Latin Manuscripts : Colonna Missal II

Latin Manuscripts

<p style='text-align: justify;'>The Colonna Missal was commissioned by Cardinal Pompeo di Girolamo Colonna (1479-1532) for use in some of the most important masses of the year in the Sistine Chapel, Rome. The manuscript as a whole was unfinished at the time of his death and, the entire manuscript, comprising seven volumes, was finally completed after twenty-three years, in 1555.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>It contains the Masses of the Octave of the Nativity of Christ (<a dir='auto' href='' onclick='store.loadPage(5);return false;'>1r-14v</a> - missing the first leaf), the Epiphany (<a dir='auto' href='' onclick='store.loadPage(33);return false;'>15r-42v</a> - missing the first leaf), the Purification of the Virgin (<a dir='auto' href='' onclick='store.loadPage(89);return false;'>43r-69r</a>), the Canon of the Mass (<a dir='auto' href='' onclick='store.loadPage(143);return false;'>70r-96v</a> - missing the last leaf), and table of contents - index (<a dir='auto' href='' onclick='store.loadPage(198);return false;'>97v</a>).</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>In July 2011 the Library acquired the ‘missing’ volume of the Colonna Missal. The purchase reunited all seven extant volumes of the Colonna Missal for the first time in at least 150 years. Its companion six volumes (Latin MSS 32-37) were purchased by Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford, obtained from Thomas Boone in 1868. They were acquired by Enriqueta Rylands in 1901 as part of the landmark purchase of the Crawford manuscripts for The John Rylands Library.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>The present volume (actually the second in chronological sequence of the Rylands set) became separated from the others at some date before 1868. Lord Crawford turned down the opportunity of purchasing it from Quaritch in 1895. It resided in the United States for much of the twentieth century, owned by a series of private collectors. Most recently it belonged to the owner of the Arcana Collection, Ladislaus von Hoffmann, who consigned it to Christie’s in 2011.</p>