Helsinki, National Library, Coll.762.2. An abridgement of Thomas Aquinas, <hi rend="italic">Summa Theologiae</hi> Cataloguer Jesse Keskiaho Ville Walta Finnish Literature Society (SKS) Codices Fennici Creative Commons BY 4.0 Helsinki National Library Coll.762.2 olim uncatalogue cod. 4 Saec. XIV2/XV1, Germany (Yläne) An abridgement or selections from Thomas Aquinas, <hi rend="italic">Summa theologiae</hi>, ia-iiae, qq. 50–114; iia-iiae, qq. 2–189, iiia, qq. 1–86 (imperf.).

Front cover: ‘Responsiones siue conclusiones quaestionum tocius summe beati Thome de Aquino [compend]iose et efficaciter’. The text is much modified and abridged from the original.

Fols. 1ra–38va: Excerpts from Prima secundae

(Several folia missing before) [1ra] (Quaestio 50) tum etiam quia ad visionem ... [1rb] Quaestio 51 De causa autem generationis habituum ... [6vb] (Quaestio 60) pauce sunt virtutes | [7ra] (Quaestio 66) vel vitam pertinent quia est ... [38va] (Quaestio 114) et gloriam deo qui est benedictus in secula seculorum amen.

Fols. 39ra–129ra: Excerpts from Secunda secundae

[39ra] (Quaestio 2) in ipsum ut in finem(?) ... [65vb] De mutilatione membrorum (Quaestio 65) Circa mutilationem vero membrorum | [66ra] (Quaestio 66) -ium est per violentiam rapine ... [129ra] (Quaestio 189) ... iugum xpi conferens requiem animarum per gratiam dei qui est benedictus in secula seculorum amen (fol. 129rb–vb blank).

Fols. 130ra–161vb: Excerpts from Pars Tertia; (the quire containing questions 16–52 is bound in an incorrect order, see below).

[130ra] (iiia, Quaestio 1) Post considerationem de deo et operibus eius ... [161vb] (Quaestio 86)... et effectivum in hoc sacramento. Ex vi |

Paper 161 folios. 21 30 15 (6,5 + 2 + 6,5) 21,5 Modern foliation with pencil in the upper right-hand margin. (VI-6)6 + (VI-3)15 + 4VI63 + (VI-1)74 + 7VI158 + (VI-9)161

Lacunae before fol. 1, and after fols. 6, 38, 65, 161. A stub is visible after fol. 28, but no text is missing. The stub is probably what remains of a singleton that was added after fol. 38, but has since been cropped. Quire signatures (5–18) have been added on the last folio of a quire (lower-inner margin). The signature after the first quire is ‘5’, showing that four quires have been lost from the beginning of the book.

The quire containing fols. 135–146 has been folded incorrectly so that the inner leaves are now the outer leaves of the quire. The result is that the text from fol. 134vb continues on fol. 141ra, the text on fol. 146vb on 135ra, and the text on 140vb on 147ra. This mix-up has been noticed by the scribe who has written instructions in the margins on fols. 134v, 141r, and 147r. It would seem from this that the writing was done before the folding.

Folia from c. fol. 73 onwards have been damaged in the upper-outer margin, possibly by fire.

 Two columns with c. 38 lines. Vertical and horizontal bounding lines have been ruled in ink. Modern foliation with pencil in the upper right-hand margin. Prickings visible in the upper, lower and outer margins.

One scribe writing a well-practiced gothic cursive of saec. XV. The script is suggestive of Germany as the place of origin (Lehtinen 1995, 11). The same scribe has added headlines in the margins against some of the quaestiones. The addition of numbers to the quaestiones was possibly the work of another scribe (or reader).

Initials are simple lombards in red. Paraphs, underlinings and letters are done in red. Litterae notabiliores on the top line are often elongated. There are occasionally faces or other decorative motifs (e.g. fol. 78v). In the first part (Prima secundae), the title of the book is written in the upper margin and numbers for quaestiones added in red ink.

Wooden boards with dark brown leather covers. Blind-stamped diamond-shapes on both covers. Two clasps were attached to the front cover; today only a part of the leather remains. Paper pastedowns on inner front and back covers. On the inner front cover, bits of a parchment leaf are visible below the paper pastedown. Pasted on the outer front cover, a piece of paper with the title ‘Responsiones siue conclusiones questionum tocius summe beati thome de aquino [compend]iose et efficaciter’.

 The script, combined with the note on the inner back cover, suggests that the manuscript has a German origin and early provenance. It contains an abridgement of Thomas Aquinas’s <hi rend="italic">Summa theologiae.</hi> The manuscript shows little sign of having been used. The practised script, quire signatures, and the binding of one quire in the wrong order all suggest commercial copying. There are four quires missing from the beginning.

In the back cover, a pledge note, dated 13 August 1439: ‘Anno dominice incarnacionis 1439 dominus Godfridus Vasoldi in die Ypoliti martiris exposuit pro domino Goschalko Schellin quintam mediam marcam pro expensis suis et fecit fidem vni pro sex marcis et vij s. et presentauit ei compendium philosophie pro iiij marcis; in fidem illius restituit ei hunc librum suum, velle eorum etc.’ (edited in FMU 2297). By 1658, the manuscript was in the possession of the church of Yläne, where it appears in the inventory as one of the ‘monk books’.On inner front cover: ‘Yläne Capell Kyrka tillhörig 1793. Jon. Enberg’. The manuscript is one of those reported in the church inventories of 1658, 1729, 1750 and 1782.

Since another university book written in Germany (Helsinki, National Library, D.II.46) also belonged to Yläne church, it is possible they arrived together with a (Finnish) student or were inherited from one. From Yläne the manuscript was moved to the National Archives in 1863, and from there to the National Library in 1971.

 FMU = Finlands medeltidsurkunder, 1-8, utg. Reinhold Hausen, Helsingfors 1910–1935. (Available online) A. I. Lehtinen, "Keskiajan filosofisia käsikirjoituksia", Bibliophilos 54:1 (1995), 10–12. >[A. I. Lehtinen], Tuomas Akvinolainen n. 1225-1274. Näyttely 29.5.-30.9.1974, Helsinki 1974. A. Ylönen, Pöytyän, Yläneen ja Oripään historia vuoteen 1865, Helsinki 1969. Encoding added