THE MINIATURISATION OF BIBLE MANUSCRIPTS IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Library of the Written Word

Volumn 27, Issue , 2013, Pages 105-125

  Ruzzier, Chiara ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 84903953786     PISSN: 18744834     EISSN: 18744842     Source Type: Book Series    
DOI: None     Document Type: Chapter

References (36)

1. Although most of the text of the Glossa Ordinaria was created in the twelfth century, the majority of surviving manuscripts date from the thirteenth century. See Mark Zier, “The Development of the Glossa Ordinaria to the Bible in the Thirteenth Century: The Evidence from the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris” in La Bibbia del XIII secolo. Storia del testo, storia dell’esegesi. Convegno della Società Internazionale per lo studio del Medioevo Latino (SISMEL) Florence, 1–2 giugno 2001, ed. Giuseppe Cremascoli and Francesco Santi (Florence, 2004), pp. 155–84, at pp. 157–58.
2. For a general introduction to portable Bibles see de Hamel, The Book, pp. 114–39; see also Josephine Case Schnurman, Studies in the Medieval Book Trade from the Late Twelfth to the Middle of the Fourteenth century with Special Reference to the Copying of the Bible, unpublished B.Litt. Thesis (Oxford,1960), and Rosanna Miriello, “La Bibbia portabile di origine italiana del XIII secolo. Brevi considerazioni e alcuni esempi” in La Bibbia del XIII Secolo, pp. 47–77.
3. These results are based on the evidence presented in my PhD thesis: Entre Université et Ordres mendiants. La miniaturisation de la Bible au XIIIe siècle, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, 2010; for the methodological basis of this research see pp. 42–50, 55–68.
4. Some references to biblie portatiles present in mediaeval inventories are in accordance with the size limit selected, e.g. the Bible described as “Biblia integra cum exposicione nominum Hebreorum secundum Remigium, portatilis, littera parisina, in columnis, carta bona, tabulis et corio rubeo obvoluta” in Giovanna Cantoni Alzati, La Biblioteca di S. Giustina a Padova. Libri e cultura presso i benedettini padovani in età umanistica, Medioevo e Umanesimo 48 (Padua, 1982), p. 70. This manuscript has been identified with Venice, Biblioteca Marciana, MS I. 60 which measures 209 × 140 mm.
5. The production of portable Bibles outside these areas is extremely small and starts later, with the exception of Spain. Fifteen portable Bibles of Spanish origin have been identified, which copy the Parisian model to various extents. The limited availability of Spanish catalogues makes it impossible to evaluate the magnitude of production in Spain, which has therefore been excluded for now from my analysis.
6. However, within a quantitative analysis, a small number of errors among many hundreds of entries is statistically insignificant.
7. By assuming a survival rate of 4.2% (in the absence of an estimation of the survival rate of medieval manuscripts, I am applying here the hypothetical survival rate of incunabula developed by Uwe Neddermeyer) I suggest that the output of portable Bibles could have exceeded 30,000 copies. See Uwe Neddermeyer, Von der Handschrift zum gedruckten Buch. Schriftlichkeit und Leseinteresse im Mittelalter und in der frühen Neuzeit. Quantitative und Qualitative Aspekte, I. Text II. Anlagen, Buchwissenschaftliche Beiträge aus dem Deutschen Bucharchiv München 61 (Wiesbaden, 1998), pp. 72–81.
8. According to a partial census of extant complete Bibles of the thirteenth century that I have conducted consulting all catalogues of French libraries, portable Bibles represent about 53.5% of all surviving complete thirteenth-century Bibles.
9. In relation to the “Paris Bible” I cite only Laura Light’s papers, which also provide some discussion of portable Bibles: Laura Light, “Versions et révisions du texte biblique” in Le moyen âge et la Bible, ed. Pierre Riché and Guy Lobrichon, Bible de tous les temps 4 (Paris, 1984), pp. 55–93, at 75–93; eadem, “The New Thirteenth-Century Bible and the Challenge of Heresy”, Viator 18 (1987), 275–88; eadem, “French Bibles c. 1200–30: a New Look at the Origin of the Paris Bible” in The Early Medieval Bible. Its Production, Decoration and Use, ed. Richard Gameson (Cambridge, 1994), pp. 155–76.
10. I have found no evidence to support the dissemination of the biblical text through the pecia system in the portable Bibles that I have consulted. Nevertheless, since copying such a lengthy text might have taken as long as two years, it is highly improbable that there could have been sufficient exemplars including the entire Bible to satisfy the tremendous demand of scribes, especially in Paris in 1220s-1250s, when Bible production reached its peak. See in particular Richard H. and Mary A. Rouse, “The Book Trade at the University of Paris, ca. 1250-ca. 1350” in La production du livre universitaire au Moyen Age. Exemplar et pecia, Actes du symposium tenu au Collegio San Bonaventura de Grottaferrata en mai 1983, ed. Jacques Henri Bataillon, Bertrand Guyot and Richard H. Rouse (Paris, 1988), pp. 41–114, at pp. 57–58. For biblical manuscripts (none a small portable Bible) that include evidence of pecia, see Giovanna Murano, Opere diffuse per exemplar e pecia, Textes et études du Moyen Âge 29 (Turnhout, 2005), pp. 318–19.
11. Only 30% of the portable Bibles examined manuscripts contain the Paris Bible text; 4% use an archaic text; 12% include only the modern chapter divisions; more than half (53%) were written using a mixed text which, in addition to the modern chapter divisions, integrates the textual criteria of the Paris Bible in various ways (new order of biblical books and the characteristic set of prologues). The use of the Parisian text seems, in any case, correlated with the book size. In the corpus the use of the Parisian text decreases progressively from 60% in manuscripts of smaller size (size below 230 mm) to 24% in those of a bigger size (size between 380 and 450 mm).
12. In my corpus, there are fourteen portable Bibles that do not include any characteristics of the Paris Bible, not even the modern chapter divisions; among these, e.g., of Parisian origin, BnF, MS lat. 16267 (162 × 115 mm), and of Italian origin BAV, MS Vat. Lat. 6026 (187 × 130 mm).
13. Unfortunately, only 2% of the manuscripts of my census have a colophon and any mention of the place of origin is very rare.
14. It seems that there were no other centres of production of portable Bibles in France that are as important as Paris. Nevertheless, the exact localisation of many manuscripts remains uncertain in the absence of objective indicators, especially if such manuscripts do not have historiated initials and report a text that mixes ancient and modern characteristics. Still I believe it probable that the majority of manuscripts that have been classified as French are of Parisian origin.
15. In reference to the characteristics of the biblical text of Italian manuscripts, see in particular Sabina Magrini, “Production and Use of Latin Bible Manuscripts in Italy during the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries”, Manuscripta 51/2 (2007), 209–57 and Guy Lobrichon, “Pour l’étude de la tradition et du texte de la Vulgate latine en Italie (XIIIe siècle)” in La Bibbia in italiano tra Medioevo e Rinascimento, Atti del Convegno internazionale, Firenze, Certosa del Galluzzo, 8–9 novembre 1996, ed. Lino Leonardi, Millennio Medievale 10 (Firenze, 1998), pp. 23–33; repr. in Guy Lobrichon, La Bible au moyen âge (Paris, 2003), pp. 173–80.
16. The oldest dated Bible of relatively small size seems to be New York, Pierpont Morgan Library, MS M.163 (216 × 162 mm), dated 1229, followed by the Dole, BM, MS 15 (162 × 108 mm), dated 1234, which is also the first dated copy that includes the text of the Paris Bible. The first portable Bible of Italian origin dates back to 1250: BAV, MS Ottob. Lat. 532 (154 × 109 mm). Unfortunately, dating the Bibles included in this study is difficult, especially since their production was so standardised and so concentrated over a short time-span; only 1.3% of the recorded manuscripts include a date. This dating ratio corresponds to the average one observed in the thirteenth century; see Carla Bozzolo and Ezio Ornato, “Les fluctuations de la production manuscrite à la lumière de l’histoire de la fin du Moyen Âge”, Bulletin philologique et historique (jusqu’à 1610) du Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques (1979), 51–75, repr. in La face cachée du livre médiéval. L’histoire du livre vue par Ezio Ornato, ses amis et ses collègues (Rome, 1997), pp. 179–95, at pp. 182–85.
17. The phenomenon is discussed in Carla Bozzolo and Ezio Ornato, Pour une histoire du livre manuscrit au Moyen Âge. Trois essais de codicologie quantitative (Paris, 1980), pp. 84–109 and Bozzolo and Ornato, “Les fluctuations”, pp. 188–95. In addition, according to Bozzolo and Ornato nearly 50% of the biblical manuscripts still extant date back to the thirteenth century (see Bozzolo and Ornato, Pour une histoire du livre manuscrit, p. 53).
18. e siècles; Cahiers Électroniques d’Histoire Textuelle du LAMOP 3 (2010, first online edition, 2011), 73–111. See also Bozzolo and Ornato, Pour une histoire du livre manuscrit, pp. 93–96.
19. This analysis is based only on the 357 Bibles that I have seen in person.
20. Minor variations in length, due to the presence or absence of the Oratio Manasse and of the third book of Esdras, do not have a statistical influence in the study of the physical construction of the manuscript.
21. See primarily Denis Muzerelle and Ezio Ornato, “La terza dimensione del libro. Aspetti codicologici della pluritestualità” in Il codice miscellaneo. Tipologie e funzioni. Atti del Convegno internazionale (Cassino 14–17 maggio 2003), ed. Edoardo Crisci and Oronzo Pecere, Segno e testo 2 (Cassino, 2004), pp. 43–74.
22. The only other exception among the manuscript production is that of Breviaries.
23. Only 1.4% of the portable Bibles in the corpus are divided into two or three volumes.
24. The thickness has been measured using a micrometre on a sample of thirty-nine manuscripts. The average measure obtained was of 0.088 mm, with a minimum of 0.064 mm recorded from smaller manuscripts of Parisian origin. The figures used for the rest of the corpus are only an estimate. The terms “thin” and “thick” have to be interpreted within the context of our type of book production: even the thickest parchment of a portable Bible will appear extremely thin compared with that of a larger manuscript. The studies to date conducted on the thickness of parchment in fact list measurements which are always more than 0.14 mm. See in particular Francesco Bianchi, Donatella Buovolo, M. Giovanna De’ Caterina, Marilena Maniaci, Lucia Negrini, Ezio Ornato, Marco Palma and Anna Pannega, “Facteurs de variations de l’épaisseur du parchemin italien du VIIIe au XVe siècle” in Ancient and Medieval Book Materials and Techniques, ed. Marilena Maniaci and Paola Franca Munafò, Studi e Testi 357–358 (Vatican City, 1993), pp. 95–184; repr. in La face cachée, pp. 275–345.
25. For an overall analysis of quires of the late Middle Ages, see Paola Busonero, “La fascicolazione del manoscritto nel basso Medioevo” in La fabbrica del codice. Materiali per la storia del libro nel tardo Medioevo, ed. eadem, Maria Antonietta Casagrande Mazzoli, Luciana Devoti and Ezio Ornato (Rome, 1999), pp. 33–139. Concerning the factors behind the choice of a quire structure and for a few hypotheses concerning portable Bibles, see Ezio Ornato, Apologia dell’apogeo. Divagazioni sulla storia del libro nel tardo medioevo (Rome, 2000), pp. 51–77.
26. The origin of Bibles used in the analysis was never determined only from the quire structure. Instead, it is the quantitative analysis that has highlighted the importance of this factor. Changes in the quire structure depending on the origin of manuscripts also appear, regardless of the type text, in the study of Paola Busonero, “La fascicolazione del manoscritto”, pp. 50–61.
27. See Patricia D. Stirnemann, “Nouvelles pratiques en matière d’enluminure au temps de Philippe Auguste” in La France de Philippe Auguste. Le temps des mutations, Actes du Colloque international organisé par le C.N.R.S. (Paris, 29 septembre – 4 octobre 1980), ed. Robert-Henri Bautier (Paris, 1982), pp. 955–80, at pp. 959–60.
28. See Marilena Maniaci, “La struttura delle Bibbie atlantiche” in Le Bibbie Atlantiche. Il libro delle Scritture tra monumentalità e rappresentazione., ed. eadem and Giulia Orofino (Milan, 2000), pp. 47–60.
29. One should note that nearly all portable Bibles have a text written in two columns, a solution widely used in the thirteenth century, which allowed for an increase in the density of graphic signs on one page without compromising the legibility of the text. For an analysis of the functional needs which lay at the basis of such a choice, see Bozzolo and Ornato, Pour une histoire du livre manuscrit, pp. 318–30. Nevertheless, I have reviewed more than ten portable Bibles copied in a single column.
30. On the contrary, in the Italian manuscripts, the ratio of written space compared to the rest of the page turns out to be slightly lower than the average of my corpus, which is 42%. This figure is in any case lower than the average reported in the manuscripts of French origin from the thirteenth century (between 45% and 50%). Concerning this issue, see mainly Carla Bozzolo, Dominique Coq, Denis Muzerelle and Ezio Ornato, “Noir et blanc. Premiers résultats d’une enquête sur la mise en page dans le livre médiéval” in Il libro e il testo. Atti del convegno internazionale (Urbino, 20–23 settembre 1982), ed. Cesare Questa and Renato Raffaelli (Urbino, 1984), pp. 195–221; repr. in La face cachée, pp. 473–508.
31. Due to a greater reduction in the size of the text, the average number of characters per line is systematically higher in the Italian Bibles (on average 12% more) than in the French ones of the same size.
32. According to a survey conducted on a fixed sequence of text, it emerges that Italian Bibles use 9% more abbreviated words than the French ones.
33. Of the Bibles of the corpus reporting the text of the Paris Bible, 94% have quires with more than six bifolia; quires of this size are totally absent in manuscripts having an archaic text or only the modern chapter divisions.
34. For an example of Naples production, see Hélène Toubert, “Influences gothiques sur l’art frédéricien: le maître de la Bible de Manfred et son atelier” in Federico II e l’arte del Duecento italiano. Atti della III settimana di studi di storia dell’arte medievale dell’università di Roma (15–20 maggio 1978), ed. Angiola Maria Romanini, 2 vols. (Rome 1980), 2:59–76.
35. For general information, see La miniatura a Padova dal Medioevo al Settecento, ed. Giovanna Baldissin Molli, Giordana Canova Mariani and Federica Toniolo (Modena, 1999), pp. 16–18.
36. 35% of the manuscripts of the corpus have only flourished initials. The rest of the manuscripts have all or part of the initials ornamented, but only 22% of the total have historiated initials for all the books of the Bible.