The Rothschild Canticles

A Unicum of Manuscript Illustration

In the Rothschild Canticles, now preserved in the famous Beinecke Library of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, a florilegium blossoms on 192 folios: a bouquet of texts and images that enables us to appreciate the mystical experience of faith in the Middle Ages.
The codex is named after the Rothschild family, which once owned it, and after the fact that the text contains a series of excerpts from the biblical Song of Songs. The most important additional sources are the Bible’s other Wisdom books and the crucial prophets, such as Augustine, the brilliant thinker and doctor of the church, in particular his influential text De trinitate (On the Trinity). The unknown author who created this Gesamtkunstwerk around 1300 stands out for his profound theological knowledge.

Faksimile-Edition

The Rothschild Canticles: The Manuscript

Mystical and mysterious

Forty-six full-page miniatures with extraordinary iconography, 160 smaller miniatures, 41 historiated initials and 23 ink drawings added later adorn the 192 folios of the two volumes of the codex. Countless marginal figures and drolleries fill its pages. The high art of illumination and textual diversity provide food for thought in the truest sense. No generic title can do justice to its content. “A potpourri of biblical verses, liturgical praise, dogmatic formulas, exegesis, and theological aphorisms … the manuscript leads its user step by step through meditations on paradise, the Song of Songs, and the Virgin Mary to mystical union, and, finally, contemplation of the Trinity” (Barbara Newman). For today’s reader, it provides a fascinating look at medieval thought.

Made in Flanders

The Abbey of Saint Winnoc, located on the coast of the English Channel in the French commune Bergues, is a ruin today. This is where the Rothschild Canticles were put to paper. This is first documented by the commentary on the facsimile. The patroness is thought to have been a nun or canoness or perhaps a noblewoman. The compact size of the manuscript suggests that the book was intended to be carried around. The geographical attribution of the manuscript to Flanders is in keeping with its period of origin and its style. But many questions remain unanswered. The names of the illuminators and scribes who produced the Rothschild Canticles are unknown. From another source we conclude that a Benedictine monk from the monastery of Saint Winnoc was the well-read genius who compiled the texts.

The Glass Tower of the Beinecke Library

The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library goes back to a donation from Frederick Beinecke, an American philanthropist, and his brothers Edwin and Walter. The library is an experience all its own. A revolving glass door leads into the interior. A six-storey glazed tower of stacks of books immediately catches the eye. It contains around 180,000 books. Along with the entry level, the mezzanine serves to present temporary exhibitions that highlight the library’s collections. The small-format Rothschild Canticles (11.8 x 8.4 cm) is a fascinating highlight of the world’s largest archive of rare books and manuscripts. Because of its inestimable value, MS 404 is stored in a safe.

Under the Magnifying Glass

Fol. 7r: Three of the Seven Liberal Arts are shown here: Music, who occupies a lot of space and offers room for a mechanical carillon, Logic and Rhetoric.
The second and third miniatures on folios 6v–7r form a pair and depict the Seven Liberal Arts. Grammar, Astronomy, Arithmetic and Geometry take up the left side; Music, Rhetoric and Logic (instead of Dialectic) the right side, which you can view under a magnifying glass. The figure of Dialectica, who is usually depicted as a scene of teaching or in a dispute between two groups of figures, is replaced here by a seated nun.

She represents Logic personified and is discussing with a monk. Not only in the Rothschild Canticles but in Christian commentaries general, mastery of the arts was regarded as a preliminary step on the path to spiritual perfection. The arts were called the seven daughters of philosophy, which for their part were associated with divine wisdom. The arts are not mentioned in any of the texts of the Rothschild Canticles. A well-versed reader would have had no difficulty understanding the underlying meaning of the introductory miniatures, however.

The Rothschild Canticles: The Edition

Goldener Psalter von St. Gallen, geschlossen und offen

The Manuscript and the Facsimile at a Glance

Manuscript: Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library der Yale University, New Haven (Connecticut, USA), MS 404, 2 volumes
Date of Origin: c. 1300
Place of Origin: Abbey of Saint Winnoc in French-speaking Flanders on the coast of the English Channel
Format: 11.8 x 8.4 cm
Extent: 384 pages (192 folios)
Artists: unknown 
Patron: unknown – probably made for a nun or canoness
Illumination: 46 full-page miniatures with extraordinary iconography, 160 smaller miniatures, 41 historiated initials and 23 ink drawings added later decorate the 192 folios of the two volumes. In addition, countless marginal figures and drolleries adorn its pages and testify to the great talent of the illuminators involved and to the pleasure they took in their work.
Binding: Faithfully to the original, the facsimile is bound in two volumes in brown goatskin. The facsimile’s headband is stitched by hand.
Commentary Volume for the Edition: Prof. Dr Jeffrey F. Hamburger and Prof. Dr Barbara Newman. Facsimile and commentary volume are protected in a handmade slipcase.
Print Run: 480 copies

Faksimile-Edition

Enjoy Viewing Several Sample Pages:

A Glance at the Rothschild Canticles

The excerpt selected from the Rothschild Canticles for viewing consists of folios 29v–34r with mystical devotional texts.
fol. 29v: Vignette, Seer.
fol. 30r: Miniature, The Wise and Foolish Virgins: The Dance in Heaven. The five Wise Virgins Dance with Christ (top); crowned, they bring their glowing lamps as he greets them at the wedding festivities (middle). The five Foolish virgins with their extinguished lamps climb a stairway to knock on a door. One of them is dragged down by a devil (bottom).
fol. 31r: Drawing, Anthony buries Paul, the first hermit.
fol. 32r: Drawing, A hermit burns his finger to resist temptation.
fol. 33v: Vignette, Seer.
fol. 34r: Miniature, Christ as the fons vitae, or fountain of life. Christ is enthroned above a tower-like fountain on a mountain with woods. Streams of water flow amply and wet the faces depicted.

Im Moment leider nicht verfügbar.

Faksimile-Edition

A Challenging Production: fac simile

Boxes to Connecticut

To create the facsimile of the Rothschild Canticles, special equipment was transported to New Haven, Connecticut, and set up in the Beinecke Library, the heart of the Yale campus. This was the best way for the specialists from the publishing house to photography the Rothschild Canticles page by page. Two wooden boxes were sent, the wood of which had to be specially certified by United States authorities. Every centimetre of space had to be used because freight costs were a not inconsiderable factor.

Setting Up the Camera

Photographing the manuscript is the start of any facsimile. A high-resolution digital camera is used, and the angle of viewing must be determined precisely to avoid distortions in the photographs. The original remains in the library. It is photographed in a windowless and vibration-free room. For the Rothschild codex, moreover, special lighting techniques were employed to capture optimally its delicate gold details.

Gold Chasing

Chasing – that is, the decorating of the gold using for illumination – already presents a challenge when photographing and remains one until printing. When making the facsimile, the delicate lines and dots of gold must be placed and sized exactly. A separate printing process is necessary, in which the pressure must be controlled carefully so that the lines and dots are visible but do not push through to the verso of the paper.

Faksimile-Edition

The Facsimile Folder for the Edition

The facsimile folder offers a first look into the mystical world of medieval thought.
The original facsimile spread (fols. 69–70: The Stags and Hinds of the Field) with its delicate chasing vividly reproduces the radiantly golden imagery of the Rothschild Canticles. The double-page spread offers a combination of enigmatic metaphors. The author of the commentary volume, Jeffrey F. Hamburger, describes these pages in detail. It is a foretaste of what awaits you in the commentary volume.

In the twenty-four-page brochure, Jeffrey F. Hamburger offers first insights into a perhaps still-unfamiliar journey through the world of mysticism.

The Rothschild Canticles

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