Medieval Manuscripts in Law Book Bindings, no. 3
Fragment: Epistolary (Northern France)
Date: c. 1175-1250
Found in: Bartolomeo, da Brescia. Casus Decretorum. Basel: Nicolaus Kessler, 1489.
The parchment used here as a pastedown comes from an epistolary and shows the epistle readings for two Masses. The first reading is 1 Peter 1:1-7, which was for the feast of the Chair of Saint Peter in Antioch (Cathedra Sancti Petri in Antiochia) on February 22. Originally this feast, commemorating Saint Peter as the first bishop of Antioch, was probably a Christianization of the ancient Roman holiday known as Caristia, when families gathered together to honor the dead and settle feuds. The second column features part of the reading for the feast of Saint Mathias the Apostle on February 24 (Acts 1:15-26). Note the red and blue pen-flourished initials used to mark the beginnings of the readings.
– Notes by Benjamin Yousey-Hindes, Stanford University
POSTSCRIPT: Thanks to Richard Rouse (UCLA) for clarifying the origin of the manuscript fragment.
Larger versions of this and other images are available from the Medieval binding fragments gallery of the Rare Book Collection’s Flickr site. If you can provide additional information about the manuscript fragment displayed here, you are invited to send an email to .
“Reused, Rebound, Recovered: Medieval Manuscript Fragments in Law Book Bindings” is curated by Benjamin Yousey-Hindes and Mike Widener, and is on display through May 2010 in the Rare Book Exhibition Gallery, Level L2, Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School.
