Introduction

The Central Library’s Rare Books Department of the Los Angeles Public Library houses a rare unnamed manuscript from the 13th century. It is, in fact, the only remaining manuscript from the Nostell Priory in Yorkshire, England (see Figure 1).

Figure 1

Attempts have been made, past and present, to discover details surrounding the manuscript's journey to Los Angeles from Yorkshire, England. However, the library’s record keeping fails to include any details as to when or how the manuscript was acquired, leaving scholars with mere educated guesses as to how and when it arrived at the library. 

This study attempts to gain insight into the origins of this manuscript by analyzing its historical context and known history along with its physical characteristics such as size, collation, rubrication, and illumination. In 1200 C.E., the Nostell Priory was a place of quiet monastic practice which this simple yet precise manuscript reflects. 

Medieval Northern England 1066-1272

Medieval Northern England, between 1066 and 1272, often referred to as the High Middle Ages, was a period of heavy unrest; a time of conquering, devastation, but eventually reconstruction. 

Economy

In the High Middle Ages, Northern England's economy was primarily, if not completely, agricultural. However, English farming methods, particularly the "strip system" of cultivation they had developed, were "extremely inefficient" and the amount of grain production per acre was usually dismal (Sommerville, 2013).

During the 13th Century, wool was England's primary export. However, trading over long distances was still limited as most of Medieval England's land routes were poorly constructed and contained many potholes deep and wide enough to overturn a cart. Also, since the roads were made only from dirt, during rainy seasons they turned completely to mud which made cart travel impossible. Due to these poor traveling conditions, trading by sea was much more effective (Sommerville, 2013). 

Eventually, Northern England, recovering from the devastation of William II's efforts, was met with the warmer temperatures of the "Medieval Warm Period" which produced a longer growing season and an increase in agricultural results (Sommerville, 2013).  

Population

At the beginning of the High Middle Ages, the population of Yorkshire (see Figure 2), the eventual location of the Nostell Priory, was Anglo-Scandinavian, its people a mix of Viking and Anglo-Saxon heritage.  The population growth seen in Medieval England post-William II took place primarily in Northern England as a result of their marked increase in agricultural production (Sommerville, 2013).

The fact that the people of Yorkshire spoke an English dialect that was nearly indecipherable to the people of Southern England, coupled with the poor land routes, meant that communications between the North and South were limited. If communication was necessary, most was accomplished via sea travel (Sommerville, 2013). 

Figure 2 . Yorkshire, England

The Harrowing of the North 

In the winter of 1069, William the Conqueror invaded Northern England, devastating the countryside, including Yorkshire, in a successful attempt to "lay waste the northern shires and eliminate the possibility of further revolts" (Kapelle, 1980, p.5). Homes and farms were destroyed, the people of the north, slaughtered; William the Conquerer continued to pillage until 1086. Due to the destruction of farms, the only means of food production at the time, many more died from famine following the invasion (Kapelle, 1980).  

Religion & Spirituality 

William the Conqueror used the church as a way to promote colonization. In 1070 and beyond, the Normans founded monasteries all across the North of England, including the Nostell Priory in Yorkshire in the 13th century. 

In 13th century Northern England, about "one man in fifty" (Sommerville, 2013) was a cleric. Most of these clerics were not priests, but deacons or sub-deacons, who could conduct religious services but not officiate at traditional masses. The diocese, or the church administration, was comprised of several parishes with each parish home to, on average, 400 members.  The parish priests were referred to as "secular clergy" versus monks, nuns, and friars who were called "regular clergy".  Approximately 17,000 regular clergy existed in England around the 13th century. 

Around the same time, clerical celibacy was introduced as part of the Gregorian Reform movement, a series of moral reforms established by Pope Gregory VII (Sommerville, 2013). However, even still, it was widely known that many priests kept mistresses or engaged in other activities the church viewed as unfavorable.

Intellectual Renaissance

While churches and monasteries remained plentiful, they saw some loss of control over England's education around 1200 C.E. with the appearance of an intellectual renaissance. The peasant class enrolled in education without intention to become clergy members, literacy rates increased, and schools based primarily on religious studies were transformed into liberal arts facilities (Hemminger, 1997).  

The Dissolution of the Monasteries 1536-1541

The Act of Supremacy, a legality passed by Parliament in 1534, declared Henry VIII the "supreme head" of the Church of England. This act was responsible for allowing Henry VIII to disband all monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in all of England, Ireland, and Wales including the Nostell Priory in Yorkshire, England (Baskerville, 1937).  

Nostell Priory

A priory is a small monastery or nunnery governed by a prior or prioress (Merriam-Webster, 2013).  The Nostell Priory, located in the tiny village of Nostell, in Yorkshire, England, was a 12th century Augustinian priory.

The term Augustinian refers to a certain Catholic religious order named after St. Augustine of Hippo. Augustinian monks were part of a new 13th century movement which "sought to bring the religious ideals of the monastic life into an urban setting" (Rano, 1995, p.29).

The foundation of the Nostell Priory most likely began much earlier, around the beginning of the 12th century, when a small group of men would gather together to pray at a small chapel dedicated to St. Oswald near Pontefract (Frost, 2007).  

The priory was supported by the de Lacys, a Norman noble family, Henry I, as well as Thurstan of York, the Archbishop of York. Around 1100, Robert de Lacy noticed the gathering of men and bestowed upon them several pieces of land. De Lacy was eventually banished from England for other matters, which prompted Henry I to notice the small community of monks. Henry I established the Nostell Priory and made sure it became one of the wealthiest Augustinian priories in the North of England (Frost, 2007). 

The Nostell Priory was dedicated to St. Oswald (c. 604-642), also known as Oswald of Northumbria, or simply the King of Northumbria, who converted to Christianity and spent much of his life spreading the religion throughout the North of England. Oswald was considered a saint not only for his generosity to the poorer classes but also for his martyrdom, as he died a noble death in battle (Bede, 1991). 

In 1540, the priory was closed down due to the Dissolution of the Monasteries  (Baskerville, 1937).  Today, the site of the original priory now houses a "magnificent eighteenth-century house" (see Figure 3) (Alec, 2013).  

Figure 3 

Monastic Production & Hands of Scribes

In the 13th century, manuscript production was "largely centered in monastic scriptoria" (Brown, 1994, p.88). Within monasteries, scribes, illuminators and the like collectively worked to produce manuscripts and books for religious purposes. Scriptorium work, including correction, rubrication, sewing, and binding, made up just one part of a monk's daily routine within the monastery (Brown, 1994, p.88).

Just who composed the last remaining manuscript from the Nostell Priory is uncertain. As a liturgical text from a priory,  the work was composed by a monk or friar working as a scribe. The paper portion of the manuscript contains the handwriting style of one scribe while the parchment portion contains the handwriting of another scribe, each with their own individual characteristics and flourishes. Peter Kidd suggests that there may even be "several scribes at work" (2013).  

Paper and Parchment

From the 13th century and on, there was limited manufacturing of paper in England. Instead, most of the paper production occurred in Italy; the North of England most likely used their sea trade routes to acquire such a product (Brown, 1994, p.94). 

Paper, as a writing support in the 13th century, was usually produced by soaking fabric, such as cotton or linen, and then beating the wet fabric to a pulp. After dipping a wired frame into the pulpy mixture it was then "agitated until the fibers fused to form a sheet of paper" (Brown, 1994, p. 94). Early paper is noted by its resilience to withstand ageing; paper made in the 19th century and on was created using more acidic materials which caused it to turn brown and disintegrate over time (Brown, 1994, p.94). Paper makes up the first portion of this manuscript; the quires' very white color and near perfect condition is evidence the paper was created before the 19th century. 

Parchment, or animal skin, is another writing support used in preparing manuscripts as early as the 4th century.  To create parchment, animal hides were first soaked in lime, stretched onto a frame and then scraped until no hair remained (Brown, 1994, p.95).  After the animal skins had fully dried, they were often times treated to appear whiter or smoother and then the prepared hides were cut down to an appropriate size (Brown, 1994, p. 95). 

While paper makes up the first portion of this manuscript, there is one additional quire made from parchment (see Figure 4). 

Figure 4

The parchment is a beautiful golden yellow color, typical of vellum, rather than the brighter white paper used in the rest of the manuscript.  And, although more than 800 years old, “speckled traces of hair follicles” (Brown, 1994, p.65) are still quite visible on one side of the parchment leaves, indicative of the side that once held the animal’s hair (see Figure 5). 

Figure 5. Speckled traces of hair follicles near edge. 

These hair sides of the leaves tend to be "darker and smoother" (Brown, 1994, p. 65) than the flesh sides, which tend to be "whiter and softer" (Brown, 1994, p. 56). Most of the time, manuscript preparers employed Gregory's Law, or the design of folios "so that when the book was opened the two pages facing each other matched - grain opposite grain, flesh opposite flesh" (Avrin, 1991, p.213). Such is the case with this manuscript. 

Why there are, in fact, two separate parts to this manuscript, one done in paper and one done in parchment, can only be speculated. However, what is certain is the unique beauty each of these writing support materials offers. 

Postscript: Per Kidd (2013), the portion of manuscript first thought to be made from an early type of paper may, infact, be parchment. Kidd notes that while varying in color and quality from the other portion of the manuscript, it may, in fact, be another type of parchment. For instance one portion may have been done in calfskin while the other done in sheepskin (2013) which can vary greatly from one another in all respects. 

Collation

This manuscript is approximately ten inches tall by seven inches wide and two and half inches thick (see Figure 6). However, since a majority of the manuscript is missing, indicated by the front flyleaf as well as the visible traces of a strap and pin mechanism, the thickness would have probably been much more significant. 

Figure 6

This manuscript is made up of one quire of eight leaves made from paper, another quire of six leaves made from parchment, and twelve separated individual leaves made from paper. The sewing thread on the quire made from parchment is still intact (see Figure 7) (Kidd, 2013). 

Figure 7

The front flyleaf indicates portions of the manuscript that were present at one time but are now missing (Kidd, 2013). 

Those portions now missing are as follows: 

"In hoc volumine (con)tinent(ur)
Vet(us) Ada(m) & Nov(us) ada(m) in arbore.
Disti(n)ct(i)o(n)es Sermones.
Tractat(us) de voto nazareor(um).  
Questiones. Tractat(us) de edific(a)c(i)o(n)e altar(is) &
de Instrumentis-" 
(Kidd, 2013).

Just how these missing portions were arranged in context to what is present is not clear.  However, since only a small portion of the manuscript remains we can assume these missing portions made up a great deal of the codex. 

Binding

The sewing and covering of a codex, or binding, requires the binder to assemble completed leaves of a manuscript into gatherings, or quires, and then sew the quires together. The quires were then sewn onto cords or thongs for support which were then attached to the back and front covers. Eventually, the entire codex would be covered with leather or a like material (Brown, 1994, p. 22).  

In Medieval times, the back and front covers of a codex were made from pieces of wood which were "necessary to exert pressure on parchment to keep the pages from warping" (Avrin, 1991, p.304) These wooden front and back covers were usually made from a harder wood, like oak, to "minimize worming" (Brown, 1994, p. 22). Also, the edges of the boards were often beveled.

This manuscript's medieval binding is still present. Its back and front covers are made from "two thick oak boards" (Roberts, 2013) with clearly beveled edges (see Figures 8 and 9). Within the oak boards, a few tiny worm holes are present, but overall the condition of the front and back covers is exceptional.

Figure 8

Figure 9. Beveled Edges

Channeling, or a "system of grooves cut into the binding boards" (Brown, 1994, p.38), is present on the front and back boards of this manuscript. Each groove still possesses fragments of the "wide skin thongs" (Roberts, 2013) that were threaded through the channeling to bind the quires to the boards (see Figure 10). While the thongs are still present within the channeling, the lengths of thong that would have stretched between the two boards, holding them together, have now disintegrated. Also, the covering, probably leather, is missing as well. 

Figure 10

A strap and pin mechanism was sometimes used to keep the manuscript closed (Brown, 1994, p.188). According to Emma Roberts (2013), parchment and paper might swell or change shape with varying temperature and dampness conditions so the strap and pin mechanism was used to keep the expanding pages within the wooden boards. On this particular manuscript, the nails which held the leather strap used to close the book can still be seen (see Figure 11).

Figure 11

Note: Interestingly, at some point in time, the manuscript was placed inside an archival box labeled "Peter Comestor's Bible History" to keep the manuscript safe from the elements, the box having nothing to do with the actual manuscript inside. This storage choice produced several years of confusion and errors among scholars who were attempting to authenticate the manuscript; most scholars sought to associate the box with the codex resulting in much inaccuracy regarding publication date and origin. The 1961 study notes from Woolf and Vielliard attempting to authenticate the work are even titled "Notes on the Peter Comestor Manuscript". 
  

Colophon, Flyleaf, and Pastedown

Inscriptions, called colophons, which detail the creators, production location, and date, can sometimes be found within manuscripts, usually towards the end of the codex (Brown, 1994, p. 43).  Also, in the colophon's place might be an emblem from a publishing house.

This manuscript possesses a front flyleaf, used to protect the text from any worming of the front cover (Brown, 1994, p. 57), that also possesses a colophon and also contains a list of the contents of the manuscript that are now missing (see Figure 12). Interestingly, the front flyleaf also exhibits a written line of the alphabet, perhaps a bit of practice by the scribe.  

Figure 12

The upper right hand corner of the front flyleaf possesses the colophon, one of the most telling and also, at the same time, confusing pieces of information within the entire manuscript. There is a small inscription that reads: "de Sancto Oswaldo, de Nostel", translated to "of St. Oswald, Nostell Priory" or "dedicated to St. Oswald, Nostell Priory" (see Figure 13). 

Figure 13

A previous owner of the manuscript placed a label inside the manuscript's cover indicating that the codex was the "Manuscript of Oswald, King of the Northumbrians b. 604, d. 642" (see Figure 14). 

Figure 14

However, this was a misinterpretation of the inscription on the front flyleaf as the manuscript is from 1200 and was simply created by the Nostell Priory, dedicated to St. Oswald, not actually belonging to him. The previous owner, who placed the label inside the manuscript, was possibly Dawson's Book Shop in Los Angeles,California according to a penciled-in price-code of "cxcx $175" (see Figure 15) in the upper right hand corner (Kidd, 2013).  

Figure 15

A back pastedown is present, although most of it has disintegrated over time (see Figure 16) but was once used to protect the text from any worming present in the wood (Brown, 1994, p.96).

Figure 16

Script Style

Script, or the "handwriting used in manuscripts", was determined by the "form and function" of the manuscript. (Brown, 1994, p.115). Scribes were able to choose from many different handwriting styles when composing a manuscript. However, within these guidelines the individual handwriting characteristics of each scribe were also present in a text.

The script style of the only remaining manuscript from the Nostell Priory remains a point of debate. Personal conversation with independent scholar and Getty Institute manuscript researcher, Peter Kidd, revealed his belief that the script style used in this manuscript was actually an informal style of handwriting he calls "semi-formal Gothic book-hand" (2013) or a type of script used in the Gothic period exclusively for books.  Kidd suggests the style is somewhere between a "neat formal style and a more informal cursive style" (2013). 

Research done using Avrin's (1991) and  Nottingham University's work (2013) suggests that the script style is a more formal cursive style, Anglicana Formata. Around 1260, cursive scripts, like the Anglicana cursive scripts, were becoming a more efficient method of copying literary texts and liturgical works. Notable of scripts in the Anglicana style are "how many letters extend above [and] below the writing line" (University of Nottingham, 2013). In the 13th century, this type of script was also characterized by flourishes, hooks, and dots. The Nostell Priory manuscript contains the characteristic flourishes and hooks as well as the extending letters of Anglicana Formata. 

Below is an example of Anglicana Formata script (see Figure 17) and an image of the manuscript's actual script style (see Figure 18) for comparison. 

Figure 17. Anglicana Formata script style sample

Figure 18. Close up of Nostell Priory manuscript text

Sufficient visual and historical evidence exists to suggest that the Nostell Priory's manuscript script style is Anglicana Formata. Given this information, Peter Kidd's assessment that the manuscript's script style is somewhere between an informal and formal cursive style is not entirely off point: of the more informal Anglicana cursive scripts, "Formata is the most formal" (University of Nottingham, 2013).  

Ink

The term "ink" comes from the Latin word for "burnt in", or encaustum. This is due to the way in which the ingredients used in ink, acids and oxidizing materials, ate into writing surfaces (Brown, 1994, p. 73).  

Medieval ink, used in drawing, ruling, and writing, was made from organic materials. 

The base for medieval ink was made a mixture of gall, or gallnuts, and gum. Gall, or gallnuts, were "swellings on trees caused by gall flies or wasps laying their eggs in the tissues of the tree which [grew] a covering over the spot of irritation"  (Avrin, 1991, p. 214).  The tannic acid, extracted from the gallnuts, was a colorless liquid which, when mixed with iron salts or oxygen, turned into black or gray ink.  

To create colored ink, beyond black and gray, other carbon and/or iron salts were added to the mixture for colorization (Brown, 1994, p.73). Rusty-colored ink made using iron salts often times "faded to a red-brown or yellow". Gray-green ink was created by adding copper salts. 

Figure 19

Ink was mostly applied with a "goose quill, its feathers removed" (Avrin, 1991, p. 213)

but could also be diluted with water and applied with a brush to create a wash affect (Brown, 1994, p.73). 

In this manuscript, only three colors of ink are present: black for the main text, red ink for rubrication and green ink used for minimal decoration (see Figure 19).

Rubrication

Within a manuscript, a rubric, or a "title, chapter heading, or instruction...which helps to identify [the text's] components" (Brown, 1994, p.111) may be present. Rubrics began during the days of ancient scroll-making when brightly colored ink was used to "distinguish two sets of items" within the text and then eventually for "the opening words or title of a book" and for "headings or the end of a section" (Avrin, 1991, p. 91).  These rubrics were usually done in red ink to stand out from the main text. The word "rubric" gets its name from its coloring; the Latin word for red is rubrica.  (Brown, 1994).  However, often other colors of ink, including black and green, were "tastefully combined" with red ink to present a "bold visual effect" (Avrin, 1991, p.91).

In this manuscript, red rubrication is seen throughout (see Figures 20 and 21).

Figure 20

Figure 21

Many of the red rubrication is further highlighted by additional elements done in green ink, such as this green face drawn inside a red letter "o" (see Figure 22).

Figure 22

Rulings

Gray rulings, or "horizontal lines produced to guide the hand in writing" (Brown, 1994, p.111) are very visible on every leaf of this manuscript (see Figure 23). These rulings, based on their color and time period of the manuscript, were probably made with a lead point called a "plummet". A plummet was a piece of lead alloy placed inside a holder, similar to today's pencil, that could then be gripped by the scribe to aid in ruling or drawing (Brown, 1994, p.78).

Figure 23

Illumination

Roberts (2013) describes this manuscript as a working manuscript or one used for monastic practice and recitation. Roberts suggests the use of the manuscript as a work material is the reason the manuscript contains little illumination or "the embellishment of a manuscript with luminous colors" (Brown, 1996, p.69).

The illumination present in the manuscript is minimal, mostly green ink used to illuminate several letters and add several small embellishments (see Figure 24). While there seem to be large initials, decorations, and rubrication to signal the beginnings and endings of portions of the text, there seems to be a lack of incipits, "opening words" or explicit "closing" words throughout the manuscript (Brown, 1994, p.72 & 56).  

Figure 24

Aside from colorful illumination, there were several ways in which scribes highlighted important text within a codex. A popular method was that of the manicule, or a small drawing of a hand, its index finger aimed directly at a portion of text a scribe wished to deem important. The word "manicule" comes from the Latin term maniculum meaning "little hand" (Rylands, 2013).  Manicules varied in design, some "emerg[ing] from sleeves of varying sophistication" (Rylands, 2013) and they often revealed the fashions of the time. The earliest recorded instant of manicules dates back to 1086 in the Domesday Book but manicules then disappeared from manuscripts for some time until resurfacing in the twelfth century. Unfortunately, detailed information about the use of manicules at this point in history remains a mystery (Houston, 2013). In this manuscript, manicules are seen throughout, done mostly in black ink (see Figure 25) and occasionally in green or red ink.

Figure 25

Summary

To view the last remaining manuscript of the Nostell Priory in person is awe-inspiring; from the crystal clear ink to its intact quires to its gorgeous beveled oak covers, one wonders how this remarkable piece of history survived its journey from Yorkshire England in 1200 to eventually live within the rare book vault of the Los Angeles Public Library. While its journey remains a mystery, one thing is for certain: this manuscript provides a rare and unique glimpse into the past.  Although the manuscript is incomplete, the portions of the codex that remain say much about the monastic lifestyle present at the Nostell Priory where it was written. The unremarkable size, precise rulings, informal but flourished text, minimal decoration and illumination, as well as the religious content, all provide contemporary viewers a window into the solitary religious study performed by monks at the Nostell Priory in Yorkshire, England around 1200 C.E. 

References

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