St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. Sang. 577
Manuscript title:
Legenda Sanctorum and Passionale
Date of origin: s.ix/x centuries.
Alternative name:
Sigil G
Support: Good quality parchment, but it has darkened through use. The manuscript does not follow any consistent format of matching flesh-flesh, hair-hair.
Extent:
Number of Folios: 754 pages.
Format: Average size: width 255mm x 345mm length. Largest folio p. 451 width 260 mm x 345 length.
Foliation:
- The codex is substantial and was paginated in the late 20th century. Although the evidence of the medieval foliation is no longer legible, the presence of medieval quire signatures (page 22 b) suggests it was foliated at the time of composition (see Foliation below).
- 18 (wants 1, 2, 7, 8), 18, 312 (wants leaves 4, 9, 12), 48, 56, 68 -88, 914 (wants leaves 5, 6, 7), 108, 118, 128, 138, 148, 158, 168, 172, 188, 198, 206, 218, 228, 238, 248, 258, 268, 278, 288, 296, 308-368, 378 (wants leaves 7,8), 38-398 (39 wants leaves 7, 8), 408-488 (48 wants leaves 3, 6, 7, 8).
- The manuscript begins with a recto leaf, which is numbered 3 in a modern hand in pencil. The manuscript is paginated continuously from page 3 to 754. There is also a 15th century system of foliation, written in the middle of every recto page in roman numerals. Quire signatures are provided in a 12th-century hand in the bottom margin (see page 22b). The first leaf of the manuscript (page 3 in pencil) contains no medieval numbering. The first medieval (?) folio number to appear is 1, written on a verso. This verso leaf also contains the penciled number 6.
- The first gathering is an 8 but wants the first and the last leaf (i, and viii). Between the first and the second gathering are two thick blank paper pages, likely late 16th century paper. The first gathering is sewn mid-quire between penciled leaves 10 and 11 and joins the quire to the spine. Page 11 contains the correct folio number iiii in the top margin.
- 3 to 5 were not assigned folio numbers in the 15th-century. The reason for this is that these leaves contain a festal calendar only and are not part of the actual text. The 15th century folio numbers only appear on the text leaves. Hence, the first full leaf of actual narrative text, the Vita sancti Ermenlandi Abbatis, is in pencil on number 6 (a verso). The first medieval folio number (ii) begins correctly on page 7. My analysis of the foliation agrees with the mid-quire sewing, with the medieval folio numbering and the quire signatures. Quire number 2 -- 12th century quire signature “b” appears in the bottom margin -- begins correctly on page 21; this page also shows the 15th-century folio number vii of this leaf number.
Collation: Catchmarks: Quire signatures are initially given in letters (see page 22 b) and later in the MS in Roman numerals in a small cursive hand of the 15th century (see page 249, vii).
Page layout:
Double columns throughout. Lines per Folio: 28, average. Pricking: Throughout; see page 407. Most of the pricking holes have been cropped, however. Lineation (ink quality, etc): The quality of the ink is good throughout with little fading. Margins: Outside – 50 mm (from last letter of text), Top – 25-35mm, Bottom – 63mm, Gutter – 25mm, Between columns – 18 mm. Drypoint: is used throughout. Page 70 is a blank leaf, completely drypointed and ready for writing. Two vertical lines form the uprights for the margin columns. These are bisected at right angles by horizontal lines at the top and bottom. The depressions formed by the stylus are deep, and one can see how readily the scribe wrote in these depressions.
Writing and hands:
- There are at least ten hands in the manuscript (See Scarpatetti, p. 90). The scribe who copied the Passio was also responsible for folios 153-183. There is at least one instance when two hands appear on the same leaf. Page 367 illustrates two hands: hand one in column a copied the Gesta Sancti Germanii Episcopi, while another hand in column 2b, copied the Passio Sancti Thrutberti Martyris.
- Punctuation: The punctus is the most commonly used sign to terminate a complete thought, see page 468a, the Vita Sancti Augustini Episcopus: Scio item non solus. There are two scribes who employ the punctus elevatus represented in the Passio sancti Perpegrini Episcopi; see the line on page 351b: ubi tunc temporis custodia obscurrissima habebatur.
Decoration:
- Running Heads: None.
- Initials: Yes.
- Capitals: Typically a rubricated capital is the first letter of the first word which begins the actual text immediately following the incipit. For example, p. 421b has a capital S (45mm x 29mm) which begins the Passio Felicis et Fortunati. On page 198a, there is a capital Dominus (50 mm x 50mm) which begins the text for ’s preface to De Vita Actibusque Sancti Bonifacii Archiepiscopi (see Scarpatetti, 91).
- Historiated Capitals: None.
- Illuminations: None.
- Rubrics: There is no consistent use of rubrics other than that discussed above under capitals. For example, the Vita Sancti Cassiani, which begins on page 244, uses capitals to mark every paragraph. These small capitals average 15mm high. There can be some slight variety in this, however, depending on the letter shape. For example, a T (p. 245a), measures 16 mm h x 15 mm w, while an M (p. 245b) measures 15mm h x 24 mm w.
Additions: Marginalia: There are no marginal doodles, drawings (apart from the capital letters), or nota bene signs in the leaves. There are a handful of instances when, because of space constraints, the rubricator was forced to draw a roman numeral in the margin; see page 319b, where he has written xviiii. There is but one marginal note in the entire codex and that in the Vita Sancti Pirminii (page 614a): Hinc colligitur q[ue] Sanctus Bonifacius †maguntur† sedis archiepiscopi & sanctus Perminius.
Corrections: Check notes on MS.
Corrections: Check notes on MS.
Binding:
The binding is medieval. It is made of pine boards with white parchment stretched over the exterior. The parchment is turned over and covers some 40mm on the inside of the perimeter of each board. Five raised leather straps from the spine are visible and they are anchored in corresponding grooves cut in the boards. Parchment leaves were formerly glued over the inside surface of the both boards, as they have left their textual imprint on the boards. Three clasps originally locked the manuscript, but presently only one leather clasp survives. The strap is crudely nailed into the top board and fastened to a metal pin on the bottom board.
Contents:
A Legenda Sanctorum and Passionale with a strong representation of local saints.
- The complete contents are given in Scarpatetti (pp. 90-96). The first vita, the Vita Sancti Ermenlandi Abbatis, may have lost lines. The last line written in pencil on page 16 ends enim in ea oratorium inpar. This parchment leaf is followed by two paper leaves. The next parchment leaf (pencil 21a) begins †uamine† velocius consummasset.
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Liturgical Calendar
Page three has a calendar listing the vita and the passiones contained in the MS. The calendar begins with the following sentence written in capitals (4 x 4 mm) in red ink:
>In nomine Domini Salvatoris incipiunt capitula libri sequentis.<
The items are listed as follows: first in the left margin with their number of occurrence, i, ii, iii, followed by the title of the text. Following the name is a folio number written in a tiny cursive 15th-century script. The last item given written in red is the date in the calendar in which the item appears, hence viii. K apr.
Here are the first two and the 48th item:i. Vita Sancti Ermenlandi Abbatis folio primo viii K apr. ii. Passio Sancti Meginradi heremite xix xii K Febr. xlviiii. Item de sancto Dyonisio Episcopi cccl vii Id Oct. - There is another medieval table of contents on page 5, which lists 20 items, none of which, however, are saints’ feasts. The items in this table have a decidedly monastic orientation, for example: De cella in qua amore vite contemplative se reclausit & de. None of these items, however, are found in the present manuscript.
Provenance of the manuscript:
The monastic scriptorium of the Benedictine abbey of Saint Gallen.
Bibliography:
- B. M. Von Scarpatetti, Die Handschriften der Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen. Band 1. Abt. IV: Codices 547-669. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2003.