remember right, I sent them seven. To the monks of Hirschfeld, two books; and when I returned from those parts and came to Amarbach, I gave one to the abbot of that place. Afterwards, being under obligation to brother William, I gave him four books, among which there was a very valuable missal. To the abbot of Lorsch, one book; to certain friends dwelling in Bohemia, four books; to a friend at Passau, one book; to the monastery of Tegernsee, two books; to the monastery of Pryel, near us, one volume, in which were three books. And also I gave one book, and various epistles, to my sister's son, who was living there. To the monastery of Obermunster I gave three books; and to that of Nidermunster, one book. Moreover, to many others I gave or sent, at different times, sermons, proverbs, and edifying writings. 56. Work of a Nun in copying Books (An account by a monk of Wessobrunn, in Bavaria, written in 1513; trans. in Maitland, S. R., The Dark Ages, pp. 419-21. London, 1844) The following selection describes the rather extraordinary labors of a nun in copying books, and the type of books she copied. Diemudis was formerly a most devout nun of this our monastery of Wessobrunn. For our monastery was formerly double, or divided into two parts, that is to say, of monks and nuns. The place of the monks was where it now is; but that of the nuns where the parish church now stands. This virgin was most skilful in the art of writing. For though she is not known to have composed any work, yet she wrote with her own hand many volumes in a most beautiful and legible character, both for divine service and for the public library of the monastery, which are enumerated in a list written by herself in a certain plenarius (missal). For in that list the following books pertaining to divine service are enumerated: A Missal, with the Gradual and Sequences. Another Missal, with Gradual and Sequences, which was given to the Bishop of Treves. Another Missal, with the Epistles, Gospels, Gradual and Sequences. Another Missal, with the Epistles and Gospels for the whole year; and the Gradual and Sequences, and the entire service for Baptism. A Missal, with Epistles and Gospels. A Book of Offices. Another Book of Offices, with the Baptismal Service, which was given to the Bishop of Augsburgh. A Book with the Gospels and Lessons. A Book with the Gospels. A Book with the Epistles. These books she wrote, as I have said, for the use and ornament of divine service. With the following she adorned our library, of which only those which are marked thus § still remain there. For the others, either through the burning of the monastery, (which is said to have happened twice,) or by the negligence and sloth of subsequent monks, have perished and are lost; for the list already mentioned specifies the following books belonging to the library: A Bible, in two volumes, which was given for the estate in Pisinberch. A Bible, in three volumes. The Morals of Saint Gregory, (that is, his Commentary on Job,) in six volumes, the first and third of which are lost. Saint Gregory ad Regaredum. Saint Gregory on Ezechiel, and some other things, in one volume. Sermons and Homilies of Ancient Doctors, three volumes. Origen on the Old Testament. on the Canticles. Augustine on the Psalms, iii volumes. on the Gospel, and the First Epistle of Saint John, ii volumes; the first missing. Epistles, to the number of lxxv. Treatises, 'De verbis Domini,' 'De Sermone Domini in Monte,' 'De Opere Monachorum,' and 'De Agone Christiano,' 'De Adorando,' 'De Professione Viduitatis,' 'De Bono Conjugali,' 'De Virginitate.' Saint Jerome's Epistles, to the number of clxiv. The Tripartite History of Cassiodorus, (that is, the compendium of ecclesiastical history which he made, in the sixth century, from Epiphanius's Latin Version of Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret.) Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History. Saint Augustine, Fifty Sermons; The Life of Saint Sylvester; Jerome against Vigilantius, and 'De Consolatione Mortuorum'; The Life of Saint Blaise; The Life of Saint John the Almoner (Patriarch of Alexandria early in the seventh century. I presume, from the way in which they are put together, that these formed only one volume, as also the following:) Paschasius on the Body and Blood of Christ; The Conflict of Lanfranc with Berengarius; the Martyrdom of Saint Dionysius; The Life of Saint Adrian, pope, &c. Saint Jerome 'De Hebraicis Quæstionibus,' and many other works by him and other writers. Saint Augustine's Confessions. The Gloss, alphabetically arranged. (I suppose this is meant by 'Glossa per A.B.C. composita.') These are the volumes written with her own hand by the aforesaid 1 I translate as it stands; but I do not see that any books in the list are so marked, or in any way distinguished from the others. (Maitland.) handmaid of God, Diemudis, to the praise of God and of the holy apostles, Peter and Paul, the patrons of this monastery. But at what period she lived I could never discover, since, in all the books, (we charitably hope from humility,) she omitted to mention her name and the time when she finished. 57. Scarcity and Cost of Books (Symonds, J. A., The Renaissance in Italy, vol. II, pp. 127-29. London, 1888) The following short extract from Symonds gives the contents of two libraries in northern Italy, and the cost of books before the days of printing. Scarcity of books was at first a chief impediment to the study of antiquity. Popes and princes and even great religious institutions possessed far fewer books than many farmers of the present age. The library belonging to the Cathedral Church of S. Martino at Lucca in the ninth century contained only nineteen volumes of abridgments from FIG. 9. A MEDIEVAL WRITER (From a manuscript in the National Library, at Paris) The scribe is seated in a chair, with a writing desk attached. He holds a pen in one hand, and a knife for erasing in the other. The table before him is covered with bound books ecclesiastical commentaries. The Cathedral of Novara in 1212 could boast copies of Boethius, Priscian, the Code of Justinian, the Decretals, and the Etymology of Isidorus, besides a Bible and some devotional treatises. This slender stock passed for great riches. Each of the precious volumes in such a collection was an epitome of medieval art. Its pages were composed of fine vellum adorned with pictures. The initial letters displayed elaborate flourishes and exquisitely illuminated groups of figures. The scribe took pains to render his caligraphy perfect, and to ornament the margins with crimson, gold, and blue. Then he handed the parchment sheets to the binder, who encased them in rich settings of velvet or carved ivory and wood, embossed with gold and precious stones. The edges were gilt and stamped with patterns. The clasps were wrought silver, chased with niello. The price of such masterpieces was enormous. Borso d'Este, in 1464, gave eight gold ducats to Gherardo Ghislieri of Bologna for an illuminated Lancellotto, and in 1469 he bought a Josephus and Quintus Curtius for forty ducats. His great Bible in two volumes is said to have cost 1,375 sequins. Rinaldo degli Albizzi notes in his Memoirs that he paid eleven golden florins for a Bible at Arezzo in 1406. Of these MSS. the greater part were manufactured in the cloisters. 58. Anathemas to Protect Books from Theft (From Clark, J. W., The Care of Books, pp. 77–78. London, 1901) In addition to chaining books with heavy rod and chains to their case, it was customary to inscribe an anathema in the volume, further to protect them against removal. The following are examples of such inscriptions. (a) This book belongs to S. Maximin at his monastery of Micy, which abbat Peter caused to be written, and with his own labour corrected and punctuated, and on Holy Thursday dedicated to God and S. Maximin on the altar of S. Stephen, with this imprecation that he who should take it away from thence by what device soever, with the intention of not restoring it, should incur damnation with the traitor Judas, with Annas, Caiaphas, and Pilate. Amen. (b) Should any one by craft or any device whatever abstract this book from this place (Jumièges) may his soul suffer, in retribution for what he has done, and may his name be erased from the book of the living and not be recorded among the Blessed. (c) This book belongs to S. Alban. May whoever steals it from him or destroys its title be anathema. Amen. (d) May whoever steals or alienates this manuscript, or scratches out its title, be anathema. Amen. (e) May whoever destroys this title, or by gift or sale or loan or exchange or theft or by any other device knowingly alienates this book from the aforesaid Christ Church, incur in this life the malediction of Jesus Christ and of the most glorious Virgin His Mother, and of the Blessed Thomas, Martyr. Should however it please Christ, who is patron of Christ Church, may his soul be saved in the Day of Judgment. Wher so ever y be come over all I belonge to the Chapell of gunvylle hall; 59. The Venerable Bede on Education in Early England (Bede, Ecclesiastical History of England; edited by C. Plummer, book IV, 1, 2, 20) The Venerable Bede (673-735), a famous scholar and historian and the author of many books, was a lifelong student at the twin monasteries of Wearmouth and Yarrow, in North Britain. In his Ecclesiastical History of England he has left us our chief picture of education in England in his time. The following selections are illustrative. (a) The Learning of Theodore Now there was in the monastery of Niridanum, which is not far from Naples in Campania, abbot Hadrian, an African by birth, well learned in sacred literature, and versed in both monastic and ecclesiastical discipline, and highly skilled in the Greek equally with the Latin tongue. . . . There was at the same time (668 A.D.) in Rome a monk known to Hadrian, whose name was Theodore, born at Tarsus in Cilicia, a man instructed in secular and divine literature both Greek and Latin; of approved character and venerable age, that is, about 66 years old. Hadrian suggested him to the Pope to be ordained bishop, and the suggestion was adopted. (b) Theodore's Work for the English Churches Theodore then arrived at his church in the second year after his consecration, on Sunday, 27 May (670 A.D.), and lived in it 21 years, 3 months and 26 days. He soon travelled through the whole island, wherever it was inhabited by the English race. For he was willingly received and listened to by every one, and everywhere in the company and with the assistance of Hadrian he sowed the right rule of life, the canonical rite for the celebration of Easter. And he was the first of the archbishops to whom the whole English church consented to do fealty. And because, as we have said, both were abundantly learned both in sacred and profane literature, rivers of saving knowledge daily flowed. from them to irrigate the hearts of the band of pupils whom they brought together, insomuch that they passed on to their hearers the knowledge even of the art of metre, of astronomy and of ecclesiastical arithmetic, together with volumes of the sacred text. A proof of this is that even to-day (c. A.D. 731) some of their pupils are still living, who know the Latin and Greek languages as well as their native tongue. Never since the English came to Britain were there happier times than these, in which, under brave and Christian kings, they were a terror to all barbarian tribes, when the aspirations of all hung on the lately revealed joys of the kingdom of heaven, and every one who wished to become learned in holy Writ, had masters at hand to teach him. |