The Latin Vulgate Bible Leaf
in the Collection of Jennah Farrell

Part 2: Provenance

Single Leaf from the Book of Numbers, within Frame
Laid out in double columns of 46 lines in Gothic Script

Visible area within mat:
maximum circa 24.1 cm. tall × 16.3 cm. wide
(circa 9 7/8 in. tall × 6 7/8 in. wide)
< ruled writing area
circa 18.7 × 12.5 cm. (circa 7 3/4 × 4 7/8 in.)>

[Posted on 6 November 2024, with updates]

Collection of Jennah Farrell, Manuscript Leaf in Mat: top left. Photograph by Jennah Farrrell.

Part 2 in our blogposts about a “New Loan” to the RGME “Lending Library” from the Collection of Jennah Farrell examines the evidence for the provenance of the Latin Bible leaf once it reached her collection.  Removing the leaf from its frame waits for a next stage (Part 3).

Part 1 introduced the leaf by examining the span of text and accompanying features on the visible side of the leaf, from the decorated initials and chapter numbers to the full-page vertical bars with extended foliate ornament.

• A Latin Vulgate Leaf from the Book of Numbers (Part 1)

The visible features establish that this side was the original recto.

Besides the evidence provided by the frame and its backing paper, mounts, and hanging wire, the nature of the acquisition (the ‘find place’ in archaeological terms) affords information about the former owner and its place in that former collection.  Jennah has provided those details from the circumstances of the purchase and her explorations to discover more about the leaf, its identity, and its potential value.

This quest led her to loan the leaf to the RGME and to permit its study, photography, and publication, for which we are grateful. The process, integrated with the on-going work of the RGME in the course of its activities through its 2024 Anniversary Year, gives the opportunity for teaching as the research unfolds.

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