This biblical manuscript written in Latin was produced in the last quarter of the 12th century, most likely in Paris. It certainly came from a set containing all glossed books of the Bible, which would have amounted to an ensemble of about twenty volumes. This manuscript contains the Acts of the Apostles, the fifth book of the New Testament in the Bible. The Acts narrate the early years of the Christian Church, from Christ’s Ascension, and the evangelisation of the Roman Empire by his disciples.
Alongside the biblical text written in a larger script in the centre of the page are marginal and interlinear glosses in a smaller script. The glosses, from the Latin glossa, are additions or comments on the main text. By the time this manuscript was written, glosses were inherent to the production of biblical texts and derived from authoritative sources. The main text is written in what is called a ‘rounded proto-Gothic bookhand’, a script halfway between the rounded Caroline minuscule and the angular Gothic script that will become prevalent in the following centuries. The manuscript is decorated simply, with initials and paragraph marks in alternating blue and red ink.

Manuscripts, such as this one, were used in the Parisian cathedral schools, for teaching and study. This important demand led to the professionalisation of book production in the capital. This manuscript is an example of a new development in book production that happened in the late 12th century. The structure of the Bible was standardised, divided into chapters, headings and sections. Blue and red initials were used to mark the beginning of new sections, and facilitate reading.