Textmanuscripts - Les Enluminures

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[ANONYMOUS], Warhafftiger gründ und zeugnis vnsers Cristlichen glaubens aus heiligen schrifften des alten und newen Testaments trewlich und vleissig zusamen gezogen … dürch einen hochgelerten der Heiligen Schrifft (Authentic foundation and testimony of our Christian Faith taken from the Sacred Scripture of the Old and New Testaments, attentively and faithfully chosen … by a learned connoisseur of Holy Scripture)

In German, hybrid manuscript on parchment )
Germany, Saxony (Leipzig?), c. 1570-1576 (before 1576) )
Twelve small woodcuts, full woodcut borders on every page, all hand-colored and heightened with gold

TM 1221

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ii (paper, pastedown and facing leaf colored and gilt) + 48 + iv (paper, pastedown and facing leaf colored and gilt) on parchment with 9 paper leaves on paper (f. 31 and ff. 41-48, which are blank), modern foliation in pencil bottom corner recto on most folios as space allows, possibly missing two leaves from quire nine (collation i² ii-iv⁴ v⁴[1, 4, single, 4, f. 18, detached] vi⁴ vii²⁺¹[1, f. 23, single, 2, f. 24 signed ‘f’] viii⁴ [3, f. 28, signed ‘G’] ix³ [possibly originally a quire of 4, now missing 2-3; 2, f. 31, is an inserted singleton on paper, f. 30, signed ‘K’] x⁴ [f. 33, singed ‘K’] xi⁴ xi⁸ [beginning f. 40, paper]), most quires are signed with capitals inscribed in roundels in the lower borders on the first leaf of the quire (missing ‘H’ and ‘I’ and with ‘K’ twice), (justification 93 x 53 mm.), calligraphically written in elaborate flourished calligraphic Fraktur script with some titles and headings with ample use of gold or silver outlining, FULL WOODCUT BORDERS on every parchment page except f. 40v, TWELVE SMALL WOODCUTS inserted throughout the text, borders and woodcuts all hand-colored and heightened with gold, f. 18 detached, last parchment page with wormholes, paper leaves stained in the gutter, cockled (opening leaves with deeper creases). Bound in dark brown leather in seventeenth or eighteenth century, spine with four raised bands, two clasps, gilt edges, binding almost completely detached from book block at the front hinge. Dimensions 120 x 75 mm.

Exceptionally interesting devotional work, which tells the story of salvation from the Fall of Adam to the Last Judgement through short extracts from the Bible in German, using Martin Luther’s translation. This is a deluxe manuscript, copied in a calligraphic script, extravagantly outlined in gold and silver, and illustrated throughout with small woodcuts and woodcut borders on every page, both skillfully hand colored. The very rare imprint (a unicum?) of this text includes a shield of the Prince Elector Augustus of Saxony, and may have originated in his circle. Our newly discovered manuscript alters our understanding of this text, hitherto known in a single manuscript, which can now be studied as an important witness to the reception of the Bible in Reformation Germany.

Provenance

1. Copied in Germany, most likely in Leipzig c. 1570-1576, perhaps for someone with ties to the Masonic Order; it can be dated before 1576 based on the evidence of the dates added by early owner(s) on ff. 1v-2; the meaning of the cryptic letters on f. 2 (perhaps initials, perhaps partially in code) is unclear, but possibly the two hearts copied at the top of the page within ‘1576’ enclosing letters ‘S’ and ‘AE’ might mean this was owned by, or even commissioned as a gift to a couple with these initials.

Establishing when and where our manuscript was copied must also take into account the evidence of a closely related manuscript with essentially the same text and illustrations, now Philadelphia, Free Library, MS Lewis E.255 (formerly Les Enluminures, TM 182), and an imprint, printed in Leipzig by Jakob Bärwald Erben in 1581 (identified in only one copy, Paris, BnF, Vélins-1790), with the same text and woodcut borders as the manuscript copies, but different illustrations. In our manuscript, the initials “B/V/E/S,” diagonally separated by engravers’ burins or woodcutting tools, are found in round medallions in the bottom border throughout the manuscript (ff. 5v, 9v, 10v, 13v, 17v, 18v, 20v, 29v, and 39v; alternatively, one could read the initials as “EBVS”). In each case, the Masonic symbol of a square and compass round is found the round medallions on the previous recto (ff. 5, 9, and so forth through f. 39). These same initials are found in both MS Lewis E.255 (ff. 11v, 19v, 24v, 30v, and 43v) and in the 1581 edition. They have not been identified, but they may have some connection with the artists who worked on the woodcuts. The masonic symbol, however, is found only in the manuscript described here, and it may suggest this copy was made for someone who belonged to that order.

Leipzig seems a likely place of origin, given the links with the 1581 Leipzig edition and with MS Lewis E.255, which is still bound in its original sixteenth-century binding, which can be localized to Leipzig or Wittenberg in the last quarter of the century. This connection with the 1581 imprint may also offer a further clue to the origin of this text. In the lower borders of the 1581 edition, there is a blank heraldic shield filled with the arms of the Prince Elector Augustus of Saxony (1526-1586), who succeeded to the electorate of Saxony in 1553. A reputed bibliophile, he commissioned manuscripts and imprints for the Electoral Library founded in Dresden in 1556. His link with the printed edition raises the possibility that one or both closely related and very deluxe manuscripts could have been made for him or for someone in his circle.

2. Remained in Germany through the eighteenth century, as suggested by the brief religious notes added on f. 48v, and the hymn and other notes copied in ink on a small piece of laid paper, preserved loose within the manuscript.

3. Private Collection.

Text

f. 1, Title-page,Warhafftiger/ gründ un[d] zeugnis v[n]/sers Cristliche[n] glaube[n]s/ aus heilige[n] schrifften/ des alten und newen/ Testaments trew/lich und vleissig/ zusamen gezo/gen allen fro[m]/men Christe[n]/ zü einer le/re unnd/ Trost/ dürch/ einen hochgelerte[n] der/ Heiligen Schrifft (Authentic foundation and testimony of our Christian Faith taken from the Sacred Scripture of the Old and New Testaments, attentively and faithfully chosen and gathered together for all pious Christians for their teaching and consolation, by a learned connoisseur of Holy Scripture);

ff. 1v-2, [Originally blank but with woodcut borders; now with later notes], f. 1v, 1576, with a crowned ‘M’ following the ‘5’, and letters below (their meaning unclear); f. 2, 1576 copied twice at the top, with hearts following the ‘5’; in the first heart an ‘S’, and in the second ‘AE’; further letters below, and later names including Michel B<…?>, dated 1600; [f. 2v, blank, but with a woodcut border];

ff. 3-6, [Creation], Schöpffung, incipit, “Genes:1. Am anfang schuff Gott himel und erden…”;

ff. 6-9v, [Fall of Man], Fall Adam, incipit, “Genes:2. Vnnd Gott der Herr geboth dem mennschen …”;

ff. 9v-12v, [Conception], Empfengnis, incipit, “Genes:3. Des Weibes Santen soll …”;

ff. 12v-15v, [Nativity], Gebürth, incipit, “Genes:22. In deinem samen sollen …”;

ff. 15v-18v, [Mount of Olives], Olberg, incipit, “Esai:53. Wier gingen alle …”;

ff. 18v-21, [Arrest of Christ], Gefengnis, incipit, “Esai:53. Er ist unter die ubelteter…”;

The biblical verse here is not Isaiah 53, but rather Luke 22:37; Free Library, MS Lewis E.255 has the same error. On f. 19, a passage from Psalm 18:4-, is incorrectly identified as Psalm 68. The Free Library manuscript correctly identifies it as Psalm 18.

ff. 21v-23, [Flagellation], Geisselung, incipit, “Psal:22. Grosse farren haben mich ….” ;

On f. 23 Isaiah 53:4 is correctly identified; in MS Lewis E.255 it is incorrectly identified as ch. 55. The long extract from Psalm 35 in MS Lewis E.255 is omitted in our copy, where Isaiah 53 is immediately followed by John 19.

ff. 23v-25v, [Passion], Aussfürüng, incipit, “Genes:22. Abraham nam …”;

This section concludes with John 19; in MS Lewis E.255, the passage from John 19 is followed by Hebrews 13, lacking in our copy.

ff. 25v-26, [Crucifixion], Creutzigung, incipit, “Deut: 21. Ein geheneter ist …”;

The text in our manuscript is much briefer than the text in MS Lewis E.255 (our manuscript omits the woodcut illustration, and passages from Luke 23, Romans 5, 1 Kings 2 and Matthew 20.) Note the passage from John 12, found in both manuscripts, is correctly identified in our manuscript (MS Lewis E.255 mis-identifies it as John 20).

ff. 26v-28v, [Entombment], Begrebnüs, incipit, “Psal: 16. Mein fleisch …”;

ff.28v-31v, [Resurrection], Auffersteüng, incipit, “Psal:16. Du wirst meine seele … ”;

ff.30v-31, [Ascension], Himelfardt, incipit, “Psal:47, Gott ferret …”; [f. 31v, blank].

Text here extremely brief (much shorter than the text in MS Lewis E.255) and lacks an illustration. Our manuscript includes only brief excepts from Psalms 47 and 68, the latter completed on an inserted paper leaf (f. 31), an addition that appears contemporary; note this insert is erroneously titled “Auffersteüng.” It is possible that our manuscript is lacking two folios here (see collation above, quire 9), but the insertion of this leaf would suggest otherwise.

ff. 32-35, [Descent of the Holy Spirit], Sendung des heiligen Geistes, incipit, “[Genes:1]. Himmel und erden …”;

ff. 35-36v, [Resurrection of the Dead], Ausffersteung der Toden, incipit, “Ezech:37. Ich will ewer greber …”;

No illustration either here or in MS Lewis E.255.

ff. 37-38v, [On the Last Judgement], Von iungsten gericht, incipit, “Matt.:25, Wenn aber des menschen …”;

MS Lewis E.255 is imperfect at this point and includes only the beginning of this section and lacks an illustration.

ff. 38v-40, [On Eternal Life], Von ewigen leben, incipit, “Psal.:17. Ich wil schawen dein …, Joh.:17. Das ist das ewige Leben … erkennen, Amen.”

No illustration here or in MS Lewis E.255.

This small devotional work consists of biblical quotations in German arranged according to subjects retelling the story of salvation, beginning with the Creation and the Fall of Man, and then focusing on the Life and Passion of Christ, and concluding with the Last Judgement and Eternal Life. The biblical excerpts appear to all be from Luther’s German translation of the Bible (Online Resources). The author of this text, the “learned connoisseur of Holy Scripture” (“einen Hochgelerten der Heiligen Schrifft”) named in the title, chose to remain anonymous. As noted above (Provenance), there are only two other copies of the text, one a contemporary manuscript, Philadelphia, Free Library, MS Lewis E.255 (formerly Les Enluminures, TM 182), and the other an imprint, printed in Leipzig by Jakob Bärwalds Erben in 1581 (identified in only one copy, Paris, BnF, Vélins-1790, Online Resources; OCLC, World Cat.460899308, listing only this copy; recorded in Van Praet, 1822, vol. I, no. 475, p. 348; not recorded by VD-16). According to the Les Enluminures’s description of TM 182, the imprint contains the same biblical extracts organized according to the same devotional themes, with the same series of woodcut borders. However, although it is illustrated with a series of small woodcut depicting the same subjects as those found in the manuscript copies, these woodcuts are not from the same series and have been left uncolored.

We have done preliminary comparisons of the text in this manuscript and the text in the manuscript now in Philadelphia at the Free Library, MS Lewis E.255. Comparing the text of these two manuscripts with the text of the imprint remains a desideratum. These comparisons show that the two manuscripts include the same text, but they are not identical copies of the same exemplar (or of one another): the title pages show small discrepancies, there are spelling differences throughout, and there are differences in the text. The text in our manuscript is shorter than the text in MS Lewis E.255 in four sections. In three this may be a deliberate abbreviation or reflect a shorter text in our manuscript’s exemplar (see above, Flagellation, f. 23; Passion, f. 25v, and Crucifixion, ff. 25-26). It is more difficult to interpret the situation in the Ascension section, where there is an added leaf (see above, ff. 30v-31), and the quire structure suggests leaves may be missing, or perhaps deliberately rearranged by the scribe to correct an error. There are also interesting errors in the identification of the biblical quotations in both manuscripts, as shown in the following examples. The biblical verse here is not Isaiah 53, but rather Luke 22:37; MS Lewis E.255 has the same error (the previous section began with Isaiah 53). On f. 19, a passage from Psalm 18:4, is incorrectly identified as Psalm 68. MS Lewis E.255 correctly identifies it as Psalm 18. On f. 23 Isaiah 53:4 is correctly identified in our manuscript; in MS Lewis E.255 it is incorrectly identified as chapter 55. However, the passage from John 12 on f. 26 is correctly identified in our manuscript, but MS Lewis E.255 identifies it as John 20.

The evidence of our newly discovered manuscript changes our understanding of this text. Even our preliminary comparison of the two manuscripts suggests that neither of them was copied from one another. Based on this textual evidence, we can postulate the existence of at least an additional copy of the text (or more) that served as the exemplar(s) of both existing manuscripts–either another manuscript, or even, another printed edition, now lost. Moreover, it seems likely MS Lewis E.255 dates earlier than the previously suggested date of c. 1580, perhaps even earlier than our manuscript. The relationship between these two manuscripts and the 1581 imprint remains a matter for further study, but the previous suggestion that MS Lewis E.255 was the presentation copy or a preparatory copy for that edition now seems less likely.

Illustration

The manuscript is illustrated throughout with 12 woodcuts, all skillfully hand colored, with plentiful use of gold for highlights. Every page (including the title page and all the text pages including those with woodcuts) is framed by four-sided woodcut borders, also hand colored.

Twelve of the devotional themes in our manuscript are illustrated with a woodcut (the Crucifixion and the Ascension are not illustrated). MS Lewis E.255 includes 13 woodcuts in total, including those for the Crucifixion and Ascension, not found in our manuscript, but it is missing its illustration for the Last Judgement. Neither manuscript has illustrations for the Resurrection of the Dead, or for the final theme, On Eternal Life, but these do not appear to be missing. The 1581 imprint includes a different series of 14 woodcuts, including a final woodcut of Christ in Majesty.

Subjects as follows:

f. 3, Creation of Eve from Adam’s rib (45 x 52 mm.);

f. 7, Fall of Adam and Eve (45 x 52 mm.);

f. 11, Annunciation (45 x 50 mm.);

f. 14, Nativity (Adoration of the Shepherds) (45 x 52 mm.);

f. 17, Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane (46 x 52 mm.);

f. 21, Kiss of Judas (43 x 52);

f. 23, Flagellation of Christ (43 x 52 mm.);

f. 25, Christ carrying the Cross (45 x 52 mm.);

f. 28, Entombment (45 x 53 mm.);

f. 29v, Resurrection (46 x 51 mm.);

f. 34, Pentecost (51 x 45 mm.);

f 37, Last Judgement (51 x 45 mm.).

The same woodcuts borders found in both manuscripts of this text also frame imprint, Leipzig, Jacobs Berwaldts Erben, 1581 (the imprint that includes the arms of Prince Augustus of Saxony, not found in the manuscripts). Jakob Bärwald (also Berwald or Berwaldt) was active in Leipzig from 1541 until his death in 1570; his imprint continued as Bärwalds Erben, that is the heirs of Jakob Bärwald, until 1585, when his son Zacharias began printing in his own name (Reske, 2007, p. 520; Winger, 1981; Benzing, 1963, p. 263; and Online Resources). It would be interesting to see how often other titles printed by Jakob Bärwald use similar woodcut borders; many of his imprints have now been digitized, making this a very practical small research project (see VD-16; Online Resources). To cite one example, some of the blocks used in the borders in Seelen Ertzney, für die Gesunden vnd Krancken in Tods nöten, Leipzig, durch Jacobum Berwald, 1553 (VD16 R 1921) are also found in the borders of our manuscript, although the borders in these two volumes are not identical.

Although the creators of the woodcuts in these books have not yet been identified, the initials “B/V/E/S” found in some of the lower borders may at some point make an identification possible (the initials are separated by what looks like engravers’ burins or woodcutting tools; see Provenance above). The woodcuts themselves in our volume are unsigned. The woodcuts in MS Lewis E.255 are also unsigned, with the reported exception of two woodcuts that bear an initial or monogram “I” in the lower righthand corner: ff. 35, the Resurrection, unsigned in our manuscript; and f. 42, Pentecost, also unsigned in our manuscript (we were unable to verify this in the digital reproduction of MS Lewis E.255 available online). A Monogrammist “I” is recorded by Nagler as active in Wittenberg in 1572 (Nagler, 1858-1879, vol. 3, no. 1745).

Although the artists are still unidentified, we can observe that they are working in the tradition of Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), often, although not exclusively, using his Small Passion of 1511 as a source, and his followers, in particular Heinrich Aldegrever (1502-1561), who was born in Paderborn, and spent much of his career in Soest. Some selective examples follow. The Creation of Eve is very close to the engraving by Aldegrever from his 1540 series The Story of Adam and Eve (Online Resources). His Fall of Adam from the same series is not as obvious a source for the woodcut in our manuscript. Aldegrever shows both Adam and Eve standing, as does Durer’s 1504 engraving, and our artist depicts them sitting, but he may have been inspired by these earlier interpretations of the subject. The Adoration of the Shepherds here also seems to be based on an engraving by Aldegrever. Our Annunciation is similar Durer’s c. 1509-1511 engraving of the subject; Pentecost is very close to Dürer’s engraving from the Small Passion. The Resurrection seems to borrow both from Aldegrever (note the position of the cloak), and Dürer. (See Online Resources below for links to these comparisons).

As Ruth Bottigheimer and others have discussed, lay reading of the Bible by men, women, and children, especially those of modest means, within Lutheran circles after the Reformation was often not from the Bible itself, but from one of the many devotional works that presented excerpts from the Holy Scripture. These works follow in the tradition of Luther’s Passional, a work intended for children and “simple folk.” The Passional, first published in 1529 (and then appearing in numerous later editions for forty years), was part of Luther’s Betbuchlin (prayer book). It presented the story of the Passion of Christ and other episodes in the Bible, beginning with creation and the Fall of Man and concluding with the Last Judgement, divided into topics, with biblical excerpts and illustrations (Bottigheimer, 1993). Our text certainly follows closely in this tradition, but with a somewhat different and theologically more sophisticated approach. The section on the creation in Luther’s text, for example, includes extracts from Genesis 1, as one would expect. Our manuscript, in contrast, includes not only a passage from Genesis 1, but also other biblical passages relevant to the topic, including verses from Psalms 100 and 37. Ruth Bottigheimer has studied Luther’s Passional as one of the first Lutheran Bibles for children. The text in our manuscript, which to our knowledge has not yet been studied by scholars, is another important chapter in the reception history of the Bible in sixteenth-century Lutheran circles.

Literature

Benzing, J. Die Buchdrucker des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts im deutschen Sprachgebiet, Wiesbaden, 1963.

Bottigheimer, Ruth B. “Bible Reading, Bibles and the Bible for Children in Early Modern Germany,” Past and Present 139 (1993), pp. 66-89.

Henschke, Ekkehard., et al. Luther und Leipzig : Beiträge und Katalog zur Ausstellung. Selbstverlag der Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig, Leipzig, 1996.

Nagler, G. K., et al. Die Monogrammisten, Munich, 1858-1879.

Reske, Christoph. Die Buchdrucker des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts im deutschen Sprachgebiet. Auf der Grundlage des gleichnamigen Werkes von Josef Benzing, Wiesbaden, 2007, p. 520.

Van Praet, Joseph, B. B. Catalogue des livres imprimés sur vélin de la bibliothèque du Roi. Tome premier, Théologie, Paris, 1822, p. 348, no. 475.

Winger, H. W. (1981). The Cover Design. The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy, 51(2), 208–209.

Preview available, https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/601086?journalCode=lq

Online Resources

Philadelphia, Free Library, MS Lewis E.255 (formerly, Les Enluminures, TM 182)
https://bibliophilly.library.upenn.edu/viewer.php?id=Lewis%20E%20255#page/18/mode/2up

Warhafftiger Grund und Zeugnis unsers Christlichen Glaubens aus der Heiligen Schrifft des alten und newen Testaments trewlich unn fleissig zusammen gezogen…Durch einen Hochgelehrten der Heiligen Schrifft, Leipzig, gedrukt durch Jacobs Berwaldts Erben, Anno 1581 [Paris, BnF, Réserve des livres rares, Vélins-1790].
https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb33650633g