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Gospel Book
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Parchment, ii modern paper flyleaves + 199 fols. + iii modern paper flyleaves, 203 x 142 (161 x 85) mm, 26 long lines, ruled in plummet, (except fols. 1 – 8, 27 long lines, ruled in black ink), running headers.
BINDING: eighteenth-century, gold-stamped red leather over wooden boards, traces of two fastening devices on foredge, edges gilt.
CONTENTS: fols. 1r – 8r St Jerome, Letter to Pope Damasus, Beatissimo pape Damaso Ieronimus novum opus, Prologue to the four Gospels, Plures fuisse qui euangelia scripserunt, and Letter to Pope Damasus, Sciendum etiam neque ignarum; Letters of Eusebius and Carpianus (additions); fols. 9r – 62r Gospel of St Matthew, with Prologue and capitula; fols. 62v – 97r Gospel of St Mark, with Prologue and capitula; fols. 97r – 156v Gospel of St Luke, with Prologue and capitula; fols. 157r – 199v Gospel of St John, with Prologue and capitula.
DECORATION: Four full-page framed miniatures on gold grounds showing Evangelists seated under round-headed arches, their symbols in the spandrels:
fol. 11v St Matthew writing on scroll, angel holding book above; fol. 64v St Mark sharpening his pen, lion above; fol. 101v St Luke holding scraping knife, ox above; fol. 158v St John holding scroll and looking up at eagle.
ORNAMENTATION: Framed full pages with the beginning of each Gospel written in gold on purple ground facing the Evangelists’ miniatures (fols. 12r, 65r, 102r, 159r); red and white initials [5 – 10 ll.] with foliate scrolls on green and blue grounds for prologues (fols. 9r, 62v, 97r, 157r); red initials [1 – 2 ll.]; red, blue or yellow initials [5 – 9 ll.] with foliate and geometric infill on blue, green and yellow grounds, cadels, and capitals highlighted in red in fifteenth-century addition (fols. 1v – 8r).
History note: Repaired in 1603 by one Petrus Wullfen according to the chronogram written on fol. 1r in red ink: ILLe LIber petrI WVLLffeni reparatVs ab aere CUM pasChae Vago LVX Venerata soLo; Thomas Rodd (1763–1822), bookseller (ownership inscription and note dated Nov. 1857 on verso of first and recto of second paper flyleaf at front); Bertram, fourth earl of Ashburnham (1797 – 1878), Ashburnham Appendix, no. XIII; purchased from him by Henry Yates Thompson (1838 – 1928) in May 1897; his sale, Sotheby’s, London, 1 May 1899, lot 7; purchased by Frank McClean (1837 – 1904), his bequest, 1904.
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1904) by McClean, Frank
12th Century, third quarter#
Circa
1160
CE
-
Circa
1170
CE
Support composed of parchment
Accession number: MS McClean 21
Primary reference Number: 170695
Project ID: 12
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Manuscripts and Printed Books
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Gospel Book" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/170695 Accessed: 2024-12-29 20:00:00
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/170695
|title=Gospel Book
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-29 20:00:00|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:
https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-170695
To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:
<div class="text-center">
<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/msspb/msspb2/MS_20McClean_2021_20_28f011v_29.jpg"
alt="Gospel Book"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Gospel Book</figcaption>
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