In 1978 Bill Sutton gave four pages of a decorated manuscript to the Gallery. Calligraphy and manuscript decoration were one of his passions and although this material is well outside our normal collecting areas, it does help to complete our understanding of him as an artist and collector.

 

For many years the Latin text remained obscure, but I have this week established that it is part of Summa de vitiis, a treatise on vice by William Peraldus, written in about 1250. A team of American scholars is currently working on this very treatise, transcribing the text and working out the links between the various manuscript sources. The textual variations between manuscripts help to track the work's intellectual and physical development.

Our contribution may only be four pages out of many hundreds, but its identification was enthusiastically received by team leader professor Richard Newhauser at Arizona State University who will duly add it to the body of Peraldus scholarship.

Read more about the international Peraldus project