Running titles and chapter numbers in Roman numerals in red and blue ink.
Collation
The manuscript has been rebound too tightly to be properly collated, but it seems to consist of sets of quinions.
Condition
Textblock
Parchment very worn, stained, and warped. Water damage, mainly visible along the margins, but also affects the text block in places (however, the text is still legible), e.g. f. 50r. Cuts and tears in the parchment (cuts often not visible in the images). Fire damage visible on Tail.
Layout
2
44
195 ×
135 mm
Guidelines and ruling in lead.
Script
Textblock
Hand 1
Late pregothic.
Additions
Binding/Endleaves
(LCI)
Top left corner, in ink by a modern hand: ‘A 166’.
(f. SL1r)
Top left corner, in ink by a modern hand: ‘Kongl. Bibl. 1734 års Kat. Theol in fol. no 2.’; below: ‘Biblia sacra secundum versionem Sancti Hioeronymi’.
Textblock
(f. 1r)
Bottom of page, in brown ink by an early modern hand:‘ N. 2.’, ‘Numerus novus ord. 194’, ‘(12)’, ‘Biblia Sacra Hieron.’.
(ff. 2v–525r)
Corrections in the margins by the scribe. The corrections are often framed in red and keyed to the text with a signe-de-renvoi. Scattered additions in the margins by at least one other medieval hand.
(f. 556v)
Centre page, in brown ink by a medieval hand: 9 lines of text in Latin. The text is a list of the books in the Bible.
(f. 557r)
The entre page is covered by a litany written by a medieval hand in brown ink.
(f. 557v)
Top left corner, in brown ink by a medieval hand: ‘propicius esto parce nobis domine propicius esto libera nos domine’; below, by the same hand: ‘- dum omnibus p- scriptum c-bus sunt’.
(f. 558r)
Upper, left part of page, in brown ink by a medieval hand: list of certain books of the Bible; below by the same hand: ‘dominus dixit ad me filius meus es tu Ego hodie genui te propter redempcionem Dominus ad te seruauit fidem et caritatem’.
Decorations
Textblock
Main text in black ink, rubrics in red, capitals touched in red. For a discussion about the initials see Lindqvist (2006).
Each indivdual book is introduced by a historiated inital over 3-6 lines. The intials are painted in blue or red placed on a background of red or blue with a gold frame and inked outlines. Parts of the background often extend into the margin, an example of a simple version can be found on (f. 99rb), and the most complex version on (f. 257rb).
Besides the begining of each new book the opening prologue also features a historiated intial. The Psalms contain 8 historiated intials, originally possibly planned for 9 (there is empty space for an inital on (f. 256vb)).
(f. 4va): opening intial I, extending along the entire page.
The initial has been water damaged; it is faded and visibe as an offset on the facing page and has also clearly bled through to (f. 4r).
The prologues are introduced by a decorated initial over 4 lines, which feature knotwork decoration and vegetative ornaments. The prologue to Proverbs on (f. 257ra) contains the largest and most advanced form of this type of initial.
(ff. 525r–556r): Each of the letters in Interpretationes nominum hebraicorum is introduced by a similar initial.
Individual paragraphs are introduced by a plain initial over 2 lines in alternating blue and red with flourishing in the contrasting colour. The initials and their flourishing often extend along the margin to create a border, e.g. (f. 279v).
Binding
Modern binding. Light brown leather over wooden boards. 4 double raised bands and endbands. Spine, stamped in gold: ‘A 166’.
France, 13th century. The place of origin and dating is based on the decoration.
Provenance
Early provenance unknown. The litany (later addition) on f. 557r lists Swedish saints such as St Olof, St Erik, St Eskil, and St Botvid, but not St Birgitta. This would suggest that the manuscript has been in Sweden since before the canonization of St Birgitta in 1391. As witnessed by both the fire and water damage the manuscript seems to have suffered from the palace fire of 1697. The numbers ‘194 (12) ’on f. 1r refers to Jaches's catalogue of 1698 (U 122); ‘N. 2’ on the same page refers to the catalogue of 1734 (U 125e), where it is listed as: ‘Theol. in fol. no 2’.
