Breviarium

F-6hid

Toronto, ON, The Robertson Davies Library at Massey College, Gurney FF 0001

Remarks by the Editor

Note from Otto Ege: Breviaries were seldom owned by laymen. They were service books and contained the Psalter with the versicles, responses, collects and lections for Sundays, weekdays, and saints' days. Other texts could be included. A Breviary, therefore, was lengthy and usually bulky in format. Miniature copies like the one represented by this leaf are rare. The angular gothic script required a skilled calligrapher. It would be difficult for a modern engrosser to match, even with steel pens, the exactness and sharpness of these letters form with a quill by a 13th century scribe (note this is 15th century). Green was a decorative color added to the palette in the late 13th century in many scriptoria. The medieval formulae for making it from earth, flowers, berries, and metals are often elaborate and strange. This manuscript was written on fine uterine vellum, i.e. the skin of an unborn calf. It evidently had hard use, or may have been buried with its owner. 

Please note: Ege marks this as being from France and from the late 13th century. Scott Gwara (cited) marks it from c. 1425 from England. 

General Information

Title Breviarium
Material Parchment
Place of Origin England
Date of Origin ca. 1425
Script, Hands

Northern Textualis 

Original Condition

Page Height 105 mm
Page Width 70 mm
Height of Written Area 60 mm
Width of Written Area 41 – 45 mm
Number of Columns 1
Width of Columns 41 – 45 mm
Number of Lines 21
Line Height 3 mm
More about the Condition

Thin vellum.

Current Condition

Dimensions 105 x 70 mm
More about the Current Condition

This leaf is darkened and dirty on the recto in black smudged markings. On the verso there are several markings made later than the original scribe exercising lettering. 

Book Decoration and Musical Notation

Description

On the recto: interspersed we have various initials in colour either in red and blue or gold. They measure at 4 mm x 3 mm. At the bottom there is one larger illuminated initial in gold with blue borders and floriated in green. This initial is 11 mm x 6 mm. There are smaller letters in red near the last end. One row in the middle of the text block is darker black than the rest of the text. 

Verso: Several initials are red, blue, and gold all in the smaller 4 mm x 3 mm measurements. At the bottom of the page someone practiced calligraphy. 

Bibliography

  • Gwara, Scott. Otto Ege’s Manuscripts : A Study of Ege’s Manuscript Collections, Portfolios, and Retail Trade : With a Comprehensive Handlist of Manuscripts Collected or Sold. De Brailes Publishing, 2013.