Breviary, in Syriac, decorated manuscript on parchment [Near East (probably Syria), twelfth century]

Ɵ Breviary, in Syriac, decorated manuscript on parchment[Near East (probably Syria), twelfth century] Single leaf, with double column of 30 lines in Syriac estrangela book script, rubrics in red, major sections separated by decorative red and brown flowerheads torn at inner edge with only slight damage to text, stains at edges, 310 by 220mm.; in cloth-covered binding Provenance: 1. Erik von Scherling (1907-1956) of Leiden, dealer (on him see lot 6 above); most probably acquired during his manuscript collecting trip to the Near East in 1935-1936. 2. Maggs Bros., London, and among the clutter of material left by von Scherling on his sudden and untimely death in 1956. 3. Sotheby's 18 June 1991, part of lot 67, sold to private UK collector, and thence to Sam Fogg, London.4. Schøyen Collection, Oslo and London, their MS 1370/2, acquired from Fogg in June 1991. Text:Syriac has been a written language since the first century AD., and draws its letter forms from Aramaic. Estrangela is its oldest and most formal script, and the use of this here rather than the less formal and flowing Serta script (that used from the eighth century onwards) denotes the respect shown to the text and grandeur of the original parent codex. Parts of the New Testament were translated into Syriac in the second century, and are among the earliest known Biblical translations, and the whole Bible had been translated into Syriac as early as the fifth century.