Otto F. Ege: Fifty Original Leaves From Medieval Manuscripts

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  Thomas Aquinas: Commentary on the Sentences: Super Primo Libro Sententiarum

  Leaf 40. "This text on the Sententiae of Peter Lombard by St. Thomas Aquinas, the "Angelic Doctor," was the forerunner of the latter's great work Summa Theologica. It is most unusual to find the writings of a Church Father presented in a humanistic book hand" (Ege). "In this humanistic script, fusion disappeared, letters became more simple, and shading decreased."
  Original medium: Manuscript
  Date: 15th c.
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  Livy's History of Rome (T. Livii ab Urbe Condita Libri)

  Leaf 39. "The known part of Livy's great work, the History of Rome, was completed about the year 9 A.D. The finished work consisted of one hundred and forty books, of which only thirty-five are extant" (Ege). "These earlier manuscripts had been written in a carolingian or pre-gothic script to which the XVth century humanistic calligraphers assigned the name antiqua littera."
  Original medium: Manuscript
  Date: 15th c.
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  Epistolary: Epistolarium

  Leaf 37. "Epistolaries are among the rarest of liturgical manuscripts. Their text consists of the Epistles and Gospels with lessons from the Old Testament for particular occasions. Sometimes, as in this leaf, they had interlinear neumes in red neumes in red to assist the deacon or sub-deacon in chanting parts of this section of the church service while he was standing on the second step in front of the altar. This text is written in well executed rotunda gothic script with cold Lombardic intitials. Some of the filigree decoration which surrounds the initial letters has faded because it was executed in some of the fugitive colors which were then prepared from the juices of such flowers and plants as tumeric, saffron, lilies, and prugnameroli (buckthorn berries)" (Ege).
  Original medium: Manuscript
  Date: 15th c.
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  Psalter: Psalterium

  Leaf 34. "This Psalter was written by Carthusian monks. Of all the orders the Carthusian was the smallest and most austere" (Ege). "The rotunda book hand used in this leaf is representative of the general excellence maintained by Italian scribes at the time when printing was being introduced into their country." "Close observation of the initial letters will frequently reveal a small black letter inserted as a guide for the monk who later added the colored initial. The use of two guide lines for the lettering is unusual. Ordinarily one line, below the writing, was deemed sufficient. The lines were drawn with a stylus composed of two parts lead and one part tin."
  Original medium: Manuscript
  Date: 15th c.
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  Antiphonal: Antiphonarium

  Leaf 27. "Antiphonal or responsive singing is said to have been introduced in the second century by St. Ignatius of Antioch" (Ege). "Many of the more than four hundred antiphons which have survived the centuries are elaborate in their musical structure. They were sung in the medieval church by the first cantor and his assistants. Candle grease stains reveal that his small sized antiphonal was doubtless carried in processions in dimly lighted cathedrals. In this example the notation is written on the four-line red staff which was in general use by the end of the XIIth century. The script is the usual form of Italian rotunda with bold Lombardic initial letters."
  Original medium: Manuscript
  Date: 15th 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.
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  Bible: Biblia Sacra Latina, Versio Vulgata

  Leaf 11. "In the XIIIth century Italy was distraught by the long struggle between the papal and anti-imperialistic Guelphs and the autocratic and imperialistic Ghibellines. Little encouragment was given to either party by the arts. This leaf reveals, however, the skill and keen eyesight which were necessary for the writing of ten of those lines to the inch" (Ege).
  Original medium: Manuscript
  Date: 13th c.
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  Lectionary: Lectionarium

  Leaf 3. "The fine large book hand shown here, suited to easier reading in a dark cathedral, is a revival of the script developed nearly four centuries earlier in scriptoria founded by Charlemagne" (Ege). "Ink of brown tone is generally found in early manuscripts, less frequently after 1200 A.D."
  Original medium: Manuscript
  Date: 12th c.