exws_ms177_2open

MS 177

Postilla litteralis in vetus testamentum, open

MS 177, open

Nicholas, of Lyra, approximately 1270-1349

ca. 1450-1475

Bavaria (Germany)?

An early fifteenth-century manuscript of Nicholas of Lyra’s commentaries on nine Old Testament books, open, with chain binding.

Written in Southern Germany, possibly Bavaria, in ca. 1450-1475 as indicated by the evidence of the watermark and script. The chained binding indicates it was in an institutional collection. Purchased by Western Michigan University’s Special Collections from Les Enluminures who procured it from a private North American collection.

252 leaves, ff. 1 and 252 serving as pastedowns

Manuscripts, Latin (Medieval and modern)

Manuscripts, Latin--Germany

Bible--Commentaries--Early works to 1800

Chained books

Gothic cursive

lat

308 x 210 mm

paper

ff. 1v - 252v

Front cover detached. Early chained binding (possibly contemporary) of brown leather over wooden boards, beveled and cut almost flush with the book block, sewn on double bands that enter the boards at the edge and are fastened on the inside. Head and tail bands also fasten into the boards. Spine with four raised bands and with the remains of a tab at the top. Simply tooled in blind with an outer frame and two single fillets crossing on the diagonal. Five brass bosses on upper and lower boards. Once fastened back to front: stubs of two straps, lower board and holes from two pins center upper board, intact metal hasp and chain ending in a ring middle top edge lower board, remains of parchment label upper board. Strips of parchment from earlier manuscripts used to line the spine visible at the beginning and end. Title copied in a cursive script on bottom fore edge: “Isti(?) sunt liber hystoriales scilicet iosue iudic[um] Ruth paralipomenon Regum. The binding has been tampered with and the first and last leaves are pasted down at the front and back, perhaps when the opening and closing gatherings were removed.

Majuscules touched with red, lemmata underlined in red, red rubrics, and two- to three-line red initials. Modern foliation in pencil top outer corner recto. Original foliation in Arabic numerals in ink middle lower margin on ff. 14-264. Text begins on f. 2 (f. 1 recto pasted to the front board). Watermark of a tower with merlons without a window, similar to iccard Online 100480, Wemding, 1455, 100500, no place, 1459, 100531, Kaisheim, 1464. Prickings in the upper and lower margins.

2 columns of 42-46 lines ruled in ink and written in cursive gothic book hand.

Horizontal catchwords very bottom inner margins, often partially trimmed. Notes for the rubricator very bottom margin. Guide letters alongside many initials.

Manuscript 177, Western Michigan University Special Collections

Medieval Document Collection

Western Michigan University

2019

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Dahan, Gilbert, ed. Nicolas de Lyre franciscain du XIVe siècle exégète et théologien, Collection des Études Augustiniennes. Série Moyen Âge et Temps Modernes 48, Paris, 2011.

Gosselin, E. A. “A Listing of the Printed Editions of Nicolaus de Lyra,” Traditio 26 (1970), pp. 399-426.

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