Lot Description

PALAEOGRAPHIC COLLECTION, ten leaves from DECORATED OR ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS ON VELLUM

[Italy, France, Germany and Spain, 12th to 16th centuries]
A VARIED AND ATTRACTIVE SELECTION OF FOLIO-SIZE LEAVES comprising:
1) Leaf from a Sacramentary, Italy early 12th century, 323 x 225mm overall, with 27 lines of Carolingian bookhand in brown ink, rubrics and one- and two-line initials in red; 2) Leaf from a Homiliary with a sermon of St Augustine, central Italy, mid-12th century, 344 x 240mm overall, with two columns of 31 lines (text cropped at upper edge) in black ink in a carolingian bookhand, rubrics in red with an ROMANESQUE ILLUMINATED INITIAL OF YELLOW AND RED ON A GROUND OF BLUE WITH WHITE-VINE INFILL (small losses of pigment in initial, small slits cut into text at inner edge); 3) Leaf from a glossed copy of Justinian's Digest, I, VIII, 1, De divisione rerum et qualitate, France, probably Paris second half 13th century, 433 x 247mm overall, two columns of 52 lines in brown ink in a gothic bookhand, one-line initials of red and blue, two-line initials of red or blue touched red, TWO ILLUMINATED INITIALS WITH BURNISHED GOLD, ONE CONTAINING A HUMAN-HEADED DRAGON, THE OTHER WITH FOLIAGE AND WATCHED BY A BLUE WEASEL, the text surrounded on all sides by glosses, the central text and inner margin extended by replacement margins before the 13th-century glosses were written; 4) Leaf from a Gradual with the Kyrie, Regensburg c.1290, 515 x 335mm overall, nine lines of gothic bookhand in black ink between nine five-line staves of red with music of square notation, rubrics of red, flourish initials of red and blue, folio number cvi in outer margin of verso, LARGE ILLUMINATED FOLIATE INITIAL K against a ground of patterned gold and with ivy tendrils in the infill, A LEAF FROM THE SAME SERIES OF CHOIRBOOKS AS TWO LEAVES FROM THE BRESLAUER COLLECTION, Christie's, 11 December 2002, lots 2 & 3 (slit in lower margin); 5) Leaf from Part I of a canon law manuscript, possibly Guido de Baysio, Bologna, early 14th century, 442 x 272mm, two columns of 88 lines in a round gothic bookhand, paraphs of red and blue, two-line initials of red or blue flourished with both colours FOUR-LINE ILLUMINATED FOLIATE INITIAL; 6) Leaf from a Missal, Italy 15th century, 334 x 251mm, two columns of 30 lines in brown ink in a gothic bookhand, rubrics in red, one- and two-line initials of red or blue flourished with the other colour, folio number clvii on recto; 7) Leaf from a Gradual, Germany 15th century, 384 x 280mm, with ten lines of gothic script in black ink between four-line staves of red with hufnagelschrift neumes, rubrics in red, two-line blue, red or calligraphic black initials, folio number xxxvi in top margin of recto.

With three leaves from 16th-century Spanish choirbooks, one with 1 large and 6 small flourished initials of red and lilac and one with a large painted foliate initial opening the feast of St Ignatius (between 780 x 562mm and 560 x 362mm), and a leaf from an incunable edition of the sermons of St Bernard, Speier 1481. (11)

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Pre-Lot Text

MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE MANUSCRIPTS