The text is very heavily abbreviated, to the extent that it might almost be seen as a prompt for a well known text for reading aloud. However, the amount of abbreviation shows that this usage did not reflect on the significance of a text or the value of a work. The degree of abbreviation and the rather compressed nature of the script mean that the page is very dense. The text deviates slightly in places from the standard Vulgate text (as given on the ARTFL Multilingual Bible website) and there are a couple of spelling mistakes. |
At the end of line 5, after the word erat, there is a bit of mysterious marginalia. I assume it is some kind of correction, but I am not sure. Any useful comments from learned Irish paleographers would be appreciated. |
The Gospels of Maelbrigte, 12th century, Irish (British Library, Harley 1803, f.128) All images by permission of the British Library. These images are made available under a Creative Commons licence. |
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