Scribblings in the Geraardsbergen Manuscript

Apart from the names of two (possible) owners, there are several additional marginal notes and inscriptions by other owners or readers in the Geraardsbergen Manuscript.

One of those additions is particularly interesting: at the end of the first codicological unit (?) on fol. 101r someone wrote in the empty lower half of the leaf, below the second chronicle:

Brussels - KBR - 837-45, fol. 101r: Inscription by the scribe? (by courtesy of KBR Brussels)

Brussels – KBR – 837-45, fol. 101r: Inscription by the scribe? (by courtesy of KBR Brussels)

  • Als levende gheboren was ic wast te zochter, november XVI Alyonora een dochter
  • When she was born living, my heart was put at rest. November the 16th, Alyonora, a daugher (was born)

The same handwriting can be found in the second codicological unit (?) of the codex on fol. 123r: in between the second and third line of the text two rhyming lines have been added. One would expect that it was the main scribe of the codex that added these two lines after he finished the text. After all, he is the one who could know what the correct version of the text should be. But if this is the ‘hasty’ handwriting of the main scribe, then the marginal note on fol. 101r is also his, which means he owned both units of the codex.

What are the consequences if the scribe owned both parts of this manuscript? See Story 5 of the Geraardsbergen Manuscript.

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