DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14714#0035
DESCRIPTION OF MS.
THE CORONATION BOOK OF THE ANGLO-SAXON KINGS OF ENGLAND.
A MS. FORMING PART OF THE COTTONIAN LIBRARY, IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM.
In my sketch of the progress of the art of illumination at the beginning of this volume, I have spoken of the peculiar style which
distinguished the period of Charlemagne, both in England and on the Continent, and still farther enlarged upon the subject in my
description of the " Golden Gospels;" it is therefore unnecessary to repeat those remarks in this place. I shall, therefore, merely say a
few words on the history of the interesting manuscript from which the accompanying specimens are taken. It is the copy of the gospels
upon which our Anglo-Saxon kings took the coronation oath from the time of Athelstan ; and from an inscription in the volume it would
appear that the book was not written in England, but was a present received from Germany. The inscription stands " + Odda Hex," and
" + Methild mater regis." The sister of Athelstan married Otho Emperor of Germany, from whom, and his mother Mathilda, it would
appear that the book was a present to Athelstan. It is evidently a work of the ninth century, or very early in the tenth, and its
paintings and ornaments possess all the peculiarities of works of that period.
It would appear that it was used at coronations as late as that of Henry VI.; an interpolated leaf belonging to a book known to have
been executed for that king, appears to have been then inserted. After the Reformation, and the destruction of the monasteries and their
libraries; such books were either destroyed or dispersed, on account of their idolatrous paintings, as they were termed; and this book,
with many others, fell eventually into the hands of the great collector, Sir Robert Cotton, by whom it was produced at the coronation of
Charles I., and in whose library it was subsequently much damaged by the great fire, which utterly destroyed many of the finest
manuscripts of that invaluable collection. But of this circumstance, and other matters connected with the vicissitudes of this antique
and venerable volume, Mr. Holmes, of the British Museum, has given an interesting and copious account in the " Gentleman's Magazine,"
for the year 1836.
The examples selected to illustrate the style of the illuminations of this manuscript, are a curious miniature of St. John, accompanied
by his usual symbol, the Eagle, executed in the style of debased Roman art, which characterises the period. Opposite is the commence-
ment of the Gospel according to this Evangelist, the large and finely-designed initial I of which forms a kind of border to the page, and
is connected with the body of the writing by capitals of an intermediate size. The commencement of each Gospel is similarly
decorated.
THE CORONATION BOOK OF THE ANGLO-SAXON KINGS OF ENGLAND.
A MS. FORMING PART OF THE COTTONIAN LIBRARY, IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM.
In my sketch of the progress of the art of illumination at the beginning of this volume, I have spoken of the peculiar style which
distinguished the period of Charlemagne, both in England and on the Continent, and still farther enlarged upon the subject in my
description of the " Golden Gospels;" it is therefore unnecessary to repeat those remarks in this place. I shall, therefore, merely say a
few words on the history of the interesting manuscript from which the accompanying specimens are taken. It is the copy of the gospels
upon which our Anglo-Saxon kings took the coronation oath from the time of Athelstan ; and from an inscription in the volume it would
appear that the book was not written in England, but was a present received from Germany. The inscription stands " + Odda Hex," and
" + Methild mater regis." The sister of Athelstan married Otho Emperor of Germany, from whom, and his mother Mathilda, it would
appear that the book was a present to Athelstan. It is evidently a work of the ninth century, or very early in the tenth, and its
paintings and ornaments possess all the peculiarities of works of that period.
It would appear that it was used at coronations as late as that of Henry VI.; an interpolated leaf belonging to a book known to have
been executed for that king, appears to have been then inserted. After the Reformation, and the destruction of the monasteries and their
libraries; such books were either destroyed or dispersed, on account of their idolatrous paintings, as they were termed; and this book,
with many others, fell eventually into the hands of the great collector, Sir Robert Cotton, by whom it was produced at the coronation of
Charles I., and in whose library it was subsequently much damaged by the great fire, which utterly destroyed many of the finest
manuscripts of that invaluable collection. But of this circumstance, and other matters connected with the vicissitudes of this antique
and venerable volume, Mr. Holmes, of the British Museum, has given an interesting and copious account in the " Gentleman's Magazine,"
for the year 1836.
The examples selected to illustrate the style of the illuminations of this manuscript, are a curious miniature of St. John, accompanied
by his usual symbol, the Eagle, executed in the style of debased Roman art, which characterises the period. Opposite is the commence-
ment of the Gospel according to this Evangelist, the large and finely-designed initial I of which forms a kind of border to the page, and
is connected with the body of the writing by capitals of an intermediate size. The commencement of each Gospel is similarly
decorated.