| Description | Manuscript volume, 15th century, containing Book 1 of the "Malogranatum": 'De Confessione' by Gallus. The volume consists of a paper text block with a calfskin blind-tooled binding over boards (not original). Main body text in black with red rubrics, highlights and paragraph marks throughout.
On the inside of the front and rear boards the imprint of manuscript fragment pastedowns is visible. The fragments are now missing, but the imprints show they were both from a 12th century German manuscript. The rear pastedown had a list of antiphons and the text on the front pastedown shows the original manuscript may have been a treatise on music.
Originally had two brass clasps, of which the remnants can be seen on the rear board. Holes for bosses (5 on the front, 5 on the back) can also be seen. The spine covering is a modern repair but the leather on the front and back boards may be original. Two manuscript annotations (16th century?) are visible on the back cover, perpendicular to the spine. |
| AdminHistory | The Mallogranatum, or 'pomegranate' has been ascribed to Gallus, a 14th century abbot of the Cistercian abbey of Königssaal, Bohemia. It is structured as a dialogue between a father and son and is divided into three books: the first describing the state of the beginner, the second the advancing person, and the third the flawless person. Printed editions of this work were popular in the late medieval and Renaissance periods and the "Mallogranatum" influenced several later works.
150 manuscript copies of "Mallogranatum" were recorded by Manfred Gerwing in 1986 (see Gerwing, Manfred: "Malogranatum oder der dreifache Weg zur Vollkommenheit: Ein Beitrag zur Spiritualität des Spätmittelalters", Veröffentlichungen des Collegium Carolinum, number 57. (Munich: R. Oldenbourg. 1986)), mostly in Latin but also some German and Dutch translations. |
| CustodialHistory | From the Benedictine Abbey of St Peter, Erfurt. Pressmark D. 22 on folio 1. Pasted inside the front board is the bookplate of Walter Seton, former College Secretary. Following Seton's death, a fund was raised to buy books of Franciscan interest from his collection. |
| PublnNote | See "Gerwing Manfred. Malogranatum oder der dreifache Weg zur Vollkommenheit: Ein Beitrag zur Spiritualität des Spätmittelalters . (Veröffentlichungen des Collegium Carolinum, number 57.) Munich: R. Oldenbourg. 1986. Pp. 312." Review by Carter Lindberg in The American Historical Review, Volume 93, Issue 5, 1 December 1988, Pages 1305–1306, [https://doi.org/10.1086/ahr/93.5.1305-a] |