Beinecke MS 449 (olim Z109.75)  Denmark [?], 1637
Vita sanctae matris nostrae Birgittae

1.  f. i recto  Short quotation from a letter of St. Jerome (Epistola 22;
PL 22.395) followed by notes explaining the grammatical form of the Latin
pronoun "mi" in the quotation.  ff. i verso - iii recto blank

2.  f. iii verso  [Title-page:]  IHS. Vita Sanctae Matris nostrae Birgittae in
duos diuisa libros Liber primus.

3.  f. 1r  Tinted engraving of St. Birgitta writing, with inscription below:
"S. Birgitta Christianorum Sybilla.  En certam pia spondet opem Regina polorum.
Dum recitetur; Aue stella, Maria, maris.  T[heodorus] van Merlen fecit."  f. 1v
blank

4.  ff. 2r-78r  Cap. 1. Legenda.  Orta est s. mater ex maioribus longe
scientissimis, provt de S. Ioanne Baptista, diuo Papa Gregorio ac Sancto Nicolao
non dissimile legitur...nunc ex mortalitate hac in vitam sic transit aeternam.

     Book I, consisting of 62 chapters; hand-colored engraving of St. Birgitta,
standing with open book in left hand and crucifix in right, pasted to f. 11v.

5.  ff. 78r-150r  [Heading:]  Liber II De Vita sanctae Matris nostrae
Birgittae.  Caput. 1.  [text:]  Praeceperat humilitatis a matris vt corpusculum
suum in Monasterio quidem sancti Laurentij...terra marique proscripsit.  ff.
150v blank

     Book II, consisting of 32 chapters; same engraving (but uncolored) of St.
Birgitta as on f. 11v pasted to f. 106v.

     Paper (thick, coarse), ff. iii (contemporary paper) + 150 (foliation by
scribe, 1-141, is incorrect) + iii (contemporary paper), 99 x 76 (70 x 52) mm.
Frame-ruled in hard point.  I-X^^8, XI^^8 (with bifolium added between 7 and 8,
ff. 88-89), XII^^8, XIII^^6, XIV^^4, XV^^10, XVI-XIX^^8.
Quires signed with letters of the alphabet (a through s) under written
space of first leaf, on recto.
     Written in quasi-italic by a single scribe.
     Folio 16 cut in half vertically, with loss of text on outer half of leaf.
     Binding:  s. xix [?].  Vellum case with stubs of two ties.  Title, in ink,
on spine and front cover:  "Vita Sancta [sic] matris nostrae Birgittae."
Red edges.

Written in Denmark [?] in 1637; colophon by the scribe on final flyleaf:  "IHS.
Liber hic collectus est ex reuelationibus Sanctae Birgittae et processu
Canonizationis eius per quendam Ordinis S. Birgittae in S. Mariabaum [?]
sacerdotem finitus in peruigilio Natiuitatis Domini nostri Iesu Christi in
ante annum 1637...".  A later hand has rewritten the inscription, now very
faded, on the preceding verso.  The significance of the contemporary [?]
marginal note, f. 127v:  "P. Antonius Ballinghem in Ephemeride 12 Martij..." is
unclear.  Belonged to comte Paul Riant, 1836-88 (not found in the published
catalogue of his collection).  Presented to Yale by Mrs. Henry Farnam, in 1896
(A. B. Benson, "The Scandinavian Collection," Gazette 8 [1933] pp.
49-53).

Barbara A. Shailor