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Harley MS 2804
- Record Id:
- 040-002048635
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 040-002048635
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000761.0x00004a
- LARK:
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Harley MS 2804
- Title:
-
Bible (the 'Worms Bible'), Psalms-Acts 16:17, imperfect
- Scope & Content:
-
Second volume of a two-volume monumental Bible (the first volume is Harley MS 2803, Genesis to Job), containing the Latin Vulgate from Psalms to Acts 16:17, imperfect.
Decoration:
2 large miniatures in colours and gold of Jerome writing and of David as a harpist at the preface to Psalms (ff. 1v, 3v). Canon tables in colours and gold, with decorated capitals and other features including animals and people (ff. 165v-169v). 5 large historiated initials in colours and gold (ff. 33r, 172v, 188v, 199r, 216v). 4 large historiated initials in colours (ff. 108r, 119v, 130v, 231r). Large initials in colours and sometimes gold with interlace and/or foliate decoration and usually clasps, some also with human or animal heads, animals, or dragons (ff. 1v, 4r, 31v, 43r, 47r, 49r, 56r, 57r, 77r, 77v, 90v, 107v, 119r, 124r (x2), 130v, 137v, 153v, 164v, 165r, 187v, 198r, 215v, 228v (x2), 229v, 230v, 237r, 243r, 247r, 249r, 251r, 252v, 254v, 255v, 256v, 258v, 259v, 260v, 261r, 265v). Large initials in red, some with penwork decoration. Small initials in red or brown, some with highlighting in red.
The subject of the miniatures and initials includes:
f. 1v: Miniature of St Jerome writing, seated at a desk and holding a pen and a knife; decorated initial 'D'(avid) at the beginning of the prologue to Psalms.
f. 3v: Miniature of a crowned King David playing a harp, with musicans playing bells and a horn above, and a rebec and cithar below, at the beginning of Psalms.
f. 4r: Illuminated initial 'B'(eatus vir) at the beginning of Psalms.
f. 31v: Interlace initial 'I' at the beginning of the prologue to Proverbs.
f. 33r: Historiated initial of a crowned King Solomon seated on a throne and holding an orb and a scroll, with his feet resting on two dogs, and with two soldiers in towers above him; large decorated initial 'P'(arabole) at the beginning of Proverbs.
f. 43r: Decorated initial 'V'(erba) at the beginning of Ecclesiastes.
f. 47r: Decorated initial 'O'(sculetur) at the beginning of the Song of Songs.
f. 49r: Decorated initial 'D'(iligite) at the beginning of Wisdom.
f. 56r: Zoomorphic initial 'M'(ultorum) at the beginning of the prologue to Sirach (Ecclesiasticus).
f. 57r: Zoomophic initial 'O'(mnis spaientia) at the beginning of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus).
f. 77r: Decorated initial 'S'(iseptuaginta) at the beginning of the prologue to I Chronicles (Paralipomenon).
f. 77v: Illuminated initial 'A'(dam Seth Enos) at the beginning of I Chronicles (Paralipomenon).
f. 90v: Decorated initial 'C'(onfortatus) at the beginning of II Chronicles (Paralipomenon).
f. 107v: Decorated initial 'V' at the beginning of the prologue to Ezra.
f. 108r: Anthromorphic initial 'I'(n anno primo) of the standing prophet Ezra, holding a book, at the beginning of Ezra.
f. 119r: Decorated initial 'C'(hormatio) at the beginning of the prologue to Tobit.
f. 119v: Historiated initial 'T'(obias) of Rachel and Tobit holding scrolls, at the beginning of Tobit.
f. 124r: Zoomorphic initial 'A'(pud) at the beginning of the prologue to Judith; decorated initial 'A'(rfaxat) at the beginning of Judith.
f. 130v: Decorated initial 'L'(ibrum) at the beginning of the prologue to Esther; historiated initial 'I'(n diebus) of King Ahasuerus and Esther, at the beginning of Esther.
f. 137v: Decorated initial 'E'(t factum est) at the beginning of I Maccabees.
f. 153v: Decorated initial 'F'(ratribus) at the beginning of II Maccabees.
f. 164v: Inhabited initial 'B'(eatis) at the beginning of Jerome's letter to Pope Damasus I.
f. 165r: Zoomorphic initial 'S'(ciendum) at the beginning of the prologue to the Gospels.
ff. 165v-169v: Canon tables.
f. 172v: Historiated initial 'L'(iber generationis) of Matthew writing his Gospel at a desk, holding a pen and a knife, with his Evangelist symbol, the angel, above him, at the beginning of his Gospel.
f. 187v: Decorated initial 'M', at the beginning of the prologue to the Gospel of Mark.
f. 188v: Historiated initial 'I'(nitium) of Mark writing his Gospel, with his book supported by his Evangelist symbol, the lion, who holds an ink horn in his mouth, at the beginning of his Gospel.
f. 198r: Decorated initial 'L'(ucas) at the beginning of the prologue to the Gospel of Luke.
f. 199r: Historiated initial 'Q'(uoniam) of Luke writing his Gospel, with his book supported by his Evanglist symbol, a winged ox, at the beginning of his Gospel.
f. 215v: Decorated initial 'H'.
f. 228v: Decorated initial 'P'; [another initial]
f. 229v: Decorated initial 'R'(oman).
f. 230v: Decorated initial 'R'(oman).
f. 231r: Inhabited initial 'P'(aulus) of Paul, at the beginning of Romans.
f. 237r: Decorated initial 'P'.
f. 243r: Decorated initial 'P'.
f. 247r: Decorated initial 'P'.
f. 249r: Decorated initial 'P'.
f. 251r: Decorated initial 'P'.
f. 252v: Decorated initial 'P'.
f. 254v: Decorated initial 'P'.
f. 255v: Decorated initial 'P'.
f. 256v: Decorated initial 'P'.
f. 258v: Decorated initial 'P'.
f. 259v: Decorated initial 'P'.
f. 260v: Decorated initial 'P'.
f. 261r: Decorated initial 'M'(ultifariam) at the beginning of Hebrews.
f. 265v: Decorated initial 'P'.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Harley Collection
- Hierarchy Tree:
- [{ "id" : "040-002048635", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Harley MS 2804: Bible (the 'Worms Bible'), Psalms-Acts 16:17, imperfect" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002045828
040-002048635 - Is part of:
- Harley MS 1-7661 : Harley Manuscripts
Harley MS 2804 : Bible (the 'Worms Bible'), Psalms-Acts 16:17, imperfect - Hierarchy:
- 032-002045828[2805]/040-002048635
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Harley MS 1-7661
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
- Parchment codex, 274 folios.
- Digitised Content:
- http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Harley_MS_2804 (digital images currently unavailable)
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- Latin
- Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1125
- End Date:
- 1174
- Date Range:
- 2nd-3rd quarter of the 12th century
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
- Restrictions to access apply please consult British Library staff
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- User Conditions:
- Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript.
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Material: Parchment codex.
Dimensions: 535 x 355 mm (text space: 390 x 230 mm).
Foliation: ff. 274 (+ 6 unfoliated paper flyleaves; 3 at the beginning and 3 at the end).
Script: Protogothic miniscule.
Binding: Post-1600. Brown 'Harleian' binding with gold tooling and marbled endpapers.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin: Germany (Frankenthal, near Worms, Middle Rhineland).
Provenance:
Possibly written or illuminated c. 1148 in the Augustinian abbey of Mary Magdalene in Frankenthal, 10 kilometers south of Worms: inscription 'anno m.c.xlviii [inceptus est liber] ?' (f. 1r); see Cohen-Mushlin, A Medieval Scriptorium, 1990.
The Augustinian monastery of St Mary, outside of Worms: 17th-century inscription 'Hic liber pertinet ad Ecclesiam Beatae Mariae Virginis in Suburbio Wormatiensis', signed 'J. G.' (f. 1r). J. G. might be Joannes Georgius Renner, dean from 1597-1605; see Cohen-Mushlin, The Making of a Manuscript, 1983.
The Harley Collection, formed by Robert Harley (b. 1661, d. 1724), 1st earl of Oxford and Mortimer, politician, and Edward Harley (b. 1689, d. 1741), 2nd earl of Oxford and Mortimer, book collector and patron of the arts: probably acquired by George Suttie, their agent, in Germany in either 1717 or 1720.
Edward Harley bequeathed the library to his widow, Henrietta, née Cavendish Holles (b. 1694, d. 1755) during her lifetime and thereafter to their daughter, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck (b. 1715, d.1785), duchess of Portland; the manuscripts were sold by the Countess and the Duchess in 1753 to the nation for £10,000 (a fraction of their contemporary value) under the Act of Parliament that also established the British Museum; the Harley manuscripts form one of the foundation collections of the British Library.
- Source of Acquisition:
- Harley Collection.
- Administrative Context:
- Germany (Frankenthal, near Worms, Middle Rhineland).
- Information About Copies:
- Full digital coverage available for this manuscript; see Digitised Manuscripts: http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/.
- Publications:
-
A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts, in the British Museum, 4 vols (London: [n. pub.], 1808-12), I, nos 2803-4.
David Casley, Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts (1736), II, p. 713, and I, p. 31.
Walter de Gray Birch and Henry Jenner, Early Drawings and Illuminations: An Introduction to the Study of Illustrated Manuscripts (London: Bagster and Sons, 1879), p. 5.
J. A. Herbert, Illuminated Manuscripts (London: Methuen, 1911), p. 154.
Georg Swarzenski, Die Salzburger Malerei, 2 vols (Leipzig: Hiersemann, 1913), I, 69 n. 4, 76 n. 4.
[Eric G. Millar], British Museum Reproductions from Illuminated Manuscripts, Series 4 (London: British Museum, 1928), pl. 11.
Meyer Schapiro, 'From Mozarabic to Romanesque in Silo', Art Bulletin 21 (1939), 313-74 (p. 342 n. 91).
Ernst Kitzinger, Early Medieval Art with Illustrations from the British Museum Collection (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1940), pl. 42.
D. H. Turner, Romanesque Illuminated Manuscripts in the British Library (London: British Museum, 1966), p. 19, pl. 10.
C. R. Dodwell, Painting in Europe: 800 to 1200 (London : Penguin Books, 1971), p. 163.
Andrew G. Watson, Catalogue of Dated and Datable Manuscripts c. 700-1600 in The Department of Manuscripts: The British Library, 2 vols (London: British Library, 1979), no. 706.
Walter Cahn, Romanesque Bible Illumination (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1982), no. 9, p .238, pls.146, 149, 201.
Aliza Cohen-Mushlin, The Making of a Manuscript: The Worms Bible of 1148 (British Library, Harley 2803-2804), Wolfenbütteler Forschungen, 25 (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1983).
Aliza Cohen-Mushlin, A Medieval Scriptorium: Sancta Maria Magdalena de Frankendal, Wolfenbütteler Mittelalter-Studien, 3, 2 vols (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1990), passim, esp. I, 154-5; II, figs 4-6, 20, 340, 342, 344, 345, 349, 350-54, 357, 364, 366-68.
Aliza Cohen-Mushlin, 'The Twelfth-Century Scriptorium at Frankenthal', in Medieval Book Production: Assessing the Evidence, ed. by Linda l. Brownrigg, Proceedings of the Second Conference of The Seminar in the History of the Book to 1500, Oxford, July 1988 (Los Altos Hills, California: Anderson-Lovelace, 1990), pp. 85-101 (esp. pp. 88, 94).
Walter Cahn, Romanesque Manuscripts: The Twelfth Century, 2 vols (London: Harvey Millar, 1996), II, 179.
Janet Backhouse, The Illuminated Page: Ten Centuries of Manuscript Painting in the British Library (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997), no. 36.
Christopher de Hamel, The Book: A History of the Bible (London: Phaidon, 2001), p. 83, pl. 58.
Justin Clegg, The Medieval Church in Manuscripts (London: British Library, 2003), p. 6, pl. 2.
Edgar J. Hürkey, Schätze aus pergament: mittelalterliche handschriften aus Frankenthal (Frankenthal: Erkenbert-Musuem, 2007), no. 3 [exhibition catalogue].
Scot McKendrick and Kathleen Doyle, Bible Manuscripts: 1400 Years of Scribes and Scripture (London: British Library, 2007), pp. 10 and 94, fig. 81.
Aliza Cohen-Mushlin, 'A School for Scribes,' in Teaching Writing, Learning to Write: Proceedings of the XVIth Colloquium of the Comité International de Paléographie Latine, ed. by P. R. Robinson (London: King's College Centre for Late Antique & Medieval Studies, 2010), pp. 61-87.
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)