Berlin, SBPK, Phill. 1775
| Library | Berlin, SBPK |
|---|---|
| Shelfmark | Phill. 1775 |
| Century | saec. XII |
| Provenance | Tours |
| European region of origin | unknown |
| General region of origin | France |
| Collection | Cresconius, Concordia canonum |
| Description at | bilder.manuscripta-mediaevalia.de (Rose catalogue) |
| Author | Bruno Schalekamp |
Berlin, Staatsbibliothek - Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Ms. Phill. 1775 (also known by the Rose catalogue number 85) is a very small twelfth-century manuscript of only 16 folios, made of parchment with paper flyleaves. It was compiled in 1 col. and 28 lines, with the following dimensions: 147 x 102 mm; two quaterniones (2 x IV16), no quire signatures; modern foliation in Arabic numerals in both blank ink and lead pencil.
The manuscript was written by various hands, at least three, who all wrote in late Carolingian minuscule. It was probably produced in Tours, modern France. The manuscript was used by François and Pierre Pithou in 1687 for their transcriptions of the Canons of the Apostles and Sortes Sanctorum. It was obtained by Thomas Phillips and later transferred to or purchased by the Royal Library in Berlin no later than 1893.
Contents
Due to its very small size, not much can be said about its contents. The written work must have been part of a larger codex and physically excerpted by an interested patron and reader at a later stage: there are no indications in the contents of both the canons and the prognostic text that their knowledge might have worked together. Nevertheless, it might also have been a private collection by a patron who desired both texts together for unknown reasons. Furthermore, the juxtaposition of canonical and prognostic material indicates that readers of the manuscript saw no problems with normative and future-telling texts, even though the former often condemned the latter. That is furthermore underscored with the inclusion of two prayers, to be read before consulting the Sortes Sanctorum, which may have legitimized the use of the prognostic text; a trend in the transmission history of the text that emerged in the tenth century.
| folios | content |
|---|---|
| Front cover | |
| Three flyleaves, the first of which includes the manuscript signature. | |
| 1r-14r | Cresconius, Concordia canonum in heavily abbreviated form, including (mainly) the Canones apostolorum |
| 14r-16v | Sortes Sanctorum, preceded by two prayers |
| 16v | Unknown later addition, possibly a psalm, starting with primus homo corruit |
| Three flyleaves | |
| Back cover |
Literature
Cartelle, Prenostica Socratis Basilei (2004), pp. 25, 32, 42-44, 48, 50-51, 53, 65, and 59; Pithou, Codex Canonum vetus Ecclesiae Romanae (1687), pp. 370-373; Kirchner, Beschreibendes Verzeichnis der Miniaturen (1926), p. 54; Rose, Katalog (1893), pp. 179-180 (no. 85); Schalekamp, "'These Lots Never Deceive'" (forthcoming 2026).
