Beinecke MS 392               Germany, s. XIV^^1, XV^^2
Scholar's Notebook (in Lat.)

I.1. ff. 1r-151r Excerpts (divided into three parts) from the
Malogranatum of Gallus, abbot of the Cistercian abbey of
Koenigssaal, Bohemia; for a list of manuscripts and early printed editions
of the complete text see B. Haage, "Zur Ueberleiferung des 'Malogranatum',"
Zeitschrift fuer deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur 108 (l979) pp.
407-14.  The colophon reads: Explicit excerptum [one word scratched out]
malogranati tractatus 1467 die 16 marcij.  The table of contents on f. 256v
describes the work as "Excerptum malogranati cum quibusdam additis fratris
henrici de piro carthusiensis."  The excerpts and accompanying notes are
apparently the work of Henricus de Piro, fl. 1470, prior of the Charterhouse
of St. Barbara in Cologne (see T. Petreius, Biblioteca Cartusiana siue
Illustrium sacri cartusiensis ordinis...[Cologne, 1609] pp. 137-38, where
art. 1 is mentioned).  ff. 84v and two leaves (unfoliated) between 102-03
are blank

2. ff. 151v-153r Table of contents for art. 1 above. ff. 153v-154 blank

II.3. ff. 155r-171v Incipit libellus de ymitacione cristi et
contemptu omnium vanitatum mundi. Capitulum j.  Qui sequitur me non
ambulat in tenebris dicit dominus [John 8.12].  Hec sunt verba christi
quibus ammonemur quatenus eius vitam et mores imitemur...quidquid de alijs sit
non negligas teipsum. Tantum proficies quantum tibi ipsi vim intuleris.

     Thomas a Kempis, Tractatus de imitatione Christi et contemptu
omnium vanitatum mundi, Book I only, in 25 chapters numbered in Roman
numerals (22 bis); L. M. J. Delaisse, ed., Le manuscrit autographe de
Thomas a Kempis et 'L'imitation de Jesus-Christ'; examen archeologique et
edition diplomatique du Bruxellensis 5855-61 (Antwerp and Paris, 1956)
v. 2 (text), pp. 181-222.

4. ff. 172r-196r Fasciculus florum secundum ordinem connexionis.
Anima mea audiuit interne a verbo superno...Sed maiora illuminacioni
vacans in partem sibi optimam preeligit.  Deo laus. lxv. [for 1465?]

     Unidentified Fasiculus florum or Fasiculus morum in 23 chapters, including
rubrics for De presencia dei Capitulum j, De interna gracie inspiracione
ij,...De proprietatibus anime resultatibus vi,...De malicia huius vite x,
and concluding De interna inuestigacionis experiencia xxij, Doctrina vtilis
concludens de contemplacione xxiij.

5. f. 196v Brief excerpts from Augustine and Jerome, in the same hand
as art. 6 below.

6. ff. 197r-199v Excerpta ex dictis sanctorum doctorum de diuersis
defectibus et negligencijs ac dubijs casibus qui contingere possunt in
missa.  Si sacerdos in missa ante canonem aliquo casu deficiat alius
sacerdos debet missam reincipere...potest saltem in loco vbi sputum
pedibus non possit conculcari.  Hec in Rationale diuinorum.  ff. 200r-203v
blank

     Unidentified excerpts dealing primarily with defects in the performance
of the mass; rubrics include: Si vinum aut aqua non inuenitur in calice,
Si sacerdos omisit aliqua, Si hostia in calicem cecidit, Siue hostia siue
euckaristia in terram ceciderit....

III.7. ff. 204r-220v [In upper margin, in a different hand:]
Incipiunt auctoritates sanctorum doctorum de virtutibus et vicijs et
primo quid sit virtus Augustinus.  [text:] Virtus est bona equalitas mentis
qua recte viuitur qua nemo male vtitur...calidi uel huiusmodi ad [?] vel
duella et cet. patet iuxta sensum [one word illegible] proponiti.

     Unidentified extracts on virtues and vices; cf. no. 6481 in Bloomfield,
Virtues and Vices.  Rubrics in MS 392 include: De fide, De spe, De
sancta maria, De christo et beata virgine, De caritate, De dilectione
proximi...De Ira, De inuidia, De detractione, Ad clericos, Ad religiosos.
The selections are drawn primarily from Augustine, Bernard, Anselm, Ambrose,
Gregory, Jerome.

8. ff. 220v-243v Series of exempla of virtues and vices perhaps intended as
illustrations for the selections quoted in art. 7 above.  Rubrics include:
Exemplum quare sanctus Benedictus fuit temptatus..., Exemplum quanti vigoris
sit confessio, Item de confessione exemplum, Item exemplum de fornicacione,...
Exemplum de solitudine, De fratre qui neglienter [sic] vixit et correctus
est, De sancto Paulo simplice, De conuersione Taise [Thais] meretricis,...
Exemplum de corpore cristi, De temptacione fornicacionis,...Exemplum de
martirio.

9. ff. 244r-247r [Heading in upper margin, in a later hand:] Exemplum de
udone Episcopo Magdeburgensi.  [text:] [A]nno domini millesimo quinquagesimo
octauo [sic] tercio imperante apud perchinopolim id est meydenburg in
saxonia contigit prodigium terribile nimis...In predicta igitur vrbe
scolaris quidam nomine vdo liberalibus litteris insudabat...[ends:] vix
tandem redierunt huius horrendi prodigij.  [in the same hand as the
heading:]  Paucula hic desunt quae vide in fine libri ubi iterum idem exemplum
habetur.  ff. 247v-248v blank

     Exemplum of Udo, Abp. of Magdeburg; E. Oehgren, ed., Die Udo-Legende
in Publications de l'Institut Slave d'Upsal 8 (Upsala, 1954) pp. 51-57, with
the text in MS 392 ending with Section 18; not located in the list of
manuscripts cited on p. 151.

IV.10. ff. 249r-252r Erat olim in partibus aquilonis homo quidam
potens et nobilis qui et gloria preiminebat suorum splendore natalium et
deliciis affluebat...ut per exemplum Albani serui tui mereamur et nos cum eo
a nostris facinoribus ablui et super niuem dealbari.  Amen.

     According to the index on f. 256v this is "De quodam diuite et nobili qui
defuncta uxore ex propria filia sponte filium genuit.  qui postea propriam
matrem nescienter in uxorem duxit."

11. ff. 252r-255r Anno domini nongentesimo quinquagesimo Ottone tercio
imperante apud pertinoposim [sic] id est Medeyburgh in Saxonia contigit
prodigium terribile nimis...et seuerissimam vlcionem.  ff. 255v-256r ruled,
but blank

     The same text as art. 9 above, but continuing further.

12. f. 256v Table of contents to the works in the codex.
Composed of four parts all measuring ca. 215 x 145 mm.

     Part I:  ff. 1-154, paper (heavy, rough; remains of deckle edges;
watermarks:  unidentified monogram buried in gutter).  Contemporary Arabic
foliation that omits two blank leaves between 102-03.  Written space
175 x 110 mm., ca. 34 long lines.  Single vertical bounding lines only;
ruled in hard point. I-XIII^^12.  Copied by one person in a poorly formed,
abbreviated gothic cursive.  Small knobby initials, 3- to 2-line, in red.
Underlining, paragraph marks, initial strokes, and circles enclosing
marginal annotations by the scribe, in red, throughout.
     Part II:  ff. 155-202, paper (heavy, rough; watermarks: similar in design
to Piccard Buchstabe P XVI.301-29).  Written space 152 x 105 mm., ca. 29
long lines.  Frame-ruled in hard point; prickings in all margins except inner.
I-IV^^12.  Quire and leaf signatures (e.g.,jb, 2b, 3b, etc.) on recto in
lower right corner; catchwords along lower edge near gutter.  Written by
two scribes: 1. ff. 155r-196r (arts. 3-4) in hybrida; incipits, knobby initials
(3-line), strokes on initials, in red.  2. ff. 196v-199v in hybrida; crudely
drawn initials (2-line), paragraph marks, strokes on initials, and
underlining for headings, in red.
     Part III:  ff. 203-248, paper (heavy, rough; watermarks: similar to
those in Part II).  Written space 170 x 100 mm., ca. 33 long lines.
Single vertical bounding lines only, ruled in hard point; prickings at corners
of written space.  I-IV^^12 (with 2 leaves between 247-48, blanks, removed).
Written in neat gothic cursive by a single scribe.  Many plain initials,
2- to 1-line, headings, initial strokes, and lines drawn through the names
of authors cited, in red.  Notes to rubricator, many perpendicular to text
along outer edge of leaf.
     Part IV:  ff. 249-256, a single gathering of parchment, written space
173 x 120 mm., 2 columns.  ff. 249r-252r (first column) ca. 47 lines per
column; single vertical and double horizontal bounding lines; ruled in lead;
prickings in lower margins; written in small neat gothic textura.  Small
plain initial (f. 249r) in red.  ff. 252r (col. b) - 255r ca. 30
lines per column; frame-ruled in ink; written in gothic cursive.
     Binding:  s. xv.  Bound in the Charterhouse of St. Barbara in Cologne (see
Provenance below).  Vellum stays in the center of the gatherings and their
backs cut in about 3 mm. at each sewing station.  Sewn on four, double,
vegetable fiber supports laced into oak boards and pegged as are the
plain, wound endbands.  Covered in light brown calf with very narrow corner
tongues and defined supports.  Blind-tooled with intersecting diagonal
fillets with roses, two-headed eagles, crowned swans and fleurs-de-lis in
the compartments, inside an outer frame.  Trace of a catch on the upper board;
edge of the lower one cut in for a strap.  Rebacked and clasp
wanting.  Front and back flyleaves, formerly pastedowns, from a liturgical
manuscript (Germany, s. xii/xiii) containing Office of the Dead.  Responses
to the first five lessons are Qui lazarum, Heu michi, Ne recorderis,
Domine quando, Peccantem me cottidie.

The patterns of water damage and stains indicate that the codex originally
consisted of several booklets, all written in Germany, which were bound
together in the 15th century.  Parts I-III were probably written at the
Carthusian house of St. Barbara in Cologne in the second half of the
15th century; Part IV (art. 10) in the first half of the 14th century with
art. 11 added in the 15th century. The booklets were perhaps assembled by
Henricus de Piro, prior of the house of St. Barbara (d. 1473) and,
according to the 15th-century table of contents on f. 256v (art. 11),
the compiler of Part I.  Although the 15th-century exlibris has been
cut out of ff. 1r and 256v, the old pressmark "E. xl" of St. Barbara's
remains, as well as
the notation "124" on the spine.  Item "00 124" in the priory's
17th-century shelf-list; see R. B. Marks, The Medieval Manuscript
Library of the Charterhouse of St. Barbara in Cologne in Analecta
Cartusiana 21-22 (Salzburg, 1974) v. 2, p. 428:  "00 124 Tractatus de
periculis tentationum evadendis quatuor novissimis/ De imitatione Christi
et contemptu mundi Thomas a Kempis."  In addition, the style of binding and
the binding stamps are those described and illustrated by Marks, op.
cit., v. 1, pp. 90-107 (see binding description above).
Belonged to Leander van Ess who acquired many volumes from St. Barbara's
in 1821; his sale to Sir Thomas Phillipps in 1824 (no. 509; on f. 2r, and
stamp with number on f. 256v).  No. 2264 in the Leighton sale at Sotheby's, 28
Oct. 1919.  From the collection of S. Harrison Thomson (no. 4), who bought it
from Dawson's of Los Angeles in 1929.  Acquired from Thomson in 1968 with the
Edwin J. and Frederick W. Beinecke Rare Book Endowment Fund.

secundo folio:  vnde [?] ac sperant

Barbara A. Shailor