Fragment d'un manuscrit contenant des lettres de saint Augustin (vallée de la Loire, début XIe siècle)

Notice créée le 2024-11-13 à 10:02 par Nicolas Ruffini-Ronzani (nruffini).

Fragment d'un manuscrit contenant des lettres de saint Augustin (vallée de la Loire, début XIe siècle)

0166

Fragment

Début XIe siècle

Vallée de la Loire (France)

D'après la description codicologique disponible ici : https://butlerrarebooks.co.uk/product/complete-gathering-of-augustines-letters-france-early-c11th/

The letters here are: (i) letter to Valerius, bishop of Hippo, probably written soon after Augustine was ordained to become Valerius’ assistant (and eventual successor as bishop), in this letter Augustine confesses to his unworthiness for this course, and how his pride further hampered him (fol. 1r; J.P. Migne, Patrologia Latina 33, no. 21); (ii) letter to Aurelius, Deacon and later bishop of Carthage, Augustine’s closest friend, written c. 392 and on the subject of Aurelius’ attacking of sin in the north African Church, including drunkenness during the veneration of saints’ tombs (fol. 2v; no. 22); (iii) letter to the same Aurelius, written in 401, discussing the heresy of the Donatists (fol. 4v; Migne, no. 60); (iv) letter to Alypsius, bishop of Tagaste, an old friend, written in 428-429, and relating the miracle of Dioscurus’ conversion and his twice reneging of that religious oath (fol. 5r; Migne, no. 227); (v) letter to Eudoxius, abbot of a monastery on an island between Corsica and Tuscany, written in 398 (fol. 5r; Migne, no. 48); (vi) letter to Celestine, bishop of Rome, written c. 418 when Celestine was still a deacon (fol. 6r; Migne, no. 192); (vii) letter to the inhabitants of Augustinus’ see of Hippo, wants ending (fol. 6v; Migne, no. 78). The angularity of the script and its continued use of numerous Carolingian letterforms is characteristic of French hands in the eleventh century, and perhaps even those of more provincial centres, such as the Loire valley (cf. Tours, Bibliothèque municipale, ms. 924, a copy of Terence produced in the Loire Valley in the first quarter of the twelfth century: W. Cahn, Romanesque Manuscripts in the Twelfth Century, 1996, no. 11). Similarly, the use of rich colours to infill initials, such as the teal green here, probably points to Carolingian models (cf. the Histories of Pompey Trogue, made in Corbie c. 800, for this common style: reproduced in Trésor carolingiens, 2007, no. 25), and the scribe and decorator of the present leaves probably followed a now lost Carolingian exemplar carrying over parts of the script and decoration.

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250 x 160 mm

8 fol.

Parchemin

Stephen Butler. Rare books and manuscripts

2024-11-13

Manuscrit en vente au 13 novembre 2024.

Nicolas Ruffini-Ronzani, « Fragment d'un manuscrit contenant des lettres de saint Augustin (vallée de la Loire, début XIe siècle) », in GUARD : Guarantee Unpreserved Archives Remain Documented, Nicolas Ruffini-Ronzani et Sébastien de Valeriola (éds.), n° 0166, 2024, URL : https://guard.ulb.be/doku.php?id=notice:manuscrit:0166.