IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0103 MS LAT 7
Held at: University College London
Title: Rabanus Maurus Commentaries
Date(s): 13th century
Level of description: Collection (fonds)
Extent: 1 volume containing 182 leaves
Name of creator(s): Unknown
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Rabanus Maurus: born at Mainz, Franconia, in 776 or 784; also called Hrabanus Magnentius; sent to Tours, France, to study under the noted scholar-monk Alcuin, 802; Abbot of the Benedictine abbey of Fulda, 803; developed it into a leading European centre of learning, its manuscripts and works of art making it among the richest literary conservatories in western Europe; Archbishop of Mainz; theologian, scholar and poet, whose work so contributed to the development of German language and literature that he received the title Praeceptor Germaniae ('Teacher of Germany'); died at Winkel, 856.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Manuscript volume, 13th century: In Mattheum (commentaries on the Gospel of St Matthew by Rabanus Maurus).
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: Latin. 13th century Gothic minuscule hand.
System of arrangement:
Conditions governing access:
Open.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Normal copyright restrictions apply.
Physical characteristics:
Parchment manuscript bound in half calf and black cloth, bearing on the back the inscription: 'Rabanus Maurus in Matthaeum'. Written in France. From the Cistercian Abbey at Pontigny. One hand throughout, corrected in places by another hand. The text is written continuously in two columns. The chapters are grouped in eight books, each book beginning with a blue initial flourished with red. Some of the initial lettering is coloured red, green and blue. 41cm.
Finding aids:
Dorothy K Coveney, A Descriptive Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Library of University College London (London, 1935); N R Ker, Medieval Manuscripts in British Libraries, i (London and Oxford, 1969); handlist at University College London Special Collections.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
The manuscript belonged to Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872), baronet, an antiquary and bibliophile whose collection included c60,000 manuscripts of various kinds, some relating to the administration of Swiss towns. He acquired this manuscript, with other manuscripts mainly from Pontigny, from the Abbé Allard in the late 1820s. Formerly Phillipps MS 3727. Various manuscripts were sold after Sir Thomas's death, some to the German government, and were dispersed to several libraries. This manuscript was sold in 1913 at the George Dunn sale at Sotheby's.
Immediate source of acquisition:
Bought by University College London in 1919 from Davis and Orioli.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
Publication note:
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Archivist's note: Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica online. Revised by Rachel Kemsley as part of the RSLP AIM25 project.
Date(s) of descriptions: 1999, revised Jul 2001