British Library, Egerton MS 609 is a Breton Gospel Book from the late or third quarter of the ninth century. It was created in France, though the exact location is unknown. The large decorative letters which form the beginning of each Gospel are similar to the letters found in Carolingian manuscripts, but the decoration of these letters is closer to that found in insular manuscripts, such as the Book of Kells and the Lindisfarne Gospels. However, the decoration in the Breton Gospel Book is simpler and more geometric in form than that found in the Insular manuscripts. The manuscript contains the Latin text of St Jerome's letter to Pope Damasus, St. Jerome's commentary on Matthew, and the four Gospels, along with prefatory material (an introduction) and canon tables (an index for a medieval manuscript). This manuscript is part of the Egerton Collection in the British Library.
Provenance
The Breton Gospel Book was produced in France, most likely in Brittany or Tours. In the fifteenth century, the Benedictine Abbey of St Martin at Tours owned the manuscript; it has the inscription "Iste Liber est de Ecclesia beatissimi Martini Turonensis" on folio 102v (the last page). The Breton Gospel Book was then acquired by the Maurist Abbey of Marmoutiers, also in Tours, during the eighteenth century, as evidenced by the inscription "Majoris monasterii Congregationis S Mauri" on folio 1r (the first page). It was bought in 1836 by the British Museum, using money that was left to them from Francis Henry Egerton. Francis Henry Egerton was the 8th Earl of Bridgewater. When he died in 1829, he donated £12,000 and 67 manuscripts to the British Museum creating the Egerton Collection. The money created the Bridgewater Fund, which was used to buy more manuscripts. Before 1973 the British Library had been part of the British Museum, but the British Library Act 1972 separated the library from the museum. Since then, it currently resides at the British Library, and is now part of the Egerton Collection.
Description
The manuscript is believed to be part of the 'Irish-Northumbrian' group. Other manuscripts considered 'Irish-Northumbrian' are the Book of Armagh, the Lichfield Gospels, the Book of Kells and the MacRegol Gospels. There have long been cross-cultural artistic connections between the British Isles and Brittany, which is especially evident in medieval manuscripts, due to their locations across the channel from each other. Breton manuscripts resemble British and Irish decoration with their animal ornamentation, interlace and other designs; while also using the script developed at Tours and earlier Continental decoration.
Contents
The Breton Gospels Book contains St. Jerome's letter to Pope Damasus, The Prologue of St Jerome's commentary on St Matthew, and the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It also includes prefatory material and canon tables, an index for a medieval manuscript. It consists of 102 folios, plus two unfoliated paper flyleaves. The book's dimensions are 310 by 210 mm, or about 12.2 by 8.3 inches. The text space for the script is 230 by 145 mm, or about 9.1 by 5.7 inches, with varying of lines of text per page. The Breton Gospels Book is written in Latin, with Caroline minuscule script. It is thought that the book was copied by an Insular scribe. It is a parchment codex, with ink and pigments on vellum, and was bound after 1600 with red gilt leather, gold tooled paper, and marbled end papers.
Carolingian minuscule began in the eighth century under Charlemagne, but became popular in the ninth century and was created from half-uncial script. Insular script developed in Ireland before spreading to the British Isles and other parts of Europe. Insular script, also known as Insular minuscule, was based on half-uncial. Majuscule in script is for when the letters are capitalized, not lower-cased.
This manuscript has countless items in the margins. Most of it is script, but some of them are small designs.
Decoration
St. Jerome's letter to Pope Damasus was usually placed before the texts of the gospels in a manuscript, and is called 'Novum Opus' because of its first words. In the O of 'Beato' there is a face which was a common decoration in early medieval manuscripts. The face is this manuscript is simple; it has lines forming a basic outline of a human face.