Add MS 50003

DYSON PERRINS MSS. Vol. V (formerly Dyson Perrins MS. 111). Bible, written by Johannes Poncii, canon probably of Vich in Catalonia, perhaps for Ramon de Anglesola, Bishop of Vich 1265-98; 1273. Latin. See Warner, op. cit., i, pp. 262-5, ii, pls. xcv-xcvii; Brown, Meredith Owens, Turner, op. cit., pp. 33-4, pl xix; D. H. Turner, Reproductions from Illuminated Manuscripts, British Musuem, Series V, 1965, no. XIII; A. G. Watson, Catalogue of Dated and Datable Manuscripts c. 700-1600 in the Department of Manuscripts, the British Library, London, 1979, i, no. 422; ii, pl. 164. Also briefly mentioned in J. Gudiol i Cunill, La Pintura Mig-eval Catalana, iii, Els Primitius, Tercera Part, Els Llibres Il.luminats, Barcelona, 1956, p. 56; P. Bohigas, La Illustración y la Decoración del Libro Manuscrito en Cataluña, Barcelona, 1960-7, ii, p. 43;

J. Dominguez Bordona, Diccionara de Iluminadores Españoles, Madrid, 1957,

p. 140; J. Domínguez Bordona, 'Miniatura' in Ars Hispaniae, xviii, Madrid, 1962, p. 136. The text in the Vulgate, apart from the psalter which is Jerome's version 'iuxta Hebraeos'. For a detailed descripion, see Warner, op. cit., i. pp. 262-3. Other bibles of Spanish origin are listed in T. Ayuso Marazuela, La Vetus Latina Hispana, i, Madrid, 1953, pp. 346-99. The present MS. is closely related to Ayuso, no. 95, the Bible of Lerida, Lerida, Archivo Capitular, MS. 1 and Ayuso, no 202, the Bible of Vich, A.D. 1268, Vich, Archivo Capitular, MS. 4, on which see, in addition to the works listed by Ayuso, Gudiol, Els Llibres Il.luminats,

pp. 144-6, figs. 187-96; J. Domínguez Bordona, Manuscritos con Pinturas, Madrid, 1933, i, nos. 132, 331, figs. 69, 182-183; Bohigas, op. cit., i, pp. 55-8; ii, p. 23. Purchased by Dyson Perrins from J. Rosenthal of Munich, 1914. Apparently previously in a private collection in Barcelona: see Gudiol, Els Llibres Il.luminats, p. 56.

Vellum; ff. 455. 375 x 260mm. Double columns; text space 235 x 145mm. (except ff. 1-2, 1 col., 225-235 x 130-145mm.; and ff. 452-455, 3 cols., 235 x 205mm.). 56 lines to a page. Gatherings of twelve, 4 leaves added at beginning of book (i wants 1, iv wants 8, viii wants 6, xii10, xiv wants 10, xvi10, xvii10, xxi10, xxviii wants 12, xxix10, xxxi16 wants 8, xxxix8); catchwords. A catchword on f. 455b suggests that some leaves containing the conclusion of the Interpretation of Hebrew Names, usually attributed to Bede, is missing at the end of the volume. These were possibly mislaid during the repair of the binding. All the other missing leaves contained illuminated initials. On f. 451b is a colophon 'Mille. ducentenis, tredecim triginta bis annis. Post carnem domini sumptam de uirgine uerbi. Canonicus dictusque iohannes poncii ego. uictus hanc

. . . domino bibliam prece scripsi. hinc ubi uita manet – scriptor cum presule regnet'. The name of the prelate for whom the MS. was written is erased. 'Presul' in this context probably means bishop and 'uictus' seems to imply that Poncii was a canon of Vich. If the MS. was written for the local bishop, this would be Ramon de Anglesola. On the organisation of the scriptorium of Vich, see. J. Gudiol i Cunill, 'Catàleg des Llibres Manuscrits anteriors al segle XVIII del Museu Episcopal de Vich', Butlletí de la Biblioteca de Catalunyi, Barcelona, vi, 1920-22, pp. 53-6. In 1240, the will of St Bernard Calvus, Bishop of Vich 1233-1243, was written by 'Poncii de Argilagosa scriptoris jurati' (see D.J.R.V., Charta Ultimae Voluntatis a Divo Bernardo Calvonio, Vich, 1814). In 1226 occurs a 'Poncius scriba Dom. Guillelmi Vicen. Episcopi' (see D.J.R.V., Documentos Ineditos con que se demuestra la existencia de un monasterio de Premonstratenses, Vich, 1827, p. 2). A 'Poncii de Jardino', Archdeacon of Vich, witnessed a sentence of James I of Aragon in 1270 (see. J. Miret y Sans, Itinerari de Jaume I 'El Conqueridor', Barcelona, 1918, p. 437). Poncii's hand is a neat, compact gothic script. Running titles, marginal numbers of chapters and text initials in red and blue. Text capitals marked in yellow, except in the psalms, where they are in red and blue. Omissions in the texts supplied in the margin and enclosed in red and blue lines with penwork flourishes.

Binding of light brown leather with, on each cover, a central panel of strap-work down the middle of which is a sprig of oak leaves, in a style termed 'Gothico-Monastic' by F. Hueso Rolland in his catalogue, Exposición de Encuadernaciones Españolas, Madrid, 1934. Around the panel is a pattern containing lozenge fleur-de-lis stamps, double-headed eagle stamps and a square stamp 'II'. The strap-work is probably Mudejar in origin (see Hueso Rolland, pp. 31-8) and may be compared to that on a 13th cent. binding at Vich (see Gudiol, Els Llibres Il.luminats, fig. 12) and on a 14th cent. Mudéjar binding (see Hueso Rolland, lám. II). According to Hueso Rolland, eagle stamps are peculiar to Spain, but there is no double-headed eagle stamp on the bindings described by him earlier than the 15th-16th cent. Lozenge fleur-de-lis stamps occur on a 13th cent. Gothic binding (see Hueso Rolland, lám II). The binding of the present MS. is probably 13th-14th cent. and may be original. It has, however, been repaired and new boards and spine inserted so that the binding is now split up the spine. Holes from the original sewing are occasionally visible on some of the folios, and the original headpiece was forgotten during the repair and is now fastened outside the top of the spine. Brass fittings for clasp now lost. Beneath the pastedown on the front cover (f. i), a MS. fragment containing a few words in Spanish, [15th? cent.] is visible. On the spine is a [13th-14th? cent.] label damaged in the repair of the binding bearing the letters 'blia'. Dyson Perrins bookplate and MS. number, f. i. Old Dyson Perrins MS. number '157' inside back cover (f. iv).

The illumination of the MS. consists of forty-four historiated and several decorated initials. The subjects of the former, which are more fully described by Warner, op. cit., i, pp. 264-5, are:-

1. f. 22. Exodus. Initial H. The two Hebrews fighting and Moses.

2. f. 36b. Leviticus. Initial V. The giving of the law to Moses.

3. f. 61b. Deuteronomy. Initial H. Moses reading the law.

4. f. 74b. Prologue to Joshua. Initial I. Three acrobats.

5. f. 75. Joshua. Initial E. Two acrobats and two dragons.

6. f. 84. Judges. Initial P. Israelites consulting after the death of Joshua.

7. f. 93. Prologue to Kings. Initial V. A dragon and an acrobat.

8. f. 93b. I Kings. Initial F. Hannah praying to God.

9. f. 105b. II Kings. Initial F. David and the Amalekite.

10. f. 114b. III Kings. Initial E. David and Abishag.

11. f. 148. Prologue to II Chronicles. Initial H. A cleric holding up a book.

12. f. 148. II Chronicles. Initial C. Solomon.

13. f. 161. Prayer of Manasses. Initial D. Manasses.

14. f. 161. Prologue to I Esdras. Initial V. Ezra at a lectern.

15. f. 170. II (III) Esdras. Initial E. Ezra.

16. f. 175b. Tobit. Initial T. Tobit praying.

17. f. 179b. Judith. Initial A. Judith and Holofernes.

18. f. 190. Job. Initial V. Satan before God.

19. f. 199. Ps. 1. Initial B. David playing a psaltery.

20. f. 202b. Ps. 26. Initial D. A Jew.

21. f. 204b. Ps. 38. Initial D. David as a young man before a lectern.

22. f. 215. Ps. 109. Initial D. God the Father supporting a crucifix.

23. f. 220b. 'Prologus Sibille'. Initial I. The head and hand of God and sea covering the mountains.

24. f. 221. Prophecy of the Sibyl. Initial F. The Sibyl.

25. f. 224b. Proverbs. Initial P. Solomon.

26. f. 259. Prologue to Isaiah. Initial N. Two Dominicans.

27. f. 301. Ezekiel. Initial E. Ezekiel and God.

28. f. 320. Daniel. Initial A. A seated figure pointing to a book and another pointing upwards and speaking.

29. f. 329b. Joel. Initial V. Joel.

30. f. 330b. Amos. Initial V. Amos.

31. f. 333. Jonah. Initial E. Jonah and God.

32. f. 333b. Obadiah. Initial V. Obadiah.

33. f. 334. Micah. Initial V. Micah.

34. f. 336. Nahum. Initial H. Nahum.

35. f. 336b. Habakkuk. Initial H. Habakkuk.

36. f. 337b. Zephaniah. Initial V. Zephaniah.

37. f. 338b. Haggai. Initial I. Haggai.

38. f. 339b. Zechariah. Initial I. Zechariah.

39. f. 343. Malachi. Initial H. Malachi.

40. f. 364b. Prologue to Matthew. Initial M. A bishop and priest.

41. f. 364b. Matthew. Initial L. Tree of Jesse.

42. f. 384. Luke. Initial P. Luke writing.

43. f. 422. I Timothy. Initial P. A youth slaying a dragon.

44. f. 428b. Acts. Initial P. Paul with sword and book.

The illumination is in three differing, though related, styles and is probably the work of three artists but one atelier. The first style (Group I) is found in historiated initials nos. 1-8 and 10; the second style (Group II) in historiated initials nos. 9, 11-22, 25 and decorated initials on ff. 126b, 161b-215b, 224, 224b, 232; and the third style (Group III) in historiated initials nos. 23-24, 26, 43 and decorated initials on ff. 1, 4, 137b, 138, 220b, 233b-445b. Group I is characterised by the use of thick, sharp angled interlace combined with elaborate patterns of foliage. Nude acrobats, monsters and dogs are also used as decorative motifs, and the wealth of decoration occasionally almost obscures the actual initial. This group is of Romanesque derivation and is similar to the illumination in the Bible of Lerida, which may have been used as an exemplar: see W. Cahn. Romanesque Bible Illumination, 1982, pp. 290-1, pl. 156. Decorative elements are less prominent with group II, which is distinguished by a boldness of colour and design. Interlace is not found and the use of foliage is more restrained. Animal decoration is limited to parti-coloured dragons, which are mainly found in the decorated initials. The style of this group may be categorised as late Romanesque and early Gothic before the rise of the Parisian school under St Louis. With group III, in contrast, the influence of the Parisian school is strongly apparent, particularly in the frequent use of cusped and curved marginal projections to the letters, which often proliferate into a number of 'branches': cf. R. Branner, Manuscript Painting in Paris during the Reign of Saint Louis, 1977, figs. 349-54, 372, 386. Another frequent decorative motif which shows French influence is a dragon with a small mouse-like head on a long thin neck and with a long thin tail which is really a stalk of foliage, e.g. on ff. 421b, 424b: see Branner, op. cit., figs. 365, 378, 379, 384. The illumination in this group is related to that in the Bible of Vich. This is particularly apparent from a comparison between the Tree of Jesse on f. 364b and the representation of the tree in the Bible of Vich: see Gudiol, Els Llibres Il.luminats, fig. 195. In both these MSS., for example, David is shown with a harp and another figure is playing a rebec, whereas other representations of the tree from this period usually show David as the only musician: see A. Watson, The Early Iconography of the Tree of Jesse, Oxford, 1934, pp. 170-1. It seems likely that the Bible of Vich provided an exemplar for the illuminations in style III. No names of illuminators at Vich during the late thirteenth century are known, but aspects of the style of the illumination, particularly the delight in ornament evident in styles I and III, seem characteristically Spanish, and it is probably entirely the work of Spaniards.

Johannes Poncii, alias Ponce; Canon [of Vich, in Catalonia?]: Wrote: 1273.

Ramon de Anglesola, Bishop of Vich, in Catalonia: Bible written for (?),: 1273.

Art. Illuminations and Drawings SPANISH: Bible: historiated and decorated initials,: late 13th cent.

Bible LATIN: Bible, written by Johannes Poncii,: 1273.

Bindings SPANISH: Brown leather, stamped,: 13th-14th cent.

Scribes: Johannes Poncii, Canon of [Vich, in Catalonia?],: 1273.

includes:

• ff. 1-2 Galdinus, Frater; Pérégin de St Gaudens; [Dominican of Toulouse?]: Mnemonic biblical verses by,: 1273.
• ff. 452-455b Beda: Interpretationes Nominarum Hebraicorum, attrib. to,: 1273: Imperf.