Add MS 43683

BOOK OF PRAYERS, etc., partly in verse; 15th cent. Latin and Italian. The parts in Italian are in the dialect of the Veneto, with some Tuscan elements, and include forms apparently peculiar to Verona. The frequent occurrence in the text of the prayers of such phrases as 'me peccatrice famula tua' (f. 19) indicate that the MS. was written for female use: the name 'Isabetha', in some cases subsequently deleted, occurs in the original text of prayers at ff. 3 b, 11b, 70 b, 72; that of Valeria has been inserted over an erasure in a prayer at f.79; other erasures of names in the text of prayers occur on ff. 58 b, 79 b, 81b. The contents include:-(1) Seven prayers to the Virgin, in Latin, the first beg. imperfectly. Followed (ff. 15-16) by the Joys of the Virgin, beg. 'Gaude virgo mater Christi'. CL Chevalier, Rep. Hymn., no. 7017; A. Wilmart, Auteurs spirituels et textes dévots, p. 329, n. 1. ff. 1-16;-

(2) Prayer, in Latin, beg. 'Deprecor te sancta maria mater', preceded by a note of an indulgence granted to those saying it 'a domino papa qui obiit mcccxvj' (sic). The date intended is presumably 1314, and the Pope in question Clement V, as in Royal MS. 2 A. XVII, ff. 3-3 b. Cf. also Royal MS. 7 A. vi, f. 91, where the indulgence is attributed to Innocent IV, and Add. MS. 37787, f. 92b. ff. 18-19;-(3) Prayer on the Seven Words of the Cross, attributed to Bede, cf. Migne, Patr. Lat., xciv, coll. 561-562. Latin. ff. 19- 22 b;-(4) Prayer attributed to St Augustine, beg. 'Mesier yhu. xpo. el quale uegnissi in lo mondo': an Italian translation of the well-known Latin prayer beg. 'Domine Jesu Christe qui in hunc mundum' for which cf. Royal MSS.

2 A. XXII, f. 1888 B. 1, f. 52b; Add. MS. 37787, f. 53, etc. ff. 22 b-33;-

(5) Prayer attributed to St Brendan, beg. 'Per sanctam annuntiationem tuam': viz. excerpts from the opening sentences of the litany ascribed to him, for fuller versions of which cf. Royal MS. 7 D. XXVI, f. 9, and Cat. of Royal MSS., ad loc. Latin. ff. 37-38 b;-(6) Twenty-nine prayers to the Virgin, in Italian, each preceded by a verse, in Latin, of Psalm cxvii, the first beg. '0 Madona mia dolcissima verzene'. ff. 38 b-61 ;-(7) Antiphon and prayer to St Nicholas, in Latin, the former beg. '0 splendor ineffabilis et noue stelle radius'. ff. 6i-62;-(8) List of seven masses for the Virgin, St Elizabeth, St Daniel as the liberator of Susanna, etc. Italian. ff. 62-62 b;-(9) Six prayers to the Virgin, in Italian, each to be preceded by a repetition of Psalm cxxii, etc., and to be said facing a crucifix, the first beg. 'Segnor nostro Yesum xpo. el qualo cum la belissima facia toa'. ff. 63-65b;-(10) Prayer, in Italian, beg. 'In le uostre mane o maria verzene'. ff. 66 b-67;-(11) The Seven Joys of the Virgin, in verse. Italian. ff. 73-79;-(12) Six prayers in Italian, the last (ff. 87 b-88), which is in verse, beg. 'Dio ue salue o del mare stelle'. ff. 82 b- 88;-(13) 'Missa contra omnem pestem et mortalitatem', with note of indulgence by Pope Clement VI and concluding with a prayer of St Sebastian. Latin. ff. 94-100;-(14) Seven penitential psalms and (f. 124b) litany, in Latin, imperfect at the beginning. ff.112-135b. Added at the end (ff. 136- 144b) in various 15th-16th-centt. hands are twelve further prayers of which three (ff. 139b-141) are in Latin and the remainder in Italian. Vellum; ff. 144. 120 mm. x 90 mm. xv cent. Written in Italy, perhaps at Verona. Gatherings of ten leaves, usually with catchwords (i lacks 1-2, Xii4 lacks 4, xiii lacks 1; of xvi [last] only four single leaves remain). Introductory titles, etc., in red, initials in red and blue. The contents of ff. 136-144 are additions, see further above. At f. 19b, an added marginal note reads 'mi

Sor anna neca da miser lodouico paxin [al. Pasini] comencai a dir queste 3 oracion adi 9 marco 1563. Sor anna ueronese'.