PSEUDO-AUGUSTINE, Sermones Ad Fratres In Eremo (Sermons To The Brothers In The Desert); Publius Lentulus, Epistola De Forma Et Statura Jesu Christi Ad Senatum Romanum (Letter On The Form And Stature Of Jesus Christ To The Roman Senate); Sermon By AUGUSTINE; In Latin, Manuscript On Paper -

BOOK DESCRIPTION: EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF A LATE MEDIEVAL CODEX COPIED BY AN IDENTIFIED SCRIBE FOR HIS PERSONAL USE. In Latin, manuscript on paper, Northern Italy, c. 1458. Dimensions 223 x 150 mm, 64 folios (contemporary foliation 1-72, lacking ff. 63-70), copied in 30-36 long lines in an informal cursive script (mercantesca) by a single scribe, calligraphic initial by scribe and first word of each sermon in the left margin, contemporary marginal annotations including nota bene symbols and corrections to or clarifications of the text. BINDING: CONTEMPORARY, ORIGINAL BINDING of leather spine over wooden boards, remains of tawed leather strap closure, evidence of chain hasp attached to lower back board by three nails. TEXT: A sermon collection, attributed to St. Augustine but certainly a later compilation, was a medieval best seller. Here we find selections from the pseudo-Augustinian collection combined with other texts, perhaps chosen by the scribe, including an apocryphal account of Christ's appearance. PROVENANCE: The manuscript was first copied in 1458 by Bartolomeus de Zachariis, as attested by the colophon on f. 62. The Zaccaria were a noble family attested in Genoa from the 12th century. The scribe does not identify himself as a member of a religious order but presumably copied these sermons for his own use in preaching. Later, the manuscript belonged to the library of a Dominican convent, possibly in Verona, according to a 15th century inscription on f. 72v. CONDITION: occasional light stains mostly to margins, few small marginal tears, few small wormholes ff. 1-6, some worming to upper and lower inner corners pastedowns, minor worming in binding, old repairs to spine, minor splitting along the line of nail holes, otherwise in excellent condition. Full description and images available. (TM 1013)