Missal of Count Erasmus von Wertheim Facsimile Edition

Few medieval books were made to be moved. The Missal of Count Asmus von Wertheim, preserved in Budapest at the Országos Széchényi Könyvtár as Cod. Lat. 221, is one of them: a small Latin mass book written and painted in the late fifteenth century, its decoration attributed to Bavaria, for the use of Asmus — Erasmus — Count of Wertheim, who died in 1509.

A Franconian Comital House and Its Arms

The counts of Wertheim held lands on the Main and the Tauber and ranked among the more distinguished noble houses of the Empire. Their arms are painted on the verso of the first leaf, with the given name Asmus set above the shield and the initial W below. Inside the upper cover a contemporary hand recorded the owner more plainly still: “Erasmus Grafe zu Wertheyn.” Ownership here is not a later accretion but part of the book’s design.

Painted Initials and Colored Borders

Eighteen pages carry decoration. Each presents either an initial with figures or a painted image answering to the text beside it, and most are accompanied by colored border work. The marginal tendrils and figural initials have been assigned to Bavarian illumination, close in manner to Salzburg production of the same years.

A Mass Book for the Road

Missals of this kind — compact, private, intended for journeys and pilgrimages — are uncommon survivals, and this one was fitted with its own wooden case. It reached Hungary with the collection of Miklós Jankovich, acquired in 1832. A nobleman’s liturgy, folded small enough to travel with him.