YALE UNIVERSITY
BEINECKE RARE BOOK AND MANUSCRIPT LIBRARY
GENERAL COLLECTION OF RARE BOOKS AND
MANUSCRIPTS
PRE-1600 MANUSCRIPTS
Beinecke MS 690
Villeneuve-les-Avignon, s. XIV 2
Carthusian Breviary, mutilated
1. ff. 1r-6v Calendar in black, blue and red, one page for each month. The computistical data
are: length of solar and lunar month, Golden Number, Day Letter, Roman Calendar. Among the
feasts: Hugh Bishop of Grenoble (in red, 1 April), Pontius (11 May, instead of 14 May),
Dedication of the church (in blue, 19 August), Agricola (2 Sept.), Hilarion (21 Oct.), "Reliquiae"
(in blue, 8 Nov.), Sile (28 Nov.). Several additions were made s. XV/XVI: Catherine of Siena (d.
1380, 6 May, but on 29 April "Katherine virginis" is erased), Hugh Bishop of Lincoln (17 Nov.),
Lazarus Bishop of Marseille (17 Dec.). Erased feasts: ******** (29 June) and Conception of Our
Lady (8 Dec., partly erased). The Calendar corresponds in general to the Carthusian Calendar
printed in Grotefend, II, 2, pp. 18-20. Note the spellings "Febroarius" and "Novembre".
f. 7r-v ruled but blank
2. ff. 9r-71v, 8r-v, 72r-75v Roman Psalter, Canticles (from f. 60v onwards) and Hymns (from
f. 71v onwards). The beginnings of the following Psalms are preserved: 7-25, 28-37, 40-51, 55-
67, 69-79, 83-94, 98-107, 110-125, 134-135, 139-150. The only surviving dentelle initials are for
Ps. 113 (Feria II, f. 49v), Ps. 134 (IV, f. 56r), Ps. 141 (Feria VI, f. 57v) and Ps. 144:10 (Sabbato,
f. 59r), for the Canticles "Confitebor tibi, Domine, quoniam iratus est" (Feria II, f. 60v) and
"Domine, miserere mei, te enim expectavi" (Diebus Dominicis, f. 66v) and for the beginning of
the Hymns (Ad Vesperas cothidie ymnus, f. 8r).
3. ff. 76r-79v Office of the Virgin.
4. ff. 80r-241r Temporale.
5. ff. 241r-293v Sanctorale.
6. ff. 293r -302v Commune sanctorum. At the end, in blue: " Vallis
Benedictionis.
a.b.de."
7. ff. 302v-303r Secuntur suffragia sanctorum et primo de Sancta Cruce. The other
suffrages are to the Virgin, John the Baptist, All Saints.
8. f. 303v Incipiunt benedictiones.
Parchment, ff. II + 303 + II, 140 x 100 mm.
The manuscript is heavily mutilated, some leaves are out of order and many (presumably all
illuminated) leaves are cut out. From f. 82 onwards there is early foliation in Roman numerals in
the outer top corner of the rectos, from "V" to "CCLXXVIII"; almost all these numbers seem to
have been altered. There is a parallel and unaltered foliation in Roman numerals in the lower
corner of the rectos, mostly cut off at the trimming of the codex, apparently equally starting with
"V" but from f. ... [XXXI] increasingly diverging:
Upper corner XXXI (f. 106) = lower corner XXX (difference: 1)
LXXIII (f. 145) LXII (difference: 11)
CXXI (f. 183) CIX (difference: 12)
CCXVIII (f. 252) CCV (difference: 13)
Missing leaves: after ff. 8, 16, 21, 26, 30, 37, 42, 48, 56, 75, 79 ; and ff. XXII, XLIII, LXXI,
LXXII, LXXV, LXXIX, XCIII, XCIV, XCVII, CIII, CIX, CXX, CXXVII, CXXXVII,
CXLIII, CXLVI-CXLVIII, CLII, CLV, CLXI, CLXVI-CLXXII, CLXXIV, CLXXVII,
CLXXVIII, CLXXXI, CC, CCVI-CCVIII, CCXIII, CCXIV, CCXVI, CCXXIV, CCXXVIII,
The lower margin of f. 168 is cut off.
The order of the leaves after the missing f. CXXVII is: CXXXVIII - CXLI, CXXVIII -
CXXXVI, CXLIV, CXLV (ff. 189-203).
Collation impossible. The quires are normally quaternions.
Ruled with red or purple ink for two columns of 30 lines below top line, 93/94 x 63/64 mm.,
intercolumnar space 6 mm. Ruling type 46. The Calendar is ruled for one column of 32 lines
below top line, 97 x 63 mm., type 16, with three additional vertical lines within the ruled area.
Copied by one hand in small Northern Gothica Textualis Libraria.
Due to the missing of all important illuminated leaves the description of the decoration is
necessarily very incomplete. Headings in red. Yellow heightening of the majuscules. 1-line
flourished initials alternately red and blue. Numerous 2-line flourished initials in the same
colours. 3-line dentelle initials with partial floral borders in gold (on f. 56r with bar-shaped
extensions, on f. 57v no border).
Binding s. XIX: light-brown leather over pasteboard; the covers gold-tooled with floral border
and centre-piece. Gold-tooled spine with four raised bands. One large modern silver clasp
attached to rear cover. Edges gilt and gauffered.
Copied in the Charterhouse Val de Benediction (Vallis Benedictionis) at
Villeneuve-les-Avignon,
which was founded 1356; the letters "a.b.de." in the colophon are perhaps the initials of the
scribe (see art. 6). In the lower margin of f. 1r the printed ownership-mark: "Cartusiae
Villenovae". On the second front fly-leaf v, in pencil s. XIX: "Manuscrit du commencement du
XIVe siecle". Bookplate of Frederick Haile Stebbins with motto "Inter folia fructus". Gift of the
estate of Frederick H. Stebbins, 5 Dec. 1988.
Albert Derolez
R 17.02.09