ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS

Taranaki Daily News, 15 September 1934, Page 14 (Supplement)

ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS

FINE BIBLICAL WRITINGS REMARKABLE CRAFTSMANSHIP. EXHIBITION BY BIBLE SOCIETY. A collector’s Elysium, breathing centuries of historical association, is the Clemas collection of Biblical manuscripts, which is in the possession of the British and Foreign Bible Society. Bibles that are monuments to religious fervour, laboriously worked by hand and embellished with the finest of delicate art, lie beside volumes produced in the 15th century at the birth of printing. The inscription and beauty of the works are almost beyond belief—they are magnificent examples of craftsmanship. Perhaps the most interesting exhibit is the “Treacle” Bible, the first Bible to be printed in England, which was authorised by Henry VIII at the behest of Cromwell and Cranmer in 1540. It earns its name because Of the reference to “triacle .in Gilead,” trihcle beind accepted as the synonym for sweetness, instead of balm.

The title page reads: “The Byble in Englyshe of the largest and greatest volume auctorysed and apoynted by commandment of. our most redoubted Prynce and Souveraygne Lorde King Henry VIII., Supreme Heade of his Church and of Englande ...”

When Tyndale died a martyr, his last words asked God to open the eyes of the King of England; three years later the King authorised' the printing of the volume, sending to France to have it executed. By the time the fourth edition was out, however, Cromwell had lost his head, which explains why, on the intricately-worked frontispiece, there is a circular space where once had been Cromwell’s coat of arms. > THE BOOK OF HOURS. Of incredible beauty is the Book of Hours, a French manuscript of the 15th century,-written in a clear, bold Gothic hand ..upon 162 pages of the finest vellum. It is decorated by 12 miniatures in burnished gold and colours, with arched frames surrounded by full borders of flowers, fruit and acanthus leaves, introducing birds, butterflies and other life. Each of the pages with miniatures has a fine initial in colours on a ground of burnished gold. The art is amazing, and. the colours have preserved their richness through the centuries. One illustration shows a burial, and the next an assault-at-arms between the Devil and an angel as to the destination of the dead. Unlike the usual Conception of one, this angel has not the flowing robes, but is dressed in utilitarian fashion, and one of the bodies it has wrested is seen moving up the heaven, naked as it came to earth. On the fly-leaf of the volume is the name of one of its early owners—Du Brueil de Rodeillats. RELIC OF. ANTIQUITY. A relic Of antiquity is a Bible in Latin, transcribed in 1920. It has double columns, wide margins, with fine miniatures in colour; and there are hundreds of finely-decorated capitals, some extending the whole length of the page. The dragon design that is part of the decorations is peculiar to the 13th century. It is in a fine state of preservation, and came from the library of the Duke of Bavaria. The Bible is a choice example of early caligraphy and mediaeval art. For some of the lettering the exudation of the cuttlefish has been used.

Written in the 15th century by an English scribe, a book of Psalms is profusely decorated with burnished gold—each of the 203 pages of vellum has gold on it. The Psalms are in Latin, with an exquisite calendar in front for English use; and the whole is written in a fine, bold hand, delicately ornamented. At one time the book was in the possession of the Order of St. Clare, of the English Franciscan Order, and contains an inscription that it was "not to be solde, lent or given away.” The order was disbanded by Henry VIII and the nunnery destroyed. Only three manuscripts of the order are known to be in existence now: this one came from the library of the Duke of Norfolk. Printing was invented in 1440, and the first Bible was printed in 1450. An example of the early * printers’ art is shown by a Bible in the collection, printed in Venice in 1478. It is in Latin, and all decorative capitals have been added in colour by, hand. Another is' the Lily Bible of France, printed in 1519, and a notable milestone in the history of printed literature: it was the first book to be printed from engraved, fullpage metal blocks. PONDEROUS TOME. A ponderous tome is the edition of the King James version. It was first printed in 1611, and the third edition, printed in 1613, is shown. < Heavy metal corner-pieces protect the volume from rough usage, and four large knobs on the front were designed to protect the cover of the open book from spilled wine. The Bible is known as the She Bible, because, in Ruth 4:5, appear the words, “Said she unto her, all that thou sayest unto me I will do”—“he” should have been used instead of “she.” The Bugge Bible and the Breeches Bible, the former printed in 1549 and the latter in 1577, are also shown. The first earned its name by referring to bugs by night instead of bogeys by night, and the second by making Adam and Eve make themselves breeches instead of aprons. Associated with the early days of the Dominion is a Bible printed in 1615, which was brought to New Zealand in 1824 by a missionary, and was in the library of Bishop Neville Primate of New Zealand, when he died. THE OLDEST WORK. The gospel of Saint Matthew, written in Latin in 1130, is the oldest work of scribes on exhibition, beautifully written in clean, small letters. As against this work, there is an example of primitive methods used in modern times. Only 10 years old is a small volume that has come from the heart of Ethiopia. It is written in Amharic, a language that possibly was used in the days of Cleopatra, and the book was produced by means as primitive as those of St. Paul. The skin of the antelope has been used for pages, and holes show where the spear has been used for killing the animal. Seventeen of the items in the collection of Mr. A. Clemas, of Masterton, are shown by the society—the whole collection is 30. They were acquired by the society for the permanent enrichment of New Zealand. The Rev. David Calder, 8.A., Dominion secretary to the society, is in charge of the exhibition.