Latin bible, f.325r, (280 x 208 mm), 13th century, Alexander Turnbull Library, MSR-16.
This Latin bible was copied in Italy or France between 1225 and 1275. In the right-hand column there is an historiated initial 'L' (Liber generationis). Historiated initials are so-called because they are decorated with images of living creatures (man or beast) that tell some kind of story or relate to a narrative scene. This initial depicts the generations of the House of David, and signals the beginning of the Gospel of St Matthew. The pages in this bible are decorated with delicate red and blue penwork; red penwork for blue letters, and blue penwork for red letters.
More bibles survive from the thirteenth century than almost any other artefact. Bibles from this period are quite distinctive and differ noticeably from those of the previous century. They were small and portable (twelfth century bibles were very large and usually came in several volumes), the main initials are relatively small, but almost every page contains decoration of some kind (twelfth century bibles tended to have very large illuminated letters at major beginnings and very little in between), and the various books of the bible began to take on the order we know today. In addition, scribal abbreviations were at their most extreme in the thirteenth-century bible in order to fit the whole text into one volume, and navigation pointers began to appear. On this page you can see the running title across the top margin in alternate red and blue letters (Mathevs), showing that this is a page from Gospel of St Matthew.
Latin bible, f.325r, (280 x 208 mm), 13th century, Alexander Turnbull Library, MSR-16.
This Latin bible was copied in Italy or France between 1225 and 1275. In the right-hand column there is an historiated initial 'L' (Liber generationis). Historiated initials are so-called because they are decorated with images of living creatures (man or beast) that tell some kind of story or relate to a narrative scene. This initial depicts the generations of the House of David, and signals the beginning of the Gospel of St Matthew. The pages in this bible are decorated with delicate red and blue penwork; red penwork for blue letters, and blue penwork for red letters.
More bibles survive from the thirteenth century than almost any other artefact. Bibles from this period are quite distinctive and differ noticeably from those of the previous century. They were small and portable (twelfth century bibles were very large and usually came in several volumes), the main initials are relatively small, but almost every page contains decoration of some kind (twelfth century bibles tended to have very large illuminated letters at major beginnings and very little in between), and the various books of the bible began to take on the order we know today. In addition, scribal abbreviations were at their most extreme in the thirteenth-century bible in order to fit the whole text into one volume, and navigation pointers began to appear. On this page you can see the running title across the top margin in alternate red and blue letters (Mathevs), showing that this is a page from Gospel of St Matthew.