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Detailed record for Additional 49598
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| Title |
Benedictional of Æthelwold |
| Origin |
England, S. |
| Date |
963-984 |
| Language |
Latin |
| Script |
English Caroline minuscule |
| Scribe |
Godeman for St Æthelwold, Bishop of Winchester |
| Decoration |
28 full-page miniatures, all except the last (f. 118v) with either rectangualr or arched decorative frames: 20 decorative frames, either rectangular or arched. 2 historiated initials, one in a frame (f. 91r) and one alone (f. 70). The MS originally contained 43 full-page miniatures and 21 text page with decorative frames (see: Andrew Prescott, 'Introduction', Benedictional of St Aethelwold (2002). |
| Dimensions in mm |
292 x 225 (292 x 140) |
| Official foliation |
ff. ii +119 + 26* & 26** (2 unfoliated flyleaves at beginning and 4 at the end; 26* and 26** are parchment stubs reinforcing the quire from f. 26 to f. 32, ff. i-ii are paper laid on parchment). |
| Form |
Parchment codex |
| Binding |
Reddish-brown morocco binding by Sybil Pye (1925) who replaced the previous binding in red morocco with a richly tooled back and a simple panel on the sides, probably dating from circa 1670 and attributed to Samuel Mearne, Charles II's bookbinder. |
| Provenance |
Produced at Winchester or Thorney between 963 and 984, for the personal use of St. Æhelwold, (Bishop of Winchester from 963 until 984) by the scribe Godeman, (a monk at the Old Minster in Winchester) " A bishop, the great Æhelwold, whom the lord had made patron of Winchester, ordered a certain monk subject to him to write the present book [ …] Godeman the writer [ …] " (f. 4v-5). (see Warner and Wilson, The Benedictional , 1910), traditionally identified with Godeman, abbot of Thorney mentioned in Wulfstan's Vita Aethelwoldi and the New Minster Liber Vitae (Stowe 944, f, 18).
After Aethelwold's death ( 1 Agust 984) the manuscript remained either in Winchester Cathedral or Hyde Abbey until the Reformation.
Fragments of a 15th century inventory of Hyde Abbey in the binding show that it was still in Winchester at the time. (ff. 26*, 26**),
In the 17th Century, After the Reformation the manuscript came into the possession of Henry Compton, Master of the Hospital of St Cross, Winchester, 1667-74, and Bishop successively of Oxford (1674) and London (1675), on his death in 1713. The Manuscript then passed to Bishop Compton's nephew and executor, General Hatton Compton, Lieutenant of the Tower, who, sometime between 1713 and 1720, gave it to William Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Devonshire, from whose descendants it was acquired. Humfrey Wanley unsuccessfully tried to acquire the MS. For the Harleian Library in 1720-21 (see Wright,The BenedictionalB.M.Q., xxvii, 1963-4, pp. 3-5;' The Diary of Humfrey Wanley'1966, pp. 19, 42, 76, 77, 106-107).
The Manuscript remained one of the Treasure of the Dukes of Devonshire in their house at Chatsworth in Derbyshyre until 1958 when it was acquired by the British Museum (see Catalogue of Additions 2000). |
| Notes |
Full digital coverage available for this manuscript: see Digitised Manuscripts at http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts.
The manuscript is one of the most important surviving work of the Anglo-Saxon Winchester School of illumination. It contains pontifical benedictions for use at mass on different days of ecclesiastical year and a form for blessing candles on the feast of the Purification, preceeded by introductory verses relating to the production of the manuscript. The local feasts provided for include those of St. Vedast (f. 36), Æthethryth and Swithun (f. 98). |
| Select bibliography |
Matthew D. Wyatt, The Art of Illuminating (London: Dan and Son Lithographers, 1860; repr. Studio Editions, 1987), p. 22-23.
George F. Warner, and H .A. Wilson. The Benedictional of St Aethelwold, Bishop of Winchester 963-984 (Oxford, for Roxburghe Club, 1910).
Francis Wormald, The Benedictional of St Æhelwold (New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1959).
C. E. Wright, ' The Benedictional of St. Ethelwold and Bishop Henry Compton' in The British Museum Quarterly 27 (1963): 3-5.
Neil R. Ker, Medieval Libraries of Great Britain, 2nd edition, (London, 1964).
Derek H.Turner, Reproductions from Illuminated Manuscripts, Series 5 (London: British Museum, 1965), nos 1-2.
The Diary of Humfrey Wanley, 1715-1726, edited by ed. Cyril E. and Ruth C. Wright, The Bibliographical Society, 1966, i, pp. 19, 42, 76, 77, 106-107.
Illuminated Manuscripts Exhibited in the Grenville Library (London, British Museum, 1967), no. 2.
Jonathan J. G. Alexander, Norman Illumination at Mont St Michel 966-1100 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1970), p.
Elzbieta Temple, Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts 900-1066, A Survey of Manuscripts Illuminated in the British Isles, 2 (London: Harvey Miller, 1976), no. 23; pp. 18-19, 37, 53, 54, 59, 63, 66, 67, 69, 71, 76, 84, 86, 88, 89, 90, 92, 94, 100, 101, 106, 109, 114, 116, 117.
Janet Backhouse, The Illuminated Manuscript (Oxford: Phaidon, 1979), pl. 7.
Andrew G. Watson, Catalogue of Dated and Datable Manuscripts c.700-1600 in the Department of Manuscripts, The British Library (London, 1979), i, no. 421.
François Avril and Patricia D. Stirnemann, Manuscrits enluminés d’origine insulaire VIIe-XXe siècle (Paris: Bibliothèque nationale, 1987),
Helmut Engelhart, Die Würzburger Buchmalerei im Hohen Mittelalter: Untersuchungen zu einer Gruppe Illuminierter Handschriften aus der Werkstatt der Würzburger Dominikanerbibel von 1246, 2 vols, Quellen und Forschungen zur Geschichte des Bistums und Hochstifts Würzburg, ed. by Klaus Wittstadt, 34 (Würzburg, 1987), p. 78, 214-15.
Bernhard Bischoff, Latin Palaeography: Antiquity and the Middle Ages, trans. by Dáibhí Ó Cróinín and David Ganz (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990)
Thomas A. Heslop, 'The Production of De Luxe Manuscripts and the Patronage of King Cnut and Queen Emma', in Anglo-Saxon England, 19, ed. by Michael Lapidge and others (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), pp. 151-98 (p. 163 n. 34, pl. II).
William Schipper, "Dry-Point Compilation Notes in the Benedictional of St Aethelwold." British Library Journal 20 (1994), pp.17-34.
Robert Deshman, The Benedictional of Æhelwold (Princeton, 1995).
Richard Gameson, ‘Book Production and Decoration at Worcester in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries’, in St Oswald of Worcester: Life and Influence, ed. by Nicholas Brooks and Catherine Cubitt, Studies in the Early History of Britain, The Makers of England, 2 (London: Leicester University Press, 1996), pp. 194-243 (p. 205).
Maylis Baylé, ‘Architecture et enluminure dans le monde mormand’, in Manuscrits et enluminures dans le monde normand (Xe-XVe siècles), ed. by Pierre Bouet and Monique Dosdat (Caen: Presses Universitaires, 1999), pp. 51-68 (p. 52)
Catalogue of Additions to the Manuscripts in the British Museum 1956-1965, (London: British Library 2000), p.p. 120-127.
Helmut Gneuss, Handlist of Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A List of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100 (Tempe, Arizona, 2001), no.301.
The Benedictional of St Æhelwold: A Masterpiece of Anglo-Saxon Art, A Facsimile , with intro. by Andrew Prescott (London: British Library, 2002). [facsimile].
Claus M. Kauffmann, Biblical Imagery in Medieval England 700-1500 (London: Harvey Miller, 2003), fig. 90.
John Lowden, ‘Illuminated Books and the Liturgy: Some Observations’, in Objects, Images, and the Word: Art in the Service of the Liturgy, ed. by Colum Hourihane, Index of Christian Art Occasional Paper, 6 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003), pp. 17-53 (pp. 29-33, pls 4v-5).
Paul Binski, Becket’s Crown: Art and Imagination in Gothic England 1170-1300 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004), pl. 77, 99.
Treasures of the British Library, ed. by Nicolas Barker and others (London: British Library, 2005), p. 245.
'Architectural Metaphors and Christological Imagery in the Advent Lyrics: Benedictine Propaganda in the Exeter Book?', in Conversion and Colonization in Anglo-Saxon England, ed. by Catherine E. Karkov and Nicholas Howe, Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 318, Essays in Ango-Saxon Studies, 2 (Tempe: Arizona Center for Medievl and Reanissance Studies, 2006), 169-212 (p. 198, fig. 3.3).
The Grant Atelier: Patheways of Art in Europe (5th-18th Centureis), ed. by Roland Recht (Brussels: Europalia, 2007), no. II.22 [exhibition catalogue].
Virginia Blanton, Signs of Devotion: The Cult of St. Æthelthryth in Medieval England 695- 1615 ( University Park, Pa. : Pennsylvania State University Press ; London : Eurospan, 2007).
Philip Howard, The British Library: A Treasure House of Knowledge (London: Scala Publishers, 2008), no. 3.
Thomas A. Heslop, ‘The Implication of the Utrecht Psalter in English Romanesque Art’, in Romanesque: Art and Thougth in the Twelfth Century: Essays in Honor of Walter Cahn, ed. by Colum Hourihane, Index of Christian Art Occasional Papers, 10 (Princeton: Index of Christian Art, 2008), pp. 267-90 (pp. 274).
Melanie Holcomb, Pen and Parchment: Drawing in the Middle Ages (New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009), p. 13.
Catherine E. Karkov, 'The' Art of Anglo-Saxon England, (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2011).
Richard Gameson, 'The Earliest English Royal Books' in1000 Years of Royal Books and Manuscripts, ed. by Kathleen Doyle and Scot McKendrick (London: The British Library, 2013), pp. 3-35 (p. 31).
Lawrence Nees, 'The European context of manuscript illumination in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, 600-900', in Manuscripts in the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Cultures and Connections, ed. by Claire Breay and Joanna Story with Eleanor Jackson (Dublin: Four Courts, 2021), pp. 45-65 (pp. 46-7, 49, fig. 4.1). |
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f. 1
Gregory, Benedict and Cuthbert |
f. 1v
Chorus of Virgins |
f. 2
Aethelreda and Mary Magdalene |
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f. 2v
Apostles, angels and Heavenly Jerusalem |
f. 3
Apostles, angels and Heavenly Jerusalem |
f. 3v
Paul and two Apostles |
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f. 4
Peter and two Apostles |
f. 5v
Annunciation |
f. 6
Decorated frame |
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f. 9v
The Second Coming |
f. 15v
Nativity with midwife |
f. 16
Christmas Day |
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f. 17v
Stoning of Stephen |
f. 19v
John the Evangelist |
f. 22v
Naming of Christ |
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f. 24v
Adoration of the Magi. |
f. 25
Baptism of Christ |
f. 34v
Presentation in the Temple |
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f. 45v
Entry into Jerusalem |
f. 51v
The three Marys at the Tomb |
f. 52
Blessing for Easter Day |
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ff. 56v-57
First Sunday after Easter |
f. 56v
Doubting Thomas |
f. 64v
Ascension |
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f. 67v
Pentecost |
f. 70
Christ in Majesty |
f. 90v
Æthelthryth |
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f. 91
Christ Pantocrator |
f. 92v
Birth and Naming of John the Baptist |
f. 95v
Martyrdoms of Peter and Paul |
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f. 97v
St Swithun |
f. 99v
Benedict with his Rule |
f. 102v
Death and Coronation of the Virgin |
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f. 106v
Exaltation of the Holy Cross |
f. 107v
Saturday of Ember Week |
f. 108v
Blessing for Michaelmas. |
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f. 109v
All Saints' Day |
f. 110v
Martin |
f. 111v
Cecilia |
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f. 112v
Clement and for the Eve of Andrew. |
f. 118v
Bishop (Æthelwold ?) Blessing the Congregation |
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