Lot 65

Hugh of St-Victor, In Salomonis Ecclesiasten, in Latin, decorated manuscript on vellum [probably Spain, c.1200]

Estimate

7,000 - 9,000 GBP

bidding is closed

Description

Vellum

86 leaves, 212mm. by 140mm., wanting 2 leaves from last gathering, else complete, collation: i-x^{8, xi^{6 (last 2 cut away), single column, 32 lines in black ink in a small and neat early gothic hand, rubrics in red, small initials (2- to 4-line in red, blue or green with angular ornamental penwork flourishes to contrast,}} five large initials in same, touched in two contrasting colours (fols.1r, 12r, 22v, 37r, 61v), eighteenth-century pentrials in Spanish upside-down on fol.17v-18r, areas of blank margins of fols.13 and 28 cut away, small stains, else in excellent condition, modern red leather over pasteboards

Provenance

provenance

1. Comte Paul Durrieu (1855-1925).

2. Paul Jammes (1890-1983) of Paris.

3. Bergendal MS.124; bought by Joseph Pope from Bruce Ferrini in May 1989: Bergendal catalogue no.92.

Catalogue Note

text

Hugh of St-Victor (c.1096-1141) has quite rightly been called "the most influential theologian of the twelfth century (Harnack, History of Dogma, 1899, VI:44), and his work paved the way for much of the biblical scholarship of the Middle Ages. He was educated in the monastery of St-Victor, Paris, and took over the monastic school there in 1133, raising it to new heights and inspiring a generation of followers including Herbert of Bosham and Richard of St-Victor. This manuscript contains his commentary on Ecclesiastes, and like his other commentaries on Old Testament books, was intended to give students a solid intellectual foundation to build upon; it was in the context of developing a deep understanding of scriptural history that he issued his famous quotation: "Learn everything, for you will see afterwards that nothing is superfluous".