British Library, Add MS 43460 is a

theological Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

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, whose aim ...

and was produced in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in the late 8th century. It contains works by St. Augustine,

St. Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is comm ...

, and

Commodianus Commodianus (Commodianus) was a Christian Latin poet, who flourished about AD 250. The only ancient writers who mention him are Gennadius, presbyter of Massilia (end of 5th century), in his ''De scriptoribus ecclesiasticis'', and Pope Gelasius in ...

. Its title in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

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 ( la, Bonifatius; 675 – 5 June 754) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of ...

and attributed to Augustine; ''Domino sublimi semperque magnifico'' (folio 95r), ''Domino merito honorabili'' (folio 95v) and ''Ego quos diligo'' (folio 95v).

Migne Jacques Paul Migne (; 25 October 1800 – 24 October 1875) was a French priest who published inexpensive and widely distributed editions of theological works, encyclopedias, and the texts of the Church Fathers, with the goal of providing a u ...

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 between ...

. 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, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...

are a portion of ''Liber contra Joannem Hierosolymitanum'' (folios 147v - 170r) and ''Epistle ad Evangelum Presbyterum de

Melchisedech In the Bible, Melchizedek (, hbo, , malkī-ṣeḏeq, "king of righteousness" or "my king is righteousness"), also transliterated Melchisedech or Malki Tzedek, was the king of Salem and priest of (often translated as "most high God"). He is f ...

'' (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. Parchment is another term for this material, from which vellum is sometimes distinguished, when it is made from calfskin, as opposed to that made from other anima ...

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 sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for a book ma ...

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 reg ...

from Northern

. There are a few decorated

initials In a written or published work, an initial capital, also referred to as a drop capital or simply an initial cap, initial, initcapital, initcap or init or a drop cap or drop, is a letter at the beginning of a word, a chapter, or a paragraph that ...

. 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 or a book, from which the text has been scraped or washed off so that the page can be reused for another document. Parchment was made of lamb, calf, or kid skin an ...

and originally contained the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

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 ex ...

on the

Epistle to the Hebrews The Epistle to the Hebrews ( grc, Πρὸς Ἑβραίους, Pros Hebraious, 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. Mos ...

written in a late 7th century

uncial Uncial is a majuscule Glaister, Geoffrey Ashall. (1996) ''Encyclopedia of the Book''. 2nd edn. New Castle, DE, and London: Oak Knoll Press & The British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one ...

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 The Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem or Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, ( la, Basilica Sanctae Crucis in Hierusalem) is a Catholic Minor basilica and titular church in rione Esquilino, Rome, Italy. It is one of the Seven Pilgrim ...

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 Sir Thomas Phillipps, 1st Baronet (2 July 1792 – 6 February 1872), was an English antiquary and book collector who amassed the largest collection of manuscript material in the 19th century. He was an illegitimate son of a textile manufacture ...

in 1848 from a London bookseller. It was bought from the Phillipps library by

Alfred Chester Beatty Sir Alfred Chester Beatty (7 February 1875 – 19 January 1968)Seanad 1985: "Chester Beatty died at the Princess Grace Clinic, Monte Carlo, on 19 January 1968, .. (some sources give this as 20 January). was an American-British mining magnate, p ...

in 1924. It was sold to Wilfred Merton in 1933, from whom it was acquired by the

References

British Library catalogue entry
Christian manuscripts {{christian-book-stub

Contents

Codicology

Provenance

References