Textmanuscripts - Les Enluminures
i (paper) + 233 + i (paper) folios on paper, including 49 folios from two printed editions (ff. 4-5, 8-13, 16-17, 20-21, 22bis-24, 26-27, 30-34, 40-45, 58-63, 92-94, 101-107, 111-112, 114-116 are printed), no watermarks identified, foliated in ink top outer corner recto, 1-13, 15-22, 22bis-113, 113bis, 114-232, missing one leaf (f. 14) (collation i-ii4 iii6 [-6, f. 14, with loss of text] iv-v8 vi6 vii4 viii6 ix8 x4 xi-xii6 xiii-xiv8 xv6 xvi3 [structure uncertain, but apparently complete] xvii6 xviii7 [structure uncertain, but apparently complete] xix4 [-4, cancelled with no loss of text] xx6+1 [+4, unnumbered singleton] xxi-xxii8 xxiii4 xxiv-xxv8 xvi4 xxvii-xxxi8 xxxii4 xxxiii-xxxvi8), no catchwords or signatures; manuscript: ruled in lead with full-length vertical bounding lines (justification 50 x 43 mm.), written in a late cursive gothic script (hybrida script) in twelve long lines, hufnagel notation on 4-line staves on ff. 202-232v, red rubrics, 1- to 2-line red initials; imprint 1, (justification 59 x 38 mm; with borders, 79 x 52 mm.), 23 long lines, red initials, four-part metalcut borders, nine metalcut illustrations above six lines of text (described below), imprint 2, ff, 40-45, (justification 65 x 44 mm.), 25 long lines, red headings and 1-line initials, one mounted later engraving (verso front flyleaf), f. 9 mostly detached, opening quires loose, browning to text area throughout, but especially in the section with music, stains, a few metalcuts very partially colored. Contemporary(?) binding of black leather over wooden boards, spine with three raised bands, intact brass clasps, in fragile condition, with the front joint very worn and partially separating, slight crack in the top middle of the spine, and damage to the bottom of the spine, back cover heavily scraped and rubbed. Dimensions 88 x 68 mm.
This unique hybrid prayer book was carefully tailored to the liturgical and devotional needs of a nun at the convent of St. Maximin’s in Cologne. Painstakingly assembled by combining handwritten manuscript pages with pages from two different printed books, including a Book of Hours with metalcuts, this is an unusually intricate example and one that was almost certainly made by the nuns themselves. Small-format devotional books like the two imprints used to construct this tiny volume tend to survive in very few copies, often as unica, and their identification is of special interest.
1. Written for, and very likely at, the convent of Augustinian nuns of St. Maximin, Cologne, as shown from the contents, especially the saints included in the litanies, and the use of the Hours of the Virgin. The evidence of the script and decoration suggests this was made as late as the end of the seventeenth century or in the early eighteenth century, c. 1680-1710, incorporating leaves from much earlier printed books, c. 1500-1525. The manuscript portions of our volume may be compared with Cologne, Diözesan- und Dombibliothek, Cod. 1006, copied not before 1712 (Horst, 2021, pp. 136-137, abb. 96).
Feminine forms are used within the text (for example, ff. 134v, 142v, 144v, and in many other prayers), rubrics mention “the sisters,” and the prayer on f. 98 mentions “beato maximino patronis nostro” (our patron, St. Maximin). The first litany includes the two Ewalds (Münster, Osnabruck, Paderborn, Cologne), Maternus, bishop of Cologne, Kunibert, bishop of Cologne (basilica in Cologne), Heribert, archbishop of Cologne, Anno, archbishop of Cologne; these last three also appear in the second litany, beginning on f. 66v, along with Respondiasticus, Theodiscus, Amerus, Clementinus, Maximin, Augustine, Leophania, Pignosa, Walbina, Eufrosina, Firmendina, Euergisla, and Amanda. Darmstadt, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, Inc. I/20, another hybrid book from St. Maximin, includes a very similar litany with these saints, many of whom are unusual and local to this convent (see also Kessel, 1863, p. 245 ff., listing relics associated with St. Ursula at St. Maximin: Amerus, Leophania, Clementinus, Theodorus, Walbina, Euphrosina, and Respondiasticus).
St. Maximin was founded in the twelfth century, certainly before 1186, and was an Augustinian foundation by 1281; the foundation flourished in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries after relics of saints associated with St. Ursula were found in their grounds in 1348 (Arntz, Neu, and Vogts, 1937, p. 236). The nuns ran a brewery and a linen weaving workshop in the later Middle Ages. The convent joined the Windesheim congregation in 1446 (Horst, 2021). Numerous manuscripts survive from their library (discussed below). It was closed in 1802.
2. Owner’s inscription, front flyleaf, “C. Abel, 1869.”
3. Private European Collection.
Frontispiece, Image of the Immaculate Conception of Mary (engraving on paper cut from another volume and pasted on the verso of the front flyleaf);
ff. 1-39v, Hours of the Virgin (use of St. Maximin Cologne), with Matins beginning “Nativitas tua dei genitrix virgo gaudium annuntiavit …”; ff. 4-5v are printed, with Psalms 8, 18, 23, with the response, “Speciosa facta esset” copied on a paper slip, glued over the original printed response; text continues with manuscript leaves, and then concludes with printed ff. 8-9 (opening text on f. 8, copied on a slip glued onto the printed sheet; final prayer f. 9 written on the printed page); ff. 9v-13v, Lauds, printed, [f. 14 missing], and then continuing in manuscript ff. 15rv (with the final prayer finishing on a paper slip inserted after f. 15v); ff. 16-18v, Prime (with 16-17v, printed); ff. 19-22v, Terce (ff. 20-21v, printed, but with new handwritten text pasted over f. 21v); ff. 22bis-25v, Sext (ff. 22bis-24v, printed, but with handwritten text pasted over f. 24v); ff. 26-29v (ff. 26-27v, printed, with handwritten text pasted over f. 27v); ff. 30-33, Vespers (printed); ff. 33v-36v, Compline (ff. 33v-34v, printed), followed by f. 37, Gloria; and f. 38v, Salve Regina;
The Use of Hours of Virgin in our volume agrees with other manuscripts from the Augustinian nuns of St. Maximin Cologne (see Achten, Eizenhöfer, Knaus, 1972, nos. 44 and 50). The text in our manuscript, with its combination of print and manuscript shows a few discrepancies, but agreement is generally close (lacking the Suffrages following Lauds found in no. 44)
ff. 40-45v, Prayers, beginning with prayers said when a sister is given extreme unction (the Pater noster, and Ave), Wan unser schwestern ein die lechte olung … [rubric in red copied on paper pasted over the text on the printed page; ff. 40-45v, printed Psalms and prayers (from a second manuscript);
ff. 46-56v, [all manuscript] Litany, very long with numerous petitions, and prayers, concluding with prayers said by the priest when visiting the sick; [f. 57rv, blank];
ff. 58-77v, Penitential Psalms, ff. 58-63v, all printed, with a prayer beginning f. 63v pasted on the printed sheet, and litany, beginning on f. 66v;
ff. 77v-101, Prayers for the dead and burial, including Die kleine commendation beginning on f. 81, incipit, “Subvenite sancti dei occurite angeli domini …”; [ff. 92-94, printed, with text pasted over f. 94v, and a small slip with text inserted after];
ff. 101-125, Office of the Dead (ff. 101-107v and 111-112v, 114-116v, printed), unidentified use (responses nos.14, 72, 24; 32, 28, 18; 68, 11; not listed in Ottosen, 1993), there is no versicle or response following the ninth reading (1 Cor 15:51-57);
The Use of the Office of the Dead does not agree with other volumes from St. Maximin described in Achten, Eizenhofer, Knaus, 1972 (nos. 16, 44, 50).
ff. 125-156, [Prayers for the dead; the Major (grosse) Commendation], Die grosse commendation, …; [f. 156v, blank];
ff. 157-188v, [Prayers for the dying and for the dead, for the most part translated into German], Das Gebett Respice zu teutsehen, …, incipit, “O herr Jesu christe empfange diesen psalmen …”;
ff. 188v-201, Commemorations for the dead, beginning with the feast of All Saints; the liturgical directions here are detailed and include mention of prayers in the refectory and processions on various occasions; [f. 201v, blank];
ff. 202-233v, Noted Office of the Dead (?), abbreviated.
The Penitential Psalms and Litany and the Office of the Dead were fundamental to the devotional life of Christians, both clerical and lay, in the later Middle Ages and for centuries after. In monasteries these Offices were said as adjuncts to the Divine Office and as such they are often included in Breviaries, but they were also found in personal volumes such as this one, alongside other prayers and liturgical Offices for the dying and the dead (commonly, the commendations, funeral service, and rite of burial). Praying for the departed members of one’s own community and for the broader monastic family and benefactors was an essential part of monastic life. Alongside these texts, this volume also includes the Hours of the Virgin, prayers that could be part of the communal liturgy of the nuns or said privately by individuals. Small volumes such as this were often made for the personal use of one nun and offer us a particularly intimate glimpse into the liturgical and spiritual life at St. Maximin’s.
The relationship between our volume and another hybrid book from St. Maximin’s, Darmstadt, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, Inc. I/20, which combines a sixteenth-century manuscript (with later additions) and a Psalter printed in Cologne in 1499, is worth underlining, since their textual contents are not dissimilar (although our volume includes the Hours of the Virgin, not found in this other book). Both include liturgical prayers for the sick, dying, and for the dead in Latin with some German, and very similar saints in the Litanies.
Forty-five pages from a small format printed Book of Hours, with each page decorated with full metalcut borders of Renaissance motifs including acanthus, and putti (ff. 4-5, 8-13, 16-17, 20-21, 22bis-24, 26-27, 30-34, 58-63, 92-94, 101-107, 111-112, 114-116); five pages from another small format book (ff. 40-45) are not illustrated and do not include borders; both imprints are unidentified.
Nine metalcuts, measuring c. 48 x 38 mm. from the printed Book of Hours, placed above six lines of text, and beginning with a decorative initial; there is one later engraving pasted on the verso of the front flyleaf.
Subjects as follows:
Front flyleaf, verso, engraving of the Immaculate Conception of Mary from a later source, 78 x 48 mm., at top, “Unbefleckte Empfängniis Mariae 8 Dec.,” and at bottom four lines of text, ending imperfectly, “Kein gewissen, Es ist nichts frewdigers ausserdem … gewissen und//.”
f. 9v, Visitation;
f. 16, Nativity;
f. 20, Annunciation to the Shepherds;
f. 23, Adoration of the Magi;
f. 26, Tree of Jesse;
f. 30, Flight into Egypt;
f. 33v, Coronation of Mary;
f. 58, Bathsheba bathing;
f. 92v, Raising of Lazarus.
“Hybrid book” is a term used today for mixed-media volumes produced in the age of printing, including volumes that combine hand-written and printed texts and printed volumes with illuminations or other decoration done by hand (Hindman and Farquhar, 1977; Hindman, 2009; Rudy, 2019; McKitterick, 2003). Books that include both manuscript and printed sections eloquently underline the continued importance of the handwritten book for many centuries after the discovery of printing. One genre of hybrid books that is often associated with nuns are books that combine manuscript sections with a printed Psalter; an example of this type of book survives from the convent of St. Maximin’s, Cologne (discussed above; for other examples, most but not all made for and/or by nuns, see McKitterick, 2003, pp. 42-3, 51, and the books formerly on this site, TM 148, 172, 759, and 875).
This is an unusually complex, and ingenious, example of a hybrid book, using leaves from two unidentified imprints including, most extensively, an illustrated Book of Hours, to supplement the lengthy handwritten text, providing text (chiefly the Hours of the Virgin, the Penitential Psalms, and the Office of the Dead) and illustrations for their prayer book. The printed leaves were not simply inserted en bloc. Instead, they are carefully interwoven with manuscript leaves, and customized by adding text on pasted-on sheets (covering unwanted text), and occasionally inserting half or smaller sheets. The result is a unique prayer book, carefully tailored to the liturgical and devotional needs of a nun at St. Maximin’s, Cologne.
For a discussion of manuscripts from St. Maximin’s from the fifteenth through the eighteenth century, see Horst, 2021, pp. 132-147. Handschriften Portal (Online Resources) lists only seven manuscripts (a partial list) and provides links to the very useful published descriptions of the manuscripts in Darmstadt: Darmstadt, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Darmstadt, HS 1141, Kollektar, c.1500, and HS 979, Nocturnale, c. 1485 (Eizenhöfer and Knaus, 1968, nos. 100, 123), Hs. 229, Horarium, c. 1490, Inc. I/20, Prayerbook with printed Psalter, and Hs. 964, Horarium, 1505, made at Aachen for St. Maximin (Achten, Eizenhöfer, Knaus, 1972, nos. 50, 16, 44), and Greifswald, Universitätsbibliothek, Hs 3, Prayerbook, ripuar.-lat., end 15th century, and Hs. 16, Prayerbook, ripuar., c. 1525-1550.
Achten, Gerard, Leo Eizenhöfer, and Hermann Knaus. Die lateinischen Gebetbuchhandschriften der Hessischen Landes- und Hochschulbibliothek Darmstadt, Wiesbaden, 1972.
Arntz, Ludwig, Heinrich Neu, and Hans Vogts. “Augustinerkloster S. Maximin,” in Paul Clemen, Hans Vogts, Fritz Witte, eds. Die Kunstdenkmäler der Rheinprovinz vol. 7, Erg.-band., Düsseldorf 1937, pp. 235-238.
Bönnen, Gerold and Frank G. Hirschmann. Klöster und Stifte von um 1200 bis zur Reformation, Geschichtlicher Atlas der Rheinlande IX.3, Bonn, 2006.
Eizenhöfer, Leo and Hermann Knaus. Die Handschriften der Hessischen Landes- und Hochschulbibliothek Darmstadt; Bd. 2: Die liturgischen Handschriften der Hessischen Landes- und Hochschulbibliothek Darmstadt, Wiesbaden, 1968.
Engels, Odilo. Klöster und Stifte von der Merowingerzeit bis um 1200, Geschichtlicher Atlas der Rheinlande, IX.2., Bonn, 2006.
Gechter, Marianne. “Köln- St. Maximin,” in Manfred Groten, Georg Mölich, Gisela Muschiol, and Joachim Oepen, eds, Nordrheinisches Klosterbuch. Lexikon der Stifte und Klöster bis 1815, Teil 3: Köln, Siegburg, 2022, pp. 563-569.
Hindman, Sandra. Pen to Press, Paint to Print: Manuscript Illumination and Early Prints in the Age of Gutenberg, Paris and Chicago, 2009.
Hindman, Sandra and James Douglas Farquhar. Pen to Press: Illustrated Manuscripts and Printed Books in the First Century of Printing, College Park, 1977.
Horst, Harald and Svena Trübenback, “Augustiner-Chorfrauenstift St. Maximin in Köln,” in Harald Horst, Karen Straub, and Manuela Beer. Von Frauenhand: mittelalterliche Handschriften aus Kölner Sammlungen, Munich, 2021, pp. 130-147.
Kessel, Johann Hubert. St. Ursula und Ihre Gesellschaft. 1863.
Krämer, S. Handschriftenerbe des deutschen Mittelalters, Teil 2: Köln-Zyfflich, Mittelalterliche Bibliothekskataloge: Deutschlands und der Schweiz, Ergänzungsband I, Munich, 1989.
McKitterick, David. Print, Manuscript and the Search for Order, 1450-1830. Cambridge, 2004.
Ottosen, Knud. The Responsories and Versicles of the Latin Office of the Dead, Aarhus, 1993.
Rudy, Kathryn M. Image, Knife, and Gluepot: Early Assemblage in Manuscript and Print, Cambridge, 2019.
https://www.openbookpublishers.com/product/806
Handschriften Portal
https://handschriftenportal.de/
Augustinerinnenkloster Sankt Maximin
https://www.kuladig.de/Objektansicht/O-13593-20110718-20
Augustinerinnenkloster St. Maximin, Altes Koln
https://altes-koeln.de/wiki/Augustinerinnenkloster_St._Maximin
K. Ottosen, “Responsories and Versicles of the Latin Office of the Dead”
http://www-app.uni-regensburg.de/Fakultaeten/PKGG/Musikwissenschaft/Cantus/Ottosen/search.html
TM 1180
