Vulgate Bible

Title

Vulgate Bible

Shelfmark

St John's College MS 48

Place of origin

England

Date

s. xiii med.

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

Vellum (HSOS/HFFH).

Physical extent

Fols. ii + 333(numbered fols. 1–331, but unnumbered leaves follow fols. 168 and 169) + i (numbered fol. iii). In the Old Testament historical books, numbers in lead in the upper corners of rectos, apparently to give an order to the books.

Hands

Written in a spiky textura semiquadrata. Punctuation by point, medial point, and punctus elevatus.

Decoration

Headings in red for books, frequently with guides surviving in the gutters (after fol. 86, usually unfilled).

At the heads of books, 7- to 9-line red and/or blue lombards on red flourishing, usually with the first text line in 2-line high red and blue lombards on red flourishing.

Chapter numbers in the margin in alternate red and blue roman numerals.

Running titles identifying the book in alternate red and blue lombards (routinely cut into, sometimes cut away; none for Nehemiah).

The text is occasionally broken (far from always at the traditional chapter divisions) with alternate red and blue 1-line lombards, occasionally with red paraphs (early on, there are a few red-slashed capitals).

In the Psalter, 2-line alternate red and blue lombards on flourishing of the other colour at the heads of individual psalms; 6- and 7-line initials of this type at the opening of the nocturns. One-line alternate red and blue lombards at the heads of verses.

There are two illuminations: Fol. 1ra:a half-column long gold-leaf, blue, and violet F on a brownish-violet ground, with floral terminations; within the letter, the tonsured Jerome teaching Ambrose from the book; the first text line is in gold leaf on a (faded) green ground.

Fol. 3ra(the head of Genesis): a half-column long gold-leaf and blue I on a gold leaf and green ground, with an internal vine and circle motif and three illustrated lozenges: God moulding a globe, God creating Eve from Adam’s side, Adam and Eve clothed and arguing.

See AT, no. 186 (20), dating s. xiii2/4, and plate x (fol. 3ra).

Binding

Dark brown leather over bookboard, s. xvi; with a lozenge-like fleur-de-lis centre-stamp, within a double rectangular frame, with fleurs-de-lis at the corners. Sewn on five thongs. Repairs to the leather in the upper corners of both boards suggest a lost strap and clasp, and a repaired nail-hole may be from a chain-staple in Watson’s position 4 . Gold ‘48’ at the head of the spine, in black ink on the leading edges (with ‘Bib Lat’ and a further illegible inscription). Pastedowns and endleaves modern paper, a College bookplate on the front pastedown. At the front, two paper flyleaves; at the rear, a single paper flyleaf (iii).

Acquisition

‘Liber Collegij Sancti Joannis Baptistae Oxon Ex dono Gwilielmi Balowin Artibus Magistri olim eiusdem Collegij postea AEdis Christi Oxon alumni Dedit Anno Domini 1598 Junij 17 o’ (fol. 1, lower margin). Ballow, an MA in 1594 and later a recipient of two divinity degrees, was an important benefactor of Oxford libraries, also giving books to Christ Church and the Bodleian, seven of them from the library of the collegiate church at Crediton (Devon) .

Provenance

‘Est fratrum heremitarum sancti augustini’ ( fol. 3, the upper margin, s. xv ex.; in the lower margin an erased inscription (? s. xv 2) ‘q habetur magnum ’.

Two signatures: (a) ‘Champernan”; (b) the tops of the first line ‘Henricus’, with the remainder cut away ( fol. 331v, s. xv). Arguably, these are copies of an ex-libris of Henry Chambron or Chambernoun, an Oxford OFM who fl. c.1380; cf. BRUO 2:xiii.