Return to list

Extracts from the Old Testament: fragment of the Book of Tobias; Book of Judith; fragment of the Book of Esther

Title

Extracts from the Old Testament: fragment of the Book of Tobias; Book of Judith; fragment of the Book of Esther

Date of Original

1300-1399?

Format of Original

["Illuminated manuscripts"]

Language

["Latin"]

Source Collection

["Rare Book and Printed Materials Collection"]

front cover

beginning of the Book of Esther, f. 7r

back cover

spine

Comparison List: (0/2) This item is not included

Object Details
Item Details

Object Details

Title

Extracts from the Old Testament: fragment of the Book of Tobias; Book of Judith; fragment of the Book of Esther

Date of Original

1300-1399?

Place of Production

Italy.

Format of Original

["Illuminated manuscripts"]

Binding

33 x 24 cm. Half-bound in leather and modern corrugated boards. "Judith" gilt-stamped on the spine.

Notes on Binding

Textblock trimmed with partial loss of marginalia.

Material

Parchment.

Foliation

ff. [7].

Notes on Foliation

Unfoliated.

Contents

f. 1r: Tobit (Tobias) 13.4-14;

ff. 1r-7r: Prologue and Judith 1-31;

ff. 7r-7v: Prologue and Esther 1-2.8.

Provenance

Bookplate of the "Syracuse University Libraries | George Arents Research Library" on front pastedown. Gift of Barbara Weiss. The fragment comes from the Goodspeed Bible.

Incipit

[Book of Tobit]: "eum ut vos ennar[r]etis mirabilia ei[us]...";

[Prologue to Judith:] "Apud hebreos judith liber";

[Judith:] "Arfaxat itaq[ue] rex Medor[um]";

[Prologue to Esther]: "Incipit p[ro]logus librum hester librum hester variis";

[Book of Esther:] "Incipit liber iudich In diebus assueri regis..."

Script

Gothica textualis formativa.

Layout

5 vertical and 51 horizontal lines ruled in lead and 2 columns of 48 rows of text. Text in brown ink. One noticeable scribal hand for this Bible fragment. Versos 1v-6v have the Roman numeral "IV" written in top margin in alternating blue and red characters. Rectos 1r-7r & 7v have an abbreviation for the book or prologue in the top margin also in alternating red and blue characters (e.g., "PROLO" for prologue, "DITH" for Judith, or "HE" for Hester/Ester). These serve the purpose of catchwords to keep the different sections of the Bible together. Chapter numbers appear in alternating red and blue colors. Capitula, or chapter/section headings appear in red.

Language

["Latin"]

Short Description

MS 12, originating from Italy and dating back to the 14th century, is one of the oldest medieval manuscripts at SCRC. The text includes a portion of the Old Testament: the end of the Book of Tobias, the complete text of the Book of Judith, and the beginning of the Book of Esther. These texts are part of the Catholic and Orthodox tradition but are excluded from the Jewish and Protestant canon.

Two decorative initials and two historiated initials comprise the major decoration. The initials employ colors of pink, red, blue and burnished gold while feather-like acanthus leaves of pink, yellow-gold, and orange-red extend like vine leaves into the margins and gutters between columns. Additional decoration includes the marginal guide and small decorative capitals. The two historiated initials depict the heroines of their respective books, Judith and Esther.

Illustration(s)

This fragment consists of two decorative initials and two historiated initials. The initials primarily employ pink and red, and burnished gold against a field of blue. Feather-like acanthus leaves of pink, blue, yellow-gold, and orange-red extend like vine work into the gutter between columns and into the margins. The decorative initial for the Prologue to the Book of Judith (f. 1r) is six rows high and that for the Prologue to the Book of Esther (f. 7r) is eight rows high. The historiated initial introducing the Book of Judith (f. 1v) depicts the scene in which Judith, dressed in pink and wearing a white veil, is in the tent of the sleeping Holofernes, cutting off his head. The historiated initial introducing the Book of Esther (f. 7r) is a full-body portrait of Queen Esther in a blue gown with gold design, wearing a pink cloak with a yellow underside and bearing a gold crown upon her blonde hair.

Ornamental marginal guides in red and blue extend the full length of a column of text and beyond into the top and bottom marginal spaces. These appear to the left of either the left or right column of the text. Additional small decorative capitals appear either as blue letters with red decoration or red with blue decoration. Scroll-like designs from marginal guides and capitals also ornament the pages.

Selected Bibliography

Brine, Kevin R., Elena Ciletti, and Henrike Lähnemann, eds. The Sword of Judith: Judith Studies Across the Disciplines. 1st ed. Open Book Publishers, 2010. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5vjt5x.

Peter Kidd. “The Goodspeed Bible (II).” Medieval Manuscripts Provenance (blog). August 18, 2018. https://mssprovenance.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-goodspeed-bible-ii.html#more

Data Contributors

Jennifer Casten and Irina Savinetskaya

Source Collection

["Rare Book and Printed Materials Collection"]

MMS ID

991495093408496

Catalog Record Link

View the catalog record

Rights Status

["Copyright Not Evaluated"]

Quartex ID

medieval_manuscripts_ms-12

Item Details

Title

front cover

Search Results

Showing full text and metadata result(s) in this object for .

Total item hit(s) = 0

Total section hit(s) = 0

No results found

Return to list