EsposiTO — On the Earliest Latin Life of St. Brigid of I^ildare. ol3 



Paris, Bibliofchei{ae Mazaiiue. 



This Library possesses two mss. of the Vita S. Brigidae. 



(1.) MS. No. 1711. Membr. saec. xi, Ms. 237 b-247 b : Incipit pi'olocjusde 

 vita et virtutihus sanctae Brigidae vinjmis. Mc cogiiis,fratres, etc. On fol. 238 b 

 after the prologue there is an index to the chapters of the Vita. A volume 

 of Vitae Sanctorum.' 



(2.) MS. No. 1736. Membr. saec. xv, fols. 54 a-55 a, contains Vita sancte 



Brigide virginis. S. Brigida qimm, deus i^'escivit per omnia saecida 



secidoribvi. Amen. Apparently a few extracts from the Vita by Cogitosus.- 

 Paris, Piibliotheque Rationale. 



The Bibliotheque Nationale possesses no less than fourteen mss. of the 

 Vita S. Brigidae.' 



(1.) MS. lat. No. 2999. Membr. saec. xi. Formerly P. 188, and later 

 T. 251, in the Benedictine monastery of Saint- Amand.* One of the MSS. 

 employed by Colgan for his edition. At that time (1647) it had not yet 

 been mutilated and its full contents were : {a) Poenitentiale Halitgarii. 

 (6) Fragmenta de poenitentia. (e) Vita S. Brigidae. {d) Liber qui nominatur 

 Paradisus.^ De conuersatione Sanctorum Patrum.'^ Subsequently this volume, 

 along with a number of others, was removed from its home by Le Tellier, 

 archbishop of Eeims (1671-1710), and transported to the latter place, where 

 it became No. 267 in the archbishop's library. Finally these mss. came into 

 the Bibliotheque Nationale.' 



At what period the mutilation occurred is not known. The Jis. now 

 consists of 40 folios. The Vita S. Brigidae commences on fol. 36 r°. After 

 the prologue occurs on fols. 38 v°-39 v an index to the chapters of the Vita ; 

 then follows a fragment of the latter down to the words largitate divini muncris 

 sicut est adi'utor in the middle of section 4 according to the edition of the 

 BoUandists. The rest of the MS. after fol. 40 is lost.^ As the Index of the 

 chapters has been omitted in all the editions, I have thought it well to 



' Cf. Molinier, Catalogue general des Mamiscrits des Bibliotheques Publiques de France, Paris, 

 Bibliotheque Mazarine, t. 2, 1886, p. 184. 



-Molinier, loc. eit., p. 214. 



^ My best thanks are due to M. Henri Omont for supplementing my information with regard to 

 some of these mss. 



* Cf. Delisle, Le Cabinet des Manuscrits de la Bibliotheque Nutionale, t. i, 1868, pp. 307-19 ; 

 Gottlieb, Ueber mittelalterliche Bibliotheken, 1890, pp. 142-143 ; Desilve, De sohola Elnonensi 

 S. Amandi, Lovanii, 1890 ; Molinier, Catal. gen. des MSS. des bibl. publ. de France, Departements, 

 t. 25, 1894, pp. 189-191. 



= On this work cf. Esnosito, Hermathena, xvi, 1910, pp. 98-99. 



^ Sanderus, Bibliotheca Belgica Manuscripta, Insulis, 1641, Pars 1, p. 55. 



' Cf. Delisle, Le Cabinet, etc., i, pp. 302-305 ; Molinier, Catal, etc., t. 25, p. 190. 

 - ^ CatalSgus codicum manuscriptoruni Bibliothecae Regiae, t. iii, 1744, p. 362 ; Catalogus codi- 

 cum bagiographiconim latinorum Bibliothecae Nationalis Parisiensis. Ediderunt Hagiographi 

 BoUandiani, t. i, 1889, p. 228. 



