St. Albans Miscellany

Accession number:

MS M.926

Title:

Created:

England, from the 11th to the early 14th centuries.

Binding:

Brown buckram (the name Zucker and the date 2/30/32 are recorded inside the front cover and possibly refer to the binder).

Credit:

Purchase; Library Company of Philadelphia, on the Belle da Costa Greene Fund; April, 1966.

Description:

78 leaves (1 column, varying lines), bound : vellum ; 210 x 130 mm

Provenance:

St. Alban Abbey (at least from the early 14th century-16th century); Swithin Adee of Oxford and Guldford (d.1786); George Harris (1722-1796); Reverend Samuel Preston, rector of Chevening in Kent, England (rector from 1774-1803); bequeathed by Preston in 1803 to the Library Company of Philadelphia (MS Yi 2.3206.0) see bookplate on flyleaf; purchased on the Belle da Costa Greene Fund in April, 1966.

Notes:

Ms. liturgical and hagiographical compendium; written and illuminated in England, perhaps St. Albans Abbey, from the 11th to the early 14th centuries.
Texts: 1) fols. 1-41: Life of St. John the Almoner (in the translation by Anastasius of the Greek life of Leontius); 2) fol. 42v: Hymn to St. Alban; 3) fols. 43, 43v: 2 hymns to St. Alban; 4) fols. 44-51v: Office of St. Alban with musical parts furnished with neumes; 5) fols 52, 52v: Mass of St. Alban; 6) fols. 53-68: Ethelhard, Material relating to St. Dunstan: on fol. 53, Hymn of St. Dunstan; fols. 53v-68 - Life of St. Dunstan; 7) fol. 69: St. Anselm, part of a letter from St. Anselm to Lanfranc, dedicating a work to him; 8) fols 70-73: Life of the hermit St. Alexis (St. Alexius); 9) fols. 74-76: a series of versicles, antiphons and responds for the feast of St. Birinus; 10) fols. 76v-77v: Odo of Cluny, sermon for the feast of St. Benedict.
Decoration: 1 zoomorphic initial (fol. 42v) of 2 biting dragons.
Musical notation: Anglo-Saxon neumes with some diastemy.

Script:

minuscule

Language:

Latin

Resources:

Description/Bibliography

Century:

Genres: