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Detailed record for Oriental 2091

Title Former and Latter Prophets (ff. 1-267v) and Hagiographa (ff. 268-424), with masorah magna and parva
Origin Germany
Date 2nd half of the 13th century
Language Hebrew
Script Ashkenazi square script, main text is punctuated, masorah is unpunctuated
Decoration 30 micrographic designs at the beginning of chapters (ff. 1, 20, 38v, 84, 132, 172v, 203, 239, 243v, 245, 249v, 250, 251, 254, 255, 256v, 258, 259v, 265v, 268, 270v, 309, 324, 335v, 338, 343, 345v, 352, 363, 380). Carmina figurata on several folios (e.g. ff.130v, 131, 131v, 350v, 351, 351v). Catchwords enclosed within pen and ink drawings of figures, usually animals.
Dimensions in mm 340 x 310 (260/245 x 210) in three columns
Official foliation ff. 424 (the upper and the lower inside covers are parchment leaves with Latin text)
Collation 53 quires: i8+1 (ff. 1-9), ii8 (ff. 10-17), iii8 (ff. 18-25), iv8 (ff. 26-33), v8 (ff. 34-41), vi8 (ff. 42-49), vii8 (ff. 50-57), viii8 (ff. 58-65), ix8 (ff. 66-73), x8 (ff. 74-81), xi8 (ff. 82-89), xii8 (ff. 90-97), xiii8 (ff. 98-105), xiv8 (ff. 106-113), xv8 (ff. 114-121), xvi10 (ff. 122-131), xvii8 (ff. 132-139), xviii8 (ff. 140-147), xix8 (ff. 148-155), xx8 (ff. 156-163), xxi8 (ff. 164-171), xxii8 (ff. 172-179), xxiii8 (ff. 180-187), xxiv8-2 (ff. 188-193), xxv8 (ff. 194-201), xxvi8 (ff. 202-209), xxvii8 (ff. 210-217), xxviii8 (ff. 218-225), xxix8 (ff. 226-233), xxx8 (ff. 234-241), xxxi8 (ff. 242-249), xxxii8 (ff. 250-257), xxxiii8 (ff. 258-265), xxxiv10 (ff. 266-275), xxxv8 (ff. 276-283), xxxvi8 (ff. 284-291), xxxvii8 (ff. 292-299), xxxviii8 (ff. 300-307), xxxix8 (ff. 308-315), xl8 (ff. 316-323), xli8 (ff. 324-331), xlii8 (ff. 332-339), xliii8 (ff. 340-347), xliv12 (ff. 348-359), xlv8 (ff. 360-367), xlvi8 (ff. 368-375), xlvii8 (ff. 376-383), xlviii8 (ff. 384-391), xlix8 (ff. 392-399), l8 (ff. 400-407), li8 (ff. 408-415), lii6-3 (ff. 416-418), liii6 (ff. 419-424).
Form Parchment codex
Binding Pre-1600 (dated: 1524).
Provenance Scribal formula: 'Blessed is He who gives strength to the tired. Grow stronger and let us grow stronger, no harm befall on the copist' (f. 424).
Notes in Latin with some Greek on the content (early modern) (f. 424v).
Acquired by the British Museum in 1879.
Notes Originally part of a complete bible. Latin titles of the books and the numbers of the chapters are written at the foot of each recto.
Pricking and ruling are visible.
Small pieces of leather are glued to the parchment to mark the beginning of each biblical book. Lacuna after f. 190 due to a missing bifolio from the middle of quire xxiv (the missing text: Isaiah 38:9-42:4).
Select bibliography George Margoliouth, Catalogue of the Hebrew and Samaritan Manuscripts in the British Museum, 4 vols (London: British Museum, 1899-1935; vols I-III repr. 1965); IV, Introduction, Indexes, ed. by Jacob Leveen (London: British Museum, 1977), I, no. 117.

Therese and Mendel Metzger, Jewish Life in the Middle Ages: Illuminated Hebrew Manuscripts of the Thirteenth to the Sixteenth Centuries (New York: Alpine Fine Arts Collection, 1982), p. 304.

Marc Michael Epstein, Dreams of Subversion in Medieval Jewish Art and Literature (Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997), p. 153.

Sacred: Books of the Three Faiths: Judaism, Christianity, Islam (London: British Library, 2007), p. 106 [exhibition catalogue].

Ilana Tahan, Hebrew Manuscripts: The Power of Script and Image (London, British Library, 2007), pp. 133-35.


Images
* * *
 
Micrographic design

f. 1
Micrographic design		 Catchword

f. 25v
Catchword		 Hybrid

f. 25v
Hybrid
 
Micrographic design

f. 38v
Micrographic design		 Micrography

f. 38v
Micrography		 Lion and ~carmina figurata~

f. 131v
Lion and carmina figurata
 
Lion

f. 131v
Lion		 Micrographic design

f. 132
Micrographic design		 Micrography

f. 132
Micrography
 
Micrographic design

f. 172v
Micrographic design		 Micrographic design

f. 203
Micrographic design		 Ezekiel's vision

f. 203
Ezekiel's vision
 
Ezekiel's vision

f. 203
Ezekiel's vision		 Micrographic design

f. 239
Micrographic design		 Bird

f. 239
Bird
 
Micrographic design

f. 243v
Micrographic design		 Micrographic design

f. 245
Micrographic design		 Micrographic design

f. 251
Micrographic design
 
Goat

f. 251
Goat		 Micrographic design

f. 268
Micrographic design		 Micrography

f. 268
Micrography
 
Lion and griffin

f. 268
Lion and griffin		 Micrographic design

f. 309
Micrographic design		 Lion and dragons

f. 309
Lion and dragons
 
Micrographic design

f. 324
Micrographic design		 Micrographic design

f. 338
Micrographic design		 Birds

f. 338
Birds
 
Micrographic design

f. 352
Micrographic design		 Micrography

f. 352
Micrography		 Micrographic design

f. 363
Micrographic design
 
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