The Four Gospels; Records of St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury
Description
Contents: ff. 2r-v: St Jerome, Epistula ad Damasum papam (Epistle
to Pope Damasus), beginning imperfectly: 'addita sunt. Igitur hec
presens prefaciuncula'. ff. 2v-5r: St Jerome, Prologus Quattuor
Evangeliorum (Preface to St Jerome's commentary on the Gospel of St
Matthew), beginning: 'Plures fuisse qui evangelia scripserunt'. ff.
5r-v: Eusebius, Epistula ad Carpianum. ff. 5v-43v: Evangelium
secundum Sanctum Mattheum (The Gospel of St Matthew) preceded by a
prologue (ff. 5v-6v) and capitula (ff. 6v-8v). ff. 44r-69r:
Evangelium secundum Sanctum Marcum (The Gospel of St Mark),
preceded by a prologue (ff. 44r-v) and capitula (ff. 44v-45v). ff.
70r-112r: Evangelium secundum Sanctum Lucam (The Gospel of St
Luke), preceded by a prologue (ff. 70r-v) and capitula (ff. 71r-v).
ff. 112v-145r: Evangelium secundum Sanctum Iohannem (The Gospel of
St John), preceded by a prologue (ff. 112v-113r) and capitula (ff.
113r-v). ff. 145v-146v: Thirteenth-century records of the revenues
of St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury have been inserted on leaves
which were originally left blank.Decoration:Three incipit pages
with initials, partially coloured, and display script in red and
blue, at the beginning of St Mathew, St Luke, and St John (ff. 9r,
72r, 114v). Two historiated initials of St Michael fighting the
dragon (f. 6r); and of a devil urging a monk to gluttony, with a
portrait of St Matthew below, a naked man pointing his mouth and a
man with a head of an ox at the beginning of St Matthew's Gospel
(f. 6v). Five inhabited or zoomorphic initials with display
capitals in red and blue: P'(lures) at the beginning of the
Prologues, with a man fighting with a dragon (f. 2v); 'A'(monius)
formed of dragons at the beginning of the epistle of Eusebius to
Carpianus (f. 5r); 'M'(arcus), formed of two dragons (f. 44r) and
'I'(nicium) with a horse, a dragon, and a lion, at the beginning of
St Mark's Gospel (f. 46r); 'L'(ucas) with a dragon biting at the
beginning of St Luke's Gospel (f. 70r). A foliate initial in
outline drawing with display capitals at the beginning of St John's
Gospel (f. 112v). Three blue initials with penwork decoration in
red (ff. 64r, 72v, 106r) and 2 initials in red and blue (ff. 142v,
134r). Decoration unfinished, space left blank for an initial (f.
139v). Instructions in the margins for the illuminator (e. g., f.
6r).
