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Medieval and early modern manuscript collection
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English book of hours leaf

Item is a leaf from an English book of hours containing verses 22:5-23:4 of the Book of Psalms. The leaf may have been produced at Syon Abbey (a wealthy monastery of the Bridgettine Order that was located east of London on the north bank of the River Thames in the parish of Isleworth), but this claim (from the seller's description) remains unsubstantiated. The leaf features illuminated initials of burnished gold and a floral border on the recto. Surviving English books of hours are rare, as many were destroyed during the English Reformation.

A partial transcription of the leaf reads: Beginning with "In conspectus meo..." : "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."
Beginning with the illuminated letter D of "Domini est terra..." : "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof: the world, and all they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas; and hath prepared it upon the rivers. Who shall ascend into the mountains of the Lord: or who shall stand in his holy place? The innocent in hands, and the clean of heart, who hath not taken his soul in vain, nor sworn deceitfully to his neighbour..."

French psalter-hours leaf

Item is an illuminated leaf from a miniature psalter-hour from France. A psalter-hours is a personal prayer book that was the precursor to Books of Hours. The leaf features initials and line fillers in red, blue, and burnished gold.

English psalter leaves

File contains two leaves from an illuminated psalter that feature illuminated initials and line fillers in red, blue, and burnished gold. The leaves also feature three-quarter borders on both sides depicting long tendrils terminating in trefoils and containing marginal illustrations of humans/hybrid creatures and a bird. A psalter is a book containing the Book of Psalms and often other devotional texts such as a liturgical calendar, Litany of Saints, and Office of the Dead.

Egyptian Coptic Euchologion leaf

Item is a leaf from a Euchologion, one of the principal liturgical texts of the Coptic churches (as well as the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches). The text is written in Bohairic (an Egyptian dialect of the Coptic language, and the official liturgical language), with an Arabic translation. The leaf features some rubrication and a marginal illustration of a cross on the verso.

Russian Old Believer hymnal leaf

Item is a leaf from a hymnal created and used by the Old Believers, a religious sect that split off from the Russian Orthodox Church in the 1660s after rejecting liturgical reforms. It features text in Church Slavonic (the liturgical language of the Eastern Orthodox Church), an illuminated initial, and znamenny notation, an archaic form of musical notation used by the Old Believers long after it was abandoned by the official Church in the 18th century.

Liber Sextus Decretalium leaf

Item is a large leaf from an Italian copy of Liber Sextus Decretalium (the Sixth Book of Decretals), a collection of papal decrees concerning canon law (decretals) that was compiled by Pope Boniface VIII as a supplement to the Decretals of Pope Gregory IX. The leaf features glossing, manicules, and paraphs and headings in red and blue.

English pocket Bible leaf

Item is a leaf from an English pocket bible, possibly from East Anglia, containing verses 10:30-12:41 of the Book of Mark. Leaf features illuminated initials and marginalia.

A partial transcription of the leaf reads: "Et sorores, et matres, et agros..." : "and sisters , and mothers, and children... the Son of man also is not come to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a redemption for many... Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord... My house shall be called the house of prayer to all nations. But you have made it a den of thieves... Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's... And thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength. This is the first commandment. And the second is like to it; thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself..."

Bible leaf from William de Brailes' workshop

Item is a leaf from an English pocket bible containing verses 22:12-24:39 of the Book of Ecclesiastes. Leaf features illuminated initials and marginalia including a partial English translation of verse 24:1 ("Wisedome shall prayse herselfe and be honored in god and rejoyse in the middes of his people :". The leaf was produced in Oxford in the workshop of the prominent manuscript illuminator William de Brailes.

A partial transcription of the leaf reads: Beginning nequissimi enim...: "For the wicked life of a wicked fool is worse than death... keep fidelity with a friend in his poverty, that in his prosperity also thou mayst rejoice... wisdom shall praise her own self, and shall be honored in God, and shall glory in the midst of her people and shall open her mouth in the churches of the most high, and shall glorify herself in the sight of his power... he said to me: let thy dwelling be in Jacob, and thy inheritance in Israel, and take root in my elect. From the beginning and before the world, was I created, and unto the world to come I shall not cease to be, and in the holy dwelling place I have ministered before him..."

Ethiopian Coptic Bible

Item is an Ethiopian Coptic manuscript Bible with an accompanying leather carrying case. The codex consists of 140 goatskin parchment leaves, with text in Ge'ez (the liturgical language of the Ethiopian church) written in red and black ink, with occasional annotations throughout. The codex is illustrated with 9 full-page illuminations in colour, and 5 decorative headpieces in black, red, and blue. The binding is in traditional Ethiopian Coptic style and features wooden boards (the back board has been crudely repaired) and a leather spine.

Flemish book of hours bifolium

Item is a continuous bifolium from a book of hours produced in Flanders. The text follows the Use of Sarum (Salisbury), an English variant of the Roman rite for public worship, indicating that it was produced for the English market. The two leaves constituting the bifolium contain the latter part of a Litany of Saints, and feature illuminated initials and burnished gold lettering. A partial transcription of the leaves reads:
Beginning with the illuminated letter "U" ut oculos...: "That it may please thee to look upon us with eyes of mercy... Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world, spare us O Lord... Lord have mercy upon us. Christ have mercy upon us..."
Beginning with the illuminated letter "D" deus...: "O God, Whose property is always to have mercy and to spare, receive our petition; that we and all thy servants who are bound by the chain of sin may, by the compassion of thy goodness mercifully be absolved..."
Beginning with the illuminated letter "I" in...: "Show with clemency O Lord they unspeakable mercy unto us: that thou both acquit us of our sins and deliver us from the pains, which for them we deserve..."

English psalter leaf

Item is a leaf from an illuminated psalter featuring initials, line fillers, and leafy borders in red, blue, and burnished gold. The borders are inhabited by a pointing figure (recto), and a downward facing human-animal hybrid with a tall hat (verso).

German noted breviary fragment

Item is a fragment of a leaf from a German noted (containing music) breviary, likely recovered from a binding. The recto features musical notation in Hufnagelschrift ("horseshoe nail script") neumes on 4-line staves, with lyrics relating to Easter. A breviary is a liturgical book used by the clergy to celebrate the Divine Office (also known as the Liturgy of the Hours), and contains readings, hymns, psalms, and prayers.

[Breviary?] calendar leaf

Item is a leaf, likely from a breviary, featuring a calendar of church feasts from July to December. A breviary is a liturgical book used by the clergy to celebrate the Divine Office (also known as the Liturgy of the Hours), and contains readings, hymns, psalms, and prayers.

Spanish antiphonal leaf

Item is a large illuminated leaf from a Spanish antiphonal/antiphonary featuring Gregorian chant in square notation to be sung during the celebration of the Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours). The leaf features several illuminated initials including two knot-work (cadel) initials and a very large puzzle initial 'R' in red and violet in mudejar style, which was directly influenced by the geometric decorative art of Islamic Spain.

The knot-work initial 'M' on the recto begins: “Magnus sanctus…” (the great Saint Paul, the vessel of election, is indeed worthy to be glorified), and the puzzle initial 'R' begins the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary “Recordare mei…” (Remember me and visit me…), and

French psalter leaf

Item is an illuminated leaf from a psalter from Paris, featuring a number of inhabited initials and marginal illustrations depicting human-animal hybrids, a bird, and a crowned and bearded king.

Tefillin scroll

Item is a tefillin scroll containing an excerpt from the Torah. Tefillin (or phylacteries) are sets of two small black leather boxes, each containing a set of four scrolls of verses from the Torah, which are worn by observant adult Jews during weekday morning prayers as a remembrance of God's delivery of the Israelites out of Egypt.

Shahnameh leaf

Item is a leaf from the Shahnameh (The Book of Kings), the national epic of Greater Iran which was written by the Persian poet Hakīm Abul-Qāsim Firdawsī Tūsī (Ferdowsi) in the early 11th century.

Illuminated Quran

Item is an illuminated Ottoman Qur'an signed by the scribe, Muhammad al-Fardi, otherwise known as Hafiz al-Qur'an. Item is the 183rd Qur'an copied by al-Fardi. Item contains gold roundel verse markers, gold and polychrome marginal decorations, and flower designs marking each Surah.

French processional choirbook leaf fragment

Item is the upper portion of a processional choirbook leaf that had been reused as a binding cover. Fragment includes seven lines of text and music in square notation capturing verses 1-3 (recto) and 6-11 (verso) of Psalm 94. As indicated by the heading on the recto which reads 'In honore beatissime', this leaf would have been used for the feast of a female saint.

French pocket Bible leaf

Item is an illuminated leaf from a French pocket Bible, likely from Paris. The leaf features text from the Book of Obadiah in minute Gothic miniscule script in two columns. The recto features an elongated whimsical creature (possibly a griffon?) between the two columns of text, and the verso contains a 6-line historiated initial depicting the prophet Obadiah seated and holding a scroll.

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