Medieval Manuscript Fragments Collection, 10th century - ca. 18th century, bulk (bulk 12th century - 14th century)

Summary

Abstract:

Collection of medieval manuscript fragments from religious texts and scholarly notebooks.

Extent:

6 linear feet (4 oversize boxes, 1 map cabinet drawer)

Language:

English.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection contains single leaves (folia), double leaves (bifolia), and fragmentary pieces thereof from religious texts and scholarly notebooks written between the 10th century and the 16th century in a number of countries, including Italy, France, Germany and the Netherlands. The collection also contains two early modern leaves which resemble medieval manuscript work, probably Spanish or Spanish colonial in origin. With the exception on one leaf from a prayer book in middle Dutch, all of the materials are in Latin. In 1987, Christine Rose described some of the fragments in the UCSB Libraries' journal Soundings ("Medieval MS Fragments at UCSB Library," Soundings, XVIII, no. 24 (1987): 35-59). Some of her comments have been incorporated into this finding aid at the item level.

Materials have been arranged according to original document type into three series: Bibles, Scholastic Notebooks, and Service and Devotional Books. The arrangement within each series is chronological. Oversize fragments -- those larger than a 615 mm x 510 mm (24.25" x 20") flat box -- are stored in Special Collections map case 22, drawer 1.

Biographical / historical:

These medieval manuscript fragments have been collected by the Department of Special Collections for decades; additions are made sporadically through donation and purchase.

Acquisition information:

Purchase and donation, various dates. See item descriptions for details.

Physical location:

Vault (Boxes 1-4) and map case 22, drawer 1 (Box 5)

Related resources

Related material:

The Department of Special Collections holds a number of complete medieval codices, which have been cataloged and are available through Pegasus, the library's online catalog.

Additional collection guides:

The following definitions are taken from Michelle P. Brown's Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts: A Guide to Technical Terms (Malibu, Ca.: J. Paul Getty Museum , 1994).

Antiphonal

An antiphonal, also called antiphoner or antiphonary, contains the sung portions of the Divine Office. Such books are often large in format, so that they could be used by a choir, and included decorated and historiated initials, depicting saints and key events of the liturgical year. Hymns are usually contained in a separate volume. Originally, the antiphonal may have included chants sung in the mass, but its use became restricted to the Divine Office during the Carolingian period, and the gradual became the principal choir book for the mass. The contents of the antiphonal are generally arranged in accordance with the temporale, sanctorale, and Common of Saints in liturgical order.

Bifolium (pl. Bifolia)

A sheet of writing support material (generally parchment during the Middle Ages) folded in half to produce two leaves (i.e., four pages). A number of bifolia folded together to form a quire.

Book of Hours

A book, also called a primer or horae, for use in private devotions. Its central text, the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin (or Hours of the Virgin), is modeled on the Divine Office and represents a shorter version of the devotions performed at the eight canonical hours. The text, known from the tenth century, was originally read only by ecclesiastics; it entered into more popular use by the end of the twelfth century, often being attached to the psalter, the book more commonly used for private devotions before the emergence of the book of hours.

Breviary

A service book containing the texts necessary for the celebration of the Divine Office. A breviary is often adorned with decorated or historiated initials, and more luxurious copies may contain miniatures depicting scenes of the performance of the office. From the eleventh century on, the various volumes used during the Divine Office (psalter, antiphonal, lectionary, collectar, martyrology, and others) were combined to form the breviary, which was initially used only by monks, but was popularized (in slightly abridged form) by the Dominicans and Franciscans in the thirteenth century.

Calendar

The calendar sections of illuminated medieval manuscripts most often precede liturgical and devotional texts.

Choir Book

A service book containing the parts of the mass or the Divine Office sung by the choir.

Gradual

A gradual is the response and versicle to the Epistle reading that constitutes a part of the mass. The name derives from the practice of singing the gradual on the steps of the raised pulpit. More commonly, however, the term refers to the principal choir book used in the mass.

Homiliary

A book containing homilies (discussions of biblical passages, usually from the Gospels), arranged according to the ecclesiastical year.

Hymnal

A book, also called a hymnary, containing metric hymns sung in the Divine Office and arranged according to the liturgical year. The hymnal could be included in a psalter or antiphonal as a separate section. Its contents were eventually incorporated into the breviary.

Leaf

Also called a folio, a leaf is a sheet of writing material, one half of a bifolium. The front and back of a folio are referred to as the recto and verso, respectively.

Missal

A service book containing the texts necessary for the performance of the mass (including chants, prayers, and readings), together with ceremonial directions. The prayers and other texts recited by the priest were originally contained in the sacramentary, which was used together with the gradual, the evangelary, and the epistolary for the performance of high or solemn mass.

Lectionary

A volume containing readings for use in the liturgy.

Psalter

The psalter is the Book of Psalms. Medieval manuscripts of the Psalms were often used in liturgical as well as private devotional contexts and often contained ancillary texts such as a calendar, Canticles, creeds, a litany of the saints, and prayers. Psalters designed for use in the performance of the Divine Office often contain other relevant texts, such as the Hours of the Virgin. The psalter was the principal book for private devotions before the emergence of the Book of Hours in the thirteenth century. The Psalms also formed a major part of many medieval prayer books from the ninth century on.

Quire

Quires are the "gatherings" or "booklets" of which a book is formed. Quire numeration, which began in the late antique period, consists of numbers written on a quire (usually on its finial verso) to facilitate arrangement during binding.

Service Book

A book used in the performance of the Christian liturgy.

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Manuscripts, Medieval

Location of this collection:

UC Santa Barbara, Special Research Collections

UC Santa Barbara Library

Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9010, US

Contact:

(805) 893-3062

special@library.ucsb.edu

Website