Explore medieval manuscripts on Kura Heritage Collections Online

By Admin -

One of the inspirations for our current heritage exhibition Miraculous: medieval manuscripts was being able to view our entire medieval manuscripts collection on Kura Heritage Collections Online. Over half of these remarkable books are fully digitised and can be browsed and enjoyed from any device or location. 

Explore more from the books that feature in the Miraculous exhibition below, or dive into the full collection of medieval manuscripts here.

Rossdhu Book of Hours

Medieval manuscripts are often described as “illuminated”, meaning embellished with gold, silver and luminous colours. These illuminations are found in the initial letters of words, and in borders and pictures.

As well as being decorative and a pleasure to look at, initials and borders help the reader to find the way through a book of tightly written text with no page numbers or punctuation. They play the role of headings and punctuation by marking the start of a new section and indicating paragraphs, verses, or corrections.

Image: Page with an initial containing a scene of the Virgin Mary with the body of Christ. From: Rossdhu Book of Hours. Between 1450-1475. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, MedMS-G146.

After the text of a manuscript was written the illuminator added the borders and initials. Finally, the miniatures were added, usually by a separate skilled artist. Today the word miniature is usually understood to mean a small painting, often a portrait. In medieval manuscripts miniatures can range in size from little scenes found inside an initial to a full page picture.

The Rossdhu Book of Hours is richly decorated with borders and initials, and contains 25 miniature paintings each measuring around 13 x 9.5 cm. This miniature of Saint George slaying the dragon is one of a series introducing prayers addressed to various saints. Each saint is portrayed with items associated with him or her. These items would have been familiar and recognizable to the medieval reader, who would have known the story of the saint.

Image: St. George. From: Rossdhu Book of Hours. Between 1450-1475. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, MedMS-G146.

The other saints that make up the series in the Rossdhu Book of Hours are:

The Rossdhu Book of Hours is written in 'gothic' script, the predominant form of handwriting in Germany, England and France from the 12th century to about 1500. In gothic handwriting letters are angular, and verticals, straight lines and diagonals are emphasised. It was used particularly for formal religious works.

Browse the Rossdhu Book of Hours on Kura Heritage Collections Online

Gospel lectionary

The text in the Gospel lectionary is an example of a different type of handwriting. This book contains readings from the Gospels written in dark brown ink in a regular Greek cursive script called 'Greek minuscule'.

Image: Gospel Lectionary. 12th century. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, MedMS-G123.

The writing in the book is decorated with 163 initials drawn in ink, and some pages include interlaced 'ropework' headpieces infilled with red and yellow that mark important divisions in the text.

Image: Page showing interlaced ropework headpieces. From: Gospel lectionary. 12th century. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, MedMS-G123.

Browse the Gospel lectionary on Kura Heritage Collections Online

Gospel-Book

The Gospel-book is also written in Greek minuscule, this time in black ink. It opens with four decorated canon tables, which provide an index to events in the life of Jesus Christ described in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. 

Image: Canon table. From: Gospel-book. 12th century. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, MedMS-G124.

Other decoration includes initials, ropework and decorative red headpieces that introduce the Gospels.

Image: Page showing decorative headpiece introducing the Gospels. From: Gospel-book. 12th century. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, MedMS-G124.

An interlaced tailpiece is drawn at the end of the Gospel of St. Mark. 

Image: Page showing interlaced tailpiece concluding the Gospel of St. Mark. From: Gospel-book. 12th century. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, MedMS-G124.

Le Livre de Boèce de consolacion (The consolation of philosophy) 

From the 12th century teaching moved out of religious establishments and into separate universities. Students could study theology, law, medicine and the arts. The arts covered a broad range of subjects, including grammar, logic, arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy. This drove demand for texts and as a result the book production industry became increasingly well-organised.

Some books were produced as a combination of text and study notes in one volume. The notes, or gloss, appeared on the page of the text they referred to, sometimes between the lines of text, or in the margins around it. Scribes and printers adapted their page layouts to fit both in.

The layout of Le Livre de Boèce de consolacion is an example of a book where the text includes glosses, which are written either to the side of the text or interrupt it and run the full width of the page. The handwriting style is a cursive form of gothic called 'lettre bâtarde'.

Image: Page layout showing text and glosses. From: Le Livre de Boèce de consolacion. About 1425-1430. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, MedMS-G119.

The book also contains decorative initials, some illuminated with gold.
 
Image: Page showing decorated initials. From: Le Livre de Boèce de consolacion. About 1425-1430. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, MedMS-G119.

Larger initials introduce the prologue and each of the five books that make up the Consolation.

Image: Page showing large decorated initial. From: Le Livre de Boèce de consolacion. About 1425-1430. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, MedMS-G119.

Metaphysica, Physica, De Meteoris (Metaphysics, Physics, Meteorology)

This translation of Aristotle by William of Moerbecke looks like it's been studied closely, with extensive comments added in the margins by several hands over two centuries. 

Image: Page showing glosses and marginal notes. From: Metaphysica, Physica, De Meteoris. Late 13th century. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, MedMS-G126.

Browse Metaphysica, Physica, De Meteoris on Kura Heritage Collections Online

De bello Judaico (The Jewish war)

Italian humanists of the early Renaissance took inspiration from the rediscovery of ancient manuscripts by classical writers. They particularly admired the handwriting and decoration in them, and used the script as the basis for a clear, rounded, neat handwriting. Great attention was paid to the elegant proportions of page layout, and to the quality of vellum used. The text was written in a single column, a style which continues in book production to this day.

Image: Page featuring a decorated initial. From: De bello Judaico. Between 1455-1459. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, MedMS-G147.

The layout of this page from De bello Judaico is simple and spacious. The text is written in a round 'humanist' script in a single column, with the headings for each book in red. The only decoration is the burnished gold initial “C”. Around it white vinestems interlace and twist on a coloured background. This pattern was another borrowing from the older manuscripts so admired by the humanists.


Additional medieval manuscripts on display

The Auckland Library Heritage Trust display case will feature three additional medieval manuscripts during the exhibition. They will be in the Atrium on level two beside the escalators.

Missale ad usum Romanum (Besancon Missal). Latin. Eastern France, between 1450 and 1500.

Image: Missale ad usum Romanum. Latin. Eastern France (Besancon), between 1450 and 1500. 305 x 225mm. De Hamel no. 18. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, MedMs-G138.

Astesanus de Ast. Summa de casibus conscientiae (Cases of conscience). Latin. Flanders, between 1300 and 1325.

Image: Astesanus de Ast. Summa de casibus conscientiae (Cases of conscience). Latin. Flanders, between 1300 and 1325. 417 x 300mm. De Hamel no. 43. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, MedMS-S5158.

Antiphonary. Latin. Italy, 16th century.

Image: Antiphonary. Latin. Italy, 16th century. 351 x 245 mm. De Hamel no. 40. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, MedMS-S1588. 

Browse the Antiphonary on Kura Heritage Collections Online

Author: Renée Orr, with text adapted from the 2005 Auckland Libraries exhibition Is it real gold? curated by Georgia Prince and Kate de Courcy.

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