YALE UNIVERSITY
BEINECKE RARE BOOK AND MANUSCRIPT LIBRARY
GENERAL COLLECTION OF RARE BOOKS AND
MANUSCRIPTS
PRE-1600 MANUSCRIPTS
Marston MS 50 Hautecombe [?], s. XII med
Origen, Commentarius in ad Romanos, Lat. tr. Rufinus
View digital images from the Beinecke Library's Digital Images Online
database
ff. 1r-154v [Rufinus' preface and Origen's prologue, written
continuously:] Uolentem me paruo subuectum nauigio ora tranquilli
litoris stringere et minutos de grecorum stagnis pisciculos legere...
poterimus compendiis exsequemur. Explicit prologus. Incipit liber
primus. [text, f. 2v:] Paulus seruus ihesu christi. De paulo iam
diximus. requiramus nunc cur seruus dicatur...Nobis enim. propositum
est non plausum legentium. sed fructum proficientium querere.
Explicit liber decimus.
Ends incomplete in Rufinus' epilogue; PG 14.831-1294. Three short
lacunae where the scribe has left lines blank for the missing text:
f. 132r: "...Non alta sapientes; sed humilibus consentientes. //
Consentire enim humilibus et amare humiles...;" f. 132v: "...ex utraque
constare; ne nos alterius // Quomodo potest fieri ut pacem cum omnibus
hominibus...;" f. 153v: "...eius ex illa sine dubio sciat sibi //
Videtur ergo indicare de eo quid uir fuerit...." The manuscript has
been carefully corrected, with tie marks used to key missing text
added in margins; elaborate contemporary "Nota" signs.
Parchment, ff. ii (paper) + 154 + ii (paper), 302 x 208 (217 x
154) mm. 2 columns, 33 lines. Format of leaves varies considerably;
some bifolia of different formats found within a single quire. In
general, the rulings are as follow. Quires I-II: single vertical,
one to three upper (and sometimes single lower) horizontal bounding
lines, additional vertical ruling between columns. Quires III-VII,
IX-XII: single vertical, two sets of widely spaced double bounding
lines at top and bottom of written space, additional vertical ruling
between columns. Quire VIII: single vertical bounding lines with
additional vertical ruling between columns. Quires XIII-XIV: single
vertical, double upper and lower horizontal bounding lines, additional
vertical ruling between columns. Quires XV-XIX same as XIII-XIV,
but without additional ruling between columns. All guide lines ruled
in lead or crayon; prickings (punctures) sometimes visible in all four
margins. Corrections and additions to text on rulings drawn in
margin.
I-XVIII 8, XIX 12 (-4, 10; no loss of text). Quires signed
(i-viii) with roman numerals surrounded by dots, center of lower
margin, verso; remains of other signatures. Catchwords accompany
quire marks (trimmed), f. 136v.
Written by multiple scribes in well formed early gothic bookhand.
Fine painted initials, ff. 1r and 29v, red with simple green penwork
designs and pale yellow wash, 8-line; smaller red, green, or dark
yellow-brown monochrome initials, 7- to 1-line. On f. 141r red
initial, 7-line, with pale yellow wash. Headings in red.
Binding: Italy, s. xix in. Half bound in brown sheepskin,
gold-tooled, with two green, gold-tooled labels: "Hieronimi/
In Epistol/ ad Romanos/ Manuscrip" and "Saecul XII." Bright pink
paper sides and edges spattered blue-green. Bound in the same
distinctive style as Marston MSS 125, 128, 135, 151, 153, 158, 159,
and 197, also from the Cistercian abbey of Hautecombe (see
provenance). The spine of the manuscript is back bevelled at head
and tail. Rust stains from the nails of four corner bosses of
early binding on first two leaves.
Written in the middle of the 12th century, probably at the
Cistercian abbey of Hautecombe to which it belonged; contemporary
ex libris in red and black follows text on f. 154v: ".liber
sancte marie altecumbe;". Located in the ancient diocese of Geneva,
the abbey was founded toward the beginning of the 12th century by
monks from the abbey of Aulps (see R. Clair, "Les origines de
l'abbaye d'Hautecombe," Melanges a la memoire du Pere Anselme
Dimier [Arbois, 1982-87] tome II, v. 4, pp. 615-27). The
script, format, and general style of decoration resemble those
in Marston MS 197, which also belonged to this abbey. Marston
MS 50 has the characteristic bright pink binding of the books
of Monseigneur Hyacinthe della Torre who acquired and rebound
a group of twelve manuscripts from Hautecombe at the beginning of
the 19th century (see Leclercq, 1951, p. 75). Belonged to the
Biblioteca del Seminario Metropolitano in Turin (Leclercq, op.
cit., p. 76, no. 17: number in red crayon on front pastedown).
Acquired from C. A. Stonehill in 1956 by Thomas E. Marston
(bookplate).
secundo folio: in his omnibus
Bibliography: Faye and Bond, p. 70, no. 50.
Barbara A. Shailor