Stony Brook University Libraries Digital Projects and Exhibits

Items

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  Psalter: Psalterium

  Leaf 25. "In the earlier periods there was generally a harmonious unity between the spirit of the ornament and the character of the writing. This unity is exemplified in this leaf. The three-lobed, gracefully drawn symmetrical fronds of leaves in the ornament are usually accepted without question as representing the ivy plant. In the Middle Ages many magical and medicinal qualities were attributed to this plant" (Ege). "Some pages of this manuscript book show the effect of having been exposed to dampness."
  Original medium: Manuscript
  Date: 14th c.
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  Book of Hours: Horæ Beatae Mariæ Virginis

  Leaf 24. "This particular Book of Hours, a devotional prayer book for the layman, was made for the use of Sarum, the early name of Salisbury, England. This text was accepted throughout the province of Canterbury. This manuscript was written about the time Chaucer completed his Canterbury Tales, but evidently by a French monk, who might have been attached as was often the case, to an English monastery. Again, the book could have been specially ordered and imported from abroad. The initial letter and the coloring and the treatment of the ivy are unmistakably French" (Ege).
  Original medium: Manuscript
  Date: 14th c.
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  Missal: Missale Herbipolense

  Leaf 22. "This particular manuscript was written by Benedictine monks for the Parochial School of St. John the Baptist in Wurzburg shortly after 1300 A.D. The musical notation is the rare type which is a transition between the early neumes and the later Gothic or horsehoe nail notation.The "C" line of the staff is indicated by that letter, and the "F" simply by a diamond, an unusual method. The bold initial letters in red and blue are "built up" letters
  Original medium: Manuscript
  Date: 14th c.
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  Hymnal: Hymnarium

  Leaf 21. "Much of the material incorporated in the hymnals was based on folk melodies. Hymns, like the other chants of the Church, varied according to their place in the liturgy" (Ege). "The initial letter design of this leaf persisted with little or no change for a long period, but the simple pendant spear was used as a distinctive motif for not more than twenty-five years."
  Original medium: Manuscript
  Date: 14th c.
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  Psalter: Psalterium

  Leaf 20. "Small Psalters of this period are comparatively rare, since Pslaters were used primarily in the church services and not by the layman. Here, the letters and ornament still retain all the rigidity of the previous century and give no indication of the rounder type of letter or any beginning of the interest in nature that characterized the work of the scribes in France. The filigree decoration, as well as the line-fishing elements, show, however, more creative freedom than either the initial or the text letters" (Ege).
  Original medium: Manuscript
  Date: 14th c.
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  Vulgate Bible: Biblia Sacra Latina, Versio Vulgata

  Leaf 19. "The rich black lettering of this manuscript is in the transitional rotunda script and is executed with skill and beauty. It is supplemented by initial letters of ultramarine blue and deep cinnabar (vermilion), which colors are reflected in the ornament of romanesque capitals. All of these factors combine seem to indicate that the manuscript was executed in central Italy, possibly at Florence" (Ege).
  Original medium: Manuscript
  Date: 14th c.