Hard-coded id of currently selected item: . JSON version of its record is available from Blacklight on e.g. ??

Metadata associated with selected item should appear here...

Add MS 89378

Record Id:

032-003451430

Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:

032-003451430

MDARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100078361089.0x000001

LARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100165153185.0x000001

SLARK:

Format:

ISAD(G)

Reference (shelfmark):

Add MS 89378

Title:

Leaf from an Anglo-Saxon benedictional

Scope & Content:

A leaf from a 10th-century English benedictional, containing the conclusion of the benediction for Easter Day, benedictions for Monday and Tuesday, and the beginning of the benediction for Wednesday after Easter.

Begins ‘Ut ad beatae uitae audiae festinantes’; ends ‘dignatus est pro’. Corresponds to Warner & Wilson, The Benedictional of Saint Æthelwold (1910), pp. 20–21.

Two other leaves survive from the same manuscript, now held in collections in the United States of America:

Leaf 1 = Cambridge, MA, Harvard University, Houghton Library, Typ 612

Leaf 2 = New Haven, CT, Yale University, Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Takamiya MS 89

Leaf 3 = London, British Library, Add MS 89378

Together, these three leaves have been described as constituting ‘the earliest known English benedictional (if, that is, they were not once part of a sacramentary)’ (Dumville, Liturgy and the Ecclesiastical History of Late Anglo-Saxon England (1992), p. 76). Textually, they are very close to the Benedictional of St Æthelwold (British Library Add MS 49598). Unusually among surviving Anglo-Saxon benedictionals, they are written in English square minuscule rather than English Caroline minuscule, which points to an early date.

It has been speculated that the benedictional in question once belonged to Archbishop Dunstan of Canterbury (959–988) (Dumville, 'John Bale (1994), p. 295). Dunstan’s benedictional was attested at Glastonbury Abbey in 1247–48, and again by John Bale (1495–1563) when writing to Archbishop Matthew Parker on 30 July 1560 (Cambridge University Library Add MS 7489): ‘I had also Benedictionum archiepiscopale Dunstani, the oldest boke that ever I sawe yet, and most straungely written, but yet legyble to hym that was acquaynted with that kynde of writynge; but now all are dispersed.’

T.A.M. Bishop (personal communication cited in the Sotheby’s catalogue, 1972) dated the script of all three leaves between 920 and 960. Dumville assigned this manuscript to the 940s–960s, while noting that the script could belong to an earlier phase of English square minuscule (‘English Square minuscule script: the mid-century phases’, p. 147 and n. 82). The Beinecke online catalogue dates their leaf between 920 and 940.

Leaf 1 (the Houghton leaf) contains the conclusion of the benediction for the beginning of Lent and the beginning of the benediction for the first Sunday in Lent: begins ‘cuius hodie inchoaris exordium’; ends ‘quod de ore eius’. Corresponds to Warner & Wilson, The Benedictional of Saint Æthelwold (1910), pp. 14–15.

Leaf 2 (the Beinecke leaf) contains the benediction for the Saturday before Easter and two benedictions for Easter Day: begins ‘Et qui te semel’; ends ‘hostis inuasione tua possessio. A’. Corresponds to Warner & Wilson, The Benedictional of Saint Æthelwold (1910), pp. 19–20.

Leaves 2 and 3 are consecutive.

Collection Area:

Western Manuscripts

Project / Collection:

Additional Manuscripts

Hierarchy Tree:

[{ "id" : "032-003451430", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Add MS 89378: Leaf from an Anglo-Saxon benedictional" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]

Hierarchy Record Ids:

032-003451430

Is part of:

not applicable

Hierarchy:

032-003451430

Container:

not applicable

Record Type (Level):

Fonds

Extent:

1 volume

Digitised Content:

https://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_100165153185.0x000001 (digital images currently unavailable)

Thumbnail:

Languages:

Latin

Scripts:

Latin

Start Date:

0920

End Date:

0970

Date Range:

920-970

Era:

Access:

Please request the physical items you need using the online collection item request form.

Digitised items can be viewed online by clicking the thumbnail image or digitised content link.

Readers who have registered or renewed their pass since 21 March 2024 can request physical items prior to visiting the Library by completing
this request form.
Please enter the Reference (shelfmark) above on the request form.

If your Reader Pass was issued before this date, you will need to visit the Library in London or Yorkshire to renew it before you can request items online. All manuscripts and archives must be consulted at the Library in London.

This catalogue record may describe a collection of items which cannot all be requested together. Please use the hierarchy viewer to navigate to individual items. Some items may be in use or restricted for other reasons. If you would like to check the availability, contact our Reference Services team, quoting the Reference (shelfmark) above.

User Conditions:

Physical Characteristics:

Materials: parchment.

Dimensions: approximately 285× 160 mm (written space approximately 195 × 120 mm); 18 lines to the page.

Foliation: f. 1

Script: English square minuscule (Dumville Phase III; T.A.M. Bishop, personal communication cited in the Sotheby’s catalogue (1972), ‘a not fully developed square minuscule of c. 920 to c. 960’).

Decoration: red rubrics.

Custodial History:

Origin: England.

Provenance:

All three leaves formed part of the collections of Guglielmo Libri and Sir Thomas Phillipps. They were sold together at Sotheby's in 1972, and subsequently dispersed when sold individually by Maggs Bros. in 1976, 1977 and 1980 respectively.

(1) Guglielmo Libri Carucci dalla Sommaja (1803–1869), mathematician and one-time Inspector of Libraries in France: part of lot 1111 (Fragmenta Vetusta) in the sale of his manuscripts, Sotheby’s, 5 April 1859.

(2) Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792–1872), collector of books and manuscripts: Phillipps MS 29721.

(3) Sold at the Phillipps sale, Sotheby’s, 21 November 1972, lot 532: purchased by Maggs Bros. for £650.

(4) Maggs Bros., Western Text Hands from late 9th to early 14th Century: Catalogue 1002 (London, 1980), no. 6 (p. 4 and plate V), £1600.

(5) purchased by the British Library from the estate of Stephen Keynes, 2019 (Add MS 89378). This manuscript was acquired with the generous support of the British Library Collections Trust.

Publications:

Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library online catalogue: https://orbis.library.yale.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?searchId=229&recCount=50&recPointer=0&bibId=12207204 [accessed 4 July 2018].

Bibliotheca Phillippica, Medieval Manuscripts, New Series, VII: Catalogue of Manuscripts on Vellum, Paper and Linen of the 3rd century B.C. to the 17th century A.D. from the celebrated collection formed by Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792–1872) (21 November 1972), lot 532 (pp. 17–18 and plate 3).

Catalogue of the Extraordinary Collection of Splendid Manuscripts, chiefly upon vellum, in various languages of Europe and the East, formed by M. Guglielmo Libri … which will be sold by auction by Messrs. S. Leigh Sotheby & John Wilkinson … on Monday, 28th of March, 1859, and seven following days (London: Sotheby & Wilkinson, 1859), lot 1111 (p. 245 and plate XXIX).

Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Houghton Library, Harvard University, II (Alexandria, VA: Chadwyck-Healey, 1986), p. 115.

Dumville, David N., ‘English Square minuscule script: the mid-century phases’, Anglo-Saxon England, 23 (1994), pp. 133–64 (p. 147 and n. 82).

Dumville, David N., ‘John Bale, owner of St Dunstan’s Benedictional’, Notes and Queries, 239 (1994), 291–95 (p. 295).

Dumville, David N., Liturgy and the Ecclesiastical History of Late Anglo-Saxon England: Four Studies (Woodbridge: Boydell, 1992), pp. 76 and n. 52, 84–85, 147 n. 370.

Gameson, Richard, ed., The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain, I, c. 400-1100 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012), pls. 7a.3a, 7a.3b [reproduces the recto and verso of Harvard Typ 612].

Gneuss, Helmut, & Michael Lapidge, Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments written or owned in England up to 1100 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2014), no. 504.3 (pp. 406–07, 578, 679).

Graham, Timothy, & Andrew G. Watson, The Recovery of the Past in Early Elizabethan England: Documents by John Bale and John Joscelyn from the Circle of Matthew Parker (Cambridge: Cambridge Bibliographical Society, 1998), p. 37 n. 52.

Linenthal, Richard A., ‘Medieval and renaissance manuscripts: a handlist of the collection of B. S. Cron’, The Book Collector, 54 (2005), 553–63 (p. 560, Misc. 2).

Maggs Bros., Ancient, Mediæval and Modern No. 14, No. 973 (London: Maggs Bros., 1976), no. 150 (p. 44 and plate I) [the Houghton leaf].

Maggs Bros., Royalty 2400 BC–AD 1977: A Catalogue of Books, Manuscripts, Letters, Charters, Coins and Portraits, No. 982 (London: Maggs Bros., 1977), no. 23 (p. 11 and plate XVII) [the Beinecke leaf].

Maggs Bros., Western Text Hands from late 9th to early 14th Century, No. 1002 (London: Maggs Bros., 1980), no. 6 (p. 4 and plate V) [the British Library leaf].

Prescott, Andrew, ‘The structure of English pre-Conquest benedictionals’, British Library Journal, 13 (1987), 118–58.

Prescott, Andrew, ‘The text of the Benedictional of St Æthelwold’, in Barbara Yorke, ed., Bishop Æthelwold: His Career and Influence (Woodbridge: Boydell, 1988), pp. 119–47.

Stoneman, William P., ‘“Writ in ancient character and of no further use”: Anglo-Saxon manuscripts in American collections’, in Paul E. Szarmach & Joel T. Rosenthal, eds., The Preservation and Transmission of Anglo-Saxon Culture: Selected Papers from the 1991 Meeting of the International Society of Anglo-Saxonists (Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, 1997), pp. 99–138 (p. 126).

Takamiya, Toshiyuki, ‘A handlist of western medieval manuscripts in the Takamiya collection’, in James H. Marrow, Richard Linenthal & William Noel, eds., The Medieval Book: Glosses from friends & colleagues of Christopher de Hamel (‘t Goy-Houten: Hes & De Graaf, 2010), pp. 421–40 (pp. 436–37).

Warner, George Frederic, & Henry Austin Wilson, eds., The Benedictional of Saint Æthelwold, Bishop of Winchester 963–984: reproduced in facsimile from the manuscript in the Library of the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth (Oxford: The Roxburghe Club, 1910).

Material Type:

Archives and Manuscripts

Legal Status:

Not Public Record(s)

Related Material:

There are nineteen surviving English benedictionals and related manuscripts, dating perhaps from the 8th to the 11th centuries:

Alençon, Bibliothèque municipale, ms 14, ff. 91–114: Winchester, provenance Saint-Evroult, 1st half of the 11th century, a benedictional (Gneuss & Lapidge 774.3);

Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 146: Winchester or Canterbury, 1st quarter of the 11th century, a pontifical and benedictional (Gneuss & Lapidge 46);

Cambridge, Trinity Hall, MS 24, ff. 78–83: 8th century, a fragmentary benedictional or sacramentary (Gneuss & Lapidge 202);

Cambridge, MA, Harvard University, Houghton Library, Typ 612 + New Haven, CT, Yale University, Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Takamiya MS 89 + London, British Library, Add MS 89378: England, 1st half or middle of the 10th century, a fragmentary benedictional (Gneuss & Lapidge 504.3);

Dublin, Trinity College, MS 98: Canterbury, last quarter of the 11th century, a pontifical and benedictional (Gneuss & Lapidge 214.3);

Exeter, Cathedral Library, MS 3548C: Winchester?, provenance Exeter, 2nd half of the 10th century, a fragmentary benedictional (Gneuss & Lapidge 259);

London, British Library, Add MS 28188: Exeter, 3rd quarter of the 11th century, an incomplete pontifical and benedictional (Gneuss & Lapidge 286);

London, British Library, Add MS 49598: Winchester, 963×984, benedictional (‘Benedictional of St Æthelwold’) (Gneuss & Lapidge 301);

London, British Library, Add MS 57337: Canterbury or Winchester, late 10th or early 11th century, a pontifical and incomplete benedictional (‘Anderson Pontifical’) (Gneuss & Lapidge 302);

London, British Library, Cotton MS Claudius A III, ff. 31–86, 106–150: Worcester or York, late 10th or early 11th century, an incomplete pontifical and benedictional (Gneuss & Lapidge 314);

London, British Library, Cotton MS Vitellius A XVIII: Wells?, 2nd half of the 11th century, a sacramentary and benedictional etc (Gneuss & Lapidge 400);

London, British Library, Harley MS 2892, ff. 17–214: Canterbury or Winchester, 2nd quarter of the 11th century, a benedictional (‘Canterbury Benedictional’) (Gneuss & Lapidge 202);

Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Bodley 579: Canterbury or Saint-Vaast, Arras, provenance Exeter, late 9th or early 10th century, a sacramentary with episcopal benedictions (Gneuss & Lapidge 585);

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, ms. lat. 943: Christ Church Canterbury, provenance Sherborne and France, 3rd quarter of the 10th century, a pontifical and benedictional (Gneuss & Lapidge 879);

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, ms. lat. 987: Old Minster Winchester and Christ Church Canterbury, provenance France, 2nd or 3rd quarter of the 11th century, a benedictional (Gneuss & Lapidge 880);

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, ms. lat. 10575: provenance Evreux, middle or 2nd half of the 10th century or early 11th century, a pontifical and benedictional (‘Egbert Benedictional’) (Gneuss & Lapidge 896);

Rome, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, MS Reg. lat. 338, ff. 64–126: Northern France or Germany, provenance England, 2nd half of the 10th century or early 11th century, a benedictional etc (Gneuss & Lapidge 914);

Rouen, Bibliothèque municipale, ms 368 (A.27): South West England, provenance Crediton and Jumièges, 1st half of the 11th century, a pontifical and benedictional (Gneuss & Lapidge 922);

Rouen, Bibliothèque municipale, ms 369 (Y.7): New Minster Winchester, provenance Rouen, last quarter of the 10th century or 2nd quarter of the 11th century, a benedictional and pontifical (‘Benedictional of Archbishop Robert’) (Gneuss & Lapidge 923).