Confessione generale

Timespan:

Early works to 1800

Date:

1400

Description:

A two-part manual of confession for use by a female penitent, probably in a religious order. The first part gives the form for the penitent to confess, structured in a customary way around the ten commandments, the seven mortal sins, the five senses, the twelve articles of faith, the three theological virtues, the four cardinal virtues, and the seven spiritual gifts. The text uses feminine endings and forms, and includes the penitent's confessions of sin, written in the first person and sometimes referring to wrongdoing against her sisters. The second part is a manual to guide priests through the sacrament of confession, again structured around the ten commandments, the seven mortal sins, the five senses, and the theological and cardinal virtues. References to Saint Augustine in both parts (f. 1r, 9v, 29v) may suggest that the context of this manuscript was a religious community under the Rule of Saint Augustine.

Language:

Italian; Latin

Provenance:

Sold by Les Enluminures (Paris and Chicago), 2008.

Relation:

Collation model: http://repository.upenn.edu/sims_models/46

Subject:

Confession -- Catholic Church -- Handbooks, manuals, etc. -- Early works to 1800; Monastic and religious life of women -- Early works to 1800; Monastic and religious life of women; Confession -- Catholic Church

Resource Type:

Text

Form/Genre:

manuscripts (documents); codices (bound manuscripts); manuals (instructional materials); Manuscripts, Italian; Manuscripts, Renaissance; Handbooks and manuals

Physical Description:

30 leaves : parchment; 222 x 145 (140 x 84) mm bound to 232 x 156 mm

Rights:

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

Notes:

Ms. codex.; Title from caption title for first part (f. 1r).; Table of contents: 1. f.1r-10v: Confessione generale.; Table of contents: 2. f.11r-30v: [Manual for confessors]; Collation: Parchment, ii (modern paper) + 30 + ii (modern paper); 1-3¹⁰; quires 1-3 signed a1-a5, b1-b5, c1-c5 in lower right recto, with some partly trimmed away; vertical catchword (f. 20 v); modern foliation in pencil, upper right recto. Link to collation model at end of record.; Layout: Written in 26 long lines; frame-ruled in faint red ink; vertical bounding lines.; Script: Written in a rounded humanistic bookhand; some opening and closing words in Roman capitals.; Decoration: Rubrics in faint red ink; 1-line initials and paragraph marks in blue throughout; space left for a 7-line and a 4-line initial marking the beginning of the two major sections (f. 1r, 11r).; Binding: 19th-century morocco (Les Enluminures).; Origin: Written in Italy, probably in Tuscany, in the first half of the 15th century (Les Enluminures).; Purchased with support from the B. H. Breslauer Foundation and the Walter J. Miller Trust.; Italian, probably Tuscan, with some prayers in Latin.

Physical Location:

Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, Manuscripts, Ms. Codex 1263