University of Chicago Library, Goodspeed Manuscript Collection Ms. 19, New Testament. Gospels. Harmonies (Evangeliorum Quattuor Harmonia). Germany? 15th century.

Contents

Gospel Harmony in Latin. Initials of gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (M, m, L, J), and chapter numbers noted in red above the first word of each recorded passage. Titles of gospel sections in adjacent margins, and in the table of contents. Formerly Goodspeed Ms. Lat. 1.

  1. fols. 1r-111v Gospel Harmony. Fuit in diebus Herodis regis Iudaeae sacerdos quidam nomine Zaccharias de vice Abia (Luke 1:5) ...praedicaverunt ubique Domino cooperante et sermonem confirmante sequentibus signis (Mark 16:20).
    Rubric: Ihesus dulcis memoria da nobis te in tua gloria amen.
  2. fols. 112r-116r Table of contents (lacking). Reliquit ihesus Iudaeam terram et abiit in Galilaeam ...eicere vendentes et ementes in templo cum introisset in coepit.
    Rubric: Explicit tabula super evvangelium domini nostri et salvatoris ihesu christi filii dei et virginis marie domini nostre.
  3. fol. 116r Description of table of contents (rubricated). Sequitur rubricha ad intelligendum ipsam tabulam....
  4. fols. 116r-116v Prologue. Cum evvangelistarum legissem volumina reperissemque in eis signa multa ac verba domini ihesu ...qui non studiosse sed ignoranter composui credems ac firmiter tenens que mater ecclesia per omnia tenet.

Decoration

Initials

Major initials (10-15 mm) in blue ink with penwork flourishes in red. Minor initials in red or blue. The first letter of the opening word of most verses is highlighted in yellow.

Physical Description

Support

Paper. 134 x 101 mm.

Watermarks

Watermark for quires 2 through 7 similar to Briquet, Balance dans un cercle 2447 (Gurck 1448, Munich 1450-1459, Hungary 1453-1470, Vienne 1454-1459). For quires 8, 9, and fol. 116, the watermark is similar to Briquet, Tour 15872 (Wied, 1477, Halberstadt, 1446, Gnessen, 1448).

Number of Leaves

120 leaves, of which 3 are flyleaves. Flyleaves conjoint with pastedowns.

Foliation

2 (unfoliated flyleaves) + 117 + 1 (unfoliated flyleaf). Modern foliation in Arabic numerals in pencil 1-117. Earlier foliation of leaf openings in red.

Collation

Quires 1 through 9 of 12 leaves, the 10th quire is of 9 leaves. It is presumed the prologue, table of contents, and table description were bound initially in front of the Harmony's main text.

At the beginning and end of the table of contents, the titles of gospel sections on lost leaves range from the conception of John the Baptist to his imprisonment by Herod Antipas, and from Jesus's cleansing of the temple to his ascension.

Catchwords

Catchwords at the end of quires 1 through 9.

Dimensions

Written space 95 x 70 mm (fol. 10r).

Layout

1 column, 24 to 26 lines (variants of 22 to 27 lines). Frame ruling with lead point.

Writing

Written in cursive script mainly in dark brown ink (moderate fading).

Condition

Some marginal titles and ink foliation marred owing to trimming. Several leaves detached at the end of the manuscript. Random water, dirt, and grease stains.

Binding Description

Bound with parchment pieces of 2 missals upon which square musical notation (no staff lines), text, and penwork flourishes are visible. Phrase on back inside cover [s]eruorum tuorum..., possibly Psalm 73:22.

Secundo Folio

Et ecce helisabeth

History

Origin

The manuscript is dated to the 15th century, and may have been written in Germany.

Provenance

Provenance unknown from the 15th to the mid-19th century. Belonged to German Lutheran theologian Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg (1802-1869), his surname inscribed in pencil (front flyleaf). Belonged also to the Baptist Union Theological Seminary of Chicago, Illinois which purchased Hengstenberg's Library from his heirs, December 1869.

University of Chicago Libraries bookplate and stamp (front pastedown, flyleaf). Inscriptions and notation: adi 17 marzo 1550 io do zuav..., maria di nargarado, ego johanes + Caminus[?] (front flyleaf); Carissimo amant[issim]o m[esser] barba Sariti contento di mandarmi (fol. 111v); este liber est mei (back flyleaf, recto); adi 17 marzo 1550 io do.... (back flyleaf, verso); hec sine numine domini[?] eveniunt, este liber est mei domini....(back pastedown).

Acquisition

Acquired by the University of Chicago when the Baptist Union Theological Seminary became the university's Divinity School, ca. 1892.

Bibliography

  1. Edgar J. Goodspeed and Martin Sprengling, A descriptive catalogue of manuscripts in the libraries of the University of Chicago (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1912), pp. 18-19.
  2. Merrill Mead Parvis, The Story of the Goodspeed Collection ([Chicago:] s.n., 1952), pp. 1-2.
  3. New Testament manuscript traditions. An exhibition based on the Edgar J. Goodspeed Collection of the University of Chicago Library, the Joseph Regenstein Library, January-March, 1973. University of Chicago. Library. Dept. of Special Collections. Exhibition catalogs ([Chicago: s.n., 1973]), 36, no. 9.