Breviary : Carthusian use : in Latin

Item Information

Title:
Breviary : Carthusian use : in Latin
Creator:
Catholic Church
Former owner:
Magne, Lucien, 1849-1916
Former owner:
Certosa di Ferrara
Auctioneer:
Tajan (Firm)
Former owner:
Enluminures (Firm)
Date:
[1460?–1470?]
Format:
Manuscripts
Books
Genre:
Illuminations
Manuscripts, Latin (Medieval and modern)--Italy
Manuscripts, Medieval--Italy
Psalters
Breviaries
Gothic scripts
devotional calendars
Location:
Boston Public Library
Rare Books Department
Collection (local):
Medieval and Early Renaissance Manuscripts (Collection of Distinction)
Places:
Italy > Emilian (region) > Ferrara (province) > Ferrara
Extent:
318 leaves : parchment ; 90 x 65 (approximately 57 x 43) mm, bound to 10 cm
Permalink:
https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/w3767k061
Terms of Use:
No known copyright restrictions.
No known restrictions on use.
Place of origin:
[Italy]
Language:
Latin
Table of Contents:
1. fol.1-12: calendar, includes feasts graded for monastic use and with solemnities designated by "cum candelis."
2. fol. 13. [Two prayers to St. Anne] Commemoratio de beata Anna matre virginis gloriose Marie, incipit, "Gaude felix Anna ..."
3. fol. 14-111v: ferial psalter.
4. fol. 111v-115: litanies, with St. John the Baptist listed first, after the Angels, followed by prayers.
5. fol. 115-119v: [Cues for antiphons, Psalms and other elements of the Office of the Dead], "Incipit officium in agenda mortuorum ad vesperas ...", followed by prayers for different persons, for men and women, a lay person, an adversary, a priest, women, father and mother, the bishop, brothers of the order, benefactors of the monastery, all dead brothers, followed by nine lessons.
6. fol. 120-128: "Dominicis diebus quibus non sunt cantica deputata. Et in festo sancti Michaelis", cant., incipit, "Domine miserere mei ..."; Canticles for the liturgical year, beginning with a canticle for the feast of St. Michael.
7. fol. 128v-138v: Hymns for the liturgical year, beginning with "Conditor alme siderum" for Vespers on the first Sunday in Advent; after the main feasts of the Temporal, the first hymn provided for the Sanctoral is for the feast of St. John the Baptist (fol. 132v); followed by lessons for the week from Tuesday to Saturday from Pentecost to November.
8. fol. 138v-151v: Capitula, or short readings, for the liturgical year, beginning with Advent.
9. fol. 151-190: Prayers for the liturgical year, including initials for the feasts of St. John the Baptist (fol. 176), St. Michael (fol. 182) and St. Hugh of Lincoln (fol. 184v);
10. fol. 191v-213: Lessons for the liturgical year.
11. fol. 213v-279: Offices for the liturgical year (Temporal and Sanctoral)
12. fol. 279-292v: Common of Saints.
13. fol. 293-297: [Office of the Virgin, Carthusian use], "Incipit officium beate virginis marie secundum ordinem fratrum Cartusiensium. In primis ad matutinum ..."
14. fol. 297-308: Mass for the Virgin for the liturgical year, beginning with Mass for the Advent.
15. fol. 308v-314v: Benedictions, lessons, and prayers.
16. fol. 315-318: [Instructions on liturgical observances], "Nota de agendis A festo omnium sanctorum usque ad septuagesimam post nonam ..."
Notes:
Ms. codex.
Title devised by cataloger; place and date conjectured from internal evidence (script, decoration, calendar)
This catalog record based in part on dealer's description.
Origin: Apparently copied in the 1460s for use of the Carthusian Charterhouse in Ferrara. Association with the Carthusians is demonstrated through inclusion in the calendar of the feasts of St. Hugh of Lincoln (17 November) and St. Hugh of Grenoble (1 April); the specification of "[cum] candelis" for important feast days, repeated throughout the calendar, is unique to Carthusian practice, and the commemoration of the dead brothers of the Carthusians (9 November) is elevated in red. Finally, the rubric for the Office of the Virgin on fol. 293 specifies that it is for the Carthusian order. Decoration also presents evidence that links this manuscript to the Ferrarese Carthusians. In particular, illuminations can be attributed to a follower of Guglielmo Girardi, who worked on manuscripts created for San Cristoforo alla Certosa in Ferrara (see Decoration note). This charterhouse was founded by Duke Borso d'Este and construction was completed in 1461. A date of production between 1460 and 1470 is supported by evidence in the calendar. The Visitation on July 2, made a solemn feast in 1468, is not a solemnity (i.e., "cum candelis") in the present manuscript. The feast of The Presentation on November 21, permitted in 1470 and made mandatory by the Carthusians, is not included.
Notes (ownership):
Provenance: Formerly in the collection of Lucien Magne (1849-1916), thereafter by descent. Offered at Tajan Auction House, Paris (16 March, 2021, lot 2)
Notes (acquisition):
Immediate source of acquisition: Purchased from Les Enluminures, Paris, in October 2023.
Purchase; Les Enluminures; 202326; 2023.75.
Notes (object):
Collation: Parchment, fol. ii (18th-century paper) + 318 + fol. ii (18th-century paper) ; I¹² II¹⁰(+1, with fol. 13 an inserted singleton) III-VIII¹⁰ IX⁸ X-XIX¹⁰(-6, lacking one leaf after fol. 186, with loss of text) XX¹⁰ XXI⁸ XXII-XXXII¹⁰ ; horzontal catchwords on final versos of most quires, modern arabic foliation in pencil, without break for the missing leaf in quire XIX, thus reaching 318. Those numbers used here for reference.
Layout: Single column, 24 lines. Ruled in brown ink.
Script: Written in brown ink in a southern gothic textualis libraria. Incipits, rubrics, etc., in red ink.
Decoration: Illuminated by a follower of Guglielmo Girardi, who is associated with manuscripts created for the Este family and for the Carthusian Charterhouse in Ferrara. Five illuminated floral borders. Two pairs of historiated medallions in lower margins, as follows: (fol. 14) Archangel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary, (fol. 120) Nativity with Joseph(?) and the Christ Child. Historiated initial of King David on fol. 14; on fol. 128v, the Prophet Isaiah. Single-line initials rubricated in alternating red and blue. Two- and three-line initials in alternating red and blue with red or purple penwork. Four- and six-line painted initials on burnished gold grounds, some with silver. Several bar borders of gold and colors accented with penwork and foliage in gold and colors.
Binding: Bound in ca. 18th-century red goatskin, gilt. Green gilt spine label.
Notes (language):
In Latin.
Identifier:
06_01_019156
Call #:
RARE BKS MS q Med.296
Barcode:
39999092211620