Werner von Schussenried, De modo legendi abbreviaturas in utroque iure, in Latin [Germany (Saxony?), c.1450-75]

285×195, paper (watermark close to Briquet nos. 14548–52), i+44+i leaves, COMPLETE, collation: i-iii12, iv8, frame ruled, typically written either in a single column of 40 lines, or 2 columns of 42 lines, 245x140mm or 240x145mm, large initials ornamented with red, margins with faint water stains, lots 43-49 bound uniformly, probably in 1870

PROVENANCE

(1) The last page with a copy of the beginning of a letter in German from Ernst II (d. 1513), duke of Saxony and archbishop of Magdeburg, to Albrecht of Brandenburg. (2) Ampleforth, with their purple ink stamp, and shelfmark label ‘M/16/S.S.’ on pastedown and spine; described by Ker, Medieval Manuscripts in British Libraries, II , 1977, p.26.

TEXT

‘Incipit liber dans modum legendi abbreviaturas in utroque iure. Quia preposterus ordo et prius … Explicit libellus dans modum studendi et legendi contenta ac abbreviatura utriusque iuris …’ (ff.1r-43v).

Anonymous for centuries, the author of this often-printed treatise on how to read abbreviations in civil and canon law texts was identified in 1911, when it was observed that the section ‘De decreto versificato’ (beginning on f.18r of the present manuscript) contains an acrostic that spells out his name, birthplace, and profession: ‘UUernherus …’.