Beschreibung:

Bible, Leviticus, probably copied by a female scribe, in Latin, manuscript on parchment [Germany (probably Kochel Abbey), c. 800] One near-complete bifolium and another half bifolium (each composed of numerous strips recovered from reuse as gathering supports in later bindings), both with double column and 29 lines in an early Carolingian minuscule (e open at top and ampersand used integrally within words), with traces of Alemannic influence, some ornamental penwork capitals, capitals on smaller fragment touched in terracotta-red, small losses of a few characters from a few lines on outer edges of larger fragment, losses to outer and upper edges from smaller fragment, the pieces now held together with conservation tape, overall fair and presentable condition, overall dimensions 445mm. by 305mm. and 450mm. by 130mm. Provenance: 1. This strange form of Carolingian minuscule, showing the influence of the local Dark Age Alemannic script, has been identified as that written at Kochel Abbey (diocese of Augsburg) on the basis of the hands in the Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 4549 group, all from the abbey. Kochel was a small community of nuns apparently founded in 750 by the counts of Antdorf an der Loisach along with Benediktbeuern. It was the house to which Duke Tassilos wife retreated after his fall from favour with Charlemagne, and the latters own sister Gisela also lived there and was buried there on her death in 810. However, it is one of the least well known of Early Medieval abbeys as it was destroyed during a Hungarian invasion probably in 908 (and certainly by 955), and lay waste until 1031 when it was recolonised by Benedictines from Tegernsee (on them see cf. R. McKitterick, Nuns Scriptoria, in Books, Scribes and Learning, 1994; B. Bischoff, Südostdeutschen Schreibschule und Bibliotheken in der Karolingerzeit, 1960, pp. 22-23, 40-43, and pl.ii.b and S. Krämer, Handschriftenerbe des Deutschen Mittelalters, I, 1989, p. 405). 2. Schøyen Collection, London and Oslo, their MS. 1761, acquired from Quaritch in 1993. Sold immediately after the Schøyen sale, 10 July 2012, lot 32, to the present owner. Text: What sets this early Carolingian Bible fragment apart from its peers is the fact that it probably comes from an female monastic community, and is in their house script. The scribes of the community are most likely to have been women, and thus these fragments are among the very earliest identified examples of female scribal activity to survive in the West. Definite references to female literacy in the Early Middle Ages are few and far between. The rule of St. Johns in Arles (founded 512) insisted that its female members could not enter the community until they were old enough to learn letters, and the life of their founder, Caesarius of Arles confirms that the nuns there copied sacred texts. Female pronouns in a series of Mercian prayerbooks from c. 800 (including the Book of Nunnaminster, which was probably owned by a women) indicate female usage. However, the first definitive evidence of female scribal activity come from closed communities of nuns such as Kochel. Given its high ranking Carolingian inmates, it is a tempting possibility that the hand of a sister of Charlemagne might be represented here, or that at least she used and saw the original parent codex.