Leaf with decorated initial P, from the Epistles of St Paul (I Corinthians XVI, 3-24; II Corinthians, I, 1-5) with Gloss of Gilbert de Porée; French (South-West); ca 1150

Leaf with a decorated initial P. Initial is drawn in ink, with an interlace decoration with red and green enclosing foliate decoration in white with red and green, the whole on a sepia ground. Also a simple 4-line calligraphic initial T in blue and red. On both recto and verso, two columns of text in Caroline miniscule script. One column contains a gloss and the other contains the bible text. 43 and 22 lines for gloss and text.

Part of cuttings purchased in batches from William Henry James Weale in 1883, 95 on 9 April 1883, 258 on 17 April 1883, 20 on 20 February, for the total sum of £96.7.2 (now Museum nos 8972-9042).

There was a great effort of academic scholarship in the cathedral schools of the twelfth century to provide a commentary on the Bible. From about 1130, the whole of the Bible had a gloss; Gilbert de la Porée (ca. 1080-1154) further revised the gloss for the Psalms and the Epistles of St Paul. Copies of his gloss have the page layout found in the V&A leaves, with the gloss written out continuously and the biblical text in a larger script put at the appropriate place alongside. This arrangement seems rather clumsy when compared the the alternate-line layout that characterized glossed books produced in Paris, but it was consistently followed for Gilbert's text throughout Europe.

Before the establishment of the university in Paris at the end of the twelfth century, study and teaching centred on outstanding scholars bases in cathedral schools - Laon, Chartres and Paris among others - where books were produced to record their teaching. After ca. 1160 Paris came to predominate as a centre of teaching and book production, but before this date books were produced in cathedral towns: their design and decoration established the standard for the text in question. It has been argued that the books produced in the circle of Gilbert in Chartres were copied in all their aspects when this scholar migrated to Paris (this has been difficult to prove since the library at Chartres was totally destroyed in 1944), so that the first Paris copies were in fact imitations of Chartres books and their illumination.

When Gilbert went to Poitiers in 1142, howeverm his works were copied in books that were decorated in local styles. The V&A leaves are among these. The designs of the initials are of a kind found in manuscripts produced at this time in such centres as Limoges, Angoulême and Moissac. The neat interlace of the initial, and even the colour scheme with a bright green and rich red are in a totally different idiom from Paris works of this date. The style indicates a date in the mid-twelfth century or shortly after, which suggests that it represents textual tradition supervised by Gilbert himself.

Text taken from Watson, Rowan. Illuminated manuscripts and their makers. London, 2002.


Caroline or Carolingian Miniscule script (Littera Miniscula Caroline)

No other medieval reform of script, or rather canonization of an evolved script, was as far-reaching and sytematic as that of Caroline miniscule. Its successful diffusion throughout much of early medieval Europe was closely linked to an increase in intellectual activity based on the dissemination of texts, partly due to the emperor Charlemagne's promotion of scholarship and education. Heightened royal, noble and ecclesiastical patronage of book production from the late-eigth-century onwards, and the adoption of Caroline miniscule by the religious foundations and ecclesiastical institutions which were largley responsible for book production at this time, were also key factors in the success of this script.

Diffusion: most of Western Europe from eighth century until eleventh to thirteenth depending on the region.

Taken from Brown, Michelle P. A Guide to Western Historical Scripts from Antiquity to 1600. London, 1900.

Data taken from notes compiled by Rowan Watson. The full text of the entry is as follows:

( The following text refers to 9037 A, B, D, E)

'Cat. 000 EPISTLES OF ST PAUL WITH THE GLOSS OF GILBERT DE LA PORÈE; France (South -west), c. 1150. (9037 A, B, D, E)

Iduvidual item text

'Cat. no. 0.4
9037 E
EPISTLES OF ST PAUL (II Thessalonias III, 17-18; Timothy I, 1-7)
with gloss of Gilbert de la Porée
Leaf, with decorated initial P (letter-shape, with interlace and foliate design with red and freen, the whole on a sepia ground with a blue frame bounded by a red line) for the text, and a simple 4-line calligraphic initial T in blue and red

Inc. (text) : Paulus apostolus (gloss) : Timotheum apostlus in Asia

France (South-West) c. 1150
(240 x 165) mm; written space 183 x 136 mm; 43 & 22 lines for text and gloss; 2 cols.

Bought from Weale, 1883 mm; £2.7s 0d for 9037 A,B, D, E (C missing)
Pub: 1923 cat, 71 ( "Italian"); De Hamel, 1984, p. 20'

stylistic reasons

The scholars working in the cathedral schools of the 12th century made a great effort to provide a gloss (commentary) on the Bible. From about 1130 the whole of the Bible had a gloss, which Gilbert de la Porée (ca.1080-1154) further revised for the Psalms and the Epistles of St Paul. Copies of his gloss have the page layout found in this leaf and another four in the V&A collection from the same manuscript, with the gloss written out continuously and the biblical text in a larger script put at the appropriate place alongside. In 1142 Gilbert became Bishop of Poitiers in western France, where his works were copied in books that were decorated in local styles. The V&A leaves are among these. The designs of the initials are of a kind found in manuscripts produced at this time in such centres as Limoges, Angoulême and Moissac. The neat interlace of the initial, and even the colour scheme with a bright green and rich red, are in a totally different idiom from Paris work of this date. The style indicates a date in the mid-12th century or shortly after, which suggests that it represents textual tradition supervised by Gilbert himself.

9037E