British Library, Add MS 43460 is a

theological Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of an ...

miscellany A miscellany (, ) is a collection of various pieces of writing by different authors. Meaning a mixture, medley, or assortment, a miscellany can include pieces on many subjects and in a variety of different forms. In contrast to anthologies, w ...

and was produced in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in the late 8th century. It contains works by St. Augustine, St. Jerome, and Commodianus. Its title in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

catalogue is: ''Theological Works of St Augustine and St Jerome, with Commodianus, 'Carmen Apologeticum', in Latin''.

The works by Augustine included in this manuscript are ''De vera religione'' (folios 1r - 63r), ''De utilitate credendi'' (folios 63v - 95r), ''Soliloquia'' (folios 96r - 135v), ''De divinatione demonum'' (folios 135v - 147v) and ''Epistle ad Alypium episcopum Tagastensium'' (folios 175v -182r). The first three of these have sections of Augustine's ''Retractationes'' as prologues. Also included in the manuscript are three letters addressed to

St Boniface Boniface, OSB (born Wynfreth; 675 –5 June 754) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of Francia during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of the church i ...

and attributed to Augustine; ''Domino sublimi semperque magnifico'' (folio 95r), ''Domino merito honorabili'' (folio 95v) and ''Ego quos diligo'' (folio 95v). Migne labeled these letters spurious in the

Patrologia Latina The ''Patrologia Latina'' (Latin for ''The Latin Patrology'') is an enormous collection of the writings of the Church Fathers and other ecclesiastical writers published by Jacques Paul Migne between 1841 and 1855, with indices published betwe ...

. The works by Jerome included in this

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

are a portion of ''Liber contra Joannem Hierosolymitanum'' (folios 147v - 170r) and ''Epistle ad Evangelum Presbyterum de Melchisedech'' (folios 170v - 175v). The manuscript also includes the ''Carmen Apologeticum'' of Commodianus (182r- 197r). This is the only surviving manuscript to contain this work.

Codicology

The manuscript has 202

vellum Vellum is prepared animal skin or membrane, typically used as writing material. It is often distinguished from parchment, either by being made from calfskin (rather than the skin of other animals), or simply by being of a higher quality. Vellu ...

folio The term "folio" () has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging Paper size, sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for ...

s (numbered I-V and 1-197) that measure 275 mm. by 180 mm. The folios generally are in gatherings of 8 leaves each. The binding is a modern binding of white pigskin. The script is a pre-

Carolingian minuscule Carolingian minuscule or Caroline minuscule is a script which developed as a calligraphic standard in the medieval European period so that the Latin alphabet of Jerome's Vulgate Bible could be easily recognized by the literate class from one ...

from Northern

. There are a few decorated

initials In a written or published work, an initial is a letter at the beginning of a word, a chapter, or a paragraph that is larger than the rest of the text. The word is ultimately derived from the Latin ''initiālis'', which means ''of the beginning ...

. Titles were added in the 9th century in a hand from the Abbey of St Silvester at

Nonantola Nonantola ( Modenese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is in the Po Valley about from Modena on the road to Ferrara. History In ancient times the territory of Nonantola was in ...

. Folios I-III are

palimpsests In textual studies, a palimpsest () is a manuscript page, either from a scroll (parchment), scroll or a book, from which the text has been scraped or washed off in preparation for reuse in the form of another document. Parchment was made of lamb ...

and originally contained the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

translation made by Mutianus Scholasticus of John Chrysostom's

homilies A homily (from Greek ὁμιλία, ''homilía'') is a commentary that follows a reading of scripture, giving the "public explanation of a sacred doctrine" or text. The works of Origen and John Chrysostom (known as Paschal Homily) are considered e ...

on the

Epistle to the Hebrews The Epistle to the Hebrews () is one of the books of the New Testament. The text does not mention the name of its author, but was traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle; most of the Ancient Greek manuscripts, the Old Syriac Peshitto and ...

written in a late 7th century

uncial Uncial is a majuscule script (written entirely in capital letters) commonly used from the 4th to 8th centuries AD by Latin and Greek scribes. Uncial letters were used to write Greek and Latin, as well as Gothic, and are the current style for ...

script.

Provenance

By the 9th century, this manuscript was at Nonantola. It is also possible that it was produced there. It was included in inventories of the manuscripts at Nonantola made in 1331, 1464 and 1490. It was taken from Nonantola, along with 53 other manuscripts, to the Church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme in Rome by Abbot Hilarion Rancati. Sometime between 1798 and 1818 it, along with 34 other manuscripts, disappeared from Santa Croce. It was bought by Sir Thomas Phillipps in 1848 from a London bookseller. It was bought from the Phillipps library by Alfred Chester Beatty in 1924. It was sold to Wilfred Merton in 1933, from whom it was acquired by the

References

British Library catalogue entry
8th-century manuscripts Christian manuscripts Miscellanies {{christian-book-stub

Contents

Codicology

Provenance

References