The Mirror of the Rebuke of the Soul to the Body; Sermons for Lent; On the Sibyls; The twelve prophetesses for the Lord; and other texts; in Latin, manuscript on paper by MATTHEUS RIPANENSEM; ST. JAMES OF THE MARCHES

BOOK DESCRIPTION: RARE SIGNED AND DATED MANUSCRIPT WITH TEXTS FOR PREACHING OFFERING A WINDOW INTO EVERYDAY LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. In Latin, manuscript on paper, Italy (Naples), c. 1497-1469. Dimensions 215 x 144 mm., 96 folios, missing 24 leaves at the beginning, horizontal catchwords present, written by several scribes in 39-43 long lines: small noting script influenced by humanistic minuscule, small gothic cursive script without loops, and a quicker less disciplined cursive; red rubrics, red paraphs, majuscules stroked with red, simple 2-line red initials with decorative blank space in the initials. BINDING: Bound in a later stiff paper longstitch binding. TEXT: This manuscript is a quintessential example of a Franciscan manuscript designed to aid friars to fulfill their role as preachers. The first unpublished text is organized by topics, replete with exempla (moral tales) and short aphorisms. The present manuscript is the only copy of the text that identifies the author. This is also a new witness to the sermons of St. James of the Marches, copied during the life of the author. Both texts are rare on the market (no sales recorded in the Schoenberg Database). PROVENANCE: Copied in Italy in Naples c. 1467-1469 and signed by a Franciscan scribe, Joannes de Ripis; it includes a colophon at the bottom of the page f. 44v, which is copied in a different script and ink than the remainder of the text; this date and place of origin is also supported by the watermark evidence and the date '1467' in red added on f. 39; later in a private European collection. CONDITION: first leaf backed with paper obscuring first page of text, ff. 41-43, 95-96 reinforced with paper strips inner margin, last few leaves edges tattered at edges, some worming, damp staining ff. 92-end, few threads loose on the spine, lower sections of leaves loose near the end, overall in good condition. Full description and images available. (TM 1017)