Royal MS 7 B VIII

LIBER INTERNE CONSOLACIONIS, qui vocatur Musica Ecclesiastica': the first three books only of the work commonly known as Thomas a Kempis de Imitatione Christi. Besides Thomas of Kempen, it has been ascribed to Jean Charlier de Gerson and others. There is no indication of authorship, the colophon being 'Explicit tercia et vltima pars libri interne', &c., as above. A table of capitula precedes each book. The text seems to be of non-Italian type, but not closely allied to that of the Kempen MS. (Puyol, Variantes du livre de Im. Christi and Description des MSS., &c., both Paris, 1898). Another copy is in 8 C. VII, art. 31. Beg. 'Qui sequitur me non ambulat in tenebris dicit dominus. Hec sunt verba Christi'. Vellum; ff. 93. 111/2 in. x 8 in. Late XV cent. Gatherings or 8 leaves, with catchwords. Double columns. Sec. fol. '-siderat'. Illuminated initials, and one full-page miniature and border of coarse French or Flemish work (f. 3 b). The subject is a nimbed pope (S. Gregory?) playing the organ, a nimbed cardinal (S. Jerome?) blowing the bellows, and two nimbed bishops (SS. Ambrose and Augustine?) singing from a book. In the border (foliage, pansies, strawberries, &c.) is a shield, as. a cock arg. armed or and crested gu. The fly-leaf, a cancelled table of capitula to lib. i (f. 1), contains a note 'Iohannes Guillebert me ligavit' referring to a former binding. Old Royal press-mark no. 534' (Westm. invent. of 1542, Add. MS. 25469, f. 15); cat. of 1666, f. 17 b; CMA. 8256.