Incunabulum 57

Early bookbinders would often use scrap pieces of parchment from damaged or discarded books in their bindings. They could use the parchment to reinforce the spine, to cover the sewing cords, or to prevent the text from rubbing against the binding. The waste parchment used in Incunabulum 57 had the latter two functions. This type of waste parchment is called a pastedown, and would have been glued over the inside of the cover board. The study of waste parchment allows for small, but interesting examinations into lost manuscripts. This page will focus on the remnants of the waste parchment in the incunabulum.

The Context

Incunabulum 57 was written and published in Germany in 1484. This gives us a terminus ante quem for the waste parchment inside the book. We know that the manuscript must have been written before the binding of the book. The book's printing location might also hint at where the parchment was written, but this we can't be certain of.

The Remnants of the Waste Parchment and its Script

Incunabulum 57 presents a unique puzzle in that the waste parchment does not survive, but the ink from the waste parchment remains, having left an offset on the binding of the book. The glue used to paste the waste parchment onto the binding has captured some of the ink and allows us to read part of the manuscript, even though the parchment itself is lost. As you can see, the Latin is in reverse, as expected from the offset of a pastedown.

The script is a Northern Gothic textualis quadrata, distinguished by the letters' neatly constructed angular feet. This is a formal hand and hints at the high quality of the original manuscript. The red and blue coloring of the capitals and decoration is typical for the Gothic script. The capitals mark major divisions in the Latin.

Transcription

After reversing the image so the Latin is readable, we are able to transcribe some sections of the imprinted ink.

Column 1 (click here)

CLe

me

[[nt]]iss[[i]]

me

pater p(er) ih(su)m cristu(m)

filium tuam d(omi)ni

[[***]]r n(ostr)i suppli

[[***]] rogamus [[***]]

[[***]]ui [[*******]]pr [[*]]

[[**]]ie.[[***]] meditas

[[]] h er

[[]] er sar

[[]]lilam

[[]]m[[]]

[[]] servis pre

[[]] suli [[**]]

[[]]lica qui p[[]]

[[]aub[[**]]lic[[*]]

[[]]

Column 2 (click here)

dia veris [[]]

[[]]u[[]]

[[]]aio[[]]p[[*]]

uro[[]]ra[[]]

n(ost)ro [[]]

n.c [[]] ib[[]]

[[]]m[[]

[[*]]a. et aio[[]]

[[]]ob[[]]

Memento d(omi)ne

famulorum

famularum [[n]] et [[n]]

rum [[]] et [[]]

circum[[stantium]]

quor(um) tibi fid[[es]] [[cog(-)]]

nita est [[]] [[de(-)]]

uotio . pro [[qui]]b[[us]]

Tibi offerim[[us]]

Translation

The large gaps in the Latin do not give us much to work with, but we can piece together a few words.

The first column begins with:

Most merciful father, through jesus christ your son, our lord, we ask…

The second column, starting at the capital, reads:

Remember lord, the servants and maids and those here whose faith and devotion you have come to know… we offer to you

Locating the Text

The string of words in column 2 is enough to identify the text as a section of the scripture used for Catholic Mass. The first few lines in Column 1 and the section starting with Memento in Column 2 match sections in the Tridentine Mass, established in 1570. Since the waste parchment had to have been written before 1484, the Latin here must belong to the Pre-Tridentine Mass. The Pre-Tridentine Mass had no centralized form; it differed slightly depending on the region and the church. For this reason, we cannot compare the Latin here to any official text. Despite this, its similarity to the later Tridentine Mass is evidence enough that the waste parchment likely came from a missal. An expert in the Gothic script might be able to geographically place the manuscript, but with the current material and my lack of script-expertise, I can only make conclusions about the last possible date for the manuscript's creation and its function.