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Postilla in Vetus Testamentum (Commentary on the Old Testament books of Genesis–Baruch), in Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum [France, Paris, 3rd quarter 13th century]
Details
Hugh of St-Cher (d.1263)
Postilla in Vetus Testamentum (Commentary on the Old Testament books of Genesis–Baruch), in Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum [France, Paris, 3rd quarter 13th century]
A vast and extremely rare illuminated compendium of biblical scholarship, perhaps copied within the lifetime of the author, Hugh of St-Cher.
c.375 x 240mm. ii + 440 + ii leaves, the parchment very thin and glossy, foliated in modern pencil (used here), superseding an old foliation that was written before the loss of leaves and is often cropped, bound too tightly to collate with confidence, but collated in 1999 as follows: lacking single leaves after ff.3, 39 and 118, 2 leaves after ff.137, a single leaf after ff.161, 21 leaves after ff.260, a single leaf after f.268, 2 leaves after f.283, and single leaves after ff.299, 304, 386 and 434, else complete, collation: i23 (of 24, lacking iv), ii23 (of 24, lacking xvii), iii–v24, vi21 (of 24, lacking i and xxi–xxii), vii23 (of 24, lacking xxiii), viii–xi24, xii3 (doubtless of 24, lacking iii–xxiii), xiii22 (of 24, lacking viii and xxiv), xiv21 (of 24, lacking i, xviii and xxiv), xv–xvii24, xviii23 (of 24, lacking xi), xix24, xx17 (of 18, lacking xii), the bifolium ff.56 and 61 bound back-to-front, the main biblical text written in gothic script in a central column of varying width and up to 72 lines, with rubrics, flanked on both sides by up to 91 lines of gloss in similar but smaller script, the lemmata underlined in red, all within a ruled space c.275–80 × 165mm., chapter numbers and running titles in characters alternately blue or red, chapters with three-line initials and penwork extending the height of the page, prologues etc. with sixty-one large illuminated foliate initials, often including animals, grotesques, hybrids, etc., blank spaces for initials on f.87v, biblical books with twenty-six large historiated initials, the clean wide margins with a few annotations (the very smooth surface of the vellum has caused the ink to flake in many places, especially towards the gutter margin where leaves flex more, some pleats also in or near the gutter margin). Bound in a late 19th-century German binding: sewn on five bands, the boards covered with brown leather densely blind-tooled with Romanesque-style tools and the front cover lettered ‘Vetus Testamentum’ in Lombardic capitals; two clasps at the fore-edge; the edges of the leaves red (rebacked sympathetically, the clasp straps renewed, somewhat scuffed, but sound).
Provenance:
(1) Spanish(?) late 17th- or 18th-century ownership inscription, apparently ‘Ex libris bibliotecæ a Con(ven)tu Iesu Civitatis’ (f.1, lower margin); the same inscription appears in several manuscripts and printed books now in Spain and on the island of Mallorca.
(2) ‘Roder’, unidentified 19th-century bibliophile: his armorial bookplate with name and motto ‘Justus et æquitus’ (back pastedown); probably bound for him.
(3) Karl W. Hiersemann, Leipzig bookseller, by 1908 when published in ‘Ein Bibelmanuskript des XIII. Jahrhunderts’, Zeitschrift für Bücherfreunde, 11, part II (1907–08), pp.468–70 (ills.), reporting that the volume had recently passed into the possession of a well-known collector on the continent (‘in den Besitz eines bekannten Sammlers auf den Kontinent übergegangen’), perhaps referring to:
(4) William Davignon (1867–1924), Leipzig-based Belgian bibliophile: with his bookplate; sale at Parke Bernet, New York, 17 May 1968, lot 18; perhaps bought by:
(5) Mrs Douglas C. Ewing, New York; sale at Christie's, 1 October 1980, lot 150 (ill.); sold for $16,000 hammer.
(6) Sotheby’s, 7 December 1999, lot 31, bought for £75,000.
Contents:
The text is essentially that of the 13th-century Paris edition of the Bible, from Genesis to Baruch, with the usual prologues, and with Hugh of St-Cher’s commentary on the books and their prologues (we cite the prologues and Hugh’s commentaries according to the numbers in F. Stegmüller, Repertorium biblicum medii aevi, vols. I and III, Madrid, 1950, 1951): ‘Principium verborum tuorum veritas […]’ (Hugh’s preface, nos 3631, 3632), ‘Incipit prefatio Iheronimi presbiteri ad Paulinum super bibliothecam de omnibus divine hystorie libris. Frater Ambrosius […]’ (General prologue, no. 284), ‘Frater ambrosius &c., Fidem id est certitudinem […]’ (Hugh’s commentary on the prologue, no. 3631) f.1; ‘Desiderii mei […]’ (prologue to the Pentateuch, no. 285), ‘Desiderii. Post primum prohemum […]’ (Hugh’s commentary on the Pentateuch prologue, no. 3631) f.3; Hugh’s commentary on Genesis (no. 3631) f.3v; Exodus and commentary (nos 3633, 3634) f.27; Leviticus and commentary (no. 3636) f.48; Numbers and commentary (no. 3638) f.67; Deuteronomy and commentary (nos 3639, 3640) f.87v; prologue (no. 311) and commentary (nos 3641, 3642) f.107v; Joshua and commentary (nos 3641, 3642); Judges f.118, and commentary (no. 3644) identifiable by its explicit on f.129; Ruth and commentary (nos 3645, 3646) f.129; prologue and commentary (nos 323, 3648) f.131; I Kings and commentary (no. 3648) f.132; II Kings and commentary (no. 3650) f.140v; III Kings and commentary (no. 3652) f.150v; IV Kings f.162, and commentary (no. 3655) identifiable by its explicit on f.171v; prologue and commentary (nos 328, 3656) f.171v; I Chronicles and commentary (nos 3656, 3657) f.172; prologue (no. 327) and commentary f.181v; II Chronicles and commentary (no. 3659) f.182; prologue (no. 330) f.192v; I Ezra and commentary (no. 3662) f.193; Nehemiah, with commentary (no. 3664) f.197v; II Ezra without commentary f.203; prologue (no. 332) and commentary, f.206; Tobit and commentary (no. 3668) f.206v; prologue (no. 335) and commentary, Judith and commentary (no. 3670) f.210; prologue (no. 341) and commentary (no. 3672) f.214v, Esther and commentary (no. 3672) f.215; commentary (no. 3674), prologue (no 344), and commentary (no. 3674) f.219; commentary (no. 3674), prologue (no. 357), and Job f.219v; commentary (no. 3676), Psalms, and commentary (no. 3676) f.346v; blank f. 283v; Proverbs f.284, and commentary (no. 3678), identifiable by its explicit on f.296; prologue (no. 462) and commentary (no. 3680), Ecclesiastes and commentary (no. 3680) f.296; Song of Songs and commentary (no. 3683?) f.300; Wisdom f.305, and commentary (no. 3685) identifiable by its explicit on f.313v; commentary (no. 3687), ‘Multorum nobis […]’ treated as a prologue, Ecclesiasticus, and commentary (no. 3687) f.313v; prologue (no. 482), commentary (no. 3689) f.340v, commentary (no. 3689), Isaiah f.341; Jeremiah f.387, and commentary (no. 3691), identifiable by its explicit on f.421; commentary (no. 3693), Lamentations f.421v; prologue (no. 491), Baruch and commentary (no. 3695) f.435v, ending ‘[…] que presciti sustinebunt. Explicit’ f.440v.
Hugh was born at St-Cher, near Vienne, south of Lyon, France, at the end of the 12th century. He lectured at the University of Paris and became a Dominican in 1226, only a decade after the foundation of the order. He became Master of Theology and Prior of the Dominican monastery, St-Jacques, Paris; in 1230, provincial (1227–30 and 1236–44) of his order in France, then vicar-general (1240–41); in 1244 he was made a cardinal. In later life he directed the ongoing revision of the text of the Bible by the Dominicans, and started the first biblical concordance, known as the Concordantiae Sancti Jacobi, named after his monastery. He is credited with writing his Postilla – the title is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase ‘post illa verba’ (after these words) – on most biblical books, a vast undertaking, so it would probably be more accurate to say that he edited the work done by a team under his supervision. Postills were a new form of commentary, in that the glosses on individual words and phrases were composed to be read as continuous prose. The text has been printed several times (such is its importance), but there is no modern edition.
It seems that the pecia system of book production (which originated in Bologna, but was apparently first used in France at St-Jacques, Paris, for the copying texts by Dominican authors) became popular under Hugh of St-Cher, and was demonstrably used to make copies of his Postilla (R.H. Rouse & M.A Rouse, Manuscripts and the Makers, 2000, I, p.86).
It cannot be overstated that the present volume, huge in size, is extremely rare in having more than half of the entire Bible (it was doubtless originally intended to be the first volume of two): just like manuscripts of glossed books of the Bible in the 12th century, copies of Hugh’s Postilla usually circulated as volumes of perhaps 200 or 300 leaves containing single biblical books, such as Ecclesiasticus, or as fairly modest groups of books, such as the Pentateuch. Following the example set by the ‘Paris’ edition, the Bible was now being conceived of as a single book, rather than a collection of shorter scriptures. Branner knew of only two other copies like the present one: Paris, Bibliothèque Mazarine, MS 145 (also vol. 1 of two; and extremely similar in appearance to the present volume), and Nantes, Musée Dobrée, MS 7 (the whole Bible in two volumes, the first of which ends with Baruch, as in the present manuscript).
Illumination:
The manuscript is reproduced and discussed by Robert Branner in the standard work on 13th-century Parisian illumination; he attributes the illumination to his so-called Johannes Grusch Atelier, named after the scribe of a Bible written in 1267. The artist seems to have been active from 1245 to 1270, and Branner dates the present volume c.1260, a few years before Hugh of St-Cher’s death. As with much Parisian illumination of the period, the palette is based on shades of blue and red (as with stained glass of the period), modelled with white, against diaper backgrounds, and with fairly restrained use of gold, especially for frames and for details like crown and haloes. The initials typically have angular projections terminating in leafy forms, and these are often the stage for drolleries such as men shooting arrows at birds and dogs chasing rabbits.
The subjects of the historiated initials are as follows: St Jerome writing his preface to St Ambrose f.1; Moses leading two Israelites towards a city gate f.27; Moses and Aaron each offering a lamb on an altar, watched by God f.48; Moses and Aaron seated together, addressing God f.67; Joshua seated, addressing God f.108; in two tiers: Elimelech, above his wife Naomi with their two sons Mahlon and Chilion, travelling to Moab f.129; Elkanah and his wife Hannah worshipping at an altar f.132; the execution of the Amalekite f.140; Abishag brought to King David as he lies in bed f.150v; the descendants of Adam, seated together f.172; Solomon praying at an altar, God above f.182; the building of the Temple in Jerusalem, in three tiers: a mason positioning a stone and a workman carrying buckets up a ramp, directed by King Cyrus f.193; Nehemiah presenting the gold cup to King Artaxerxes f.197v; a priest asperging an altar f.203; Tobit lying in bed, blinded by the swallow as it flies to its nest f.206v; Judith beheading Holofernes as he lies in bed f.210; in three tiers: King Ahasuerus extending his rod down to Queen Esther, above Haman hanged on the gallows f.215; Job on the dung heap, in dialogue with his wife and a friend f.225v; in two tiers: David cutting off the head of Goliath, and King David playing the harp f.246v; the anointing of David, who holds his shepherds’ crook f.256v; three priests singing at a lectern f.263v; King Solomon addressing a personification of vanity (holding a mirror) with a dead man in the foreground f.296r; Ecclesia enthroned, holding a cross and a chalice, with crown and halo f.313v; Isaiah sawn in half by two men f.341; Jeremiah lamenting the Fall of Jerusalem f.421v; and Baruch seated at a desk writing, with pen and penknife f.535v.
Postilla in Vetus Testamentum (Commentary on the Old Testament books of Genesis–Baruch), in Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum [France, Paris, 3rd quarter 13th century]
A vast and extremely rare illuminated compendium of biblical scholarship, perhaps copied within the lifetime of the author, Hugh of St-Cher.
c.375 x 240mm. ii + 440 + ii leaves, the parchment very thin and glossy, foliated in modern pencil (used here), superseding an old foliation that was written before the loss of leaves and is often cropped, bound too tightly to collate with confidence, but collated in 1999 as follows: lacking single leaves after ff.3, 39 and 118, 2 leaves after ff.137, a single leaf after ff.161, 21 leaves after ff.260, a single leaf after f.268, 2 leaves after f.283, and single leaves after ff.299, 304, 386 and 434, else complete, collation: i23 (of 24, lacking iv), ii23 (of 24, lacking xvii), iii–v24, vi21 (of 24, lacking i and xxi–xxii), vii23 (of 24, lacking xxiii), viii–xi24, xii3 (doubtless of 24, lacking iii–xxiii), xiii22 (of 24, lacking viii and xxiv), xiv21 (of 24, lacking i, xviii and xxiv), xv–xvii24, xviii23 (of 24, lacking xi), xix24, xx17 (of 18, lacking xii), the bifolium ff.56 and 61 bound back-to-front, the main biblical text written in gothic script in a central column of varying width and up to 72 lines, with rubrics, flanked on both sides by up to 91 lines of gloss in similar but smaller script, the lemmata underlined in red, all within a ruled space c.275–80 × 165mm., chapter numbers and running titles in characters alternately blue or red, chapters with three-line initials and penwork extending the height of the page, prologues etc. with sixty-one large illuminated foliate initials, often including animals, grotesques, hybrids, etc., blank spaces for initials on f.87v, biblical books with twenty-six large historiated initials, the clean wide margins with a few annotations (the very smooth surface of the vellum has caused the ink to flake in many places, especially towards the gutter margin where leaves flex more, some pleats also in or near the gutter margin). Bound in a late 19th-century German binding: sewn on five bands, the boards covered with brown leather densely blind-tooled with Romanesque-style tools and the front cover lettered ‘Vetus Testamentum’ in Lombardic capitals; two clasps at the fore-edge; the edges of the leaves red (rebacked sympathetically, the clasp straps renewed, somewhat scuffed, but sound).
Provenance:
(1) Spanish(?) late 17th- or 18th-century ownership inscription, apparently ‘Ex libris bibliotecæ a Con(ven)tu Iesu Civitatis’ (f.1, lower margin); the same inscription appears in several manuscripts and printed books now in Spain and on the island of Mallorca.
(2) ‘Roder’, unidentified 19th-century bibliophile: his armorial bookplate with name and motto ‘Justus et æquitus’ (back pastedown); probably bound for him.
(3) Karl W. Hiersemann, Leipzig bookseller, by 1908 when published in ‘Ein Bibelmanuskript des XIII. Jahrhunderts’, Zeitschrift für Bücherfreunde, 11, part II (1907–08), pp.468–70 (ills.), reporting that the volume had recently passed into the possession of a well-known collector on the continent (‘in den Besitz eines bekannten Sammlers auf den Kontinent übergegangen’), perhaps referring to:
(4) William Davignon (1867–1924), Leipzig-based Belgian bibliophile: with his bookplate; sale at Parke Bernet, New York, 17 May 1968, lot 18; perhaps bought by:
(5) Mrs Douglas C. Ewing, New York; sale at Christie's, 1 October 1980, lot 150 (ill.); sold for $16,000 hammer.
(6) Sotheby’s, 7 December 1999, lot 31, bought for £75,000.
Contents:
The text is essentially that of the 13th-century Paris edition of the Bible, from Genesis to Baruch, with the usual prologues, and with Hugh of St-Cher’s commentary on the books and their prologues (we cite the prologues and Hugh’s commentaries according to the numbers in F. Stegmüller, Repertorium biblicum medii aevi, vols. I and III, Madrid, 1950, 1951): ‘Principium verborum tuorum veritas […]’ (Hugh’s preface, nos 3631, 3632), ‘Incipit prefatio Iheronimi presbiteri ad Paulinum super bibliothecam de omnibus divine hystorie libris. Frater Ambrosius […]’ (General prologue, no. 284), ‘Frater ambrosius &c., Fidem id est certitudinem […]’ (Hugh’s commentary on the prologue, no. 3631) f.1; ‘Desiderii mei […]’ (prologue to the Pentateuch, no. 285), ‘Desiderii. Post primum prohemum […]’ (Hugh’s commentary on the Pentateuch prologue, no. 3631) f.3; Hugh’s commentary on Genesis (no. 3631) f.3v; Exodus and commentary (nos 3633, 3634) f.27; Leviticus and commentary (no. 3636) f.48; Numbers and commentary (no. 3638) f.67; Deuteronomy and commentary (nos 3639, 3640) f.87v; prologue (no. 311) and commentary (nos 3641, 3642) f.107v; Joshua and commentary (nos 3641, 3642); Judges f.118, and commentary (no. 3644) identifiable by its explicit on f.129; Ruth and commentary (nos 3645, 3646) f.129; prologue and commentary (nos 323, 3648) f.131; I Kings and commentary (no. 3648) f.132; II Kings and commentary (no. 3650) f.140v; III Kings and commentary (no. 3652) f.150v; IV Kings f.162, and commentary (no. 3655) identifiable by its explicit on f.171v; prologue and commentary (nos 328, 3656) f.171v; I Chronicles and commentary (nos 3656, 3657) f.172; prologue (no. 327) and commentary f.181v; II Chronicles and commentary (no. 3659) f.182; prologue (no. 330) f.192v; I Ezra and commentary (no. 3662) f.193; Nehemiah, with commentary (no. 3664) f.197v; II Ezra without commentary f.203; prologue (no. 332) and commentary, f.206; Tobit and commentary (no. 3668) f.206v; prologue (no. 335) and commentary, Judith and commentary (no. 3670) f.210; prologue (no. 341) and commentary (no. 3672) f.214v, Esther and commentary (no. 3672) f.215; commentary (no. 3674), prologue (no 344), and commentary (no. 3674) f.219; commentary (no. 3674), prologue (no. 357), and Job f.219v; commentary (no. 3676), Psalms, and commentary (no. 3676) f.346v; blank f. 283v; Proverbs f.284, and commentary (no. 3678), identifiable by its explicit on f.296; prologue (no. 462) and commentary (no. 3680), Ecclesiastes and commentary (no. 3680) f.296; Song of Songs and commentary (no. 3683?) f.300; Wisdom f.305, and commentary (no. 3685) identifiable by its explicit on f.313v; commentary (no. 3687), ‘Multorum nobis […]’ treated as a prologue, Ecclesiasticus, and commentary (no. 3687) f.313v; prologue (no. 482), commentary (no. 3689) f.340v, commentary (no. 3689), Isaiah f.341; Jeremiah f.387, and commentary (no. 3691), identifiable by its explicit on f.421; commentary (no. 3693), Lamentations f.421v; prologue (no. 491), Baruch and commentary (no. 3695) f.435v, ending ‘[…] que presciti sustinebunt. Explicit’ f.440v.
Hugh was born at St-Cher, near Vienne, south of Lyon, France, at the end of the 12th century. He lectured at the University of Paris and became a Dominican in 1226, only a decade after the foundation of the order. He became Master of Theology and Prior of the Dominican monastery, St-Jacques, Paris; in 1230, provincial (1227–30 and 1236–44) of his order in France, then vicar-general (1240–41); in 1244 he was made a cardinal. In later life he directed the ongoing revision of the text of the Bible by the Dominicans, and started the first biblical concordance, known as the Concordantiae Sancti Jacobi, named after his monastery. He is credited with writing his Postilla – the title is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase ‘post illa verba’ (after these words) – on most biblical books, a vast undertaking, so it would probably be more accurate to say that he edited the work done by a team under his supervision. Postills were a new form of commentary, in that the glosses on individual words and phrases were composed to be read as continuous prose. The text has been printed several times (such is its importance), but there is no modern edition.
It seems that the pecia system of book production (which originated in Bologna, but was apparently first used in France at St-Jacques, Paris, for the copying texts by Dominican authors) became popular under Hugh of St-Cher, and was demonstrably used to make copies of his Postilla (R.H. Rouse & M.A Rouse, Manuscripts and the Makers, 2000, I, p.86).
It cannot be overstated that the present volume, huge in size, is extremely rare in having more than half of the entire Bible (it was doubtless originally intended to be the first volume of two): just like manuscripts of glossed books of the Bible in the 12th century, copies of Hugh’s Postilla usually circulated as volumes of perhaps 200 or 300 leaves containing single biblical books, such as Ecclesiasticus, or as fairly modest groups of books, such as the Pentateuch. Following the example set by the ‘Paris’ edition, the Bible was now being conceived of as a single book, rather than a collection of shorter scriptures. Branner knew of only two other copies like the present one: Paris, Bibliothèque Mazarine, MS 145 (also vol. 1 of two; and extremely similar in appearance to the present volume), and Nantes, Musée Dobrée, MS 7 (the whole Bible in two volumes, the first of which ends with Baruch, as in the present manuscript).
Illumination:
The manuscript is reproduced and discussed by Robert Branner in the standard work on 13th-century Parisian illumination; he attributes the illumination to his so-called Johannes Grusch Atelier, named after the scribe of a Bible written in 1267. The artist seems to have been active from 1245 to 1270, and Branner dates the present volume c.1260, a few years before Hugh of St-Cher’s death. As with much Parisian illumination of the period, the palette is based on shades of blue and red (as with stained glass of the period), modelled with white, against diaper backgrounds, and with fairly restrained use of gold, especially for frames and for details like crown and haloes. The initials typically have angular projections terminating in leafy forms, and these are often the stage for drolleries such as men shooting arrows at birds and dogs chasing rabbits.
The subjects of the historiated initials are as follows: St Jerome writing his preface to St Ambrose f.1; Moses leading two Israelites towards a city gate f.27; Moses and Aaron each offering a lamb on an altar, watched by God f.48; Moses and Aaron seated together, addressing God f.67; Joshua seated, addressing God f.108; in two tiers: Elimelech, above his wife Naomi with their two sons Mahlon and Chilion, travelling to Moab f.129; Elkanah and his wife Hannah worshipping at an altar f.132; the execution of the Amalekite f.140; Abishag brought to King David as he lies in bed f.150v; the descendants of Adam, seated together f.172; Solomon praying at an altar, God above f.182; the building of the Temple in Jerusalem, in three tiers: a mason positioning a stone and a workman carrying buckets up a ramp, directed by King Cyrus f.193; Nehemiah presenting the gold cup to King Artaxerxes f.197v; a priest asperging an altar f.203; Tobit lying in bed, blinded by the swallow as it flies to its nest f.206v; Judith beheading Holofernes as he lies in bed f.210; in three tiers: King Ahasuerus extending his rod down to Queen Esther, above Haman hanged on the gallows f.215; Job on the dung heap, in dialogue with his wife and a friend f.225v; in two tiers: David cutting off the head of Goliath, and King David playing the harp f.246v; the anointing of David, who holds his shepherds’ crook f.256v; three priests singing at a lectern f.263v; King Solomon addressing a personification of vanity (holding a mirror) with a dead man in the foreground f.296r; Ecclesia enthroned, holding a cross and a chalice, with crown and halo f.313v; Isaiah sawn in half by two men f.341; Jeremiah lamenting the Fall of Jerusalem f.421v; and Baruch seated at a desk writing, with pen and penknife f.535v.
Literature
Robert Branner, Manuscript Painting in Paris during the Reign of Saint Louis: A Study of Styles (University of California Press, 1977), p. 16 n. 58, pp. 85–86, p. 114 n. 18, p. 222; fig. 236.
Brought to you by
Eugenio Donadoni
Senior Specialist, Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts