St Birgitta, Revelationes V-VIII and Sermo angelicus

Germany, 15th century, late

paper

137 leaves

290–295 × 205–210 mm

Latin

1 (ff. 1ra–19rb) Revelations, Book 5

Rubric: Liber quintus

Incipit: Incipit quintus liber celestis reuelacionum christi ad beatam Byrgittam

Explicit: Itaque cum veneris ad ista loca ostenderam tibi plura

Final rubric: Explicit liber quintus

Edition: Bergh (1971), pp. 97–175.

2 (ff. 19rb–73rb) Revelations, Book 6

Rubric: Incipit liber sextus

Incipit: Mater dei loquitur ad sponsam dicens Ego sum regina celi

Explicit: alioquin labor suus supervacuus et oraciones sue erunt minus ad coronam

Final rubric: Explicit liber 6:tus

Edition: Bergh (1991), pp. 59–270.

3 (ff. 73rb–91vb) Revelations, Book 7

Rubric: Incipit liber septimus

Incipit: Cum esset in roma beata Birgitta sponsa christi

Explicit: cum maxima deuocione et reuerencia inter manus predictarum personarum emisit spiritum

Final rubric: Explicit liber 7

Edition: Bergh (1967), pp. 113–215.

4 (ff. 91vb–116ra) Revelations, Book 8

Rubric: Incipit liber 8:us De Regibus

Incipit: Summus imperator christus per sponsam loquitur ad reges

Explicit: celebrando missam de sancta trinitate et colligent pauperes lauentque humiliter pedes eorum

Final rubric: Explicit liber octaus Beate Birgitte vidue et regine regni Swecie

Note: The text ends with chapter 57.

Edition: Aili (2002), pp. 84–224.

5 (ff. 116rb–126vb) Sermo angelicus

Rubric: Sermo Angelicus de excellencia beate marie virginis quem ipse angelus dictauit beate Byrgitte ex precepto dei et ipse de eodem precepto deuoto conscripsit qui debet legi in matutinis diuisim per ferias ebdomade per totum anni circulum ut infra sequitur

Incipit: VErbum de quo ewangelista Johannes in ewangelio suo fecit

Explicit: filius nobis prestare dignetur qui cum patre et spiritu sancto uiuit et regnat per infinita secula seculorum Amen

Note: f. 127: blank

Edition: Eklund (1972), pp. 75–137.

6 (ff. 128r–137r) Index

Note:

Alphabetical index keyed to text by mention of Book and paragraph number.

f. 137v: blank

Physical Description

Secundo folio

ut anime ostendant

Support

Binding/Endleaves

Locus: LCI, RCI

Note: Stubs from the pastedowns can be seen between first and last quires, after f. 12 and f. 122.

Support: Parchment

Leaf dimensions: 295 × 205 mm

Textblock

Locus: ff. 1r–137v

Support: Western paper

Leaf dimensions: 290 × 210 mm

Watermark 1

Locus: ff. 129v,

Note: Oxhead with eyes, above single rod with flower on top, similar to Piccard II:3, XII, 256.

Foliation

Modern foliation in pencil.

Chapter headings in red ink in top margin and paragraph numbers in red ink in inner and outer margins.

Collation

Formula: 1-5(12), 6(14), 7-11(12), 12(4, lacks 1)

Note: Viscoll collation

Signatures: Quire signatures in top left corner, e.g. f. 1r: primus sexternus libri.

Catchwords: Catchwords present on all quires, except 1, 8 and 11.

Condition

Binding/Endleaves

The endleaves may have been changed at some point, since they do not have as many wormholes as the cover and the text block.

Textblock

Wormholes throughout the entire text block. The holes affect parts of letters, but not overall legibility.

Layout

Locus: ff. 1r–137r

Columns: 2

Written lines: 50–55

Written area: 235 × 140 mm

Note: Guidelines in lead.

Script

Textblock

Hand 1

Gothic cursive.

Additions

Binding/Endleaves

(LCI) Top left corner in pencil by a modern hand: ‘A. 70.’; middle of page, in pencil by a modern hand: ‘Ms. Revelations S. Bridget’; after which in ink by an earlier hand: ‘Buxheim’ and a circle containing a cross. Bottom left corner in pencil by a modern hand: ‘£(?)2.5.0.’

Textblock

(f. 1r) Top of page in dark ink by a medieval hand: ‘Iste liber est Carthus- in Buchshem prope memingen’; bottom of page in dark ink by an early modern hand: ‘Cartusianorum in Buxheim’.

(ff. 1v–125v) Marginal additions in ink by a contemporary hand. The additions consist of identifications of different passages in the text, corrections, and possibly comments on the text. The additions are more frequent at the beginning and appear infrequently towards the end.

(f. 74v) Outer margin in lead by a medieval(?) hand: ‘Thomas’.

(Fragment_1r) After (f. 127) a small, loose fragment of an unidentified text. It seems to be some sort of calendar.

Decorations

Textblock

Description:

Main text in brown ink, capitals touched in red. Some passages, e.g. (f. 80rb), have red strikethroughs.

Initials:

Plain initials over 3-6 lines in red.

Binding

Description:

Medieval binding. Leather over wooden boards. Original colour probably dark brown. 4 pairs of raised bands and endbands. 2 hook-clasp fastenings that attach to RCO. The clasps are decorated with what looks like two Gothic minims, forming either 2 i:s or an n; the catch plates are decorated with vegetative ornaments. LCO, bottom left corner: National Library modern book label. Spine, label with faded, illegible text; stamped in gold: ‘A 70’.

Pastedown seems to consist of fragments from a commentary on Aristotle.

Binding dimensions: 300 × 225 × 50 mm

Edges:

Tail, in brown and red ink: ‘Reuelacioes beate birgitte’.

Condition: Leather faded and worn, boards visible in many places. Covers riddled with wormholes, which have penetrated the binding and the text block. The manuscript was rebound at some point. The spine is of later date.

Contemporary: Yes

History

Origin

Germany, 15th century, late

Provenance

Origin uncertain, but as witnessed by the inscriptions on LCI and f. 1r the manuscript belonged to the Carthusian monastery in Buxheim. It seems to have done so from early on until at least the 17th century (see Buxheimlibrary.org for more information). Possibly the manuscript entered the market after the monastery was dissolved in 1802. At some point, it ended up in London, where it was acquired by the National Library.

This manuscript originally belonged together with A 70a, which contains the first part of the Revelations. The manuscripts were kept together in Buxheim, but were later separated until they were reunited at the National Library.