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
VErbum de quo ewangelista Johannes in ewangelio suo fecit
filius nobis prestare dignetur qui cum patre et spiritu sancto uiuit et regnat per infinita secula seculorum Amen
(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
Main text in brown ink, capitals touched in red. Some passages, e.g. (f. 80rb), have red strikethroughs.
Plain initials over 3-6 lines in red.
Binding
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.
300 ×
225 ×
50 mm
Tail, in brown and red ink: ‘Reuelacioes beate birgitte’.
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.
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.
