Today we’ll introduce a paper manuscript that puzzled us for quite a while: Reykjavík, The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies AM 426 fol. This manuscript was written between 1670 and 1682 for the famous manuscript magnate Magnús digri (the Stout) Jónsson í Vigur (1637-1702). The main scribe was Magnús Þórólfsson, and parts were written by Þórður Jónsson and his son Jón Þórðarson. The manuscript is perhaps best known for the three full-page paintings it contains: Egill Skallagrímsson on f. 2v, Grettir Ásmundarson on f. 79v and Guðmundur ríki (the Wealthy) Eyjólfsson on f. 143v, all three presumably by Hjalti Þorsteinsson (see digital images here).
The three paintings, as well as the title page, are later additions. According to a repair report from conservators made during the 1990s, the manuscript was rebound several times, for example in c. 1770 when a letter dated to 1769 was used as flyleaf. At some point, the first nineteen leaves were cut off at the spine and assembled differently, thus, the original quire structure of the first three quires is unknown.
When we analysed the manuscript more closely, it left us more and more puzzled. It became clear that the structure of more than the first three quires was altered, not least because quire signatures did not concur with quire beginnings. Apparently, the quires of ff. 1-62 and ff. 305-317 were originally different. When we combined information from watermarks, felt/mould-sides and quire marks, we were able to reconstruct the original quire structure. The title page and first painting (ff. 1-2) were singletons and later additions, and the outermost bifoliums of quires I-VIII (ff. 3-62) and of the last two quires (ff. 305-317) were cut apart and joined differently.
Most likely, the title page and the three paintings were added at the request of the patron, Magnús í Vigur, but it is not known if they were added at the same time, nor is it known when the quire structure was altered.
For the Life of Paper-project it is also truly interesting that several materials were reused in AM 426 fol. Apart from the letter used as flyleaf, paper strips were used as guards, a leaf from a printed book was recycled as lining in the spine, and the wooden boards used for the bindings were recycled, too. We will not be able to determine for what manuscript the boards were used previously, but we will try to find out more about the paper fragments, so stay tuned!
Further reading:
Agnete Loth, “Om håndskrifter fra Vigur i Magnús Jónssons tid. 1. Fire tegninger af sagahelte.” Opuscula 3 (1967): 92-95.
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