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University College London

Confession Book

IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 0103 MS GERM 8

Held at: University College London

Title: Confession Book

Date(s): 15th century

Level of description: Collection (fonds)

Extent: 1 volume containing 132 leaves

Name of creator(s): Unknown

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

Unknown.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Fifteenth-century Beichtbüch (Liber Confessionis), a manual for the penitent about to attend confession, in the form of a treatise or essay (comprising 313 chapters) rather than a dialogue between master and pupil (the usual form of Beichtbücher).

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: German, Rhenish Franconian dialect. Late 15th-century Gothic cursive hand, with corrections in 17th-century Gothic cursive.

System of arrangement:

Conditions governing access:

Open.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Normal copyright restrictions apply.

Physical characteristics:

Paper manuscript bound in the original oak boards covered with stamped pigskin, fastened by two brass clasps. One hand throughout, except for a few corrections. Red headings, initials, and paragraph marks. 32cm.

Finding aids:

Dorothy K Coveney, A Descriptive Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Library of University College London (London, 1935), which summarises the contents and context of the manuscript; 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 Professor van Ess of Marburg and later 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. Various manuscripts were sold after Sir Thomas's death, some to the German government, and were dispersed to several libraries. Formerly Phillipps MS 570.

Immediate source of acquisition:

Presented to University College London by Mr Charles Hawkesley in 1911.

ALLIED MATERIALS

Existence and location of originals:

Existence and location of copies:

Related material:

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Note:

Archivist's note: Compiled by Rachel Kemsley as part of the RSLP AIM25 project.