Sermons about the Blessed Virgin Mary

Scope and Content

Manuscript volume containing a collection of treatises and sermons on the Blessed Virgin Mary, dating from the mid-fifteenth century, and comprising a treatise beginning 'Caritatis radix flos et fructus est eternitatis fundamentum'; Speculum Beatae Mariae Virginis by Conrad of Saxony; a sermon by Saint Augustine of Hippo on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary; a homily by Saint Anselm on the Feast of the Assumption; a sermon by Saint Augustine of Hippo for the Feast of Assumption; a note on the seven privileges of the Blessed Virgin Mary (possibly taken from the Speculum Beatae Mariae Virginis); and an incomplete copy of a sermon by Saint Ambrose on the Virgin Mary. The manuscript was written by various scribes in a mixture of book-hand and business-hand, probably in Germany.

Administrative / Biographical History

The Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is on 15th August.

Arrangement

Single item.

Access Information

Access to this collection is unrestricted for the purpose of private study and personal research within the supervised environment and restrictions of the Library's Palaeography Room. Uncatalogued material may not be seen. Please contact the University Archivist for details.

Acquisition Information

Bought from Messrs. Frank Hollings, London, in 1949.

Other Finding Aids

Collection level description. See also N. R. Ker, Medieval Manuscripts in British Libraries I, London (1969).

Physical Characteristics and/or Technical Requirements

Manuscript octavo. Written on paper with a mid-nineteenth century mottled calf binding by Riviere and Son. Rubricated.

Archivist's Note

Compiled by Sarah Aitchison as part of the RSLP AIM25 Project.

Conditions Governing Use

Copies may be made, subject to the condition of the original. Copying must be undertaken by the Palaeography Room staff, who will need a minimum of 24 hours to process requests.

Bibliography

Speculum Beatae Mariae Virginis was originally thought to have been written by Saint Bonaventure, and so was printed amongst his works in 1596, and by itself, last in Bibliotheca Franciscana Medii Aevii (1904). The sermons by Saint Augustine and Saint Anselm are printed in J. P. Migne, Patrologiae Cursus Completus (1861), in volumes 39, 40 and 95.