Collection of leaves from illuminated manuscripts, in Latin, on vellum

5 leaves, including (a) single leaf from a manuscript of the Epistles of St. Paul, 241mm. by 155mm., with a large initial 'P' (opening "Paulus  ...", St Paul's epistle to the Romans), approximately 89mm. high, in blue with white penwork on red tessellated grounds, edged in burnished gold, and extending into the margins, terminating at the base in a lacertine creature and leafy extensions, on which a detailed bird sits, and at the top in angular coloured extensions from which a man fires an arrow into the bottom of a blue bird which sits above him, initial enclosing the saint holding a cross and proclaiming his letter to others, double column, 55 lines of black ink in a small and professional early Gothic hand, rubrics in red, titles and numbers in red and blue, three small initials in red and blue with penwork up and down borders, small corrosion hole in last line of text and minor damp stain to lower left-hand corner, else in excellent condition, northern France (doubtless Paris), third quarter of the thirteenth century; (b) single leaf from a Bible, the opening of Ecclesiasticus, 200mm. by 138mm., two large initials: a 10-line 'O' (opening "Omnis sapientia ...") in pink with white penwork enclosing God appearing to two men, one of whom kneels (perhaps faces retouched), all on burnished gold ground within blue frame, the other, a nine-line initial 'M' (opening "Multorum nobis ...") in blue with white penwork and elaborate organic infill, all on pink ground, double column, 61 lines in brown ink in a small professional hand, rubrics in red, titles and numbers in red and blue, three initials in red and blue with penwork up and down borders, northern France (doubtless Paris), last quarter of thirteenth century; (c) single text leaf from a Book of Hours illuminated by the Boucicaut Master or his workshop, 176mm. by 134mm., single column, 15 lines in black ink in a fine Gothic bookhand, rubrics in red, four 1-line initials in pink or blue enclosing a single coloured acanthus-leaf each, on burnished gold grounds, two 2-line initials in same, enclosing more elaborate ivy-leaf foliage, three-quarter border panel and full decorated border of scrolling coloured foliage terminating in red, blue or gold ivy-leaves, damp-staining to outer extremities, Paris, 1408; (d) a cutting  with a miniature of St. Giles (or Aegidius or Gilles) dressed as a bishop and holding the hind which, in legend, he attempted to protect when King Wamba of Septimania (modern southern France) shot an arrow at it, 164mm. by 53mm., France (most probably Avignon), second half of the fourteenth century; plus a single text leaf from a Rhineland bible of the thirteenth century, all in good condition and in card mounts

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A number of the items in the present lot are worth note. Item a is a particularly fine example of Parisian work of the third quarter of the thirteenth century, and seems especially close to other illuminated Bibles of that period, such as BnF. latin 11,538, of the St. Chapelle group (main line); see R. Branner, Manuscript Painting in Paris during the Reign of Saint Louis, 1977, pp. 236-7 & pl. 7. Item c is from a well-known manuscript by the Boucicaut Master or his workshop, which was dated on a folio which was sold in our rooms 18 June 1991, lot 18 (with other leaves from the same manuscript as lots 19 and 20) to anno m^o.cccc^o.viij^o quo ceciderunt pontes parisius, that is in 1408 when the floods in Paris washed away the Petit Pont, the Grand Pont and the Pont Neuf. The volume belonged to the jeweller John Boycott Jarman (d. 1864) and the damp-staining to its outer edges happened during a flood in his house in August 1846 (described by J. M. Backhouse in British Museum Quarterly, xxxii, 1968, pp. 76-92. It was lot 47 in Jarman's sale in our rooms, 13 June 1864, and after a number of owners passed to Sir Alfred Chester Beatty (1875-1968), his MS. W.103, who sold and gave away a number of the leaves in the 1930s. The residue of the manuscript was sold in our rooms in his sale, 24 June 1969, lots 58, 58A-K, and individual leaves appeared soon after in Alan Thomas Cat.23, nos. 6a-m; 24, nos. 7a-e and 26, nos. 21a-b, and a further 25 leaves appeared in the Folio Fine Art Cat.79, March 1971, no. 300. Item d is no less fascinating, and appears to be a cutting from a decorated Papal Indulgence of the same form as that sold in our rooms, 22 December 1999, lot 22 (reproduced in detail there), a form that seems to have become fashionable in the Papal Court while in exile in Avignon in the mid-fourteenth century. Such indulgences appear to have been sent to pilgrimage sites, perhaps for public display, and the present manuscript may have been sent originally to the abbey of St-Gilles-du-Gard in Provence, where St. Giles' relics were, and which had become a popular pilgrimage site in the fourteenth century, on the road from Arles to Santiago de Compostela.

All from the collection of the late Dr F. Jossi.