Man of Sorrows from BL Eg 1821, f. 9v

Coloured print with Christ as Man of Sorrows being adored by a Carthsian, pasted to a page painted in red covered with streaming blood. A Carthusian kneels before a bloody Christ, who stands beside his cross. They converse by means of scrolls with texts in latin. The Carthusian petitions Christ: ‘O Lord I beseech, send me salvation’ (Domine obsecro dirige ad me salutem). He replies: ‘Son, shun (temptation, understood), subdue (it), say nothing, keep quiet (Fili fuge, vince, tace, quiesce). The formulation is found in Abelard’s Epistle VII on the foundation of a women’s convent, and the context is how to avoid the temptation to sin. Below is a caption in English: ‘The greatest comfort in al temptacyon Is the remembraunce of Crystes passyon.’ Image taken from f. 9v of Psalter and Rosary of the Virgin (from f. 27), in two versions, and other devotional texts, including a litany. Written in Latin and English.

The Egerton Manuscript Collection is named after its founder, Sir Thomas Egerton (1540-1617), 1st Viscount Brackley, was a lawyer, statesman, and patron of the arts during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I of England. He served as Lord Keeper of the Great Seal and later as Lord Chancellor of England, holding high positions in the legal and political realms.

Sir Thomas Egerton acquired a substantial number of historical and literary manuscripts. In 1617, shortly before his death, Sir Thomas Egerton bequeathed his collection of manuscripts to the British Museum, which was the precursor to the British Library.