St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. Sang. 635
Lowe Elias Avery, Codices Latini Antiquiores. A palaeographical guide to latin manuscripts prior to the ninth century. Part VII: Switzerland, Oxford 1956 (Osnabrück 1982), p. 31.
Manuscript title:
, Historia Langobardorum.
Date of origin: Saec. VIII-IX
Support: Parchment thick, with some defective leaves.
Extent:
Foll. 122
Format: ca. 230 x ca. 145 mm.
Collation: Gatherings mostly of eight, with hair-side outside, signed in the middle of the lower margin of the last page with Roman numerals between dots.
Page layout:
(175-195 x 107-115 mm.) in 22-29 long lines. Ruling before folding, on the hair-side, 4 bifolia at a time, with the direct impression on the outer leaf. Double bounding lines in both margins. Prickings in the outer margin guided the ruling.
Writing and hands:
- Punctuation: the main pause is marked by a medial point, colon, or semicolon, lesser pauses by the medial point; all else added.
- Omissions marked by signes de renvoi (p. 4, etc.).
- Abbreviations include b;, q: = bus, que; auꞇ = autem; ƀ = bis; dr̅ = dicitur; eccƚa = ecclesia; eĭ = eius; ep̅m = episcopum; e̅e̅, e̅ = esse, est; gƚa = gloria; = men; n̅ = non; n̅r̅, nr̅i = noster, -ri; ꝑ, , ꝓ, pp̅ꞇ̅ = per, prae, pro, propter; ꝗ, q = qui, quod; r̅ (σƴ̲) = rum (orum); ꞇ̅ = ter and tur; ꞇʿ = tus.
- Spelling shows frequent confusion of b and u, and wrong aspiration.
- Ink brown or dark grey.
- Script is early Caroline minuscule of Italian type, by many hands, some recalling the Veronese script practised in the time of Pacificus: noteworthy are the pointed a and the flat-topped g used by some scribes; i-longa occurs initially and medially; r often has a small base.
Decoration:
- Colophons and headings in black uncial interspersed with capitals and minuscule letters touched up with red; some headings in red uncial.
- Initials are rather crude, some coloured red, some decorated with the rope or leaf motif.
Additions: A ninth-century
St. Gall hand thoroughly corrected the manuscript and erased certain passages.
Origin of the manuscript:
Written in North Italy, apparently in the eastern part, to judge by the presence of Veronese features.
Acquisition of the manuscript: Belonged to St. Gall already
in the ninth century, as the corrections show. The ex-libris
libˢ sc̅i galli (saec. XIII) stands on p. 1.