Collection ID: 0023 | Metadata type: TEI | TEI XML | Data

Title

Funders

• Council on Library and Information Resources

Call number

Publisher

Language

Origin

Place

Provence, France

Notes

• This image shows the opening of a bifolium with an historiated initial from a Bible. The verso contains passages from Judith 3:9 - 5: 19. The recto, opposite, contains passages from Esther 2:20-4:14.
   
• The Book of Judith is one of the deutero-canonical books included in the Vulgate Bible. It tells the story of the Old Testament heroine Judith, a Jewish widow. This initial depicts the moment when Judith beheads Holofernes, the leader of the Assyrian army. While the Jewish city of Bethulia was under siege, Judith entered the Assyrian camp to seduce Holofernes only to slay him in his sleep. Her bravery inspired the Jews to defend themselves and drive away the Assyrians.
   
• Lewis E M E M 43:3-6 are sister leaves. It appears that each bifolium was removed from the same Bible to be re-used as a folder to hold legal documents. The upside-down inscriptions at the bottoms of this bifolium and its sister leaves, all dating to the sixteenth century, make reference to sales and acquisitions between various parties, indicating that these bifolia might have been recycled and used as folders for holding legal documents. The inscription on this folio makes reference to an intriguing lawsuit involving the Marchesa Cattarina Landa and her husband Marqese Nicolao Lando and a solution of bees wax, or cera alba.
   
• We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Roger S. Wieck in dating and localizing these leaves.
   

Extent

Support

Script

Keywords

• 13th century
• Bible
• Biblical
• Historiated initial
• France
• French
• Fragment

Licenses

• Text

  These images and the content of Free Library of Philadelphia Lewis E M 43:6: Bible are free of known copyright restrictions and in the public domain. See the Creative Commons Public Domain Mark page for usage details, http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/.

  URL

  http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

• Text

  To the extent possible under law, Free Library of Philadelphia, Special Collections has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this metadata about Free Library of Philadelphia Lewis E M 43:6: Bible. This work is published from: United States. For a summary of CC0, see https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/. Legal code: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode.

  URL

  https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode