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283 x 117 mm. (11 x 8 1/2"). [96] leaves. Double column, approximately 38-44 lines, in three different gothic hands. Contents: Compendium Theologicae (f. 1r-91v); blank (f. 92); Epistola de Tribis Votis (f. 93r); blank (f. 93v-96v). Recently bound in a 15th or 16th century choir book leaf with new endleaves. Housed in a custom linen clamshell box with red morocco label and gilt lettering. Rubrics in red, initials struck in red, paragraph marks and underlining in red, and numerous two-line or larger initials in red, one leaf with a small pen doodle in the margins. See: Christian Coppens, "The Incunabula of Parc Abbey (Heverlee, Leuven)." â Two openings with dark residue in gutter (probably from a strengthening strip removed when it was rebound in the 18th century), isolated small spots and other negligible imperfections (mostly marginal), but IN VERY FINE CONDITION, the paper clean and bright, and with wide margins. Standing a good 11 inches tall, this is a beautifully preserved manuscript on paper, with interesting provenance, of one of the most widely read and disseminated textbooks of the Middle Ages. The "Compendium of Theological Truth" is divided into seven books, covering the Nature of God, Creation, Sin, the Incarnation, Grace and the Virtues, the Sacraments, and the Last Things. In the present manuscript, each book is preceded by a list of its contents, making it easy for the user to see at a glance the subject matter and order of the text. The main scribal hand here, present on all but the last few leaves, is extraordinarily neat and evenly spaced, adding to the overall sense of orderliness. For hundreds of years, the authorship of the "Compendium" remained a mystery, but it is now believed to have been written, around 1268, by the Dominican theologian Hugo von Ripelin (ca. 1205 - ca. 1270). Here the manuscript's concluding title attributes the work to Albertus Magnus, but the work has also been attributed to Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventure, and Albert the Great, among others. Curiously, after the end of the "Compendium," there is a blank leaf, followed by the opening paragraph of a treatise by the theologian Humbert of Roman-Sur-Isere (ca. 1195-1277), instructing the clergy on the importance of discipline. Although the two works appear to have very little in common, the authors of both were Dominicans and contemporaries. Perhaps the manuscript was intended to contain a collection of tracts by Dominican authors, but, for one reason or another, the project was never continued. Most of the quires here contain the watermark of a double-headed eagle, closely resembling Briquet 230, recorded examples of which date to 1429-43 and likely originate in the Lorraine region of Northeast France; paper in the last quire contains the watermark of a bow and arrow, very close to Briquet 827, part of a group distinguished by the point of the arrow resembling a circumflex. According to Briquet, extant examples date from 1407-10, and its origins are largely concentrated in the Champagne region of Northeast France. Though it has been recently rebound, this manuscript was previously housed with another in an 18th century binding bearing the arms of Le Parc Abbey. Exactly when the codex came to be at Le Parc, located about half a mile from Louvain, is uncertain, but it could have been there from its beginning. Le Parc Abbey was founded in 1129 and occupied by the Premonstratensian Canons, an order known for their pastoral work and teaching. Having access to a range of theological texts to prepare their sermons would have been important; and, indeed, we know that Le Parc Abbey's library, founded in the 13th century, would have been impressive. Although the library had its own scriptorium, Coppens says that "it was clearly not able to produce enough manuscripts for its own needs. An abbot at the beginning of the 15th century, Gerard van Goetsenhoven (or de Gossoncourt) ordered manuscripts from another convent in the vicinity of Leuven, as did h. Seller Inventory # ST19399b-01
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