Franciscan miscellany including excerpts from De conformitate vitae beati Francisci ad vitam domini Ihesu and De imitatione Christi; De dignitate sacerdotum; De officio et tempore septuagesime; and Animadversiones circa sacrosanctum missae sacrificium [in Italian translation]; decorated medieval manuscript on parchment and paper

DECORATED MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPT IN LATIN AND ITALIAN ON PARCHMENT AND PAPER, Central or Southern Italy (Lanciano?), c. 1450-1475. 135 x 90 mm. 109 folios preceded and followed by single flyleaves, watermark in Piccard, complete (collation, i-vii10 viii5 [of 10; five leaves canceled with no loss of text] ix-x12 xi10), chiefly written in five semitextualis or hybrida hands on 26-31 lines, two hands on long lines and three in two columns (justification, 95 x 65-70 mm.), red rubrics and underlining, 2- to 4-line red initials, 4- to 5-line initials in blue and red, three 7-line initials in blue and red (ff. B 1, 1v, 5). BINDING: Late fifteenth-century Italian blind-stamped brown leather over wooden boards, sewn on three cords with remnants of blue endbands, clasps removed, remnant of upper clasp on front fore-edge visible, parchment pastedowns, originally blank. TEXT: This small-format Franciscan miscellany is an example of a mendicant pocket-book, designed for easy portability. This one is still preserved in a very early, possibly contemporary binding. Its contents include an excerpt from Bartolomeus de Rinonico's De conformitate vitae beati Francisci, an indispensable source on the first 150 years of the history of the Franciscan Order that draws heavily on Franciscan writings of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries to demonstrate the exact conformity of the life of Saint Francis (and, by implication, of the friars in the Order) to the life of Christ. The excerpt of Imitatio Christi found here is evidence of the dissemination of this important text into Italy and its readership by Franciscans. The Italian translation of a text on the Mass, known in only one other manuscript, and the text on the Divine Office at Septuagesima, perhaps unique to this manuscript, are of particular importance and the miscellany warrants further study for its unusual contents. PROVENANCE: Written in the third quarter of the fifteenth century in Central Italy, as suggested by the evidence of the script, watermarks, binding, and early provenance. Belonged to the Franciscan friary of Lanciano, in the province of Chieti in Southern Italy, the bequest of a brother Thomas of Lanciano, as indicated by a contemporary inscription on the rear flyleaf, verso. The presence of multiple hands in the manuscript suggests that it was the product of a scriptorium. Given this and the Italian aspect of all the hands, it is possible this book originated at the friary in Lanciano. CONDITION: Binding somewhat damaged by woodworm, text worn on ff. B 1v and 12, but otherwise in good condition. Full description and photographs available (TM 770).