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Codex Usserianus Primus. IE TCD MS 55 Public Deposited

Codex Usserianus Primus. IE TCD MS 55

Alternative title
  • Book of Ussher
  • Gospel book
Shelf Mark/Reference Number
  • IE TCD MS 55 ; former shelfmarks: Lyon: A.4.15 ; Bernard: 412 ; Foley: G.14
Location
Creator
Contributors
DOI
Rights statement
  • Copyright The Board of Trinity College Dublin. Images are available for single-use academic application only. Publication, transmission or display is prohibited without formal written approval of the Library of Trinity College, Dublin.
Copyright status
  • Public domain
Date Created
  • circa 400-620
Language
Abstract
  • IE TCD MS 55, Codex Usserianus Primus, is one of the earliest surviving examples of a Gospel book thought to have been made in Ireland. While it has generally been dated to the seventh century, a controversial assessment has identified the manuscript as the product of the fifth century, an extraordinarily early date for a Christian book to exist in Ireland. The manuscript contains parts of the four Gospels with pre-Vulgate readings (Old Latin text). Later additions include dry-point glosses in Latin and in Old Irish. Usserianus Primus was given its name by the nineteenth-century Trinity Librarian, T.K. Abbott. It was assumed that the great collector of ancient manuscripts and Archbishop of Armagh, James Ussher, had owned the codex, as he had so many others in the library collection. Thus, the book was called ‘The first book of Ussher’ in Latin. This is now thought to have been unlikely. There is very little decoration in Usserianus Primus. Other than red dots to emphasize a few initials within the text, the only surviving ornament is found on folio 149v between the end of Luke’s Gospel and the beginning of Mark’s. In this location was placed a cross that takes the form of Christ’s initials in Greek. The image is further elaborated with the Greek letters Alpha and Omega, a standard designation for Christ as the beginning and end of all things. The ensemble is enclosed with three red and black frames. The ornamentation suggests that this early Irish Gospel book was inspired by an example from the Mediterranean. Extent: 182 folios. In Latin; Old Irish (added glosses); Irish half-uncial script, with uncial elements. https://manuscripts.catalogue.tcd.ie/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=IE+TCD+MS+55&pos=1
Provenance
  • Named, though unconvincingly, after James Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh (d. 1656)
Sponsor
  • Bank of America Merryl Lynch: conservation sponsor
Subject
Keyword
Format
Resource type
Medium
  • ink
Support
  • vellum (parchment)
Culture
  • Irish
Digital Object Id
  • MS55_001
Source
  • 0129413

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Items

Thumbnail Title Shelf Mark/Reference Number Visibility Actions
Hh63sx96z?file=thumbnail Codex Usserianus Primus. Folios 1-33v: Gospel of Matthew IE TCD MS 55 ; former shelfmarks: Lyon: A.4.15 ; Bernard: 412 ; Foley: G.14 Public
8k71nj93w?file=thumbnail Codex Usserianus Primus. Folios 34r-78r: Gospel of John; Gospel of Luke IE TCD MS 55 ; former shelfmarks: Lyon: A.4.15 ; Bernard: 412 ; Foley: G.14 Public
Sf268704n?file=thumbnail Codex Usserianus Primus. Folios 78v-149v: Gospel of Luke; Hebrew names in Luke IE TCD MS 55 ; former shelfmarks: Lyon: A.4.15 ; Bernard: 412 ; Foley: G.14 Public
Zs25xb28v?file=thumbnail Codex Usserianus Primus. Folios 150r-183v: Gospel of Mark; index; end leaves IE TCD MS 55 ; former shelfmarks: Lyon: A.4.15 ; Bernard: 412 ; Foley: G.14 Public
9g54xp977?file=thumbnail MS55_001r_HI.jpg IE TCD MS 55 ; former shelfmarks: Lyon: A.4.15 ; Bernard: 412 ; Foley: G.14 Public