JACOBUS DE VORAGINE, Sermones quadragesimales (Lenten sermons), including sermons from his De sanctis et festis (six), and De tempore (two), and from SERVASANCTUS DE FAVENTIA, Sermones de tempore et de sanctis (five)

a glimpse into daily life in the Middle Ages. Dimensions c. 200 × c.150 mm. In Latin, manuscript on parchment, Southwestern Germany or Northeastern France (Alsace?), c.1300-1325, 140 folios on parchment missing at least one leaf, medieval foliation in Gothic textura Roman numerals in black ink, modern foliation in Arabic numerals in pencil, written below top line in at least five Gothica textualis hands in brown or black ink, in two columns of 36 lines. BINDING: bound, likely in the late 19th or early 20th century, in rose pink velvet over pasteboards. TEXT: One of the primary methods of educating ordinary lay people about theology and the faith; sermons (truncated) can offer modern scholars a glimpse into daily life in the Middle Ages. Jacobus de Voragine, author of the Golden Legend, was one of the most influential authors of the thirteenth century. This is an early manuscript of his Lenten Sermons: with extensive signs of reader engagement, it is also a valuable witness to the reception of these popular sermons. PROVENANCE: Copied in Northeastern France, perhaps Alsace, or in the neighboring area in Germany, c.1300-1325; unidentified armorial bookplate, inside front cover, "EX LIBRIS M. LUGOL," possibly of Victor-Eugène-Marcel Lugol (1899-1976), Comptroller General of the Navy, although the writer and translator Julien Lugol (1837-1894) has also been suggested; modern (20th- or 21st-century) bookseller or owner annotations in pencil; Brief modern description in German; Private Collection. CONDITION: occasional wrinkling and cockling, overall in very good condition. [TM 1285] (Inventory #: TM 1285)