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1. Missal Abreviatum

Notes:
Catchwords occasionally on the verso, passim., Bound in contemporary blind-tooled reddish brown calf over wooden boards. Leather stamped with a central panel of ogival lozenges, each enclosing a central botanical stamp. The whole framed by multiple blind rules and by a broad border of vines and flowers. Original brass bosses and clasps on corner and center of both covers. Two pairs of claps on fore edge catching on upper cover. Tooling includes central panel and rosette and vine-like patterns. Both boards damaged by worms., 1 and 2 line initials in red passim, some with flourishing extending into the margin. 6 to 8 line pen flourished initials in red passim, with extensive pen flourishes extending into the margins. Cross symbols in red passim throughout text. Major divisions of text are marked by leather tabs. Rubricated in red., Decorated manuscript in latin with contemporary blindpressed calf over wooden boards, with original corner and center bosses. Contents include: an index (f. 1r-v); the Propers for masses of major feasts of the temporal cycle: Nativity, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, and Corpus Christi, followed by selections from the ordinary mass (ff. 2-17); a prayer Orate fraters beginning f. 18v as orate fraters et sorores, likely a reference to the canonesses of Diessen; Cannon of mass (ff. 24-37); and select prayers for dedication of the church, for the Virgin, for peace, against the plague, for sinners, several for the dead, for alms, and three orations for mass which commemorates St. Rasso (ff. 39-56). First folio contains a table of contents and is missing lower corner with partial loss of text., 1 column of 20 lines ruled in lead with single boundary lines and written in gothic textualis script. Text on ff. 24r-37v, written in larger gothic textualis script in 12 lines long., and Internal evidence, in particular the commemoration of St. Rasso, a local count (d. 954) of Diessen-Andechs, suggests the manuscripts was produced in the monastery of the Augustinian canons regular at Diessen (Cottineau 1: 964) at the southern end of Ammersee. Dated “1491” in contemporary hand on f. 1v. Sold to Phillip J. Pirages by a dealer in German sometime before 1993. Purchased by Western Michigan University Special Collections from Phillip J. Pirages Fine Books in 1993.
Date Created:
1491-01-01T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Western Michigan University. Libraries

2. Leaf from a 13th century Vulgate Bible

Notes:
Leaf was excised from a larger manuscript with cuts visible from previous binding. The leaf has suffered some water damage at the lower edge and is trimmed at the outer margin. Thin parchment likely prepared for a book that was meant to include all of the Bible in a single volume., Each new chapter is marked in the margin by a roman numeral in alternating red and blue letters (IX and X on the recto and XI on the verso). Each chapter begins on a new line, with a pen-flourished 4-line initial in the margin, alternating red with blue flourishing and blue with red flourishing. The text was systematically corrected by a scribe using an ink darker than that of the main text. There is a running head of "DA" on the verso and "NI" on the recto alternating red and blue. Text is written below the top line. The script displays many of the defining features of Northern Textualis, including fusion in the combinations be, de, do, ho, oc, og, oq, pe, and po, elision of cc and pp, use of round (2-shaped) r following o and p, use of the st ligature (and only the st ligature), and use of Tironian et (uncrossed, with the foot turning slightly to the right) indicating a library book script of moderately rapid execution. One feature--the tall, decorated ascenders on the top line of characters--is by Derolez's definition never found in a script of the highest, orformata, grade. Ink flaking from the fleshside with minimal loss of text., Leaf possibly from a Parisian Bible, from Daniel 8:9-10:3 (recto) and Daniel 10:3-11:31 (verso)., 2 columns of 63 lines written in Gothic Northern Textualis, similar to pearl script, ruled in lead with double bounding verticals (4 mm) and intercolumnation of 4 + 4 mm., and Evidence in the text, the manuscript, the quality of the parchment, the script, and the mise-en-page all point to the leaf’s origin as part of a complete Bible copied in Paris in the thirteenth century, the place and time of the golden age of manuscript Bible production. Accompanying documentation notes the leaf was exhibited at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts in December 1965, at which time it was in the collection of the Lima (Ohio) Public Library. It had formerly been in the collection of the Cleveland manuscript collector and book seller Otto F. Ege (1888-1951).
Date Created:
[1200 TO 1299]
Data Provider:
Western Michigan University. Libraries

3. Leaf from a Prayer Book

Notes:
Housed in a frame (255 x 190mm), one side visible only., 1 line initials alternating blue and red, some with contrasting red or blue pen flourishes. Some initials and decoration fading., Portion of Psalm 26:6-9 from a prayer book with pen flourished initials, some faded., 1 column of 14 lines ruled in lead. Text written in gothic textualis formata., and Origin unknown. Evidence in text - the script and decoration - suggest late 13th - early 14th century. In pencil at the bottom of visible part of leaf: “1300-1350 A.D.” Notes on back of frame: “Religious Service Book” in ink; “Lowrie Collection” in pencil; sticker for Suzanne’s Art Centre, Kalamazoo, Michigan. Loaned by Gethsemani Abbey Library, Kentucky to Western Michigan University Library School through Jean Lowrie in 1974. Now permanently held by Special Collections.
Date Created:
[1275 TO 1350]
Data Provider:
Western Michigan University. Libraries

4. Leaf from the Llangattock Breviary

Notes:
Flesh side distinct from hair side; high quality parchment., Three full-length bar borders of gold with pen florishes supporting foliage; 4-line initial "A" with miniature of St. John in tempera colors and gold. Rubrication in red. Five 2-line initials in gold on a ground of blue or mauve with white tracery. 1-line initials in gold or blue with contrasting pen florishes. Three full-length bar borders of gold with terminal or marginal sprays or scrolling penwork tendrils supporting flowers, foliage, and gold disks. Ink faded on both sides., A leaf from the Llangattock Breviary, which orginally comprised more than 500 leaves. The leaf consists of text from the Actus Apostolorum 2:40 - 3:9. The Breviary was created as a luxury liturgical manuscript for Leonello d'Este (1407-1450), Marchese of Ferrara, by illuminator Giorgio d'Almagna and assistants during the years 1441-1448. Leaves from the Llangattock Breviary are among the collections of the following institutions: Harvard, U.C. Berkeley, American Academy in Rome, Michigan State, U. South Carolina, University of Washington, Hill Monastic Manuscript Library, Dartmouth College, the Louvre Museum, and Museo Schifanoia in Ferrara. Many leaves are still offered for sale in the book trade., 2 columns of 30 lines in brown ink written in Gothic Textualis rotunda., and "All aspects of the leaf--size, format, and illumination--correspond to those of the Missel of Borso d'Este, marquis and then duke of Ferrara (Modena, Biblioteca Estense, Ms W.5.2., lat. 239) and the Breviary was certainly made either for him or his predecessor Leonello and intended, like the Missal, for the ruler's chapel. It is usually identified with the Breviary record in accounts in the d'Este archives as having been illuminated for Leonello by Giorgio d'Alemagna." -- from dealer's description
Date Created:
[1441 TO 1448]
Data Provider:
Western Michigan University. Libraries

5. Book of hours : use in Rome

Notes:
Catchword partially cropped on the lower margin of f. 162v., 16th century gilt-tooled arabesque binding or pasteboard, with small marks on edges of boards where clasps were once attached. Binding damaged. Stub of missing leaf between ff. 10v - 11r., On f. 54r: 4-line historiated initial in pink enclosing the Virgin and St. Anne on gold grounds, with a three-quarter decorated board derived from a depiction of the acanthus plant containing occasional hairline foliage and vines, and flowers in gold, and fruit. Some names in the calendar are written in gold. Long ornamental cadelles extending into the top and lower margins, some with skilled caricatures of human faces. Rubricated in red, blue and gold. A 1-line initial in gold on pink and blue grounds with white penwork with line fillers of bars or flower heads on same line. 2-line initials in blue or pink on gold enclosing foliage or colored balls or flowers or foliage or fruit on grounds of gold. On f. 36r: 3-line inital in blue with white penwork, enclosing pink and blue foliage with white penwork, on a ground of gold. On f. 51v and 108v: foliate motif border in outer margin derived from a depiction of the acanthus plant containing occasional hairline foliage and vines, and flowers in gold. On f. 157r: 2-line initial in blue with white penwork, enclosing a strawberry, on ground of gold. On f. 74r-v and f. 77v., outline impression of an initial and foliage border. Many pages have black, red, and blue ink stains. Gold and paint in the initials flaking from some leaves. On f. 8, the top of leaf is cropped with loss of text., A Book of Hours containing a calendar (missing calendar leaves for January and February); Gospel Readings followed by prayers; the Hours of the Virgin; the Penitential Psalms, followed by prayers and a Litany; the Hours of the Cross; the Office of the Dead; the Sulfrages to the Saints, followed by a single prayer which a blue rubric announces. Initials through out are illuminated, and one initial is historiated with a miniature of the Virgin and St. Anne., 1 column of 13 lines ruled in red written in lettre batarde., and “1542” on last main text leaf possibly indicating the precise date of the binding.
Data Provider:
Western Michigan University. Libraries

6. Leaf from a Censier or rent book of tenant farms in La Chapelle

Notes:
Excised from a larger manuscript; prickings visible along the outer edges; binding holes along the inner margins., A 3-line initial in red and blue with pen flourishes, two 2-line initials alternating red and blue with contrasting pen flourishes; some initial letters touched in yellow and two letters extending into upper margin with ornamental cadels; small stains to edge, with slight affect to penwork of uppermost initial., A leaf from a Censier, a book of rents owed to the lordship of La Chapelle, with three entries., 1 column of ruled for 30 long lines in a Northern Textualis Gothic script, with 6 original lines or entries on recto, and nine on the verso; nine further near-contemporary lines added to the second entry on the recto in a similar hand., and It may have been produced as the personal copy of the seigneur. The site is likely to be identifiable as La Chapelle-Gaceline (Morbihan) in Brittany. The place-names, Caro, Le Tay and perhaps also La Gaial (perhaps La Gacilly), point to the immediate surrounds of La Chapelle-Gaceline.
Data Provider:
Western Michigan University. Libraries

7. Leaves from a Breviary, open

Notes:
Bound in modern red leather in 1993 by Donald Taylor of Toronto. Spine lettered in gilt, “Fragmentum Breviarii, s. XIII.” Gatherings interleaved by paper stubs, with modern cloth slipcase. Previously used as a “loose wrap” for the four folios containing excerpts from Jacobus de Vorgaine’s Legenda aura and Sermones de tempore, removed by the Bergendal Collection and bound separately as MS 160. First two and last two flyleaves are modern paper., Two 2-line intials in red with simple red pen florishes. Paragraph markers in red. A few small worm holes in the margins. Modern foliation in pencil top outer corner recto. All leaves are darkened and soiled, although ff. 1-2 are legible, especially at the edges. F. 3 damaged in the inner margin with some loss of text, part of f. 3 and ff. 3v-4v are mostly illegible due to damp. Prickings top margin. Majuscules touched in red., A small personal collection of excerpts unbound until modern times, and which once protected the leaves of MS 160, open to ff. 2v-3r. The original structure is uncertain and missing an unknown number of leaves between f. 2 and f. 3., 2 columns of about 32-33 lines in mostly undetectable ruling. Traces of single vertical bounding lines in ink or lead remain between the columns. Written by two scribes in a gothic bookhand., and “Based on the evidence of the script, this was written in Germany at the end of the 13th century. The text, although fragmentary, suggests that these leaves were from a monastic rather than secular, breviary (one nocturn with four lessons are provided for the feast of St. Lucy). Possibily waste leaves never used for a manuscript (see the backward two-line red “n” on f. 4). They were used as a wrapper for this copy of extracts from the Golden Legend and sermons by Jacobus de Vorgaine by the fifteenth or early 16th century, when the contents were recorded in the lower margin of f. 1. The writer listed the contents as “Legends” of St. Barbara and St. Lucy, ignoring that these leaves were originally from a breviary, and emphasizing the content that was in keeping with the manuscript these leaves were being used to protect. Belowed to Joseph Pope (1921-2010) of Toronto, investor banker and prominent collector of medieval manuscripts, where it was Bergendal Collection MS 24 (described in Pope, 1999, and online, Bergendal Collection). Purchased by Pope from Sam Fogg, London, October 1993.” --from dealer description. Purchased by Western Michigan University Special Collections from Les Enluminures (TM 579).
Date Created:
[1275 TO 1300]
Data Provider:
Western Michigan University. Libraries

8. Book of Hours, open

Notes:
Bound in post-medieval limp vellum. Two parchment ties on the fore edge, now broken. Collation is erratic with numberous excisions and repairs to gatherings; the manuscript may have been made up originally of odds and ends of parchment, the situation being further confused by modern rebinding, loss of leaves, and probably excisions of illuminations., Rubricated in red. 1-line blue and red initials throughout text. 2-line blue and red initials with occasional purple pen flourishes passim., A book of devotions which includes various psalms and an illuminated initial at the begining of Psalm 70, open to ff. 57v - 58r. Folios feature gothic text and 1 to 2 line initials in red or blue with pen flourishes., 1 column of 11-12 lines ruled sporadically in dry point and lead with several gatherings at the end made up of parchment ruled for another purpose. Text written in gothic textualis formata., and Written in Italy in the 14th century. Possibly Augustinian canon origin: Saint Augustine is singled out among the bishops and confessors as “Peter Augustine.” In the 18th century, codex belonged to Jehan de Montagu based on inscriptions on f. 54r and f. 96r. Notation in margins in pencil noting psalm chapters (modern, not vulgate). Obtained by Jean Roos from Otto F. Ege of Cleveland Ohio at an unknown date. Given to Western Michigan University by Jean Roos on 25th anniversary of the founding of WMU School of Librarianship in 1970.
Data Provider:
Western Michigan University. Libraries

9. Bible leaf with historiated initial (Ruth with sheaves and dragons)

Notes:
Holes visible from gathering stitching., On verso: A historiated initial “I” (In diebus unus) opens the book of Ruth and depicts an upright Ruth holding the sheaves in the crook of her left arm, while with her right arm she points to a blue dragon curling above her. A green dragon extends downwards below her feet. The tails of both dragons are flecked with gold leaf. 1-line Roman Numeral chapter number in the margin alternating red and blue with pen flourishes on recto and verso., A single leaf from a Bible with text from Judges 20:35 - Ruth 2:14., 2 column of about 50 lines per column, ruled in plummet in Pregothic or textualis rotunda script., and Produced in France, c. 1230, possibly in a workshop that specialized in moralized bibles. According to the seller, the ornament, figure style, and details of the historiated initial are closest to a number of manuscripts that Robert Branner has grouped around “Leber 6,” a Psalter (Rouen, Bibliothèque Municipale). If this is correct, then the leaf came from the same workshop responsible for the Vienna moralized bible; however, additional research needs to be done. Purchased in 2013 from Boyd Mackus, The Mackus Company, Springfield, Illinois, by Special Collections, Waldo Library.
Data Provider:
Western Michigan University. Libraries

10. Leaf from Magna Glossatura in Epistolas Pauli

Notes:
On verso: corrections in the inner margin in same script as main text., A cut in parchment in the outer margin of recto with no loss of text; stub of conjugate leaf is present; remnant of a mended cut in the inner margin, sewing holes visible; prickings visible on the outer and inner margins., Running title: on recto "GA" and verso "AD" alternating red and blue; biblical quotations underlined in red; 2-line initials in blue or blue with contrasting pen flourishes in red or blue; 1-line initials alternating red and blue., A leaf from Peter Lombard's Magna glossatura in Epistolas Pauli, glossed and written in the intercisum format. Peter Lombard developed the text in Paris in the second quarter of the 12th century during his teaching activities. It became one of the required readings of the faculty of Theology. The leaf is taken from Galatians 6:10. Biblical text is written in short blocks to the left of each column on every second ruled line, the gloss surrounding the biblical text on three sides., 2 columns of 55 lines lead point ruled written in early Gothic script; text written above the top line; on recto: letters written in lead point to indicate placement of colored initials; text written in intercisum format., and The format of the manuscript, and the quality of the parchment and decoration, suggest that this manuscript was intended for a wealthy abbot or bishop or a well-off scholar (see Frońska, Royal Manuscripts (2005)). The script and the decoration suggest a French production. According to Avril, 'Un manuscrit d'auteurs classiques' (1975), pp. 268-69, the decoration might be connected with the second artist of a manuscript containing classical works (Paris, BnF, MS lat. 7936) produced in Paris. Although there are common features between the initials of both manuscripts, 'their historiated initials cannot be ascribed to the same hand' according to Frońska, Royal Manuscripts (2011). A Parisian Bible produced around 1200, now Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz, MS theol. lat. fol. 9, is close to this manuscript in script and decoration (see Ayres, 'Parisian Bibles' (1982), 5-13).
Data Provider:
Western Michigan University. Libraries