Missal (Cistercian) for major feasts — 1203–1214; French, Pontigny (or Paris?)

Title

Missal (Cistercian) for major feasts — 1203–1214; French, Pontigny (or Paris?)

Shelfmark

MS. Bywater adds. 2

Place of origin

French, Pontigny (or Paris?)

Date

1203–1214

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

Parchment, of variable quality, with frequent natural holes and flaws, sometimes within the written area (e.g. fols. 21, 60), sometimes repaired by sewing, and sometimes with the sewing-thread extant (e.g. fols. 102, 112); in Quires II-V, the third bifolium (i.e. leaves 3 and 6 of each quire) is of inferior quality and/or smaller in size than the rest, and resembles parchment prepared in the Italian manner, with clearly differentiated hair- and flesh-sides; the added fol. 130 is also considerably poorer in quality and smaller in size.

Physical extent

vi (19th-century paper and parchment) + 130 + iv (19th-century paper and parchment)

Hands

The main original texts written in dark brown ink, sometimes black, in a fine Gothic bookhand, using the punctus flexus punctuation particularly associated with Cistercian manuscripts (see N. R. Ker, English manuscripts in the century after the Norman Conquest, (Oxford, 1960), 47–9), probably by a single scribe who occasionally varies his letter-forms; the added texts by a variety of other hands.

Decoration

Headings in red, capitals touched in red ink.

One 8-line (?) painted (?) initial, excised during the medieval period, now replaced by a later (probably post-medieval) substitute. The amount of space left by the scribe indicates that the original initial was probably eight lines high. This was excised, leaving an irregular hole 63–5 × 57–8 mm. The hole was patched on the recto with a somewhat ragged-edged piece of parchment 74–6 × 64–5 mm., and on both recto and verso of this was written, in a 15th-century (?) gothic bookhand, the text that had been excised. Backlighting suggests that a large letter 'T' was also supplied to replace the lost original, but this has now been covered by a second piece of parchment, 61–2 × 59–60 mm., on which is painted an initial in imitation of the two originals which survive on the page. (fol. 65r) Canon of the Mass. Initial T[e igitur]. Two 7-line painted initials painted in a typical 'Channel style' palette and style; each consisting of a blue openwork letter, within and through which scrolls of foliage are enmeshed, inhabited by 'white lions', a foliate stem in each terminating with a dragon's head; on a blue ground with a red frame, each with a semée of white triple dots: (fol. 65r) Initial P[er omnia secula]. (fol. 65r) Initial U[ere dignum]. One 10-line initial: (fol. 4r) First Sunday in Advent. Initial A[d te leuaui]: a 'puzzle' initial in red and blue, the outside of the letter with scallopped penwork in red and blue, the body of the letter filled with intertwining scrolls, terminating in foliage or palmettes, the reserved ground with a semée of blue circlets and trefoils; the left stroke of the letter descending the length of the left margin, and joining a horizontal block of decoration in the lower margin, incorporating two pairs of addorsed 'dog's' heads. One 5-line initial: (fol. 7r) Christmas Day. Initial P[uer natus est]: a 'puzzle' initial using only red and the reserved ground, surrounded by and filled with penwork in blue. One 4-line initial, perhaps intended to be a 5-line initial, for the Preface for Apostles: (fol. 64v) Initial U[ere dignum], with a horizontal cross-stroke forming a cross with the second upright of the letter; similar to the initial on fol. 7r. Eight 3-line 'puzzle' initials in red and blue, the first two having the red part with blue penwork, and vice versa; the remainder using only red for the penwork: (fol. 9v) Epiphany. Initial E[cce aduenit] (fol. 25r) Easter. Initial R[esurrexi] (fol. 37v) Ascension. Initial U[iri galilei] (fol. 67v) Sanctorale. Initial E[t enim sederunt] (fol. 73r) Purification. Initial S[uscepimus deus] (fol. 89r) Nativity of The Virgin. Initial G[audemus omnes] (fol. 95r) All Saints. Initial G[audemus omnes] (fol. 112v) Dedication of a Church. Initial T[erribilis] Two 3-line initials in red, with blue penwork, or vice versa: (fol. 39v) Pentecost. Initial S[piritus domini] (fol. 86v) Assumption. Initial G[audemus omnes]

Binding

Bound in 19th-century parchment over pasteboards, with a blind-tooled double fillet around the edges of each cover; brown modern paper pastedowns and conjoint flyleaves, the flyleaves with the watermark 'BATH | 1824' suggesting a terminus post quem and possible place of binding; the spine inscribed in brown ink 'XX[V (see below)] | Missale Gal-|licanum. | XII. Cent.', the last line gone over in darker ink. Fols. 1r-2r show ferrous stains, presumably caused by metal fittngs of a previous binding, at the fore-edge, approx 60–80 mm. from the top and bottom of the page. Talbot states that Pontigny books were usually bound in thick wooden boards, which often split due to the manner of nailing studs into each cover (Talbot (see provenance), 110–11). During the 1820s there was a duty to be paid, by weight, on the import of all manuscripts written before 1801; the duty for bound books being higher than for unbound ones (see A. N. L. Munby, Phillipps Studies, III (Cambridge, 1954), 33), and it is therefore quite possible that Allard (see under Provenance) might have removed any heavy binding of no apparent interest, and then had the volume rebound inexpensively once in England.

Acquisition

Inscribed in pencil in the lower left corner, 'Bequest of M. R. Tomkinson, received Oct. 1986'. It was Tomkinson who requested that her books and manuscripts be given a shelfmark including 'Bywater'.

Provenance

Probably made for, and perhaps at, the Cistercian abbey of Notre-Dame, Pontigny (Yonne, France), probably between 1203 and 1214: the manuscript is clearly Cistercian (see under Contents, Script, Decoration), and has strong evidence for having been at Pontigny from c. 1300 until the suppression of the house in the late 18th century (see below); the latest datable original feast in the Sanctorale is St. Barnabas (11 June) whose feast was raised to 12 lessons in the Cistercian calendar in 1203 (see Backaert, 304, 121) and the earliest datable feast omitted from the original Sanctorale is St. Katherine (25 Nov.) whose feast was raised to 12 lessons in the Cistercian calendar in 1214 (Backaert, 113, 121). On the library of the abbey, see especially Talbot, 1954; see also Anne Bondeelle-Souchier, Bibliothèques cisterciennes dans la France médiévale. Répertoire des Abbayes d'hommes (Paris, 1991), 261–2; and A.-M. Genevois, J.-F. Genest, A. Chalandon (eds.), Bibliothèques de manuscrits médiévaux en France. Relevé des inventaires du VIIe au XVIIIe siècle (Paris, 1987), 192–3.

The volume was presumably still at Pontigny during the 13th and 14th centuries: new Cistercian feasts were added during the 13th century, and in the early 14th century additions were made in the Canon, and elsewhere: in the prayer for the pope, bishop, king, etc., after the Te igitur, next to the reference to '... et rege nostro. ill. ...' (fol. 65v), has been added in the margin 'domini regis francie' in a 14th-century cursive hand; below this, next to the Memento for the living, have been added 'domini Edwardi' (perhaps over an erasure), in a different 14th-cent cursive hand, immediately below this is, in darker ink, 'Regis an-|glie', presumably referring to Edward I (d. 1307); below this another similar hand has written 'margarete | de clere comitissa | cornubie' (i.e. Margret de Clare, d. 1313); next to the Memento for the dead (fol. 66v, col. 1) has been added in the margin '[E]dmundi comitis | [c]ornubie', in another 14th-cent cursive hand, which must refer to Edmund Plantagenet (d. 1300), Margaret's husband, and Regent for Edward I, in 1286–9; below this is an erasure (of a name?) written in larger script, in brown ink, and below this 'Domini Roberti | cardinalis' and 'Adele Regine' in yet another 14th-century cursive hand, in greyish ink: the former must be Robert Kilwardby (d. 1278), Archbishop of Canterbury, and the latter is presumably Adèle of Champagne (d. 1206), wife of Louis VII, who was a benefactor of Pontigny, and buried before the high altar; in the margins alongside the Mass 'Pro fratribus congregationis', a 13th-14th-century hand has twice added 'et benefactores' (fol. 124v).

In the inventory of the Pontigny library drawn up in 1675 by Charles de Tonnellier (pr. Talbot, 112–17, at 112), two missals are mentioned; the more detailed inventory drawn up by Jean Depaquy in 1778 lists nine (pr. Talbot, 127–42, at 139); Pontigny was suppressed in 1789, and the inventory drawn up in 1794 by the commissioners of the Republic lists seven, of which two (pr. Talbot, 143–54, at p. 152, numbers 12 and 23) are described as 13th-century folio volumes, either of which may perhaps refer to the present manuscript. The movement of the Pontigny manuscripts first to Sens, later to Auxerre, from 1790 to 1824, is described by Talbot, 155–7.

Inscribed with the inventory number '151' in the middle of the top margin of fols. 2r and 4r, corresponding to the inventory drawn up in c. 1791 by Père Laire (now Besançon, Bibliothèque municipale, ms. 1262, fols. 49–72v). (London, BL, Add. MSS. 26761 and 26762 have the erased numbers '21' and '24', respectively, in the equivalent position; others are reproduced in plates accompanying Sotheby's, 10 July 1972, lot 32, and Quaritch, Cat., 1931.

Abbé Joseph-Félix Allard (1795–1831) (on whom see Talbot, 157–8; and M. Peyrafort-Bonnet, 'La dispersion d'une bibliothèque médiévale: les manuscrits de l'abbaye de Pontigny', Cîteaux, commentarii cistercienses, 35, fasc. 1–2, 1984, 92–128, esp. 112–17, with references): inscribed by him in ink (fol. vi recto): 'Missel | selon le rit Romain. | il renferme deux notes curieuses | aux deus memento \du canon/ de la messe. | F[élix]. A[llard].xx' (similar notes are in other Allard MSS., including London, BL., Add. MSS. 26761, 26762), the word 'Romain' subsequently effaced, and 'Gallican' written alongside in pencil by another hand; inscribed in pencil 'No 18' in the top left corner. Allard seems to have brought a number of manuscripts from the house to England between 1824 and 1828 (Talbot, 157)—the former date corresponds with the watermark of the flyleaves—possibly through the agency of a Parisian paper merchant, a certain Longhaie or Longuet (Munby, Phillipps Studies, III, 22 n. 1).The flyleaves suggest that the binding is English, but the spine-title looks continental: it is therefore possible that Allard brought the volume to England unbound, and supplied the spine title after binding; inscribed 'Codex XXV' in the upper centre of fol. i recto under the pasted-in description of the manuscript (visible only with strong back-lighting), cf. the spine inscription, under Binding. Inscribed in pencil 'perfect' bottom left corner, fol. 1r (as, similarly, in other Pontigny-Allard manuscripts, including London, BL, Add. MSS. 26761, 26762, and 38687; also inscribed in pencil '[....?] perfect' top centre, and 'Collated & Perfect', and '2 fines[??]', bottom centre, fol. 130v; '3–1' within a part-oval, and '3', bottom right.

Edward O'Reilly (on whom see DNB), to whom Allard sold a number of manuscripts from St. Martin's, Tournai, and from whom Todd (see below) seems to have acquired many of his manuscripts; manuscripts from St. Martin's or Pontigny were apparently not in his sale, 'Bibliotheca Hibernica', by Charles Sharpe, Dublin, 30 Nov. 1830 [a copy of the catalogue is London, BL, Dept. of MSS: P.R.3.b.3].

James Henthorn Todd (1805–69), Librarian of Trinity College, Dublin (on whom see DNB): in his anonymous sale, which included numerous manuscripts from Pontigny, and from St. Martin's, Tournai, at Sotheby's, 1 June 1864, lot 179 ('Missale Romanum, vel Romano-Gallicanum'); it was presumably Todd who pasted the catalogue description from this sale to fol. i r-v, and cut out the words referring to the initial on fol. 65: '... and its place supplied by a piece of paper.', and corrected this to: '... replaced with a late initial.'; this and the following lots, however, were apparently withdrawn from the 1864 sale, and re-auctioned in Todd's posthumous sale, by John Fleming Jones, Dublin, 15 November, 1869, and five following days, in which the present manuscript was lot 1402, with the 1864 description reprinted verbatim; bought by Quaritch for £90.

Inscribed in pencil '259' in the upper left corner of fol. i verso; inscribed in pencil 'No 3' in a 19th-century hand in the centre of fol. iii recto; inscribed in pencil '£10 -', erased and altered to '£50–0', this also erased, in the centre of fol. ii recto, these latter probably by Quaritch.

Rt. Hon. William Amherst Thyssen-Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst of Hackney (1835–1909) (on whom see S. de Ricci, English collectors of books and manuscripts (1530–1930) and their marks of ownership (Cambridge, 1930; repr. New York, 1969), 165–6): probably bought from Quaritch, of whom he was a regular and valued client; this manuscript listed in de Ricci, 1906; with his small square armorial bookplate, inscribed in pencil '12th C[entur]y'; his sale at Sotheby's, 24 March 1909 and three following days, lot 609 (this number inscribed in pencil next to the bookplate), bought by 'Thomas K', for £64.

Major Herbert Tomkinson (1873–1951) (on whom see Geoffrey Stewart Tomkinson, "Those Damned Tomkinsons" A short and innaccurate record of the Worcestershire Tomkinsons, (Kidderminster, 1950), 11, and "Those D—d Tomkinsons" Supplement, (1957), 9, who bequeathed many of his books to his daughter (see below).

Miriam Robinette ('Robin') Tomkinson (1916–86), daughter of Herbert Tomkinson (see ibid. 13, and 9, respectively; Bodleian Library Record, 12, no. 2 (1986), 145–7, and no. 4 (1987), 253–4), by marriage the great-great-niece of Ingram Bywater: the front pastedown with an oval bookplate depicting a bird on a branch, with the printed legend 'Ex libris | R. Tomkinson', inscribed in pencil below this, 'from H[erbert] T[omkinson] | 1951'