Présentation du contenu

Source des données : Mmmonk

• Manuscript 234 contains the Distinctiones Abel, by Petrus Cantor. Cantor (d. 1197) was a chanter at the Notre-Dame de Paris who wrote several works on theology. The Distinctiones are an alphabetical list of approximately 1.100 Biblical terms and names, starting with 'Abel' (hence the name) and running until 'Zona'. Of each term an explanation is given according to the different senses of Biblical exegesis. The alphabetical order is typical of theological and scientific trends of the twelfth century, when scholars aimed at collecting and organizing all available knowledge. Cantor's work proved highly useful for scholars, lecturers and preachers both during and after his life. This manuscript is quite small (measuring 150 x 120 mm) and was likely produced with the intent of being carried around. This manuscript is a contemporary copy, written at the end of the twelfth century or possibly the first decade of the thirteenth century. Each page holds a single column of text, although the rest of the layout is different throughout the manuscript. In the first quires the lemma's are found on the left, from which small 'arrows' reach out towards the different meanings. Further on, this layout is abandoned for continuous text with the lemma's in the outer margins. There is little decoration, though red ink is used heavily to organize the text. Majuscules are highlighted in red, the lemma's are mostly in this colour, and it is used to fill empty parts of lines. The first initial at the beginning of each section is more elaborately decorated, either in red ink with blue decorations or vice versa. Before and after the text Christ is invoked in multiple inscriptions, written in majuscules. The first and last leaves carry the cross-shaped stamp of Ten Duinen. The binding is early modern and consists of brown leather over wooden boards. There are no signs of the manuscript having been further dressed up, such as clamps, mounds or blind stamping. [Summary by Dr. Mark Vermeer]