Speculu[m] doct[ri]nale / fr[atri]s Vincentii ord[inis] p[re]di[catorum].

Format:

Book

Manuscript

Author/Creator:

Vincent, of Beauvais, -1264, author.

Contributor:

Ess, Leander van, 1772-1847, former owner.

Phillipps, Thomas, Sir, 1792-1872, former owner.

Baugh, Albert C. (Albert Croll), 1891-1981, former owner.

Baugh, Daniel A., former owner.

Kartäuserkirche St. Barbara (Cologne, Germany), former owner.

Standardized Title:

Speculum doctrinale Selections

Language:

Latin

Subjects (All):

Ethics--Early works to 1800.

Ethics.

Agriculture--Early works to 1800.

Agriculture.

Conduct of life--Early works to 1800.

Conduct of life.

Law--Early works to 1800.

Law.

Genre:

codices (bound manuscripts)

Encyclopedias.

Manuscripts, Latin -- 15th century.

Manuscripts, Medieval.

Manuscripts, Renaissance.

Penn Provenance:

Held in the library of the Kartäuserkirche St. Barbara (the Carthusian monastery of Saint Barbara in Cologne; ownership note in ink inside front cover) until its dissolution in 1794.

Purchased in a group of 136 manuscripts and books originally from the library of the the Kartäuserkirche St. Barbara by Johann Matthias Heberle (1775-1840) (Antiquargeschft mit Auktionsanstalt Cologne), 1821 (Gray).

Sold in the group of 136 manuscripts and books by Johann Matthias Heberle to German priest and theologian Leander van Ess (Marburg) (Gray).

Sold in the group of 136 manuscripts and books by Leander van Ess (Marburg) to Sir Thomas Phillipps, his MS 563 (stamp and inscription in ink, f. i recto-i verso; stamped envelope addressed to Phillipps laid inside front cover) (Gray).

Sold by bookseller T. Thorp (Guildford, England) to Albert C. Baugh (professor of English, University of Pennsylvania) (Gray), before 1928.

Included in a Penn exhibition of rare books and manuscripts loaned by members of the faculty and undergraduates, 25 February-17 March 1928.

Inherited by Daniel A. Baugh (professor of history, Cornell University; 1931-2024) after the death of his father Albert C. Baugh in 1981 (Gray).

Sold by Daniel Albert Baugh to Black Swan Books (Richmond, Virginia), 2023 (Gray).

Sold by Black Swan Book to bookseller James Gray (Princeton, Massachusetts), 2025.

Sold by James Gray, 2025.

Physical Description:

281 leaves : parchment and paper ; 215 x 145 (162 x 100) mm bound to 225 x 165 mm + 1 envelope

Place of Publication:

[Cologne?, Germany], [between 1400 and 1425]

Language Note:

Latin.

Summary:

Early 15th-century copy of books 4-7 of the Speculum doctrinale (Mirror of Learning) by the Dominican Vincent of Beauvais, a section concerning morals and ethics, agriculture, and princely conduct and law. Most of the marginal annotations are texts of chapter headings for the rubricator, but some are readers' notes. The chapter headings given in the notes for the rubricator use both Roman and Arabic numerals, and the corresponding rubricated headings, when present, also use both but do not necessarily correspond in numeral style to the marginal notes. Notes in Latin in an early modern hand briefly describe the contents (f. i verso) and mark some book divisions and book numbering errors (f. 1r, 136r, 281v). A stamped envelope addressed to Sir Thomas Phillipps at 9 Suffolk Street, Haymarket, London, is laid inside the front cover.

Contents:

1. f.1r-76v: Liber quartus [Virtues, Vices]

2. f.76v-136r: Liber quintus [Morals, Regimens]

3. f.136r-201r: Liber sextus [Agriculture, Animal husbandry]

4. f.201r-281v: Liber septimus [Education of a prince, Law].

Notes:

Ms. codex.

Title from caption title (f. 1r)

Collation: Parchment and paper, i (parchment) + 281 + i (parchment); 1-7¹⁶ 8⁸⁻¹(-4) 9-15¹⁶ 16¹² 17-18¹⁶ 19¹²⁻⁶(-7, -8, -9, -10, -11, -12). Outermost and central bifolia of each gathering are parchment, surrounding paper bifolia. Catchwords lower right last verso (except gathering 12, f. 183v).

Layout: Written in 36 long lines; frame-ruled in faint lead. Quarto format (paper leaves).

Script: Written in Gothic cursive script by multiple hands.

Decoration: 6-line initial in blue, maroon, and white on red ground with foliate extensions (f 1r); 2 large initials in blue with reverse ornamentation at book divisions (4-line, f. 136r; 6-line, f. 201v); 2-3 line initials throughout, alternating between red and blue, some with internal reverse ornamentation (for example, f. 55v; 146v; 213r, 220v) and some with simple looping marginal extensions (for example, f. 81v, 94r, 151v, 203v, 238v); rubrication of chapter headings at the beginning of most gatherings; when rubrication is present, names of authorities are sometimes underlined in red; guide letters and marginal notes of text for chapter headings visible.

Binding: Contemporary (early 15th-century) deerskin over oak boards; rebacked in the 19th or the first half of the 20th century, no later than its appearance in the Thorp catalog; 2 brass anchors on back board (Gray).

Origin: Probably written in Germany, possibly at the Kartäuserkirche St. Barbara (the Carthusian monastery of Saint Barbara in Cologne; ownership note in ink inside front cover), in the first quarter of the 15th century.

Cited in:

Phillipps, T. Phillipps manuscripts, p. 7 (563).

Cited as:

Vincent of Beauvais, Speculum doctrinale (Ms. Codex 2398). Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania.

OCLC:

1606024890