Ɵ Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos, in Latin, manuscript on parchment [England, 12th century]

Ɵ Leaf from Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos, for Psalm 41:6-8, in Latin, from large manuscript on parchment[England, mid-twelfth century] Complete single leaf, with double column of 39 lines in a formal and angular proto-gothic bookhand, with pronounced wedges to ascenders and a residual ct-ligature, pale red rubrics, English pencil notes on text in lower margin of recto, recovered from a binding and so darkened on verso, and small scuffs, folds and holes, overall good and presentable condition with wide and clean margins, and on heavy parchment, 390 by 260mm.; in cloth-covered binding Provenance: 1. Alan G. Thomas (1911-1992), London bookseller.2. Leeds' Public Library; de-accessioned and sold by auction at Phillips, 28 February 1990, lot 54. 3. Schøyen Collection, London and Oslo, their MS 659, acquired from Sam Fogg, London, in June 1990. Text and script: The Enarrationes in Psalmos is the longest of Augustine's major works; measuring twice the length of his more well-known De Civitate Dei. It was composed between 392 and 418 as a long series of sermons and perhaps copied down initially by secretaries as Augustine actively preached.The script here is a fine example of an English proto-gothic bookhand from the period of the shift between the final phase of the Romanesque and the beginning of the early Gothic.