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Carolingian Gospel Book (British Library, MS Add. 11848)

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   This Carolingian Gospel Book is written in a fine Carolingian
   minuscule.
   Enlarge
   This Carolingian Gospel Book is written in a fine Carolingian
   minuscule.

   British Library, Additional Manuscript 11848 is an illuminated
   Carolingian Latin Gospel Book produced at Tours. It contains the
   Vulgate translation of the four Gospels written on vellum in
   Carolingian minuscule with Square and Rustic Capitals and Uncials as
   display scripts. The manuscript has 219 extant folios which measure
   approximately 330 by 230 mm. The text is written in area of about 205
   by 127 mm. In addition to the text of the Gospels, the manuscript
   contains the letter of St. Jerome to Pope Damasus and of Eusebius of
   Caesarea to Carpian, along with the Eusebian canon tables. There are
   prologues and capitula lists before each Gospel. A table of readings
   for the year was added, probably between 1675 and 1749, to the end of
   the volume. This is followed by a list of capitula incipits and a word
   grid which were added in the Carolingian period.

Provenance

   The codex was produced at the Monastery of St. Martin at Tours between
   820 and 830, under the abbacy Fridugisus, who was the successor of
   Alcuin. It is the earliest known Gospel Book from Tours to contain
   portraits of the Evangelists. The location of the book is uncertain
   until the 18th century. There is a book stamp on folio 1 that indicates
   that the volume belonged to Count Suchtelan, the Russian Ambassador to
   Stockholm in the 18th century. In the early 19th century it belonged to
   Lord Strangford. It was sold at Sotheby's in August of 1831 and was
   purchased by Samuel Butler, Bishop of Lichfield. The British Library
   acquired the book along with the rest of Bishop Butler's collection of
   manuscripts.

Decorations

   Folio 109 verso contains a portrait of the Evangelist Luke.
   Enlarge
   Folio 109 verso contains a portrait of the Evangelist Luke.

   The manuscript contains canon tables set within architectural arcades
   which are decorated with zoomorphic and foliate designs. There are four
   evangelist portraits. Each evangelist is shown as a scribe and is
   identified by a half-length symbol above him and by an inscription. The
   portraits show some similarities to some Insular manuscripts and some
   Court School manuscripts, as might be expected given the nationality
   Fridugisus, who was English, and from his connections to the
   Carolingian court. The portraits have been described as being "coarsely
   executed". The manuscript also contains a decorated title page and
   incipit page for each gospel. There are also decorated major and minor
   initials. The major initials are done in early Franco-Saxon style and
   were done by a different artist than the one who did the portraits.

Binding

   The volume still has the its Carolingian treasure binding dating from
   the ninth century. The covers were refurbished in the 14th and 19th
   centuries. The covers are oak panels covered in embossed silver. The
   front cover has the figure of a seated Christ in Majesty enclosed
   within a rectangular frame decorated with stones and foliate designs.
   The majority of the medal work is 9th century typical of mid-ninth
   century Carolingian metalwork. In the four corners of the frame are
   enamels of the four evangelist symbols, which were added in the
   fourteenth century. The enamels were probably produced at Limoges. The
   original colored stones were replaced by jewels in 1838 for Bishop
   Butler. There are relics of finger bones from an anonymous saint
   embedded on the interior of the boards. The clasps for the volume were
   probably replaced in the 19th century.
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