Medieval Manuscripts from the Collection of Richard and Mary Rouse
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MS 50 BIBLE. ENGLAND, S. XIII 2/4 |
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A small portable Bible written in England
in the second quarter of the thirteenth century. A striking witness
to the transformation of the manuscript book, particularly the Bible,
in the early years of the thirteenth century, a subject investigated
in detail in studies by former UCLA doctoral student Laura Light whose
early interest in this subject was developed at least in part through
her contact with medieval manuscripts in History 119A-B, Latin Paleography.
A twelfth-century Bible frequently consisted of multiple volumes that
respectively contained the Pentateuch, the major and minor Prophets,
the Psalms, the Gospels, and the Pauline epistles. To fit all this
into one small volume it was necessary not only to reduce the size
of the script, compress the text with abbreviations, and increase
the number of lines from ca. 30 to 50 per column, but also to employ
a thinner parchment. These books show the ingenuity of medieval manuscript
producers in adapting the codex, even the Bible, to the ever-changing
needs of its users.
R.H. & M.A. Rouse MS 50 |
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