Referred to here as 3 Esdras and introduced by the rubric: ‘Incipit tercius eiusdem qui quidem rarissime in Bibliis repperitur Ego vero eundem reperiens non reliqui sed scripsi’.
Immediately after the end of 2 Machabees a type of colophon and comment on the text:
Festum ante margarethe Sub anno domini Mo CCCC lxvii Hii duo libri machabeorum indigent diligenti correctione et specialiter secundus quia exemplar vnicum mihi extitit et valde illegibile et incorrectum alicubi historiam obfuscat cepa nafornui quod nullatenus potui percipere hoc vero ego onus in me referram et exemplari ad tempus disposito cum tempus adveniret maioris ocii et adeo dedite sanitatis per me corrigetur
‘Nemóž taký kóň býti, byť se někdy ale na hrúdě nepoklesl. Ani takový písař, byť se neomýlil, a zvláště poněvadž nevždy jest v přirození zpósoben’ (transcription made by Ondřej Fúsik, National Library of the Czech Republic) vnde versus
Quadrupes in plano cadit quandoque pede sano Non mirare bipes si modo labit tibi pes Quare supposicio quodlibet hunc librum voluminis l-rum sed quod reppertum fuerit in consonum scripture mee manus non mee incurrabili- sed ignorancie magis ascribat I- illud Ieronimi in prologo s- bibliam capitulo vi Scribimus indocti doctique poemata passim ?
(LCI)
Upper part of page, in ink by a medieval hand: a 14 line long mnemonic poem about the books of the Bible; bottom left corner: National Library book label with current signum.
(f. SL1r)
Top of page in blakc ink by a modern hand: ‘Kongl. Bibl 1734 års Kat. Theol. in fol. no 3.’; below by the same hand: ‘Biblia sacra secundum Versionem St Hieronymi’; bottom of page: National Library stamp; below in brown ink: ‘N. 3’.
(RCI)
Upper part of page, in brown ink by a medieval hand: ‘Sanctus sanctus sanctus dominus’; the first S contains a drawing of an angel; bottom of page: National Library stamp.
Textblock
(f. 1r)
Bottom of page in the decoration, what looks like a fragment of a printed label.
(ff. 1–454)
Corrections in the margin by the scribe or a contemporary hand (perhaps more than one hand, e.g. (f. 418r)). The additions usually consist of one word, but sometimes longer additions are found, e.g. (f. 47r), and occasionally glosses, e.g. (f. 98r) and the added note (f. 244ar). On (f. 34v) are what might be glosses in Czech.
Scattered throughout are also the National Library stamps.
Decorations
Textblock
Main text in black ink, rubrics in red, capitals touched in red. The decoration of this manuscript appears to be unfinished (see below for further details).
(f. 1r): Opening decorated inital F over 11 lines. The body of the intial consist of leaf shapes in shades of pink. The counterspace is filled with blue and vines in silver. The initial is surrounded by a green frame and vegetative ornaments extends from the initial and frame to form a border. In the bottom margin the border consist of complex flower and leaf shapes.
ff. 4r, 24v, 352r: Genesis, Exodus, and the prologue to Matthew and Matthew are opened by similar intials, with some variations in the colour scheme.
Most books are opened by a puzzle initial in red and black with penwork decoration in the counter space, e.g. (f. 81va), or a plain initial in red. On (f. 206rb) what appears to be an unfinished puzzle intial with only the red part of the letter made.
Paragraphs and sub-chapters are opened by plain initials, sometimes with interior reserved shapes, or puzzle initials over 2-6 lines in red, or red and black.
(ff. 18v–206r): On these folios many of the individual books of the Bible are lacking their initals and only have reserved space for large intials (often with guide letters), e.g. (f. 40vb) and (f. 154v).
Reserved space are also found in the paragraphs, e.g. (f. 34va). Here, however, one column may have an intial while the other only has reserved space for one, eg. (f. 156v). There is no discernible logic behind this system.
Binding
Medieval binding. Green leather over wooden boards. 4 double raised bands and endbands. Originally, hook and clasp. Corner and centre pieces with bosses. Spine, five paper labels with tex in ink, from top to bottom: ‘-BLIA ?’ and beneath stamped in gold: ‘A 169’; ‘Biblia Latine’; ‘No 3.’; ‘63. (15b)’; ‘e 40. 2. 3.’.
330 ×
235 ×
110 mm
Blind tooled decoration consisting of geometric patterns (now almost too faded to discern).
Moravia?, 15th century, third quarter. According to the colophon on f. 350v and f. 425v the Bible was finished in 1467. The presence of a few lines in Czech (f. 350va) indicates an origin in Moravia or Bohemia.
Provenance
It is believed that the manuscript was taken as war booty from Mikulov (Nikolsburg) in 1645–1646. It belonged to Queen Christina and is listed in Vossius's catalogue of 1649 (U 202:1, p. 27). The signa ‘63 15b’ on the spine refer to Jaches's catalogues of 1695 and 1698 (U 122 and U 118) ; ‘No 3’ refers to the catalogue of 1734 (U 125e), and ‘e. 40. 2. 3.’ to Hammarsköld's catalogue of the 19th century (U 133).
