Speculum mensae.

Accession number:

MS M.1187

Title:

Speculum mensae.

Created:

Germany, probably Bavaria, 1475-1500.

Credit:

Purchased on the Carl L. Selden Fund, 2013.

Description:

1 leaf : paper (probably recovered from a binding) ; 290 x 201 mm

Provenance:

Possibly once part of a group of fragments formerly in the inventory of Ludwig Rosenthal, Munich; bought by Bernard M. Rosenthal in or before 1987 (his MS 237); bought from him in 2013.

Notes:

The single leaf, written in Germany in the late 15th century, consists of 46 rhyming lines (for ease of memorization) of instructions to children for proper table manners.
The verses belong to a very small group of manuscripts and printed versions loosely classified as Doctrina mensae. The Morgan has the earliest known French edition, Les contenances de la table (PML 63681) as well as facsimiles of two later French editions.
Decoration: none.
Verso is blank.
The item relates to PML 87304, a broadside printed by Rosenthal and Ben Kinmont around 2006 of the verses translated into English. Also, the item, containing the line "Don't make a Bartholomew out of bread," relates to MSS M.917/945, the Hours of Catherine of Cleves, in that the admonition might explain the mysterious inclusion of pretzels surrounding the miniature of St. Bartholomew (fol. 228).

Variant Title:

Doctrina mensae
Doctrina mense
Instructions for good table manners

Script:

Gothic cursive

Language:

Latin

Resources:

Description/Bibliography

Century:

15th century

Genres:

Manuscripts