Liber exercitionum de singulis festivitatibus

Date:

1589

Description:

Prayer book in Latin and German for the part of the liturgical year between Easter and the Feast of the Holy Cross (December 28), with feasts of the temporal cycle from the Easter Vigil through Trinity Sunday (f. 4v-155v) and selected feasts of the sanctoral cycle from the Visitation (2 July) through the Feast of the Holy Cross (f. 159v-282v). The feasts from the sanctoral cycle are almost exclusively commemorations of the Virgin Mary (Visitiation, Assumption, Nativity, Conception) or of female saints (Margaret, Anne, Mary Magdalene, Catherine of Alexandria, Cecilia). Many of the feasts have rosary texts in addition to other prayers. The text on the last leaf, with Latin passages written in a different script, seems to be a prayer based on a passage in the Liber specialis gratiae of the 13th-century German nun Mechthild of Hackeborn, part 1, chapter 23 (f. 283r-283v).

Language:

German

Provenance:

Formerly owned or used in the 16th century by Margreta von Reuschenberg (inscription in ink, inside front cover, and blind-stamped on cover) and Irmengarde von Palant (written de Paland in the manuscript, with the name de Paland later crossed out and replaced with Harff, inside front cover), the first two and possibly all three canonesses at the Prämonstratenserinnenkloster St. Marien (Premonstrantensian (also known as Norbertine) abbey) in Heinsberg, Germany, near the border with the Netherlands.; Sold by Venator & Hanstein (Cologne, Germany), Sale 169 (30 September 2022), lot 346.; Reuschenberg, Margreta von, former owner.; Paland, Irmengarde von, former owner.; Harff, Irmengarde von, former owner.

Relation:

The Constance L. Rosenthal Book Fund Home Page: http://hdl.library.upenn.edu/1017.12/366271

Subject:

Monastic and religious life of women -- Early works to 1800; Premonstratensians -- Prayers and devotions -- Early works to 1800; Abbeys -- Germany

Form/Genre:

codices (bound manuscripts); Prayers; Manuscripts, Latin; Manuscripts, German; Manuscripts, Renaissance; manuscripts (documents)

Physical Description:

283 leaves : paper; 152 x 110 (112 x 65) mm bound to mm.

Rights:

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/

Notes:

Ms. codex.; Latin and German.; Title from incipit (f. 1r).; Collation: Paper, 283; 1-34⁸ 35⁸⁻¹(-8) 36⁸⁻⁴ (-5, -6, -7, -8); [1-283], modern foliation in pencil, lower right recto; modern gatherings signed in pencil, (1)-(36), lower right recto.; Layout: Written in 18-20 long lines; octavo format.; Script: Written in Gothic hybrid script by a single hand, with the Latin text on the final leaf (f. 283r-283v) written in humanistic semicursive.; Decoration: 2-line initials in red, paragraph marks in red for headings, and line-fillers in red throughout; text initials touched with red throughout.; Binding: Early (1580s) calf, blind-tooled and blind-stamped, including the name Margreta [?]bergensis (upper cover) and date 1583 or 1589 (lower cover), spine lacking; metal cornerpieces and two catches on the fore edge of the upper cover (clasps now missing). Supports and sewing are visible.; Origin: Written in Germany in the 16th century.; Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Constance L. Rosenthal Book Fund.

Physical Location:

Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, Manuscripts, Ms. Codex 2160

Collection:

Constance L. Rosenthal Book Fund