Gospel Harmony.- Gospel Harmony concerning the Passion of Christ, manuscript on paper, in Latin, 14 leaves, collation: one quire, in the centre thin strip of parchment for strengthening stitching, modern pencil foliation, text block: 180x110 mm, single column, 31 lines, written in a small semi-secretarial bookhand, three-line space left blank for capital on recto of first leaf, watermark of a dolphin, similar to Briquet 5817 (recorded Nieuwport, 1415, with slight variant in Namur, 1417/18), Biblical quotations underlined in brown ink, additional comments added on strips of paper tipped into gutter; marginalia in a tiny script, lower margin of first leaf recto with modern pencil note 'Ms. 5'; (probably the same hand has added at head of title 'Extrait du Evangile', upper margin of leaves frayed, first recto rather browned and stained, a small portion of its lower blank margin cut away without any loss of text, 4to, 295 x 218 mm., southern Netherlands (probably Nieuwport, near Brussels), c.1415.

⁂ An apparently unrecorded version of the Harmonia Evangelii, a popular work which attempted to compile a single narrative of the Passion of Christ by harmonising the four Gospels. Single Gospel accounts, or synopses, were already composed in the second century AD, as evinced by the well-known Tatian's Diatesseron - originally composed in Greek and Syriac. Countless other harmonies were composed throughout the Middle Ages, in Latin or vernacular languages, replete with variations, local readings, and commentaries. In the fifteenth century much theological debate focused on this genre and several theologians, including Jean Gerson, discussed which Gospels to include or give prominence to, the sequence of materials, the order of the episodes narrated in each Gospel, and differences in the narratives. In the sixteenth century, and especially during the Reformation, the presentation of the different texts in parallel columns became widespread.

This manuscript offers a text which appears to stand before these methodological developments, and is evidently unrecorded. It opens on fol. 1r with the passage from John 12:4, 'Ante sex dies pasche' and ends 'lamentatis filii'. A short epilogue follows, (Passio, fols. 13v-14r), beginning with the words 'Altera die primus', and ending with 'a Judeis pecuniam accepisse'.