pages with full borders: columns in inner margin; panels with masks, shields, garlands, and wings in upper margin; flowers and acanthus, as above, in outer margin; and, in the lower margin, one of the fullest known cycles devoted to the wild man (sometimes extended to include outer margin as well). Other manuscripts from the same shop, the Monypenny Hours and Grenoble Bibliotheque Municipale MS 1011, also contain extensive cycles of wild-man imagery; the artists Jean and Jacquelin de Montlucon lived in Bourges in a house "at the sign of the Wild Man.", 5- and 4-line initials with leafy branches, gold with fruits, flowers, profile heads on pink or mauve grounds. 2- and 1-line initials, line-endings, and KL monograms in the same style. Rubrics in red. Calendar entries alternate red and blue. F. i verso added in 16th century: the arms of Gian Francesco di Montegnacco in a frame closely modelled on the decoration of the calendar pages., and Binding: Nineteenth century. Tan goatskin, gold-tooled with concentric frames, the central panel daubed with green and red. Red label.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Catholic Church
Subject (Topic):
Books of hours, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript on parchment of Jacopo Zeno, Vita Caroli Zeni. With a dedicatory preface to Pope Pius II. This manuscript is of special importance because it contains the complete work
Description:
In Latin., Script: Written in humanistic script by Franciscus de Tianis of Pistoia., On f. 1r, a foliage border which includes hares, stork, vase, and arms of the Piccolomini family (argent, a cross azur with 5 crescents or; surmounted by keys in saltire argent and a papal tiara; supported by a pair of angels). Eleven elaborate initials, 11- to 7-line, in gold, red, blue, and green entwined with foliage. The style of decoration is decidedly Roman., and Binding: Eighteenth century. Brownish-red goatskin, gold-tooled; pale green and gold, Dutch gilt paper boards.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Zeno, Carlo, 1334-1418. and Zeno, Jacopo, 1417-1481.
Subject (Topic):
Biography, Crusades, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, and Manuscripts, Medieval