Description
Alternative title
Ambrosii Hexaëmeron
Type of resource
mixed material
Extent
ff. 170 + 2
Date created
[ca. 700 A.D.-799 A.D.]
Language
Latin
Material
Vellum
Layout
23 lines to a page
Height (mm)
285
Width (mm)
190
Collation
1 flyleaf, i(8) (wants 1) ii(8)-vi(8) (1 replaced in cent. ix) vii(8)-x(8) xi(4) xii(8)-xvii(8) (+ 6*) xviii(8)-xxi(8) xxii(6), 1 flyleaf.
Writing
in a large script
Foliation
ff. a-b + i + 1-170 + ii + c-d
Provenance
Is the book from a monastery or church of St Sebastian?
A manuscript note in the College Library copy of Nasmith's Catalogue records Dr Traube's opinion that this manuscript is of cent. viii-ix, and was written at Corbie. Professor W. M. Lindsay confirms this and adds that it is written in the Corbie ab-type of script.
Research
The manuscript is the oldest complete copy of the Hexameron of Ambrose. It is thus described by C. Schenkl in the Vienna edition of Ambrose 1896, I xxxiv: Cantabrigiensis collegii Corporis Christi 193 (C) litteris Langobardicis scriptus, formae oblongae, foliorum 173 saeculi viii. in quaternione sexto folium primum exsectum atque in eius locum alterum manu saeculi viiii scriptum substitutum est. in singulis paginis uersus uiceni terni leguntur. Correctus est hic liber duabus manibus quarum prior (m 2) eiusdem fere cuius prima aetatis est, altera (m 3) ad saeculum viiii referenda.
Additions
Lines are ruled with a dry point on the recto: a vertical line down each side.
An erasure of some length at top of f. 1r. The inscription was in small capitals of cent. xi, and began LIBER SC ... AM ... S. It extends across the top of the page and is continued at the side, where are perhaps 2½ words S ... S / M ... STS / .... I fear it is irrecoverable.
On the margin of f. 148v are about 6 lines of writing running the length of the page: erased and indecipherable by me.
At top of f. 163r is scribbled (ix-x): Conspicitur sus. Conspicit ursus.
There are many scribbles on the final page (f. 170v), some with neumes, e.g.: iesu saluator seculi. Sanctus sebas(tianus). Secundum quod ipse dixit. Ego dormiui et somnum cepi etc.
On the flyleaf at the end (f. iir) are fragments of pencil sketches (xiii-xiv), a tumbler, a beast's head etc. in very good style.
2 fo.
fore praesumit
Abstract/Contents
- Summary
- CCCC MS 193 was written at the end of the eighth century at a centre which wrote the Corbie "ab" type of pre-Caroline minuscule, perhaps Saint Médard, Soissons, where it seems to have early provenance. It contains one of the oldest surviving copies of Ambrose's Hexameron, a commentary on the six days of creation containing much interesting scientific knowledge. It is not clear when it came to England, but it may have arrived in the eleventh century. In 1903 James tentatively suggested it might be identifiable with an entry in Eastry's catalogue of the library of the cathedral priory of Christ Church, Canterbury, but he later abandoned this identification.
- Contents
- Hexameron
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction:
- Images courtesy of The Parker Library, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. For higher resolution images suitable for scholarly or commercial publication, either in print or in an electronic format, please contact the Parker Library directly at parker-library@corpus.cam.ac.uk
- License:
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License