Paper
181 folios (358 + 4 pages).
19,5
30,5
13-13,5
25
Pagination on the recto sides in pencil.
>(VII–1)24 + 2VI72 + IX108 + 2VI156 + VII184 + VI208 + IV224 + (VI–1)246 + 2VI294 + VIII326 + IV342 + (V–1)358
Reclamants in the lower margin on the last leaf of the quire (pp.
24, 48, 72, 108,
132, 156, 184,
208, 224, 246, 270,
294, 326, 342), and on pp.
202 and 226.
There are lingula visible after pp. 246 and 342, but no text is missing.
Some leaves show damage due to smoke or water, but in general the manuscript is in
good condition.
c. 35–40 lines in one unruled
column.
One main hand writing a cursive dated on p. 16 to 1551.
Walde (1921, 238) suggests that the main hand was that of Bishop
Mikael Agricola (d. 1557).
On pp. 30–31 possibly another hand writing in a
similar, but smaller script. Notes on the contents added in the margins by a few
other hands. On p. 324 a lengthier addition by a slightly younger
hand.
Majuscules at the beginnings of sentences and occasional elongation of the letters
at the bottom of the page. No other decoration.
Wooden boards covered with dark brown leather. Decorated with blind tooling
(fillets forming frames, with small tools showing flowers and vines). On the upper
front cover blind-tooled fillets form the letter ‘M’. Two hook-clasps have been
attached to the edge of the back covers. Their catches, also decorated, remain in situ at the edge of the front cover. Sections of the board’s
edges have been bevelled to produce a decorative effect. Pastedowns of paper. A
pasted label with the shelf-mark of the National Library on the front cover.
The book includes two dates: 1551 on p. 16 and 1 July 1552 in Turku in the
dedication on the inside front cover. The first date may refer only to the writing
of the prologue, which would mean that it took the scribe at least half a year to
finish the manuscript. It may also be that the date 1551 was added later and the
second date only refers to the dedication. The manuscript is written by a skilled
scribe writing in a neat cursive hand. It has been suggested the scribe was the
bishop of Turku, Mikael Agricola (d. 1557), who also wrote the dedication to Anna
Hogenskild (d. 1590), a noblewoman and landowner in the diocese.
Inside front cover: dedication of 1552 in Turku to Anna Hogenskild (1513–1590):
‘Thenne Boock hörer frw Anna till, om nogher ther om frågha will; Clemitzdotter till
Acheröö from oc karsk som en degli möö. Huilken som thenna Boock bortstiell, fari
han illa til Liff oc Siell. Scriffuit oc giordh I Abo stadh, gud warj Oss allom mild
oc gladh. ANNO 1552 Julij j’. According to Parvio (1968, 25–26) the dedication is in
the hand of Mikael Agricola.
Two proverbs in Swedish are written on the inside
of the back cover in a hand of saec. XVI.
The manuscript may have come into the collections of Anna’s son, Hogenskild Bielke
(1538–1605), and possibly belonged to the donation of books made to the National
Library of Sweden and University Library in Uppsala in 1621 by King Gustav II Adolf
(Walde 1921, 263–264).Shelf-mark of the National Library ‘D 409’ on the
pasted label attached to the front cover and written in ink on the inside of the
front cover.