Manuscript leaf from a Book of Hours, in Latin, produced in Northern Italy (probably...

Text: From a Book of Hours, in Latin

Script: Southern Textualis Formata (Rotunda)

The leaf shows, on the verso, the opening of None in the Hours of the Virgin. Line rulings are in black. The text is in a single column of fourteen lines in a fine black Italianate gothic book hand. Rubrics are in red. There is a six-line initial ‘D’ and two two-line initials ‘H’ all in a selection of colours from blue, red, orange, green and white on a raised gold ground. There is a floral border decoration in similar colours. There are three one-line initials in blue or gold with pen decoration in red or mauve.

Transcription

Recto side:

1 H Ora Sexta dominu(s)

2 iesus est cruci con-

3 clavatus . et est cum la-

4 tronib(us) pendens depu- [line filler]

5 tatus . pre tormentis [line filler]

6 siciens felle saturatus .

7 agnus crimen diluit [line filler]

8 sit deificatus . an(tiphona) . H as

9 horas canonicas cum . V(ersus) .

10 Adoramus te (christ)e . R(esponsorum) . O(r)a [not ‘Ola’

11 per s(an)c(t)am crucem (et) passio-

12 nem tuam . or(ati)o . D (omi)ne [line filler]

13 iesu (christ)e filii dei vivi .

14 Ad Nonam V(er)sus .

Verso side:

1 D Eus in ad- [line filler] [Start of None

2 iutoriu(m) m(eu)m

3 intende . R(esponsorum) .

4 D omine [line filler]

5 ad adiuvan-

6 dum me fe-

7 stina . G loria p(at)ri et filio .

8 S icut erat in princi(pio) . R(e)s(ponsorum) .

9 H Ora nona dominu(s)

10 iesus expiravit he-

11 li clamans anima(m) pat(ri)

12 co(m)mendavit . latus ei(us)

13 lancea miles perforav(it)

14 t(er)ra tunc tremuit et sol

Notes:

A Letters: a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i,l,m,n,o,p,r,s,t,u/v,x,A,D,E,G,H,N,R,S.

Versals: D,H.

B Alternative forms of the letters ‘i’(2), ‘m’(2), ‘r’(2), ‘s’(2) and ‘u’(2).

The third ‘i’ in ‘filii’ has a descender (recto, line 13).

The two form of ‘m’ occur in ‘meam’ (verso, line 2).

In ‘dominus’ (recto, line 1) the ‘u’ is atypically written as a ‘v’.

C Ligature of ‘st’, as in ‘est’ (recto, line 2).

D Fusions between letters ‘de’, ‘do’, ‘he’, ‘ho’ and ‘pe’.

E Elision between letters ‘fi’, ‘tu’, and possibly others.

F A very short line filler is used at the end of many lines, e.g. recto, line 7.

G Use of the Tironian ‘et’ as in recto, line 11.

H Use of ‘xp’ to refer to Christ as in ‘xpe’ (recto, line 13).