Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries: Cambridge, Pembroke College, MS 312, no. 34

Two fragments of the Quaestiones of Pseudo-Augustine

Introduction: These two strips of parchment preserve part of a theological text that purports to be the work of St Augustine but is in fact by a later, anonymous author. It contains a series of 'quaestiones', or discussion points, relating to the Old and New Testament: the end of the section on the former, and the beginning of the section on the latter, are found here. 'Quaestiones' were a common genre of academic text, and their conventions could be applied to any number of scholarly subjects, including philosophy and law. The particular interest of these fragments is their apparent similarity to a manuscript containing commentaries by Ambrose of Milan and Bede on the Gospel of Luke, now preserved as Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, MS C. 127 inf. This manuscript, and six others, were identified by Mirella Ferrari as being among the twenty-five volumes that were bequeathed by the Irish monk Dungal to the monastery of Bobbio in northern Italy. Palaeographers have since identified codicological and palaeographical similarities between some of these volumes, in particular their small and portable format, and their production in France within the first quarter of the 9th century, in a style of handwriting typical of the monastery of Saint-Denis, near Paris. It is at Saint-Denis that the monk Dungal is first recorded, around this same period, and the implication is that he may have carried this collection of manuscripts with him when he directed the school at Pavia some years later. The fragments shown here may be from a manuscript not owned by Dungal but produced by one of the scribes responsible for making one of the books known to have been in his possession, presumably in France and perhaps at Saint-Denis. Dr James Freeman| Medieval Manuscripts Specialist| Cambridge University Library Bibliography: | Mirella Ferrari, 'In Papia conveniant ad Dungalum', Italia medioevale e umanistica, 15 (1972)| Bernhard Bischoff, 'Eine Beschreibung der Basilika von Saint-Denis aus dem Jahre 799', Kunstchronik 34 (1981)| Jean Vezin, 'Observations sur l'origine des manuscrits légués par Dungal à Bobbio', in Paläographie 1981: Colloquium des Comité International de Paléographie. München, 15.-18. September 1981, ed. by Gabriel Silagi (1982)

Language(s): Latin

i-ii

Quaestiones in Vetus et Novum Testamentum Pseudo-Augustine

Language(s): Latin

Item i, recto side: Q. XXXIV ('diuites fiunt') to Q. XXXVIII ('[cre]aturae in laude[m]').

Item i, verso side: Q. XXXIX ('[leo]ne mortuo: qui[a]') to Q. XLII ('[os]tendere').

Item ii, recto side: Q. XLIX ('[futuri]s filiis dei qui') to Q. L ('[fi]lii signaculum').

Item ii, verso side: Q. LV ('[pri]mum haec p[ars]') to Q. LVI ('[i]oseph iacob cuius').

PL 35:2234-2253

CESL 50:63-102

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: Parchment

Extent: Two fragments, comprising two strips of parchment cut vertically from two leaves (possibly from the same bifolium). Item i was cut from the middle of one leaf (given the margin running between the two columns of text). Item ii was cut from near the edge of another leaf. They were preserved through their re-use in the binding of another book: the fold along their lengths, and stitching holes along this line, point to them having been used as endleaf guards . 2 items.

Item i 237-240 × 54-59 mm.
Item ii 258-296 × 34-38 mm.

Foliation:

The fragment was numbered in 2021 as MS 312, no. 34, as part of the re-housing and conservation of Pembroke College's fragments collection.

Condition

Fragments now enclosed in melinex wallets, as part of programme of rehousing and conservation of Pembroke College's fragments collection, c. 2015.

Layout

250 Ruled in hardpoint, frame and line, in two (or possibly more) columns. Written above top line.

Hand(s)

Written in Caroline minuscule of Tours type, 'perhaps by the same scribe as Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, MS C. 127 inf (see Thomson, supplement (2022), quoting Bischoff (1998), 'Wahrscheinlich von der gleichen Hd...' etc, who in turn is citing Jean Vezin, 'Observations sur l'origine des manuscrits légués par Dungal à Bobbio', in Paläographie 1981: Colloquium des Comité International de Paléographie. München, 15.-18. September 1981, ed. by Gabriel Silagi (1982), pp. 126-144).

Capitular rubrics written in uncial: 'slight diminuendo in capitals' (see Thomson, supplement (2022).

Decoration

One- or two-line plain initials at chapter openings.

Accompanying Material

The fragments are tied together with a modern slip of paper bearing the number 'MS 312 C.2 3-4'.

History

Origin: 9th century, ; France.

Bernhard Bischoff has suggested that the manuscript from which these fragments came may have been produced by one of the scribes responsible for producing Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, MS C. 127 inf, which may have been made at the Abbey of Saint-Denis .

Bischoff (1998)

Provenance and Acquisition

Date of accession at Pembroke College unknown.

Additional Information

Record Sources

This catalogue entry draws on the description provided by Rodney M. Thomson, A descriptive catalogue of the medieval manuscripts at Pembroke College (2022) and the subsequent Supplement of the same year (used here by kind permission of the author).

Availability

Researchers should note that Pembroke College's western European medieval manuscripts are housed at Cambridge University Library. Scholars who wish to consult Pembroke College manuscripts should contact the Special Collections Reading Room to arrange their visit; all University Library admissions procedures will apply. For information on eligibility and admissions procedures, see Joining the Library. For further enquiries, and to confirm the availability of the manuscript, please contact the Special Collections Reading Room.

Bibliography

Die Handschriftliche Überlieferung der Werke des Heiligen Augustinus Sitzungsberichte (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Philosophisch-Historische Klasse). Veröffentlichungen der Kommission zur Herausgabe des Corpus der Lateinischen Kirchenväter, Heft 3,4, Römer, Franz (Wien, 2: Großbritannien und Irland, Böhlau, 1972)

Katalog der festländischen Handschriften des neunten Jahrhunderts: (mit Ausnahme der wisigotischen) Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften: Veröffentlichungen der Kommission für die Herausgabe der mittelalterlichen Bibliothekskataloge Deutschlands und der Schweiz, Bischoff, Bernhard (Wiesbaden, I: Aachen-Lambach, Harrassowitz, 1998)

A descriptive catalogue of the medieval manuscripts of Pembroke College, Cambridge, Thomson, Rodney M. (Cambridge, D.S. Brewer, 2022)

Supplement to 'A descriptive catalogue of the medieval manuscripts of Pembroke College, Cambridge', Thomson, R.M. (2022)

Digital Images

Cambridge Digital Library

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

Cambridge, Pembroke College, MS 312, no. 34

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