Title: Espelo de Confesors, The Mirror of Confessors. Likely Copied from Martin Perez’s Libro de las Confessiones. Decorated Manuscript Confessional on Paper, Spain, Late 15th Century
Author: Scribe Franciscus; Martín Pérez
Condition: Very Good
A late 15th century manuscript codex from Spain, being a rather comprehensive Manual of Confession entitled Espelo de Confesors, which I initially assumed was possibly translated out of one of the original Latin Speculum Confessorum texts.
Further study would indicate the text it was more likely copied from Martin Perez’s Libro de las Confessiones (Originally produced in the early 14th century), which, among the many vernacular confessional treatises of late medieval Spain, came closest to the Latin Speculum Confessorum, albeit with a more relaxed character and approach.
Like Perez’s work, it does begin focusing on the sins common to all states, or the “pecados comuns a todos os estados”, with several cases on what has been confessed, followed by a dissertation on excommunication citing several dozen cases. For a Spanish manuscript, especially on confession, it would make more logical sense for this to be a closer match to Perez’s text.
While the frontispiece or main title is lacking, the opening words of the prologue here are “Aqui comenca un memorial de los pecados [***] y veniales ...” “Here begins a memorial of the [***] and venial sins”. The manuscript is organized in a series of eight books, with a substantial index at the end, with some folio numeration.
Manuals for confession were important practical guides for confessors in the late Middle Ages, offering insight into daily life. Such manuscripts became immensely popular in Spain around the mid 15th century towards the early 16th century, both in manuscript and printed form.
The manuscript has been written in a rounded Spanish bastarda hand, the uppermost and lowermost lines often with ornamental penwork cadels, and the script is heavily decorated with countless red rubrics, as well as initials in red with purple penwork flourishes.
As a note, much of the provenance and text description is largely thanks to the prior cataloging efforts of Dr. Timothy Bolton, who cataloged this manuscript when it initially came up for sale last year.
Following the main text itself, there are also several additional pages of short legal arguments in Spanish on the issue of clerical concubinage (the entering of priests into forbidden marriage-like unions with women). Much of this text has however degraded due to the use of the iron gall ink in such heavy concentration.
There are two major notes of provenance regarding the manuscript:
The first, would be the scribe himself, named at a colophon at the end of the main text on folio CCVI (recto), simply dubbed Franciscus’.
The manuscript was more recently acquired from the collection of Adolf Lagerfelt (1897-1967), vice-consul to the Middle East; from his library at Säbylund.
The manuscript has been rebound over wooden boards, but the original contemporary leather covers have been professional laid over top, with beautifully tooled ropework and pendant designs. A similar design can be noted on the ropework and half-circle pendant designs filled with foliage (for similar see outermost central ring on the binding of the Missal of Cardinal Domenico della Rovere, made in Rome c. 1495.
The manuscript is lacking the main title or frontispiece, as well as a bifolium from the 23rd quire, but is otherwise complete.
This manuscript is written in a 24-line format.
One finely bound manuscript in small quarto, 261+(4) leaves
The approximate collation follows as such: i-v10, vi9 (leaf cancelled after 7th leaf, but no break in text or contemporary foliation), vii-xxii10, xxiii8 (wants fols. ccxiv and ccxv), xxiii-xxv10, xxvi14 (probable only, the last leaves of this quire restored with silk and mounted on guards).
This manuscript is in very good shape, with some rubbing and wear to the binding. There is some scattered soiling and staining throughout, mainly to the margins. Leaves CVIII-CCLIX are somewhat affected by iron gall ink corrosion, though most of the text is still legible. The last four leaves of additional text have been much more heavily affected, hence silk repairs to two of those leaves.