Bede (673-735)
A large bifolium from his Commentary on Luke, in Latin, manuscript on vellum [France, first(?) quarter 12th century]
An imposingly large bifolium elegantly written in a pure ‘Romanesque’ bookhand

Each leaf c.425 × 260mm. 2 columns of 40 lines, in a late version of Caroline minuscule without Gothic features (‘ę’ is used for ‘æ’, ‘pp’ is not fused, tironian ‘et’ does not appear, ‘d’ is always upright, round ‘s’ only appears as a majuscule at the beginning of a sentence, ligatures such as ‘ct’ and ‘st’ are common, with the ‘s’ descending below the line), the text comprising Bede’s In Evangelium S. Lucae, the last line of Chapter 22 and Chapter 23.1–14, 65–79, (‘irriso. ipsi qui crucifixerant [sic] erant intellexere carnifices. […] quasi agnus toto pro grege’, and ‘conspescuit [sic] eum & in deum credidit […] Spiritum vero commendando’) (recovered from use as a book cover with consequent creases, dirt to outer faces, small losses to margins folded inside out).

Provenance:
Colker MS 443; acquired in 1992 from Bruce Ferrini.

The text here starts with Jesus brought before Pilate, and ends when he is on the Cross.

This lot is offered without reserve.
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