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A remarkable anthology of texts from the library of the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Jacques, Liège, illuminated with one large miniature depicting the Wound in Christ's Side notable for its early date, bound in the substantial remains of a medieval binding. It comprises four main parts, the first with texts by Augustine, Anselm, and David of Augsburg; the second an ordo for giving communion to a sick monk; the third with prayers to the Virgin; and the fourth a miscellaneous collection of prayers, devotions, a miniature of the Wound of Christ, and texts concerning the use of images. The volume contains one large miniature depicting the Wound in Christ's Side (fol. 119v). The last few decades have seen an explosion of interest in medieval images of the Wound in Christ's Side. In most depictions of the Crucifixion, the wound is shown as a horizontal laceration, but when shown separate from Christ's body it is often depicted in close-up and vertically, and this has led many scholars to read the image in other ways. As David S. Areford puts it, "Although the mandorla-shaped wound suggested the presence of Christ's body and the totality of his suffering, its fleshy form certainly encouraged other corporeal associations. In this regard, several scholars have explored the erotic, gendered, and psychosexual aspects of these images, interpreting the wound as a not-so-veiled substitute for the vulva or vagina". Images of the Wound in Christ's Side are often part of a series of images including his other wounds, or are incorporated into larger ensembles, such as the Arma Christi, and are typically 15th-century, so the present image is especially notable for its early date and for the fact that the Wound is the only image in the entire manuscript, whose text concludes with two pieces discussing the use of images in religious devotion. The manuscript was written no earlier than the 1330s, perhaps in northern France but more likely in the southern Netherlands, and in view of the provenance, in all likelihood at Liège. The involvement of an illuminator and several scribes, some doing relatively short stints, suggests collaboration within a monastic setting rather than production in a professional lay workshop. Provenance: (1) The Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Jacques, Liège: inscribed with their ownership notes at least nine times, in various forms, including "Liber monasterii sancti Jacobi Leodiensis in insula", and with their shelf-mark "F. 57" (fol. 1r). The presence of so many ownership inscriptions in any manuscript is extremely unusual, and is perhaps explained by how small and potentially easy to steal this volume would be. Included in their sale: Catalogue des livres de la bibliothèque de la célèbre ex-abbaye de St. Jacques à Liège. le 3 mars 1788, lot 343. (2) Dawson's Book Shop, Los Angeles, catalogue no. 87, December 1932. (3) Until recently in an American private collection. The composition of the volume is complex and would reward further research. A fuller description of its contents is available on request. David S. Areford, "Reception", Studies in Iconography, 33, 2012, pp. 73-88; written as a follow-up to his "The Passion Measured: A Late-Medieval Diagram of the Body of Christ", in The Broken Body: Passion Devotion in Late-Medieval Culture, ed. by A. MacDonald et al., Groningen, 1998. Parchment, c.130 × 95 mm, vi + 141 leaves, apparently complete except for excised blanks. Collation: i10-ix (1st is the pastedown, 6th, 8th, 9th blanks excised); 1 48, 5 712 (fols. 1 68); 86+1 (7th inserted; fols. 69 77), 912 (fols. 78 89); 108 1114, 1212, 1312, 144 (the last is the pastedown) (fols. 90 140), catchwords except at the end of codicological units, leaf-signatures "a" in quire 10; prickings often survive in all outer margins suggesting that the books preserves its full medieval dimensions; ruled in plummet for 21 23 lines per page, written in gothic script by several hands, rubrics in red, capitals stroked in red in some sections, illum.
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