Lot 16
  • 16

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

Estimate
3,000 - 5,000 GBP
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Description

5 leaves from various manuscripts, (a) single leaf from a 'Grandes Chroniques de France' with the title "Arbour Genealogie" containing a genealogy  of Carolingian kings from the death of Charles 'the Bald' (d. 879) to Charles 'the Simple' (d. 929), depicting the dynastic-line as a vertical green foliate shoot with stylised leaves, and the various generations as blue and pink roundels (3 in total here; approximately 45mm. in diameter) containing full-length portraits of the rulers concerned, all wearing burnished gold crowns and holding badges of office (a collateral line and St. Egidius also on recto in small roundels containing half-length portraits), all sandwiched between two columns of explanatory text, each 38 lines in black ink in a good early Gothic hand, rubrics in red, paragraph-marks in red and blue, seven small initials in alternate red and blue with penwork to contrast, some water-damage to upper border of leaf with minor affect to text, France, fourteenth century; (b) single leaf from a Bible, 201mm. by 138mm., double column, 61 lines in light brown ink in an accomplished early Gothic hand, some initials touched in red, titles and numbers in red and blue, three small initials in alternate red and blue with penwork up and down margins to contrast, one large initial 'I' (opening "In diebus unius iudicis ...", the beginning of the book of Ruth), 128mm. in height, in blue with white penwork and terminating at its base in scrolling foliage and a lacertine creature, enclosing six compartments with three full-length figures and four half-length figures (damage to all faces), and a small turret, all on blue grounds with two rabbits and a bird (now oxidised) sitting on the extremities, France, c. 1290; plus two text leaves from thirteenth-century Parisian bibles, one from a Chester Beatty manuscript with a delicate lacertine animal within an initial 'A', the other from a manuscript owned by Otto F. Ege, and an illuminated cutting from a Coptic manuscript, perhaps from the thirteenth century, portraying a seated saint receiving a codex; all in good condition, in card mounts

Condition

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."

Catalogue Note

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