Decorated Run-Over Marks, In 'The Bible Of Brother Gervase Of Bangor'

This is a typical mid-13th-century Bible: written in small script in two columns on very fine parchment. This style of 'pocket' Bible was developed in Paris, probably for the use of Dominicans, who needed to have a portable copy of a standardised text. This manuscript has an inscription of circa 1300, stating that it belonged to Brother Gervase of Bangor--presumably a member of the Dominican house there--and that after his death it should be bequeathed to the Franciscan house at Llanfaes, in Anglesey.

By the middle of the 13th century it was normal for the text of the Bible to be followed by the Interpretations of Hebrew Names: an alphabetical list of the Hebrew names found in the Bible, with their Latin meanings. Here the run-over signs at the bottom of the page have been elaborated with foliate and human-headed terminals.