Shelfmark
MS 124
Author
John, approximately 824 - approximately 882 the Deacon of Rome
Title
Life of St Gregory [manuscript]
Varying form of title
Title in M. R. James catalogue: Johannes Diaconi Vita S. Gregorii libri IV
Varying form of title
Title in Ker, MMBL II: Johannes Diaconus, Vita S. Gregorii
Publication, distribution, etc.
Italy, 1000-1100.
Physical description
1 v. : ill. ; 316 x 198-205 mm.
Language
Written in Latin.
Note
Secundo folio: te[m]por[um] dispensatione.
Note
Material: membrane; Gregory's rule (HFFH). Animal follicles often visible; some fat deposits; leaves sometimes have uneven margins and holes due to stretching of the membrane at production stage.
Note
Format: codex.
Note
Written space: 223 x 137 mm.
Note
Number of leaves: iv + 137 + iii.
Note
Collation: 1-6⁸ 7⁶ 8-17⁸ + 3 leaves (ff. 135-137).
Note
Quire and leaf signatures and catchwords: no signatures. Catchwords mostly cropped out, but still visible at f.102v.
Note
Page preparation: ruled in dry point; pricking visible on both margins.
Note
Mise-en-page: single columns (30 lines) written in a set script above the top line. In-text chapter numbers. Rubrics. Pre-modern running headers and foliation in Arabic numerals on top right corner of each leaf.
Note
Decoration: nearly full-page miniature drawn in ink at f. 122r. The drawing portrays the funeral of Gregory the Great, and occupies most space of the folio, following 4 lines of text at the top. It shows the funeral taking place in front of Old St Peter's Basilica in Rome, whose facade (no longer in existence) presents Christ as a lamb above the symbols of the four evangelists. The crowd at the feet of the Basilica is made of ecclesiastics (with tonsure) and laymen, some of whom are depicted wearing headscarves. In the bottom left corner, the corpse of Gregory is being blessed whilst two monks hold hanging incense burners. On the bottom right corner, some men are depicted burning books; their faces have been erased. Decorated initials (5-10 lines) formed by white interlaced stems on green and purple background, sometimes revealing zoomorphic figures (ff.1r, 3r, 20v, 49v, 83v). Minor initials (1-2 lines) executed in red with green, yellow, or purple infills.
Note
Handwriting: littera praegothica or minuscula farfense; capitalised text in capitalis. The script seems to be typical of the Abbey of Farfa according to Giorgi. Some sections, such as the table of chapters preceding each book, are written in a smaller size, but the hand seems to be the same throughout.
Note
Abbreviation and punctuation: main text uses & ligature; some near contemporary marginalia and the texts on the flyleaves show the Tironian nota. Diphthong æ indicated with e with a cedilla. Puncti, puncti elevati and versi.
Note
Correction: missing text added in the margin; some erasures.
Note
Marginalia, later additions: the main text presents infrequent, brief explanations or signposts by the main scribe and one near contemporary annotator. Nota ligatures and paragraph signs. Doodles appear at ff. 1v, 20r, 44v, 99v, 103v, 135v. The upper flyleaves show letters of Popes Anastasius IV, Eugenius III, and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa relating to the monastery of Farfa. Text on f.iii recto, which was pasted down, are almost completely illegible. A letter regarding a monastery, partly damaged by smudged ink, has been copied by a 13th-century scribe at ff.3v-4r, suggested by M.R. James to be authored by Hugh, Bishop of Ostia and Velletri to the Abbot of Farfa. At f.137v, directly following from Gregory's letter to Theudolinda, a 12th-century scribe has copied a letter by Bernard of Clairvaux addressed to Adenulf, abbot of Farfa (n.522 in S. Bernardi Opera vol. 7); the date of the letter is unknown, but it must have been written between 1125-1145. There are two notes on f.138r by a 15th-century secretary annotator and a humanistic hand which Ker suggests to be Bernardo Bembo's, which also adds a cross reference in the margin of f.33r. The running headers and pre-modern foliation may also be in this latter hand. Giannetto suggests this is plausible, but not definitive.
Formatted contents note
Contents: ff.iii-iv: 13 documents relating to the Abbey of Farfa ff.1r-137v: John the Deacon, Life of St Gregory, with a table of chapters preceding each book; f.137v: one of Gregory's letters to Queen Theodelinda of the Lombards (dated November-December, 598) where a few lines have been erased (according to a modern edition of the letter, there is one sentence missing: "Salutantes praeterea paterna dilectione hortamur, ut apud excellentissimum coniugem vestrum illa agatis, quatenus christianae reipublicae societatem non rennuat" meaning "Greeting you, furthermore, with paternal love, we urge that you act towards your most excellent spouse so that he does not deny the association/alliance with the Christian republic" i.e. that Papal States); f.138r: marginalia; f.138v: bull of Pope Eugenius IV dated Florence, 1440.
Citation/references note
N.R. Ker, Medieval manuscripts in British libraries, v. 2 (1977), pp. 741-742
Citation/references note
M.R. James, A descriptive catalogue of the manuscripts in the library of Eton College (1895), p. 56
Citation/references note
Bernard, Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliae et Hiberniae, 1697, 70
Citation/references note
N. Giannetto, Bernardo Bembo: umanista e politico veneziano (Florence, 1985), pp. 319-20
Citation/references note
I. Giorgi, "Appunti intorno ad alcuni manoscritti del Liber Pontificalis", Archivio della Societa romana di storia patria 20 (1897), p. 271
Citation/references note
MGH Greg I Reg., 9.67, 2.87-88
Citation/references note
Epistolae, compiled by J. Leclerq and H. Rochais. S. Bernardi Opera vol. VIII (Rome, 1977), vol. II, no. 522
Citation/references note
Patrologia latina, LXXV, cols. 59-242
Cite as
Eton College Library, MS 124
Additional physical form available
Reproduction available; Bodleian Library; Eton College Library should be contacted for permission to reproduce; SFW 2112
Provenance
Origin: the handwriting and notes on the flyleaves and f.137v suggest the volume was copied and housed at the Benedictine monastery of Farfa, in Italy's Lazio region.
Provenance
Provenance: on f. iv verso, a medieval note (Ker suggests 15th century) reads: "Explicit liber Mey Iohannie de pl .... ". The signature of Cardinal Giovanni Dolfin (1545-1622) at f.iii recto ("Jo: Delphini") demonstrates that the book had been moved to Venice. It was very likely brought to Eton by Sir Henry Wotton (Provost, 1624-1639), who also acquired other books from his library during one of his stays in Venice. Former ECL shelfmark: Bl.3.10.
Binding
18th-century calfskin over pasteboards by John Slatter, c.1715. Covers decorated with blind double fillets to form a border; blind roll to form a panel in the centre of the board with blind tools at its outer corners; gilt roll on board edges. Spine with five raised bands, decorated with gilt fillets and titling ("Io: levitae vita S. Gregorii.") over red label. Endleaves of modern paper and pre-modern parchment; ff. i and 138 once were the book's pastedowns. 20th-century repairs done by R. L. Day (spine, including buckram at the inner joints).
Subject
Gregory, approximately 540 - 604 I, Pope,
Subject
Theodelinda Queen of the Lombards
Subject
Subject
Subject
Popes Biography Manuscripts.
Added entry--name
Eugene, 1383 - 1447 IV, Pope,
Added entry--name
Delfino, Giovanni, 1545 - 1622 former owner.
Added entry--name
Wotton, Henry (), 1568 - 1639 Sir former owner.
Added entry--place
Italy Farfa.
Language code
lat
Identifier
B50080