Beschreibung:

HIERONYMUS ARETINUS (Girolamo of Arezzo, fl .1144-1177), Sermons , DECORATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM
HIERONYMUS ARETINUS (Girolamo of Arezzo, fl .1144-1177), Sermons , DECORATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [Italy, late 12th or early 13th century] 255 x 175mm. iii paper + 67 + iii paper leaves: 1 7 (of 8, lacking i, of which a trace survives), 2-6 8 , 7 4 (of 8, lacking iii to vi), 8-9 8 , lacking at least one leaf or quire at the end, and apparently one or more quires after quire 5, 36 lines written in brown ink in a gothic bookhand in two columns between five verticals and 36 horizontals ruled in plummet, justification: 210 x 63-10-63mm, prickings frequently survive in upper and sometimes also the lower margins, rubrics in red, two-line initials alternately red with blue decoration or vice versa, the first and last leaves partially defective, purple staining from extinct mould affecting the second half of the volume to varying degrees, but the text usually still legible. 18th-century Italian half sheep and patterned paper over pasteboards, the spine lettered in gilt 'XXXVI JNC-SE PER AN MS.' (scuffed). PROVENANCE: Perhaps from the Dominican convent of San Domenico, Gaeta (see lot 16): bound uniformly with the manuscript from Gaeta (lot 22) and eleven others and similarly inscribed: 'A.8 Sermones de Tempore et de sanctis per annum' (ff.1, 8), 'Foglie # 55', and 'Segnata N. AP' (end pastedown; cf. front pastedown, upside-down). HSA, B2722; Faulhaber, pp.29-37 CONTENT: Seventy-nine sermons are itemized by Faulhaber, with references to Schneyer's Repertorium de lateinischen Sermones des Mittelalters , pp.706-13. They begin with sermons for the Annunciation, Advent, and Christmas, then proceed through late December and early January with St Stephen, St John, the Holy Innocents, the Circumcision, Epiphany, Sundays after Christmas, Purification, and then to the movable feasts dependent on Easter: Septuagesima, Sexagesima, Quinquagesima, and Lent. Among this latter group are moral expositions, exhortations to penitence, and sermons concerning Old Testament figures such as Noah, Abraham, Isaiah, Esau, Isaac, and Susannah. The text then jumps to the Sundays after Trinity Sunday (f.40), and then to the feasts of Sts Peter and Paul, the Assumption, and St John; and for Angels, All Saints, Confessors, and Virgins; the volume ends with three sermons for the dedication of a church. Girolamo was bishop of Arezzo from 1144 to 1177. His sermons never achieved great popularity, with the result that they have never been published, and manuscripts are rare. Schneyer records only 18 manuscripts including any of his sermons, and only one of these combines sermons De tempore and De sanctis (Vat. lat. 1248). According to the Schoenberg database no copy has appeared on the market since 1894.