Dominican breviary

Germany, between 1455-1484

Parchment

225 leaves

135 × 95 mm

Latin, German

1 (f. 1v) Prayers for saints

Incipit: Presta quesumus omnipotens deus

Explicit: quesumus domine natalicia nobis votiua replendeant (!)

2 (ff. 2r–7v) Calendar

Note:

Notable feasts:

f. 2r: translation of St Thomas Aquinas (28 Jan.);

f. 3r: St Thomas Aquinas (7 Mar.);

f. 3v: St Vincent Ferrer (5 Sep.);

‘Elisabet Wylerin anno mcccclxxxiiii’ (16 Apr., added by another hand);

f. 4r: translation of St Dominic (24 May);

f. 6r: St Wenceslaus (28 Sep.).

f. 5v: St Dominic (4 Aug.);

f. 6v: Anniuersarium omnium fratrum et sororum ordinis (10 Oct.).

3 (ff. 8r–10v) Commemorations

Rubric: Memoria quottidiana

Incipit: REgali ex progenie maria exorta refulget

Explicit: te auxiliante semper salui esse mereamur Per

4 (ff. 11r–17v) Offices for various occasions

Rubric: So man ix letzen helt

Incipit: Iube dompna benedicere

Explicit: Saluam fac anullam tuam Deus meus sperantem

Note: Rubrics in German.

5 (ff. 18r–53v) Office of the Virgin Mary

Rubric: Incipit cursus de beata uirgine maria [...] Inuitatorium Regem uirginis filium

Incipit: DOmine labia mea aperies

Explicit: Carnis resurrectionem Et uitam eternam Amen

6 (ff. 53v–126v) Proper of time

Rubric: Ad primam

Incipit: Deus in adiutorium Domine ad

Explicit: et dicebant quia hic est saluator mundi

Note: It is unclear with which feast the The Proper of time starts, it ends with the Twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity.

7 (ff. 126v–154v) Office for the dead

Rubric: vespere defunctorum antiphona

Incipit: Placebo DIlexi quoniam exaudiet

Explicit: ut a cunctibus reatibus absoluti tecum sine fine letentur Per

8 (ff. 154v–163v) Seven penitential psalms

Rubric: Incipiunt septem psalmi penitentiales

Incipit: DOmine ne in furore tuo arguas

Explicit: Adiutor meus et liberator meus es tu domine ne moreris

9 (ff. 163v–173v) Litanies

Incipit: KYrie eleison Christeleison

Explicit: Requiescant in pace Amen

Note:

f. 163v: first litany;

f. 169v: second litany.

10 (ff. 173v–179r) Psalms

Rubric: psalmus dauid

Incipit: DEus deus meus respice

Explicit: Quicumque uult

Note: Psalms 21-25, and 5 psalms with only incipit.

11 (ff. 179r–183r) Office for St Dominic

Rubric: De sancto dominici Capitulum

Incipit: QVasi stella matutina in medio nebule

Explicit: Iustus germinabit

12 (ff. 183r–199r) Common of saints

Rubric: De communi appostolorum antiphona

Incipit: Estote fortes in bello

Explicit: ita pie deuocionis erudiamur effectu Per

Note:

f. 183r: Common of apostles;

f. 185v: Common of evangelists;

f. 186v: Common of one martyr;

f. 188v: Common of many martyrs;

f. 191v: Common of confessors;

f. 193v: Common of virgins;

ff. 196r–199r: prayers for the Common of saints.

13 (ff. 199r–204v) Proper prayers for the saints

Rubric: De sancta barbara uirgine Oracio

Incipit: BEus (!) ad quem hodierna die

Explicit: et celebrando proficere Per

Final rubric: de sancto Johanne

Note: The last rubric is not followed by a prayer; on f. 205r there are additional prayers by another hand.

14 (ff. 205v–207r) Sequence and prayer to the Virgin Mary

Incipit: MIsereatur tui omnipotens deus

Explicit: ecclesia tua secura tibi seruiat libertate Per christum

15 (ff. 207v–223r) Psalter

Incipit: BEatus uir qui non abiit

Explicit: quoniam sanctus dominus deus noster

Note:

Psalms 1-3; 4-8 (only incipit), 10, 14-15, 20, 32-33, 44-46, 60, 63, 74, 86, 95-98.

ff. 223r–223v: Proper prayers for saints added by another hand.

Physical Description

Support

Binding/Endleaves

Locus: LCI, RCI

Note: The original pastedowns have been removed and the board underneath is exposed. Offprint of the pastedown is visible on LCI and RCI. It seems to have been a text in German. Some sort of cloth material is attached to the inner part och the RCI and LCI (perhaps for attaching the bookblock to the cover). The offprint partially covers this cloth. On LCI remanants of an image can been seen. The image portrays a group of people, one of them a bishop. It is unclear whether this picture was originally on the pastedown and has been reconstructed or whether is was glued on later. Part of the image is visible on the board and part of it on the attached cloth.

Textblock

Locus: ff. 1–223

Support: Parchment

Leaf dimensions: 135 × 95 mm

Foliation

Modern foliation in pencil. Error in foliation: f. 1-125, 125a, 126-173, 173a, 174-223.

Collation

Formula: 1(10), 2(8, lacks 4), 3-5(10), 6(8), 7-23(10)

Note: VisColl collation

Catchwords: Catchwords by two different hands on all quires except for the first two.

Condition

Textblock

Parchment stained and dirty, the edges are stained green in places. Several holes and tears in the parchment, many of the tears have been repaired with stitching, e.g. bottom outer corner on f. 84. On f. 133 there is a tear through half of the leaf.

Layout

Columns: 1

Ruled lines: 17

Written area: 95 × 60 mm

Note: Guidelines and ruling in ink.

Script

Textblock

Hand 1

Gothic textualis.

Additions

Binding/Endleaves

(LCI) Top left corner: National Library book label with current signum.

Textblock

(f. 1r) Top of page, black ink by a modern hand: ‘10 RB Du’; ‘Kgl. Biblioth^t 1845’; below in brown ink: ‘IHB’.

(f. 2v) Bottom of page, in brown ink by medieval hand: ‘Das buech gehertt schwester Elisabetha Luthenbergrrin’.

(ff. 8r–223v) Occasional additions in the margins by at least one contemporary hand. The additions usually consist of corrections. On (f. 110r) a longer addition has been made in the bottom margin.

(Note_1) Paper note with three lines of writing by an early modern hand placed between (f. 152v) and (f. 153r). The content concerns st Agnes.

(f. 170r) Bottom margin, contemporary addition to the list of apostles.

Decorations

Textblock

Description:

Main text in black ink, rubrics in red, capitals touched in red.

Initials:

(f. 18r): chapter puzzle initial D over 5 lines in red and blue. The initial is surrounded by flourishing in brown ink. (ff. 8r–223v): plain initials over 1-2 line alternating in blue and red. On (f. 8r) and (f. 18r) the initials have some flourishing in brown ink; on (f. 32r) and (f. 111v) flourishing in red ink.

Bookmarks:

f. 14, 31, 126, 154, 178, 183, 205: page marks in leather.

Binding

Description:

Medieval binding. Brown leather over wooden boards. 3 double raised bands and endbands. Originally hooked clasps, now missing. Spine, stamped in gold: ‘A 185’; ink on paper label: ‘708’.

Binding dimensions: 145 × 110 × 70 mm

Tooling:

Blind tooled decoration on both covers consisting of series of medallions filled with flowers and surrounded by geometrical and vegetative shapes.

Condition: Leather heavily worn. Boards visible in several places, damage to leather and boards where the clasps used to be, endbands exposed.

Contemporary: Yes