A curious manuscript compilation of texts relating to the Passion of Christ, seemingly made for the compiler’s own use from a variety of sources, rather than copied from a recognised text by another author; from the libraries of Leander van Ess (1772–1847), of Marburg and Darmstadt; Sir Thomas Phillipps; and Phyllis Goodhart Gordan.
Text:
1. (fols. 1r–40v) ‘Secundum legem debet mori Iohannis xix [John 19:7] pro gracia in principio sermonis impetranda […] a deo pro nobis dignissime acceptanda &c.’; ‘Sequitur aliud thema in sanctam passionem domini nostri Ihesu Christi &c. Baiulans sibi crucem exivit Iohannis xix [John 19:17] Iuxta presentem dominice crucifixionis solempnitatem […] digni habeantur. Amen.’; ‘Pro Ingressu sancte passionis. […] possunt speculari devote.’; ‘Tota die exprobrabant michi inimici Ps 101 [Psalm 101:9] […] et simile dicit Iohannes.’; ‘Cum autem per omnes plateas Iherusalem duceretur dominus et ad locum crucifixionis […] tractores bene calciati.’; ‘Anselmus ad beatam virginem. Quomodo fecerunt ei. Maria. Anselme quod modo referam nimis est lamentibile et quod nullus evangelistarum scribit sed ego vidi […]’, including a note on the Tau ‘Τ’ or cross ‘?’ shape of the Cross (fol. 34r).
2. (fols. 41v–71v) A day-by-day series of meditations on the events of the Passion, from Palm Sunday to the Crucifixion: ‘Dicitur autem dies palmarum laudis eo quod Christus tunc a turbis dicitur laudatus et rex appelatus […] Sequentes dies scilicet lune feriam secunda est de misericordie et spei […] Dies martis scilicet feriam tercia […] dicens voce pie menteque serena Ave Maria gratia plena &c. [fol. 64v:] ‘Apprehendit Pylatus Ihesum et flagellavit. Ista valent scripta de passione domini nostri Ihesu Chrsiti secundum que eam describit beatus Iohannes XIX capitulo [John 19:1] et legitur hodie in hiuus diei officio dum secundum glosam interlinealem super verba assumpta Pylatus per milites fecit Ihesum flagellari […, fol. 71v:] Pylatus scribit tytulum scilicet Ihesus Nazareunus rex Iudeorum […] ut diversarum linguarum hominis qui ad diem festum venerant possent legere &c.’
3. (fol. 72r) Four two-line verses: (a) Thomas à Kempis’s mnemonic on the number of Christ’s wounds: ‘Lex quinque quatercentum milia quinque tot fertur Christus pro nobis vulnera passus’; (b) ‘Rex sedet in cena turba cinctus duodena | Se tenet in manibus se cibat ipse cibus’ (Walther, Initia carminum, no. 26863); (c) ‘Ut comedas pascha schandes cenacula celsa | Victima que vicit septem signacula solvit’ (this and the previous verse appear on the St Bernward Chalice, of the 1390s, in the cathedral treasury at Hildesheim); (d) ‘Cecus a nativitate de quo legitur in evangelio dicebatur […; cf. John 1:9]’.
4. (fol. 72r–v) ‘Item mater beati Augustini dicebatur Monica &c. Sequitur aliud thema de passionem Christi. O wÿ gedrunken weren se nechte. O wu vul weren se canende. Pro introductionem istorum verborum […] in manus tuas commendo spiritum meum Luce xxiijo [Luke 23:44] Et tamen de themate &c.’
5. (fols. 73r–75v) ‘Passio tota literalis secundum concordancias quattuor ewangelistorum &c. Pro excitandis cordibus nostris ad devotam meditacionem passionis dominice […]’.
6. (fol. 76v–113v) ‘Tota die exprobrabant michi inimici Psalmus 101 [Psalm 101:9] […]’; it appears that fol. 76 was originally left blank (with the text starting on the verso), but was later used to supply omitted text (written in a single column) that should follow fol. 78v; they are keyed to one another by a matching bold cross symbol in their margins. The handwriting becomes much less dense from the second column on fol. 89v. Fol. 114r–v is ruled, otherwise blank
7. (fol. 115r–v) ‘Quomodo ergo pie domine matrem tuam in exilio derelinquis que dignior est paradiso quam latro […] Et hoc notat magister Suzo doctor’.
Provenance:
1. While not conclusive, the paper suggests that the volume was written in western Germany in the 1470s or ’80s: there are two main watermarks; the more unusual one, easily visible in the back pastedown, is a bull’s head with a line rising between the horns, topped with a letter ‘T’, closest to Briquet nos. 15153–55, which are found in examples dated from 1476 to 1483 from Nancy, Colmar, and Bruyères (all in eastern France); another, found through most of the volume, is a triple mount from which rises a tall slender cross, closest to Briquet nos. 11799–800 and 11804, which are found in examples dated from 1460 to 1487 over a wide geographical area of Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Italy.
2. Leander van Ess (1772–1847), of Marburg and Darmstadt (see Milton McC. Gatch, ‘So Precious a Foundation’: The Library of Leander van Ess at the Burke Library of Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (New York, 1996)): inscribed in pencil in a German hand ‘Ms. 983’ (front pastedown); described in his privately-printed catalogue Sammlung und Verzeichniss handschriftlicher bucher […] welche besitzt Leander van Ess (Darmstadt, 1823), no 304, with a paper label printed ‘104’, changed to ‘304’ (head of the spine); the collection was bought en bloc in 1824 by:
3. Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792–1872), antiquary and book collector: with his ink-stamped crest (fol. ir) and label on spine, both with ‘690’ changed to ‘688’ and his inscription in ink (fol. 1r); in his Catalogus librorum manuscriptorum in Bibliotheca D. Thomæ Phillipps, 1837, no. 688; his sale at Sotheby’s, Further portion of the classical, historical, topographical, genealogical and other manuscripts […], 6 June 1910, lot 100 (a clipping from this catalogue cutting stuck to the front pastedown); bought by:
4. Percy Mordaunt Barnard (1868–1941), antiquarian bookseller and President of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association.
5. H. P. Kraus, 1936, no. 41 (according to an unpublished list of van Ess manuscripts by Milton McC. Gatch); presumably sold by him to:
6. Howard Lehman Goodhart (1884–1951), stockbroker and bibliophile: his gilt red leather book label (front pastedown); passed before 1937 to his daughter:
7. Phyllis Goodhart Gordan (1913–1994): her gilt green leather book label (front pastedown), the pastedown also inscribed in pencil ‘Census 1681 No. 25’ (referring to de Ricci, Census, II (1937), p. 1681 no. 25), ‘No # 25’ on a paper label at the top of the spine; on deposit at Bryn Mawr College until 2025.
