Carolingian script at Luxeuil in the ninth century

摘要

This is a study of the manuscripts copied at the Burgundian abbey of Luxeuil in the ninth century and of the house's library. It is the first extensive discussion of the library and of these manuscripts as a group.;I examine the manuscripts to determine their origin and to discover the paleographical and codicological features that unite them. Shared paleographical characteristics include common scribes and the unusual color of the rubrics in several manuscripts. Codicological indications of common origin for this group include similarities in rulings and prickings, and in the hair-flesh make-up of the quires. Several design elements, display capitals, and letter forms link these ninth-century manuscripts to earlier practices at the scriptorium of Luxeuil. These findings have allowed me to identify and characterize the distinctive Luxeuil Caroline miniscule.;In this study, evidence is presented for the first time arguing for the identification of a previously unattributed ninth-century booklist of a certain Brother Wigrad as a Luxeuil list. The identification of Wigrad as a Luxeuil monk and his manuscripts as Luxeuil manuscripts gives us one of the earliest booklists from a French center.;Among the manuscripts examined are two unique compilations, one of which includes a unique text. Another manuscript contains the earliest copies of two law codes. The manuscript of a commentary on Vergil is the exemplar from which all other copies of this text ultimately descend. These distinctions alone have justified the study of Luxeuil's scriptorium and library in the ninth century.