In Latin., Script: Written by a single scribe in small, neat, gothic bookhand; note in his hand on f. 209r, too trimmed to be legible., Approximately half the historiated initials have been excised. The initials, 51- to 9-line, painted gold, red and blue with white highlights and punctuated with gold dots, terminate in spiralling floral serifs, often with biting animal heads, with long projecting stems against cusped grounds. The figures are red, blue, orange and grey, against red or blue grounds, some of them diapered and decorated with groups of three white dots and gold dots. Illuminated initials, 51- to 5-line, occasionally for books (f. 74v [Joshua] and f. 175r [Nehemiah]), for the most part for the prologues, similar to the historiated initials, except infilled with interwining and angular vines with biting head terminals, red and/or blue against red or blue grounds with gold dots and set in frames of painted gold. 2-line calligraphic initials for chapters, red or blue with blue or red penwork, each attached to a column of superimposed I's, red and blue, running the full length of the text column, with penwork flourishes, especially at the terminals. Capitals for verses stroked in red. Running headings and chapter numbers in alternating red and blue letters or numbers., and Binding: Date? Resewn on four single, round, vegetable fiber cords which are frayed out and adhered inside the oak boards. There are no endbands, but traces of alum tawed endband cores and sewing supports remain in the holes in the boards. The spine is square. Some lettering in ink on the fore-edge. Covered in red-brown calf, with an exceptionally large stamp of the Virgin and child in an aureole within concentric frames, one with an inscription, on the upper board and diamonds filled with crosses, roses and IHS in circles on the lower. The latter ornaments are also stamped on the turn-ins underneath the pastedowns. Rebacked and edges repaired. Upper board detached. Not the original and possibly not an early binding. Rebacked in the Yale Conservation Studio in 1982. The upper and lower covers are lined with single leaves, pasted down, of a missale plenum (11th century?). Portions of Dominica VI post Pentecosten, Feria IV of that week (upper cover), an unidentified mass of the Sanctorale, Dominica III post Pentecosten (lower cover). Where they occur, the texts of the proper chants are notated in German neumes in campo aperto. Some of the chants are cited by incipit; these are usually not noted. The Alleluia for DMC III is Domine in virtute; that for DMC VI is Eripe me. (We thank K. D. Hartzell for his assistance with these fragments.)
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Topic):
Versions, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval, and Missals
In Latin., Script: Text written in similar styles of gothic bookhand mostly by two scribes who may also have ruled the segments each copied. Scribe 1) ff. 7r-13v, 171v-296r, 307r-409r; running titles. Scribe 2) ff. 15r-171v, 297r-306v. A later hand of the 15th century wrote before and after Scriptural text in a less formal style of gothic; at least four other persons of the 14th-15th centuries have annotated the text in various styles of cursive., Decoration by two distinct hands whose division of work does not correspond precisely to that noted for the scribes. 1) ff. 7r-220v, 325r-340r. Large flourished initials, body divided red and blue, with interior designs primarily in red, and small blue circles added; first line of text in blue capitals decorated with simple red pen strokes. Many rubrics missing. 2) ff. 221r-324v, 341r-409r. Flourished initials similar in design to those by 1, but somewhat smaller in size and mostly without small blue circles; first line of text in blue and red capitals alternating; chapter divisions decorated with long herringbone pendants in red and blue. Running titles and marginal chapter divisions in alternating red and blue letters throughout codex. Notes to rubricator, some perpendicular in gutter., and Binding: 15th-16th centuries. Original sewing on five double, tawed supports laced straight and in V's into back-cornered wooden boards and pegged. The spine is square, the sewing supports prominent. Braided tawed skin (?) endbands. The first covering is brown calf with corner tongues. Next is a chemise of pink, tawed skin with an outer cover sewn to it with diagonal stitches of blue thread. Outer and inner covers are adhered to each other and to the boards with extending edges cut off. Two strap-and-pin fastenings with foliate pin bases on the lower board and stubs of kermes pink straps. Green discoloration on pastedowns. Trace of lettering in ink on the spine.
Manuscript on parchment (trimmed). The codex is probably a normal French Bible but is so badly bound, with lacunae throughout, that we cannot be certain
Description:
In Latin., Script: Written by a single scribe in a neat, but slightly round, gothic bookhand, on the top line. Notes for initials and chapter numbers in margins, in an informal cursive script. Numerous corrections between rulings in lower margin; the corrections were then written in a neat gothic bookhand next to the text., The surviving historiated initials, 8-, 7-, 6-, and 5-line, are of varied design, and are all badly damaged. In type and style they are somewhat comparable to initials in mid-13th century Parisian manuscripts. For the most part, the initials are red or blue, with white highlights; the body of the letter on a dark blue, pink, or grey ground, with white dots; curling floral and dragon serifs, some with cusps (orange, red, and green); descenders (up to 2/3 of text column) same color as body of letter, with adjoining strips of pink, blue, or grey, often with cusped floral terminals, rampant dragons; all sections thickly edged in black. Other historiated initials, blue or pink, with cusped serifs, against a brown ground with delicate floral filigree in white; thick black edging. Three historiated initials (ff. 25r, 90v, and 117v) in architectural settings, in dark blue, blue, red, pink, and gold, with elaborate floral pendants below. The historiated initials for two books, f. 1r (Proverbs) and f. 63v (Philippians) were cut out; script and decoration have been restored with unusual care (15th century); large floral buds (green, orange, yellow, and/or pink) on short green stems against purple or black grounds., Illuminated initials, 4- to 2-line for prologues, pink or blue with white highlights, occasionally with gold; otherwise, diminutive versions of historiated initials types (f. 63 [Prologue to Philippians] with a small bird); one initial of this type f. 35v (John), originally historiated, has also been restored. 4- to 2-line initials for chapters, set into text columns, red and blue with blue and red penwork flourishes running along column into margins, some with animal-head terminals; some initials in bottom line with unusual penwork pendants. Capitals in text stroked in red. Chapter numbers, red and blue, often with flourishes; running headings, red and blue; rubrics in red throughout; corrections surrounded by undulating red lines, occasionally with trailing penwork flourishes., and Binding: 18th-19th centuries. Vellum case. Paper boards are composed of fragments of several French legal documents of the 16th and 17th centuries.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Topic):
Versions, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript fragment on parchment of a biblical commentary on the Prologue to the Pentateuch through Exodus 30 and on the Song of Songs through Matthew 5.
Description:
In Latin and Middle High German., Script: written in a very small, heavily abbreviated gothic bookhand (littera textualis)., and Decoration: 1-line initials are written in brown; punctuated with the punctus.
Manuscript fragment on parchment of the Bible, 1 Kings, containing material from chapters 4, 8, 12, and 14.
Description:
In Latin., Script: written in Caroline minuscule., Decoration: Large 1-line initials in brown square capitals with the round form of E; smaller 1-line initials written in brown rustic capitals with an enlarged minuscule "e"; punctuated with punctus, punctus versus, and punctus interrogativus; accents added by later hand; a hand in darker ink altered punctuation and made several corrections., and Condition: many worm holes; the letters have been retraced over earlier letters which were presumably damaged by water; another MS from Lambach with similar water damage is Beinecke MS 481.8.
Manuscript fragment on parchment of the biblical book of 1 Kings
Description:
In Latin., Script: written in progothic minuscule., and Decoration: 2-line initials alternate in red and blue; 1-line initials are in brown and a mixture of uncials and rustic capitals; running titles are written in black; punctuated with the punctus; hyphenation, accents, and diacritical marks over double "i" and double "a" were added in lighter ink.
Manuscript fragment on parchment of the biblical book Acts of the Apostles, including portions of chapters 21-23.
Description:
In Latin., Script: written in Caroline minuscule; hand very similar to that in Beinecke MS 482.12., and Decoration: two plain 2-line initials in red; 1-line initials are in brown uncials; punctuated with the punctus, punctus elevatus, and punctus interrogativus.
Manuscript fragment on parchment of an unidentified commentary on the biblical book of Wisdom
Description:
In Latin., Script: written in a small gothic script with frequent abbreviations (littera textualis currens)., and Decoration: 1-line initials are in black; punctuated with the punctus; quotations from Wisdom are underlined in black.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Topic):
Criticism, interpretation, etc and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript fragment on parchment of excerpts from the Latin Vulgate of Esther chapters 2, 3, 11, 12, and 13.
Description:
In Latin., Script: written by several scribes in Caroline minuscule; corrections added by contemporary hands., Decoration: 1-line capitals in brown uncials; some orange-red uncials; punctuation consisting of punctus, punctus elevatus, and vigule., and Former call number: Beinecke MS 482.1B (f. 2).
Manuscript fragment on parchment of the Bible, Ezechiel, containing parts of chapters 18, 19, and 20.
Description:
In Latin., Script: written in Caroline minuscule., and Decoration: 2-line initials in brown rustic capitals; portion of a running head in red in the upper margin of the verso; punctuated with punctus, punctus elevatus, punctus versus and punctus interrogativus; a contemporary hand has made some corrections and added a paraph at the beginning of chapter 20.
