Medieval manuscript books

26/1 Statutes of the Cistercian Order; mid 14th century, probably German: 1 (15th century) f. 1 A leaf from the psalter, intended for rubrication and illumination, but not rubricated or illuminated; bound inverted. f. 1v incipit: 'Placebo Ilexi quam exaudiet dominus'; explicit: '[Domi]ne libera animam meam.' 2 (15th century) ff. 2-8 Libellus statutorum Cisterciensis ordinis illorum videlicet quos ad regularem observantiam correctionem morum vite quam disciplinam pertinere noscimur. Statutes of 1290. Rubricated. A fifteenth century quire replacing the first quire of the original, presumably missing or damaged. 3 (mid-14th century) ff. 9-119 Continuation of the statutes of the Cistercian order of 1290. Incipit: '... quolibet modo retinere. De visitacionibus per ordinem faciendis Capitulum secundum'. Explicit: 'Explicit libellus omnium diffinicionum capituli generalis editus seu compositus anno domini MoCCo octogesimo nono.' Rubricated. Fourteen complete quires. 4 (1620) f. 120, the last folio of a quire, part of 3: 'Hic libellus concessus fuit S. Benedicto Wariguel[?] (Possibly the Priory of Variville (Oise) or the Abbey of Varangeville (Lorraine)) a R.D. abbate anno 1620.' 5 (mid-14th century) ff. 121-148 Statutes of the Cistercian order, 1289-1313. Incipit: 'Anno domini MoCCo octogesimo nono statuit et ordinat capitulum generale quam conventus petat veniam quando articulus mortis domini in passionibus nominatur.' Explicit: 'Monachi vos nisi ab ipso Cysterciensi licentiam habuerint pene subiaceant quam in difficione predicta plenius continetur.' Rubrication incomplete. Nineteenth century binding, panelled gilt calf, small quarto, with text of MS trimmed. Bookplate, engraved by F.Heylbrouck, three lions rampant. 26/2 Ordo quatuor evangelistarum in die parascheves; late 14th-early 15th century, probably German: 1 (15th century) ff. 1-26 Twenty-six consecutive parchment folios from a more substantial text. The contemporary foliation runs from 56 to 80, with the verso of the last folio entirely blank. A rubricated text, giving a conflation of the four gospels for Good Friday and Easter, followed by (i) a discussion between Anselm (Ancelmus capellanus) and the Virgin Mary, (ii) homilies of Bede on Maundy Thursday (Cena domini), (The text comes from Bede's Homeliae evangelii, Book II, 5 ( Bedae venerabilis opera (Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina, 122, 1955; pp. 214-19)). Easter Saturday (Homeliae evangelii, Book II, 7, in vigilia Paschae (Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina, 122, 1955; pp. 225-32)) and Easter Day (The text comes from Bede's In Lucae evangelium expositio, Book VI ( Bedae venerabilis opera: opera exegetica ed. D.Hurst (Corpus Christianorum, series Latina, 120, 1960; pp. 373-409)). The last folio contains an addition, in another hand, rubricated, describing the conversion of the Three Kings, by St Thomas the Apostle, noting their deaths and the translation of their bodies to Milan and subsequently to Cologne. Bound in paper cover boards, nineteenth century, octavo.

MS 26/1-2 are associated with a more extensive collection of printed books from the collection of the Crotona Fellowship of the Rosicrucian Order.

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