Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 29.djvu/298

 211 Till- LAMBliTH MAZARINE TESTAMENT. additional matter not in others. Eacli page is printed in two columns, each column has forty-two lines, except the first nine, Nvhich have only thirty-nine, and the tenth which has only forty. There is no title-page, no paging, and there are no initial letters, except by the labour of the illuminator. The volume is unusually rich in this res})ect. There are seven examples of the complete Bible on vellum, as well as this New Testament. Of these two are in tlngland, the Grenville copy at the British ]Iuseum, and that which belongs to Mr. Ilcniy Perkins. Isineteeu copies are on paj)er. There is one in the Bodleian Library, and one in Lord Spencer's collection. Mr. Kershaw has kindly communicated the following exact description of the volume in his charge : — " The Lambeth volume contains the New Testament only ; it consists of 128 leaves of pure white vellum, measuring IG in. in length by 12 in. in breadth ; the margins being from 2,^ in, to 3 in. in width. The writing ' Novi testamenti versio vulgata Latina ' on the fly-leaf is })robabIy that of Bishop Gib.son, who was chaplain and librarian to Arch- bi.shop Tenison. To Gibson, the Lambeth Library is in- debted for the acquisition of the 'Codices Gibsoniani,' fourteen volumes in folio, and also for the com})ilation of the cata- logue of pi'intcd books in that library. The special features of the Lambeth ]Iazarine Testament are as follows: — The text commences with the prologue of 8t. Jerome to the Gospel of .St. iNLatthew, and ends upon the verso of fol. 12S, with the rubricated words ' Expl' A})Ocalypsis.' The incipits and (rpiicils are rubricated and written in by hand, as are likewise the names of the several books in the upjx'r margins. The volume is richly ornamented with illuminated initial letters, both large and small, the latter in great profusion. The larger letters are usually upon a back gi(jund of burnished gold, the body of the lelti'r is composed of intertwining leaves, somewhat of an angular or Gothic • haracter, and terminating in fruit or flowers. The outer margin of neaily every j)attern is relieved with white, thus giving to the ornamental features of the volume a very bril- liant and glittering ap[)eai-an(e. "At the- |»(.'riod (1 loU^ of" the supposed piiiiting of the .Mazarine liiblo, it is somewhat diflicult to deci<l(! on iQ stj/le "1 eiiibellislimeiit of tli<' Lambeth volmiic. l-'orei^ii iiiflu-