Life and Miracles of St Birgitta

Italy, 15th century, second half

Parchment

i, 12, i' leaves

235 × 175–180 mm

Latin

1 (ff. 1r–7r) Life of St Birgitta

Rubric: Incipit uita beate Brigide

Incipit: Beata brigida in regno suetie oriunda de nobilibus deuotis\que/ ~~que~~ progenitoribus et parentibus nata fuit

Explicit: Postea miris signis et uariis miraculorum prodigiis dominus eam uenerandam declarat et mirificat Ihesus christus filius dei qui est benedictus in secula seculorum amen

Note: ‘The life and miracles’ seems to correspond to part of the readings in the Officium Sancte Birgitte of Birger Gregersson, but abridged and rearranged, see Undhagen (1960), pp. 173–238.

2 (ff. 7r–12v) Miracles of St Birgitta

Incipit: FRater quidam conuersus dicti monasterii de aluastro

Explicit: finem quoque gaudiosum et euigilabit in requiem lazari

Physical Description

Secundo folio

uestim fulgidis sedentem

Support

Binding/Endleaves

Locus: LCI, f. SL1, SR1, RCI

Support: Paper

Leaf dimensions: 235 × 180 mm

Watermark 1

LCI,

Motif: Beehive with 1889 written underneath.

Textblock

Locus: ff. 1–12

Support: Parchment

Leaf dimensions: 235 × 175 mm

Foliation

Modern foliation in pencil.

Collation

Formula: 1-2(6)

Layout

Locus: ff. 1r–12v

Columns: 1

Ruled lines: 28

Written area: 170 × 125 mm

Note: Ruling in ink. Pricking in margins.

Script

Textblock

Hand 1

Southern textualis.

Additions

Binding/Endleaves

(LCI) Top left corner: National Library book label with current signum; top of page, in black ink by a modern hand: ‘Inköpt till KB från grefve Politi-Flamini i Rom, för 40 Lire (= 29 Kr.), 10 febr. 1894. Bunden i Mars s.å. på K.B.’.

Textblock

(ff. 1v–12r) A few marginal and occasional interlinear additions in different inks by different medieval hands. They seem to consist of corrections and one-word additions/comments. There are also chapter identifications in lead/pencil by a later hand.

Decorations

Textblock

Description:

Main text in brown ink, capitals touched in red, rubrics and line fillers in red.

Initials:

(f. 1r): Decorated initial ‘B’ over 8 lines (extending above and below the line). Letter of foliate shape, in purple and yellow with white highlights. Placed on a background in blue with foliate shapes outlined in white. Further foliate shapes in blue, orange and green extend from the letter into the margin;

(ff. 1v–12r): plain initials in red over 2-3 lines (extending above and below the line).

Binding

Description:

Modern binding. Marbled paper and parchment over cardboard. Binding dates to 1894. LCO, printed on paper label: ‘ ~~Officium~~ B. BIRGITTAE Vitae et Miraculor. lectiones ’; stamped in gold: ‘A 73’.

Binding dimensions: 240 × 190 × 10 mm

Contemporary: No

History

Origin

Italy, 15th century, second half

Provenance

Provenance unknown. These leaves were probably part of a larger manuscript containing the Revelations or other Birgittine texts. During the 19th century the manuscript belonged to the noted collector count Marzio Politi Flamini (1836-1908) from Recanati.