Western Illuminated Manuscripts 

Illuminated initials, cuttings, each c. 67 x 67 mm, tempera and burnished gold on vellum; (a) initial ‘A’ or ‘N’ depicting a king with crown and sceptre but no halo (perhaps King David, or St Louis?), the reverse with traces of music and ‘roma(m)’(?), (b) initial ‘U’ with a young saint holding a book and palm of martyrdom, the reverse with traces of music and text; some rubbing and flaking of pigments and gold.

Illuminated initials, cuttings, each c. 67 x 67 mm, tempera and burnished gold on vellum; (a) initial ‘A’ or ‘N’ depicting a king with crown and sceptre but no halo (perhaps King David, or St Louis?), the reverse with traces of music and ‘roma(m)’(?), (b) initial ‘U’ with a young saint holding a book and palm of martyrdom, the reverse with traces of music and text; some rubbing and flaking of pigments and gold. TWO ATTRACTIVE ITALIAN INITIALS IN THE STYLE OF FRATER ALFONSUS DE HISPANIA PROVENANCE 1. Part of the important collection of Adolf von Beckerath 1834-1915). He was the youngest son of a textile merchant from Krefeld and became a silk merchant himself. He cultivated a reputation as a patron of the arts and music, with a particularly interest in Renaissance art. Sold by; 2. Rudolph Lepke's, Berlin, Nachlass Adolf von Beckerath Berlin, zweiter Teil, Buch-Miniaturen, 29 November 1916, lot 43. 3. Sotheby’s, London, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts Sale, 5 July 2016, lot 29. 4. Acquired by present owner from the above sale. These two attractive initials are executed in a distinct style reminiscent of the works of Frater Alfonsus de Hispania, created in Northern Italy around 1490 to 1500. The shading, the pale skin tones of the figures, as well as the depiction of textiles, are particularly closely aligned with the known work of this artist. Intriguing are the cool toned paleness of both figures and the androgynous character of the young saint. In this respect, the figures seem somewhat inspired by the occasionally ambiguous representations of saints by Leonardo da Vinci. With their almost muted palette and unusual style, the two miniatures stand out among Italian book illumination of the late 15th century. We thank Peter Kidd for his expertise. LITERATURE Freuler, Gaudenz. Italian Miniatures. From the twelfth to the sixteenth Centuries, vol. 2, Milan: SilvavanaEditoriale, 2013. Paolo D'Ancona and Erhard Aeschlimann. Dictionnarie des miniaturistes du Moyen Âge et de la Renaissance dans les différentes contrées de l'Europe, Milan 1049, p. 4.

View 1 of Lot 9: A King and a Saint, historiated initials ‘A’ or ‘N’ and ‘U’ from a Choirbook on vellum, illuminated by an unknown Master | Italy | c.1490-1500.

a king and a saint, historiated initials ‘a’ or ‘n’ and ‘u’ from a choirbook on vellum, illuminated by an unknown master | italy | c.1490-1500.

Three circular miniatures from the margins of a Choirbook, 80 mm, 66 mm, and 57 mm in diameter, tempera and burnished gold on vellum, depicting half-length figures, with blank versos, Christ as Salvator Mundi, a grieving female saint, possibly the Virgin Mary or Mary Magdalene due to facing left, typical for Crucifixion scenes, Saint Symon (of Trent?), dressed in a monks habit, holding a book, each roundel framed against velvet, c.1365.

Three circular miniatures from the margins of a Choirbook, 80 mm, 66 mm, and 57 mm in diameter, tempera and burnished gold on vellum, depicting half-length figures, with blank versos, Christ as Salvator Mundi, a grieving female saint, possibly the Virgin Mary or Mary Magdalene due to facing left, typical for Crucifixion scenes, Saint Symon (of Trent?), dressed in a monks habit, holding a book, each roundel framed against velvet, c.1365. UNUSUAL FRAGMENTS: THREE FINELY ILLUMINATED ROUNDELS BY NICCOLO DI GIACOMO DA BOLOGNA PROVENANCE 1. From the collection of Dr. F.G. Zeileis (Più ridon le carte: Buchmalerei aus Mittelalter und Renaissance, 2004, no.36). 2. Sotheby's London, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts Sale, 5 July 2016, lot 22. 3. Acquired by present owner from the above sale. COMMENTARY These three beautiful roundels were created by Niccolò di Giacomo da Bologna one of the most famous and prolific illuminators of the region. His activity is documented between 1349 and 1403, during which he created a monopoly in secular and liturgical manuscript production in Bologna. The vast number of extant works signed by him are testament to his preeminent station as the head of a larger workshop and in 1380s he was appointed illuminator to the city. Due to his versatility, he was involved in the decoration of choirbooks for churches outside of Bologna as well as humanist texts for distinguished patrons affiliated with the university. Niccolò’s style is imbued by local miniature tradition and his visual language references the expressive and decorative works of the Master of 1346, who might have acted as his teacher. Niccolò’s adaptability and versatility as an artist as well as his fine use of colour for a greater narrative impact made his works sought-after in and outside of Bologna. The tonsured figure below the inscription ‘Beatus Symon’ is dressed in a dark Augustinian habit typical for monks of that order. This figure has previously been identified as the Augustinian Simon of Cascia, an ascetic, preacher and prolific writer who among many other works, authored one of the first catechisms in the Italian language. His main work De Gestis Domini Salvatoris [The Works of our Saviour] was widely read during the Middle Ages and it is assumed that the German reformer, Martin Luther, was influenced by his ideas. Simon preached in Bologna, Siena, Perugia and Florence where he founded the convent Sant'Elisabetta delle Convertite and helped unmarried women and prostitutes. This context supports an identification of the female figure as Mary Magdalene, who was associated in the Middle Ages with the figure of the repentant prostitute. Based on this identification, the manuscript from which these roundels originate could have been commissioned for the church of Santa Maria Maddalena in Bologna. According to Gaudenz Freuler (cited in Zeileis’ 2004 catalogue), the fragments could also relate to the Augustinian church San Giacomo Maggiore in Bologna, for which Niccolò produced several Choirbooks which survive only as fragments. The three roundels by Niccolò di Giacomo da Bologna provide an intriguing mystery and highlight the regional artistry and religious specifics of central Italy. Literature Medica, Massimo ed. Haec Sunt Statuta: Le corporazioni medievali nelle miniature bolognesi. Exhibition, Rocca medievale Boncompagni, 27 March-11 July. Catalogue, Modena. 1999, pp. 126-27. Conti, Alessandro. La miniatura bolognese: Scuole e botteghe 1270-r340. Bologna. 1981, pp. 94-95. Filippini, Francesco, and Guido Zucchini. Miniatori e pittori a Bologna: Documenti dei secoli XIII e XIV. Florence, 1947, pp. 175-81.

View 1 of Lot 8: Three illuminatd roundels from the margins of a Choirbook on vellum illuminated by Niccolò di Giacomo da Bologna | Italy, Bologna | c.1365

three illuminatd roundels from the margins of a choirbook on vellum illuminated by niccolò di giacomo da bologna | italy, bologna | c.1365

465 x 545mm, illuminated page from a vast gradual, Latin manuscript on vellum, initial 165 x 150mm, likely constituting the lower half of an impressively large sheet, originally about 900 x 600mm, which explains the unusual format, written in Roman Square Capitals inscription on red-ruled four-line background, one line of music, on the recto: 3 small initials A, C, and O with floral details in red and green, on the verso: one large initial D in gold and blue on gold background containing a portrait of a young Christ dressed in burgundy and blue; a wide and elaborate border of flowers and vegetal elements on a burnished gold background, ornamentation in red as well as numerous floral representations in blue, yellow, orange and white with leaves in green; the right-hand side exhibits a few vertical folds, with light rubbing of the coloured surface, overall an impressively large and extraordinarily decorative leaf.

465 x 545mm, illuminated page from a vast gradual, Latin manuscript on vellum, initial 165 x 150mm, likely constituting the lower half of an impressively large sheet, originally about 900 x 600mm, which explains the unusual format, written in Roman Square Capitals inscription on red-ruled four-line background, one line of music, on the recto: 3 small initials A, C, and O with floral details in red and green, on the verso: one large initial D in gold and blue on gold background containing a portrait of a young Christ dressed in burgundy and blue; a wide and elaborate border of flowers and vegetal elements on a burnished gold background, ornamentation in red as well as numerous floral representations in blue, yellow, orange and white with leaves in green; the right-hand side exhibits a few vertical folds, with light rubbing of the coloured surface, overall an impressively large and extraordinarily decorative leaf. A HIGHLY ATTRACTIVE ILLUMIANTED LEAF WITH A FINE PORTRAIT INITIAL PROVENANCE 1. UK, private collection. COMMENTARY This enchanting half-leaf from an impressively large gradual contains the beginning of the chants for the Mass on the evening of the 25th December. The leaf is visually striking, with its fine lettering, large gold initial with an elegant portrait, all contained within a luxurious border of gold and red. The chant on the verso (p.114) offers the introit, the 1st item in the Proper of the Mass, ‘Dominus dixit ad me’ for Midnight Mass of Christmas Day: ‘In nativitate domini ad missam in nocte. Introitus.’ The recto (p.113) contains the end of the gradual ‘Hodie scietis’ and Alleluia V. ‘Crastina die’ for Christmas Eve: ‘Joseph: qui sedes super Cherubim, appare coram Ephraim, Beniamin, & Manasse…’. DECORATION This leaf contains a magnificent portrait initial on a gold background surrounded by a narrow gold leaf frame. It shows a young Christ dressed in a burgundy tunic and a blue overcoat, with curly hair and fine facial features, executed in soft shades. The delicate facial features with the long, thin nose, small mouth, the finely arched eyebrows, and above all, the lush brown curls, highlighted with white, seem inspired by Florentine painting, particularly the school of Domenico Ghirlandaio. The nuanced shading of the almost sculpturally conceived face uses the sfumato technique, where colour transitions are softly blurred without lines or borders, following the traditions of Florentine schools. The leaf is surrounded by a stunning decorative border that encompasses lush floral tendrils in red, as well as numerous varied flowers in blue, yellow, orange and white with separate leaves in green. Its finely executed Italianate initial and portrait, as well as the large and exuberant border, make this a highly pleasing example of late 16th early 17th century illumination.

View 1 of Lot 7: Illuminated leaf from a Gradual with decorative floral border and historiated initial | Northern Italy? | 17th century

illuminated leaf from a gradual with decorative floral border and historiated initial | northern italy? | 17th century

Single leaf, 455 cm x 285 mm, 20 lines, ruled, Latin, written in diplomatic Minuscule with Littera Elongata at top and bottom, including imperial monogram and contemporary signatures at foot of page, date of issue in lower margin, wax seal in lower right-hand corner (100 mm diameter), seal in excellent condition, likely the best preserved seal of Emperor Henry V; overall good copy with few illegible instances, in custom made box; creases from vertical and horizontal folding noticeable, light water damage to bottom and right margin.

Single leaf, 455 cm x 285 mm, 20 lines, ruled, Latin, written in diplomatic Minuscule with Littera Elongata at top and bottom, including imperial monogram and contemporary signatures at foot of page, date of issue in lower margin, wax seal in lower right-hand corner (100 mm diameter), seal in excellent condition, likely the best preserved seal of Emperor Henry V; overall good copy with few illegible instances, in custom made box; creases from vertical and horizontal folding noticeable, light water damage to bottom and right margin. SENSATIONAL REDISCOVERY OF AN EXTREMELY RARE CHARTER BY KING HENRY V, EMPEROR OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE, WITH HIS SEAL IN PRISTINE CONDITION PROVENANCE 1. Written in the chancellery of Henry V in 1116 during his travels to Italy. 2. Europe, Private Collection. COMMENTARY This intriguing charter was issued on behalf of King Henry V, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (1081/86 –1125) in 1116. The document was believed to be lost in 1917 during the Battle of Caporetto but has now resurfaced. Only three imperial charters issued by German emperors of the Saxon to the Hohenstaufen period were sold in the last fifty years, two of them in poor condition and without their seals. Fewer than ten examples have come onto the market over the last century, making the appearance of this charter a sensational find. Imperial Charters are elusively rare on the market, with most extant examples being held in public libraries. Adding to its rarity, the charter is also a fascinating witness to the tumultuous reign of Henry V, the last king of the Salian dynasty, which controlled the Holy Roman Empire from 1024 until 1125. Henry had forced his father to abdicate and captured Pope Paschal II to increase his control over the church. In the year of the issuance, the emperor was forced to travel to Italy to secure his dominion over the Italian states, in the hope of tipping the scales in his favour in the power struggles against rising forces in the North. According to Ficker (cf. Forschungen vol.1, p.201) this charter provides the earliest textual witness for an imperial ban that combined imperial disgrace with the confiscation of goods to punish vassals. To deter the Duke of Treviso from rallying against him, Henry V had previously enacted one of the severest punishments an emperor of the Holy Roman Empire could bestow upon one of his subjects. The so-called imperial ban (germ. Reichsacht) stripped a subject of all their rights and properties, negating even the most fundamental right to live. Anyone who injured or killed someone under an imperial ban was absolved from any legal repercussions. It remains unclear which crime exactly was committed by Duke Rainbald of Treviso against Henry V and his father. Maybe the Duke supported the uprising of the Italian city-states against the German king, destabilising the region? Interestingly, the document includes the then two underage sons of Duke Rainbald, whose children, contrary to the wording of the charter, most likely didn’t play a role in the offences committed against the emperor. However, in his charter, Emperor Henry V forgives the brothers Ansedisius and Wido, as well as their father, Duke Rainbald of Treviso, officially lifting the imperial ban which had been placed upon them. The charter reinstates all three men into the current Emperor’s good graces and forgoes the charges brought against them. Henry V also restitutes and confirms their father’s property to them, which the brothers had lost in consequence of the imperial ban. The charter was written by the Notary Adalbert A (cf. Hausmann, Reichskanzlei 66 no 74). 18th-century copies of the charter can be found in Ms. 1060, p. 68 of the Public Library of Treviso and in the State Archive of Modena, no. 12, p.24-25, who were used for the text of the Monumenta Germania Historica. This charter is an important historical witness to the reign of Heinrich V, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire with his seal in excellent condition. We thank Professor Gerhard Lubich for his insights. LITERATURE Published in two 18th-century copies: ms. 1060 (Doglioni), p.68, Public Library of Treviso and no. 12 in the State Archive of Modena, p.24-25. Printed in Muratori, Ant. Ital. 2,39 incomplete (cf. Anm. e) “ex archivo praestantissimi viri Antonii Rambaldi comitis de Collalto” (m); 4,67. – Vinciguerra Conte di Collalto etc. (based on the copy of 1814) 16 incomplete (s. Anm. z). Sansovino, Origine delle famiglie illustri d’Italia (ed.I) 3; (ed.II) 4. – Ficker in Wilmans, Add. z. Westf. UB 92 no 116/27. – Indices … Muratorii 87 no 788. – Lizier, Note intorno alla storia di Treviso 83. – Jaksch, Mon. duc. Carinthiae 3,225 no 555. – Huter, Tyrol UB 1.1,67 no 145. – KLAAR, Eppensteiner in Kärnten 67 no 92b. – Böhmer Reg. 2046. – Stumpf Reg. 3127; all dated March 1161. Transcription of a copy of the document in Monumenta Germaniae Historica https://data.mgh.de/databases/ddhv/dhv_155.htm FURTHER READING Ficker, Julius, Forschungen zur Reichs- und Rechtsgeschichte Italiens, vol. 1, (Innsbruck: Wagner, 1868) Goez, Elke. "Zwischen Reichszugehörigkeit und Eigenständigkeit: Heinrich V. und Italien. Ein Werkstattbericht." In Heinrich V. in seiner Zeit. Herrschen in einem europäischen Reich des Hochmittelalters, ed. Gerhard Lubich, Köln: Böhlau, 2013, pp. 215-232. Hausmann, Friedrich, Reichskanzlei und Hofkapelle unter Heinrich V. und Konrad III. (Stuttgart: Hiersemann, 1956) Lubich, Gerhard, Heinrich V. — Der letzte Salierkaiser (Theiss: Freiburg i. Br., 2024). Lubich, Gerhard (ed.). Heinrich V. in seiner Zeit: Herrschen in einem europäischen Reich des Hochmittelalters. Forschungen zur Kaiser- und Papstgeschichte des Mittelalters, Beihefte, 34. Wien: Böhlau, 2013. Thiel, Matthias, Studien zu den Urkunden Heinrichs V. (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2017). Waas, Adolf. Heinrich V. Gestalt und Verhängis des letzten salischen Kaisers, (München: Gerog D. W. Callwey, 1967).

View 1 of Lot 12:  Imperial Charter issued by Emperor Heinrich V of the Holy Roman Empire | Italy, likely Treviso | 1116, with Imperial monogram and seal

imperial charter issued by emperor heinrich v of the holy roman empire | italy, likely treviso | 1116, with imperial monogram and seal

An illuminated single leaf, 542 x 364mm leaf, 164 x 46mm, from a Gradual, in Latin with historiated initial ‘I’ depicting St Anthony of Padua (six lines high), encompassing seven lines of music and text, contemporary folio number 'lxxxi', the initial opens the Introit for the feast of St Anthony of Padua on June 13th, ‘In medio ecclesie aperuit os eius’, rubrics in red, verso with one blue initial with red penwork (some fading of text on verso), aside from slight flaking in nimbus in good condition with wide clean margins, unframed.

An illuminated single leaf, 542 x 364mm leaf, 164 x 46mm, from a Gradual, in Latin with historiated initial ‘I’ depicting St Anthony of Padua (six lines high), encompassing seven lines of music and text, contemporary folio number 'lxxxi', the initial opens the Introit for the feast of St Anthony of Padua on June 13th, ‘In medio ecclesie aperuit os eius’, rubrics in red, verso with one blue initial with red penwork (some fading of text on verso), aside from slight flaking in nimbus in good condition with wide clean margins, unframed. AN ATTRACTIVE AND EARLY EXAMPLE BY LIPPO VANNI, ONE OF SIENA’S LEADING MINIATURISTS PROVENANCE 1. Leaf from a Gradual created in Siena in the early 1340s, potentially for a Franciscan monastery. 2. Formerly in the Six and Beets collections, Amsterdam. 3. Sotheby's 11th July 1966, lot 194. COMMENTARY This attractive leaf shows St Anthony of Padua (1195 –1231), one of the most revered followers of Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan order. A Lisbon native, Anthony had an illustrious, albeit short, life and monastic career, serving as envoy in 1228 for the General Chapter to Pope Gregory IX and later provincial superior of Northern Italy, where he chose to settle in Padua. Only a year after his death, St Anthony was canonised and in 1946, he was bestowed the title ‘Doctor of the Church’ by Pope Pius XII, a title he shares with St Augustine (see lot 18). Anthony, due to his moving and inspiring preaching, soon caught the attention of St Francis of Assisi and went on to teach both at the University of Montpellier and Toulouse. St Anthony is beseeched for retrieving lost or stolen items, a belief that is related to a story from his life. When an annotated Book of Psalms was stolen, Anthony prayed for its safe return. As a result, not only was the precious book returned, but the repentant thief rejoined the Franciscan order. This miniature, with its muted but powerful palette, shows a solemn grey-clad St Anthony, who, averting his gaze from the onlooker, glances contemplatively into the margins. The initial was created by one of the leading Sienese illuminators of the period, Lippo Vanni, who was active as a painter in Siena from 1341 to 1372. For the first ten years of this period, he worked chiefly as a miniaturist. Vanni’s work was influenced by Pietro Lorenzetti, whose introduction of naturalism into Sienese painting foreshadowed the flourishing production of Renaissance art in the region. Our artist was also closely linked to the Master of Sant’Eugenio, whose activity decorating a series of choirbooks for churches in and around Siena can be documented from 1340 to 1375. It is assumed that Vanni might have trained in this Master’s workshop (De Benedictis, 1994). The present leaf originates from a choirbook whose leaves can be found in several leading European and American collections, including four leaves in the Rijksmuseum and three in the Philadelphia Free Library (Tanis, 2001, pp.170-72). This leaf is a beautiful example of the early work of Lippo Vanni, showing a graceful and composed St Anthony in an elegant palette. LITERATURE Freuler, Gaudenz, Ancora sulla miniatura senese dei secoli XIII-XV. Postille ad un libro (Parte II), Arte Cristiana, XCVII, 2009, 854, pp.321ff. Freuler, Gaudenz, ‘Lippo Vanni’, in Dizionario biografico dei miniatori italiani secoli IX-XVI, a cura di Milvia Bollati, prefazione di Miklós Boskovits, Milano, Sylvestre Bonnard, 2004, pp.394-397 Freuler, Gaudenz, in Ada Labriola, Cristina de Benedictis, Gaudenz Freuler, La miniatura senese 1270-1420, a cura di Cristina De Benedictis, Milano, Skira, 2002, pp.319-331 Marle, R. van. “Cinque Miniature di Lippo Vanni.” La Diana 4 (1929): p. 159-60, where the present miniature, wrongly described as St Francis, is reproduced. FURTHER READING De Benedictis, Cristina, Lippo Vanni, in: La fortuna dei primitivi. Tesori d’arte dalle collezioni italiane fra Sette e Ottocento. Catalogo della mostra, Firenze, Gallerie dell’Accademia, 28 giugno-8 dicembre 2014, a cura di Angelo Tartuferi e Gianluca Tormen, Firenze, Giunti, 2014, pp.505-07. De Benedictis, Cristina, “Pietro Lorenzetti e la miniatura”, Studi Mina Gregori, 1994, p.21-25. Tanis, J.R. ed. Leaves of Gold: Manuscript Illumination from Philadelphia Collections. Philadelphia, 2001, p.170-72. Os, H. W. van. “Lippo Vanni as a Miniaturist.” Simiolus 7, 2 (1974): p.70 (fig. 5) (ill.) (article, pp.67-90).

View 1 of Lot 4: St Anthony of Padua, historiated initial 'I' on a leaf from a Gradual, in Latin | Italy, Siena | early 1340s

st anthony of padua, historiated initial 'i' on a leaf from a gradual, in latin | italy, siena | early 1340s

240 x 170 mm, illuminated manuscript on paper, containing Saint Augustine, Soliloquia, Pseudo-Bernard Tractatus de interiori domo seu de conscientia aedificanda, and St Anselmus’ Orationes, Italy, dated 1375; 78 leaves, modern foliation, complete, in gatherings of mostly 8 leaves, 2 leaves (paper) + i8 (first leaf inserted), ii-ix8, x6 (likely a single leaf and a quire of 6, with last leaf lacking) + 3 leaves (paper), catchwords in finely drawn penwork cartouches, written in brown ink in a crisp Italian gothic bookhand, on 29 long lines (written space 136 x 89 mm.), ruled lightly in plummet, prickings visible throughout, rubrics in red, numerous 3-line initials in red and blue with exquisitely executed pen flourishes in purple and red, usually abstract but sometimes incorporating foliage and birds, one 8-line decorated initial in blue, green, orange and rose on a burnished gold background, two full and one partial border in the same colours, two large historiated initials and one half-page miniature with author portraits; some abrasion to gold on f.1, scant wormholes through final 18 folios, a bit of soiling at outer margins, otherwise in excellent condition; bound in crimson velvet, half morocco clamshell case.

240 x 170 mm, illuminated manuscript on paper, containing Saint Augustine, Soliloquia, Pseudo-Bernard Tractatus de interiori domo seu de conscientia aedificanda, and St Anselmus’ Orationes, Italy, dated 1375; 78 leaves, modern foliation, complete, in gatherings of mostly 8 leaves, 2 leaves (paper) + i8 (first leaf inserted), ii-ix8, x6 (likely a single leaf and a quire of 6, with last leaf lacking) + 3 leaves (paper), catchwords in finely drawn penwork cartouches, written in brown ink in a crisp Italian gothic bookhand, on 29 long lines (written space 136 x 89 mm.), ruled lightly in plummet, prickings visible throughout, rubrics in red, numerous 3-line initials in red and blue with exquisitely executed pen flourishes in purple and red, usually abstract but sometimes incorporating foliage and birds, one 8-line decorated initial in blue, green, orange and rose on a burnished gold background, two full and one partial border in the same colours, two large historiated initials and one half-page miniature with author portraits; some abrasion to gold on f.1, scant wormholes through final 18 folios, a bit of soiling at outer margins, otherwise in excellent condition; bound in crimson velvet, half morocco clamshell case. WRITTEN, DECORATED, AND ILLUMINATED BY MATTEO DI SER CAMBIO, ONE OF PERUGIA'S LEADING ARTISTS PROVENANCE 1. An inscription on the last folio (f.78v), written in a larger script but in the same hand as the rest of the text, dates the manuscript to 1375: Sub anno D(omi)ni millo. ccc°. Ixxv. The miniatures, and probably the calligraphy, are by Matteo di ser Cambio of Perugia, but for whom they were executed remains unknown. A shield in the lower border of f. 1 might shed some light on the manuscript's early history; although it has been abraded, the ground is still legible as vert, party per bend or. 2. Charles Weatherby Reynell, a London printer and publisher (1798-1892). His engraved bookplate inside front cover. 3. Charles Fairfax Murray (1849-1919), English Pre-Raphaelite painter and book collector. 4. C.W. Dyson Perrins, an English businessman, bibliophile and philanthropist; (25 May 1864-1958) with usual bookplates; his sale, part 2, London, Sotheby's, 1 December 1959, lot 65; 5. H. P. Kraus, New York, Catalogue 95, no.17. 6. Raphael Esmerian (died 1972), bibliophile, his bookplate inside front cover. 7. H. P. Kraus, New York, Monumenta Codicum Manu Scriptorum, 1974, no.16. 8. Les Enluminures. 9. Private Collection, USA. COMMENTARY This impressive manuscript brings together three theological-philosophical works: St Augustine’s Soliloquia, Pseudo-Bernard’s Tractatus de interiori domo seu de conscientia aedificanda, and St Anselm’s Orationes. Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) was one of the central philosopher-theologians of the Christian West. Among his most widely read works are The City of God, On Christian Doctrine, and Confessions. His understanding and engagement with fundamental questions on the matter of free will, time and eternity, the problem of Evil, and his theory of just war have influenced generations of philosophers, ranging from Descartes to Leibniz, Wittgenstein, and Russel. Like Augustine, St Anselm of Canterbury (1033/4–1109) engaged with a diverse range of topics, including the nature of truth, the reality and significance of human freedom, and the evaluation of human behaviour. It is in these topics that having both Augustine and St Anselm side by side proves significant and productive. In adding Pseudo-Bernard’s treatise on Conscience, which was ascribed to Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153), the manuscript at hand unites works written by or attributed to some of the leading figures of the European Middle Ages, offering a range of perspectives into the fundamental questions of human life. In Augustine’s Soliloquia, presented in the form of an internal dialogue, the narrator encounters Reason personified, while Pseudo-Bernard engages with the allegorical Conscience, enquiring into different types of conscience which he understands as the soul's inclination to either good or evil. Despite their intrinsic ‘medievalness’, the works feel surprisingly modern as they grapple with fundamental questions of human life: the nature of evil, conscience, and freedom, a fact that might also be a result of the author’s lives. Both Augustine as well as Anselm were deeply involved in worldly affairs and did not write from the reclusion of a monastery but were active parts of their respective communities. DECORATION Dated 1375, the present manuscript is remarkable not only for its illustrious provenance but for its visual coherence, having been written, illustrated and decorated by Matteo di ser Cambio. Especially noteworthy are the beautifully executed author portraits and the vivid Umbrian palette. Based on the text selection and the high quality of the script and decoration, the manuscript was most likely executed for a high-profile and likely private patron. Matteo di Ser Cambio (ca.1370–1424) was one of the most renowned Perugian illuminators of the late 14th century. While his contributions to goldsmithing are mostly lost to us, his work as an illuminator is relatively well documented. Matte di Ser Cambio can be traced in the guild registry of the goldsmiths of Perugia in 1351, with his activity extending into the 1420s. He occupied multiple offices for the Arte degli Orafi (Guild of Goldsmiths), he served as Camerlengo in 1401 and 1412, and as Priore in 1403, 1410, and 1414. In 1414, he also acted as legal representative for the Jewish community of Perugia. The extant records paint a picture of an artist well and truly integrated in Perugia’s economic and social networks and demonstrate the high esteem in which his works were held. Matteo’s style was influenced through contact with Sienese artists and their works, especially Lippo Vanni (lot 4 in this sale) and Niccolò di ser Sozzo, while also showing an awareness of Luca di Tommè. His later works exhibit more naturalistic tendencies, which mirror developments in late Gothic art that emerged in the vicinity of Perugia. The same hand can be detected in both the Matricola della merce (Perugia, Collegio della merce, II) from 1377, which has been attributed to ser Cambio by De Benedictis and Santanicchia (De Benedictis, p. 282; Santanicchia, 2008, pp. 402 ff.). In the same year, Matteo signed the statutes of the Collegio del Cambio of Perugia “Io Mateo di Ser Cambio orfo / che qui col sesto in mano me fegurai / quisto libro scrissi dipensi e miniai” which is also accompanied by a self-portrait. Based on this De Benedictis and Santanicchia concluded that Matteo was responsible for the production of the complete manuscript. (De Benedictis, pp. 282 ff.; Santanicchia, 2001, pp. 85 ff.). LITERATURE Burlington Fine Arts Club, Exhibition of Illuminated Manuscripts, London, 1908, no. 179, pl. 12.1 De Polo, Claudio. “Un codice umbro della seconda meta del Trecento,” in La miniatura in eta romanica e gotica, atti del I congresso di storia della miniatura italiana, Florence, 1979, pp. 543-51. De Benedictis, Cristina, Matteo di Cambio, in Francesco d’Assisi. Documenti e archivi. Codici e biblioteche. Miniature (catal., Perugia), Milano 1982, pp.274-291. De Polo, C., Un codice umbro della seconda metà del Trecento, in La miniatura in età romanica e gotica. Atti del Congresso di storia della miniatura italiana, Cortona… 1978, a cura di G. Vailati, Firenze 1979, pp.543-551. Lollini, Fabrizio. “Matteo di ser Cambio,” in Dizionario biographico dei miniatori italiani secoli I X - XVI , ed. Milvia Bollati, Milan, Edizioni Sylvestre Bonnard, 2004, pp. 752-53 (citing the present manuscript on p. 753). Lollini, F. in Dipinti e disegni della Pinacoteca Civica di Pesaro, ed. C. Giardini, E. Negro and M. Pirondini, Modena 1993, pp. 382–383, cat.382. Santanicchia, M. in «Per buono stato de la citade»: le matricole delle arti di Perugia (catal.), Perugia 2001, pp.72ff. and 85ff. Todini, F. La pittura umbra dal Duecento al primo Cinquecento , Milan, 1989. Warner, George. Descriptive Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts in the Collection of C. W. Dyson Perrins, Oxford, 1920, no. 56, pl. LXI. FURTHER READING Alidori, L., in Fioritura tardogotica nelle Marche, exhibition catalogue, ed. P. Dal Poggetto, Milan 1998, pp. 104–106, cats. 21–22. Avezza, L., in Miniature a Brera 1100–1422, exhibition catalogue, ed. M. Boskovits with Valagussa, G. and Bollati, M., Milan 1997, pp. 186–189, cat. 27. De Benedictis, C., Matteo di Cambio, in Francesco d’Assisi. Documenti e archivi. Codici e biblioteche. Miniature, exhibition catalogue, Milan 1982, pp. 274–291, with previous bibliography. Narkiss, B., An Illuminated Maimonides Manuscript, in Ariel, 21 (1968), pp. 51–59. De Polo, C., Un codice umbro della seconda metà del Trecento, in La miniatura in età romanica e gotica, Proceedings of the I Congress of Italian Miniature Studies, Florence 1979, pp. 543–551. Santanicchia, M., in “Per buono stato de la citade”: le matricole delle Arti di Perugia, exhibition catalogue, ed. M. Roncetti, Perugia 2001, pp. 72–73, 85–86.

View 1 of Lot 18: Saint Augustine. Soliloquia – Pseudo-Bernard. Tractatus de interiori domo seu de conscientia aedificanda – St Anselmus. Orationes | Italy | 1375

saint augustine. soliloquia – pseudo-bernard. tractatus de interiori domo seu de conscientia aedificanda – st anselmus. orationes | italy | 1375

370 x 250 mm, illuminated manuscript on vellum, Bible with Prologues and Interpretations, Italy, [probably Bologna], likely by a Master of the Primo Stile, dated 1273, binding 15th century; ii+512+i leaves, quire signatures ‘a’ to ‘r’ (ff.1-201), too tightly bound to allow confident collation, 2 columns of 45 lines (ca. 233 x 70-15-70 mm), written in an attractive Littera Bononiensis; 72 historiated initials with foliate extensions at beginning of biblical books, f. 1r with an angel at the bas-de-page, 73 decorated foliate initials at beginning of prologues and explicits, flourished initials for chapters, occasionally with tiny instructions in brown ink in upper and outer margins, lacking leaves with historiated initials at the beginning of Genesis, 2 Chronicles, Ezra I, Job, Psalms, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and Matthew, and a few text leaves at the end (the Interpretations of Hebrew names ending in the ‘O’s); first leaf rubbed, a few quires at beginning with vertical creases, text occasionally rubbed and margins stained but historiated and decorated initials generally in very fine condition, a few text leaves in quire ‘g’ affected by water damage, chapter numbers and running headers adapted where gaps occur; 15th-century Italian brown leather binding with original brass bosses over wooden boards, rebacked, new clasps.

370 x 250 mm, illuminated manuscript on vellum, Bible with Prologues and Interpretations, Italy, [probably Bologna], likely by a Master of the Primo Stile, dated 1273, binding 15th century; ii+512+i leaves, quire signatures ‘a’ to ‘r’ (ff.1-201), too tightly bound to allow confident collation, 2 columns of 45 lines (ca. 233 x 70-15-70 mm), written in an attractive Littera Bononiensis; 72 historiated initials with foliate extensions at beginning of biblical books, f. 1r with an angel at the bas-de-page, 73 decorated foliate initials at beginning of prologues and explicits, flourished initials for chapters, occasionally with tiny instructions in brown ink in upper and outer margins, lacking leaves with historiated initials at the beginning of Genesis, 2 Chronicles, Ezra I, Job, Psalms, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and Matthew, and a few text leaves at the end (the Interpretations of Hebrew names ending in the ‘O’s); first leaf rubbed, a few quires at beginning with vertical creases, text occasionally rubbed and margins stained but historiated and decorated initials generally in very fine condition, a few text leaves in quire ‘g’ affected by water damage, chapter numbers and running headers adapted where gaps occur; 15th-century Italian brown leather binding with original brass bosses over wooden boards, rebacked, new clasps. A BEAUTIFUL AND IMPRESSIVE LECTERN BIBLE. THE CENTRAL BOOK FOR LIFE AT THE MONASTERY PROVENANCE 1. A colophon at the end of the Apocalypse provides the date 1273: "Explicit Apocalypsis Iohannis. M.CC.lxxiij. Indictione prima" (f.487v). The book was perhaps made for a Dominican convent: the Psalm 97 initial depicts a choir of chanting Dominicans (f.242r), and the first flyleaf has a rust-stain near the middle of the top edge, probably from a chain-staple, suggesting that the volume was chained in an institutional library. 2. S.W. Rosenbach (1876–1952), Philadelphia. 3. John Fleming. 4. Dr. Charles Caldwell Ryrie, acquired from the above. 5. Sotheby's, New York, December 5, 2016, lot 8. 6. The Alana Collection Private Collection, New York, acquired 2016. COMMENTARY This large Bible was likely made by and for a Dominican monastery in Bologna. At the beginning of Psalm 97 (Vulgate), we can spot in the historiated initial C on fol.242r, a group of Dominican monks wholeheartedly signing in front of a lectern, indicating a potential use of the manuscript in a Dominican context. The Dominican order was founded in 1215/16 by the Spaniard Dominic de Guzmán (1170-1221), who arrived in Bologna in 1218 and recognised the importance of the region as a centre for learning and manuscript production. Alongside the University of Bologna, the Dominican order quickly became a driving force for manuscript production in Italy. New chapters were founded in rapid succession all over Italy, and every new foundation required a large-format Bible for use in the refectory and at Mass, as well as a smaller copy for the library. The Bible at hand, with its impressive format of almost 40 by 25 cm, is a so-called ‘lectern Bible’. As the name reveals, these manuscripts were used for public reading in the choir and were often proudly put on display (Lobrichon 2023, p.192). This type of Bible was also used for reading during the mealtimes in the refectory. The Bible at hand was rebound in the 15th-century and still bears the original brass bosses, which elevate the manuscript from the surfaces it is placed upon – very useful when using a manuscript in the refectory. The new binding demonstrates the continuous use and appreciation of the manuscript. This complete Italian Bible with its almost 150 initials, offers a fascinating glimpse into the religious landscape of 13th-century Northern Italy, demonstrating the rise of the Dominican order and the ground-breaking developments in manuscript production for religious houses in Italy. TEXT The text of this Vulgate Bible is essentially that of a standard 13th-century Bible as defined by Neil Ker (Medieval Manuscripts in British Libraries, I, pp. 96-7, etc.), with the usual prologues and interpretations of Hebrew names beginning ‘Aaz apprehendens,’ however, it contains a considerable number of additional prologues (to Ezra, Jeremiah, Hosea, and most of the other prophets, and in the New Testament to Romans and 1 Corinthians). The details of the main biblical text might offer further insight into our understanding of Bolognese Bible production: alongside the beginning of Nehemiah, for example, is a scribal note in cursive script, heavily abbreviated, that appears to suggest that he was unable to correct the text because it was not in his second exemplar: Iste tercius liber [i.e. III Ezra] non co(rrectus?). quod non est in … exemplari. DECORATION ECHOS OF A DISTANT PAST: BYZANTINE MODELS IN ITALIAN MANUSCRIPT ILLUMINATION 72 historiated initials adorn this Bible, including large, flourished initials at the beginning of chapters. The decoration is reminiscent of the work of the Masters of the Primo Stile, a style of illumination influenced by the then archaic modes of Byzantine art. Human figures are characterised by their dark blueish shadows around the eyes and contouring facial features, high foreheads, and square face shapes, referencing Byzantine models. Lips and cheeks are marked by dots of strong red colour, which are more pronounced in younger figures. The first page of each book and the psalms are embellished with large historiated initials. The decoration is generally of high quality and in very fine condition. Predominant in the manuscript are dark, intense blue backgrounds, highly polished and finely punched gold nimbi, and flesh tones tinted in green, blue and red. Dorothy Miner ascribed this manuscript to a group of Bibles generally attributed to Bologna. This manuscript stands out through its "looser, freer use of modelling" that Miner also recognised in a very fine Bible in the Dyson Perrins sale in our rooms, 1 December 1959, part II, lot 61 with pl.11, sold for £14,000 to Maggs. The subjects of the historiated initials are: (1) St Jerome handing his epistle to a messenger; an angel in the lower margin (f.1r) (2) St Jerome holding a book (f.3v) (3) Moses addresses the Israelites(?) (f.23v) (4) God addresses Moses from a tower (f.39r) (5) God addresses Moses from heaven (f.50v) (6) Gideon selects his army by seeing which soldiers bend down to drink from the river (f.66r) (7) The Death of Moses (f.80v) (8) The Death of Joshua (f.90v) (9) Elimelech, Naomi, and their two sons (f.101r) (10) Elkanah kneels before an altar, with his two wives, Hannah and Peninnah (f.103v) (11) Saul is killed with his own spear by the Amalekite (above), and the Amalekite presents Saul’s crown to King David, who rends his clothes (below) (f.118v) (12) Abishag brought to King David (f.131r) (13) King Ahaziah falls from his palace tower (f.145r) (14) Adam and his descendants (f.159r) (15) King Cyrus orders the rebuilding of the Temple (f.185v) (16) Moses and an Elder placing the tablets of the law into the Ark of the Covenant (f.194r) (17) Tobit blinded by the swallow (f.200v) (18) Judith beheading Holofernes (f.204v) (19) Ahasuerus (above) extends his sceptre to Esther (below) (f.210v) (20) Job on the dungheap, with his wife and friends (f.216v (21) David pointing to his eyes (f.229r) (22) David pointing to his mouth (f.231v) (23) The Fool (f.234r) (24) God speaking to David in water (f.236v) (25) David playing a viol (f.239v) (26) Dominicans singing at a lectern (f.242r) (27) Christ as Judge (f.245r) (28) Solomon instructing Rehoboam (f.251r) (29) Solomon enthroned holding an astrolabe(?) (f.260r) (30) Solomon as judge with sword and scales (f.264r) (31) Christ and Jesus of Sirah? (f.270v) (32) ?Jeremiah depicted as a young man (f.272v) (33) Jeremiah and the almond Rod and Boiling pot (f.273r) (34) ?Jeremiah addressing the scribe Baruch (f.300r (35) ?Hosea and Gomer (he is dressed as a friar saint) (f.335r) (36) Joel preaching to birds (f.338v) (37) Amos as shepherd (beating two wolves?) (f.340r (38) Obadiah feeding the poor prophets (f.343r) (39) Jonah and the Whale (f.343v) (40) The Judgement of Micah (f.344v (41) Micah and the destruction of Samaria (f.346v) (42) The angel carrying Habakkuk by his hair to Daniel in the lion's den (f.348r) (43) Zephaniah (f.349v) (44) Zerubbabel and the rebuilding of the temple (f.351r) (45) Angel with The Woman in a Basket (Zechariah 5:5-11) (f.352r) (46) Malachi with offering of silver (wheat?) (Malachi 3:4) (f.356r) (47) Battle between Kings Alexander and Darius (f.357v) (48) Delivery of the A Letter to the Jews in Egypt (f.372r) (49) St Mark’s symbol, a Lion-headed man (above), St Mark (below) (f.395r) (50) St Luke’s symbol, the Calf (above), St Luke (f.403v) (51) Eagle-headed man (f.418v) (52) St John’s symbol, the Eagle (above), St John (below) (f.419r) (53) St Paul with sword and Letter to the Romans (f.431v) (54) St Paul with his letter to the Corinthians (f.437v) (55) St Paul escaping from Damascus in a basket (f.443r) (56) St Paul and a bishop (Cephas?) (f.446v) (57) St Paul's letter to the Ephesians (f.448v) (58) St Paul, hands bound with his girdle at Philippi and imprisoned (Col 4:18) (f.451r) (59) St Paul sending Timothy with his letter to the Thessalonians (f.452r) (60) St Paul sends his second letter to the Thessalonians (f.453v) (61) St Paul and a bishop (f.455v) (62) St Paul charges Timothy with preaching the word of God (f.455v) (63) St Paul and Titus (f.456v) (64) St Paul’s letter to Philemon (f.457v) (65) St Paul addressing the Hebrews (f.457v (66) St James addressing God (f.476r) (67) St Peter sending his first epistle (f.477v) (68) St Peter sending his second epistle (f.479r (69) St Jude (f.480r) (70) St John (f.480r) (71) The Revelation to St John (f.480v) (72) A Friar/Monk saint (f.488r) LITERATURE Formatting the Word of God. An Exhibition at Bridwell Library, Southern Methodist University, 1998, eds. Valerie Hotchkiss and Charles C. Ryrie. Wind River Press, Austin, Texas. Gothic and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts from Texas Collections (exhibition catalogue), April 23 – June 23, 1971, ed. Miriam Lutcher Stark Library, University of Texas at Austin, no. 5 pp. 12, 16–17, illus. Lobrichon, Guy (2023). "The Production of Medieval Bibles". In H. A. G. Houghton (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of the Latin Bible. pp.187–207. FURTHER READING Medieval Manuscripts in British Libraries, I, pp. 96–7, etc.

View 1 of Lot 16: Bible with Prologues and Interpretations of Hebrew Names, in Latin | Italy, probably Bologna | dated 1273 |

bible with prologues and interpretations of hebrew names, in latin | italy, probably bologna | dated 1273 |

a single leaf, c.185 × 135 mm, the outer and lower margins excised, pricked in the inner margin, written in two columns of 57 lines in gothic script, below top line, the recto (the reverse, as framed) with part of baruch 5–6, with a large illuminated initial marking the start of chapter 6 (‘Proper peccata que peccastis ante deum …’), known as The Letter of Jeremiah, the verso (framed as the front) with the end of Baruch, the usual prologue to Ezekiel, and the beginning of Ezekiel, the initial ‘E’ (‘Et factum est in xxx anno iiii in v mensis …’; It came to pass in the 30th year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day), depicting the Vision of Ezekiel: he sits to the left, next to the river Chobar, looking up at three heads in the sky, of a man, an eagle, a lion, and a calf (Ezekiel 1:3, 10); the lower and outer margins cropped, without loss of text or decoration, the initials in very fine, bright, condition; framed with a cutout window on the reverse allowing the illuminated initial and adjacent text to be seen.

a single leaf, c.185 × 135 mm, the outer and lower margins excised, pricked in the inner margin, written in two columns of 57 lines in gothic script, below top line, the recto (the reverse, as framed) with part of baruch 5–6, with a large illuminated initial marking the start of chapter 6 (‘Proper peccata que peccastis ante deum …’), known as The Letter of Jeremiah, the verso (framed as the front) with the end of Baruch, the usual prologue to Ezekiel, and the beginning of Ezekiel, the initial ‘E’ (‘Et factum est in xxx anno iiii in v mensis …’; It came to pass in the 30th year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day), depicting the Vision of Ezekiel: he sits to the left, next to the river Chobar, looking up at three heads in the sky, of a man, an eagle, a lion, and a calf (Ezekiel 1:3, 10); the lower and outer margins cropped, without loss of text or decoration, the initials in very fine, bright, condition; framed with a cutout window on the reverse allowing the illuminated initial and adjacent text to be seen. PROVENANCE 1. The parent manuscript had probably lost at least 60 leaves by the 19th century (Kidd, 2021, p. 63), and was certainly further broken up by 1981, when a leaf was for sale in Heidelberg. Some leaves, including the present one, had one or more margins cropped, perhaps to remove water-stains. A carcass of 181 leaves (‘several mutilated … some margins cropped … heavy staining … almost all the decorative elements have been removed’) and the binding appeared on the market in 2014. 2. Bernard Quaritch, c.1988 3. Sold in our rooms, 5 December 2012, part of lot 4, bought by: 4. The Boehlen Collection, Bern, MS 1318 ILLUMINATION The artist of this leaf was first defined by François Avril, who named him the Master of the Sorbonne Ptolemy, after a manuscript of Ptolemy’s Almagest which was in the library of the Sorbonne in the 14th century, and which has a colophon recording that it was copied from the exemplar of Saint-Victor, Paris, and finished in December 1213 (Paris, BnF, MS 16200; Avril, 1976, pp. 38–40 and p. 41 fig. 5). Avril attributed the illumination of copies of a number of other University texts to the same artist, as well as that of several Bibles and glossed Bibles, which provide supporting evidence that he worked in Paris in the 1210s and 1220s. Robert Branner’s posthumous study of 13th-century French illumination was published the following year, describing several manuscripts by the artist, whom he independently named the artist The Almagest Master, after the same manuscript, a name which has gained greater currency (Branner, 1977). Branner’s description of the Sorbonne manuscript could equally be applied to the present leaf: ‘startlingly high in quality … painted in the finest manner’. Branner, who did not know the present manuscript, dated the Bibles illuminated by the artist to 1220–25, and this is fully supported by the present leaf: a date after about 1220 is suggested by the fact that the writing is below top line, while a date before about 1230 is suggested by the prickings in the inner margin, the green edging around the initials, and the pre-modern chapter divisions. About 20 illuminated sister-leaves are known, including two in the library at the University of Colorado at Boulder (Kidd, 2021). REFERENCES F. Avril, ‘À quand remontent les premiers ateliers d’enlumineurs laïcs à Paris?’, Les dossiers de l’archéologie, 16 (1976), pp. 36–44. R. Branner, Manuscript Painting in Paris During the Reign of Saint Louis: A Study of Styles (Berkeley, Los Angeles, London, 1977), pp. 27–29, 201–02. P. Kidd, The McCarthy Collection, III (London, 2021), no. 16.

View 1 of Lot 2: The Vision of Ezekiel | by the Almagest Master: a historiated initial on a Bible leaf, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum | France, Paris | 13th century (c. 1220s)

the vision of ezekiel | by the almagest master: a historiated initial on a bible leaf, in latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum | france, paris | 13th century (c. 1220s)

c. 154 mm x 140 mm, on verso musical notation in red with text fragments from Lauds, Italy, Ferrara c. 1460; mounted in black velvet passepartout; minor fading and flaking of gold, few colour abrasions in places, trimmed with partial loss of the initial body ending in the dolphin head in the lower right, slightly darkened in places, overall in good condition.

c. 154 mm x 140 mm, on verso musical notation in red with text fragments from Lauds, Italy, Ferrara c. 1460; mounted in black velvet passepartout; minor fading and flaking of gold, few colour abrasions in places, trimmed with partial loss of the initial body ending in the dolphin head in the lower right, slightly darkened in places, overall in good condition. FEAR AND SALVATION: A BEAUTIFUL INITIAL DEPICTING THE RESURRECTION BY TADDEO CRIVELLI PROVENANCE 1. The initial originates from an antiphonary decorated by Taddeo Crivelli c. 1460 in Ferarra. Another miniature from the same manuscript was sold by Christie’s 24th November 2004, lot 6958 to the Paul Getty Museum. 2. Germany, Private Collection. 3. France, Private Collection. 4. UK, Private Collection. COMMENTARY This spLendid initial 'R' shows the risen Christ holding a lance flanked by two Roman soldiers who direct their astonished and amazed gazes towards the slender figure in their midst. The rose coloured body of the initial is formed of elegantly curling acanthus leaves and extends into a dolphin head in the lower right corner. The letter 'R' initiates "R[esurrexit Dominus a mortuis, sicut dixerat; exsultemus et laetemur omnes, quoniam ipse regnat in aeternum, alleluia]" from 1 Cor. 15:12. The Lord has risen from the dead, as he said; let us all exult and rejoice, for he reigns for all eternity, alleluia. Christ’s left hand encloses a lance with a victory banner, while his right is lifted in blessing with two fingers extended. He is portrayed as Salvator Mundi, having taken upon himself the sins of humankind and conquered death in promise of eternal life. Taddeo Crivelli (1451-1479) was a leading painter and miniaturist of the 15th-century Ferrarese school. He is known for his richly illustrated works, including a two-volume Bible for Duke Borso d'Este, which he created in collaboration with various artists, including renowned illuminator Franco dei Russi, over a span of six years. He also created an illuminated copy of Boccacio’s Decamerone as well as a luxurious Book of Hours, the Gualenghi-d'Este Book of Hours. Crivelli’s œuvre stands out through the artist’s meticulous attention to texture and a vibrant colour palette enhanced with gold. This beautiful initial embodies the levity and diverse colour palette of Italian Renaissance illumination. FURTHER READING K. Barstow. The Gualenghi-d'Este Hours, Art and Devotion in Renaissance Ferrara, New York: Getty Publications, 2000. La miniatura a Ferrara dal tempo di Cosme Tura all'eredita di Ercole de' Roberto, ed. F. Toniolo: Franco Cosimi Panini, 1998. Boskovits, M. “Ferrarese Painting about 1450: Some New Arguments.” Burlington Magazine 178 (1978): pp.370–385.

View 1 of Lot 10: Illuminated initial ‘R’, Christus Trimphans by Taddeo Crivelli | Italy, Ferrara | c.1460

illuminated initial ‘r’, christus trimphans by taddeo crivelli | italy, ferrara | c.1460

Illuminated manuscript portolan chart in ink and colours on vellum, approximately 665 x 660mm., signed “Bij mij Dierick Vijt” by the western scale bar, the chart extending from Greenland to the west coast of the Kanin peninsula, including the north coast of Africa and the Mediterranean as far as Sardinia and Corsica, extending westwards to include the Canary Islands, the Azores, La Palma, Madeira, Porto Santo, the “phantom” island of Brasil, and an unidentified island off the west coast of Iceland, coastlines in green, the province of Holland outlined in red, coastal place names in red and black, sandbanks shown along the Dutch coast, 2 large and 5 small decorative compass roses, each border with a central half compass rose, 17 flags including of principal nations, two decorative scale bars and a longitudinal graticule, rhumb lines in red, green and gold, light soiling and creasing.

Illuminated manuscript portolan chart in ink and colours on vellum, approximately 665 x 660mm., signed “Bij mij Dierick Vijt” by the western scale bar, the chart extending from Greenland to the west coast of the Kanin peninsula, including the north coast of Africa and the Mediterranean as far as Sardinia and Corsica, extending westwards to include the Canary Islands, the Azores, La Palma, Madeira, Porto Santo, the “phantom” island of Brasil, and an unidentified island off the west coast of Iceland, coastlines in green, the province of Holland outlined in red, coastal place names in red and black, sandbanks shown along the Dutch coast, 2 large and 5 small decorative compass roses, each border with a central half compass rose, 17 flags including of principal nations, two decorative scale bars and a longitudinal graticule, rhumb lines in red, green and gold, light soiling and creasing. A VERY FINE SIGNED DUTCH PORTOLAN CHART BY DIERICK VIJT PROVENANCE 1. Von Maldeghem family, probably Philippe von Maldeghem (1547–1611) 2. Sale, Christie’s, 1 June 1999, lot 9. COMMENTARY This Dutch Portolan chart contains one of the earliest representations of Northern Scandinavia, the White Sea, and the West coast of the Kanin Peninsula. In depicting the North Coast of Scandinavia as well as the White Sea, it firmly establishes this chart as an important addition to early Dutch cartography, elevating the North Holland school of mapmakers, akin to the Thames School, who dominated the great 16th-century expeditions to discover the North East Passage. Interestingly, this map still shows the ‘ghost’ island of 'Brazil', while the coast of Greenland is reasonably well depicted, albeit lacking in detail. This is the only work known by Dierick Vijt and indicates that he likely had access to Portuguese or Spanish portolans, as the chart exhibits similarities in the decoration which appear to be modelled on the Catalan-style decoration found in Iberian charts, especially in the style of the compass roses, the flamboyant use of flags and shields, and the scale bars. As northern Europe was not of vital importance to the trading interests of the Portuguese or the Spanish, Vijt had to draw on other sources for his mapping of Scandinavia, the White Sea, and the West coast of the Kanin Peninsula. He was likely familiar with the expeditions of Jenkinson and his four voyages to Russia between 1557-71, Stephen Borough’s expedition to the Lapland coast (in the Searchthrift in 1557), and Sir Hugh Willoughby to Nova Zembla and the White Sea. This portolan is one of four charts previously in the possession of the von Maldeghem family, probably collected by Philippe von Maldeghem: a Portuguese chart by Luis Teixeira, dated 1578, a Thames School chart by Thomas Layton of Danzig, and an unsigned Dutch portolan of Western Europe of circa 1580. Philippe von Maldeghem (1547-1611) was a mayor of Bruges and served as courtier to Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, following in the footsteps of his father, who was chamberlain to Maximilian. This Dutch Portolan chart contains one of the earliest representations of Northern Scandinavia, the White Sea, and the West coast of the Kanin Peninsula and is the only work attributable to Dierick Vijt. LITERATURE R. Pflederer, Census of Portolan Charts and Atlases, V058 FURTHER READING Julio Rey Pastor & Ernesto García Camarero, La cartografía mallorquina. Madrid, 1960. Heinrich Winter, “Petrus Roselli,” in Imago Mundi 9 (1952):1–11. cf. Mitchell A. Codding, “Petrus Roselli, ‘The Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, and Atlantic (Ireland to the Canary Islands,’ 1468” in Treasures from the Hispanic Society Library, ed. Codding & O’Neill. New York, 2021, no. 23.

View 1 of Lot 13: Illuminated Portolan Chart of Western Europe | by Dierick Vijt  | Netherlands, probably Amsterdam | c.1575–1580

illuminated portolan chart of western europe | by dierick vijt | netherlands, probably amsterdam | c.1575–1580

378 x 260 mm, illuminated manuscript on vellum, St Thomas Aquinas, Quaestiones de potentia dei and Quaestiones de malo, attributed to copyist Venceslaus Crispus and illuminator Matteo Felice, Italy, Naples, signed 30 December 1480; complete, ii (paper) 378 + i (paper) leaves, i-v8, vi6, vii10, viii-xlvii8, xlviii2; with vertical catchwords, text block 243 x 160 mm, ruled in two columns of 46 lines in pale brown ink, written in dark brown ink in a regular and very elegant Littera Rotunda; running titles and headings in red, colophon (f.376r) in red, paragraph marked alternately in blue and red, opening words of each Quaestio in burnished gold capitals; the two opening leaves (ff.1 and 177) illuminated with a large 13 line-high initial extending into a full-length bar border with knots and leaves sprouting in the margins into elaborate sprays of leaves and flowers in blue, purple, and green, with burnished gold bezants on penwork stems and tendrils, the lower margin of the first leaf bearing the royal arms of the Kings of Aragon and Naples emblazoned in a wreath supported by two winged putti and surmounted by a crown; 179 exquisitely illuminated initials, 7 to 9 lines-high, containing coloured flowers and leaves with delicate white penwork on burnished gold grounds, some with short extenders, fol.1r bearing the Royal Arms of the Kings of Aragon contained in a wreath with crown on top supported by two winged putti; vertical creases in ff.2, 8, 26, 50 and 375, old crease mark to f.1, partial crease in f.38, f.1 slightly soiled and with small area of damp-stain at top near hinge affecting the uppermost portion of the illuminated border, chipping to the large initial on that page; some fading or rubbing to ink of the creased leaves and a few faded areas in fewer than 10 other pages; a few wormholes in first 10 leaves, 1 or 2 marginal wormholes in last few leaves; small stain to fol.84v, very occasional tiny chips to initials; apart from these minor flaws in extremely fine, pristine condition; Bound in early 19th-century diced Russia leather over wooden boards, sides with blind roll-tooled borders, spine with olive morocco lettering-piece, edges gilt and gauffred at an earlier date. Worn, joints split; in a modern morocco-backed folding case. c.380 x 260 mm.

378 x 260 mm, illuminated manuscript on vellum, St Thomas Aquinas, Quaestiones de potentia dei and Quaestiones de malo, attributed to copyist Venceslaus Crispus and illuminator Matteo Felice, Italy, Naples, signed 30 December 1480; complete, ii (paper) 378 + i (paper) leaves, i-v8, vi6, vii10, viii-xlvii8, xlviii2; with vertical catchwords, text block 243 x 160 mm, ruled in two columns of 46 lines in pale brown ink, written in dark brown ink in a regular and very elegant Littera Rotunda; running titles and headings in red, colophon (f.376r) in red, paragraph marked alternately in blue and red, opening words of each Quaestio in burnished gold capitals; the two opening leaves (ff.1 and 177) illuminated with a large 13 line-high initial extending into a full-length bar border with knots and leaves sprouting in the margins into elaborate sprays of leaves and flowers in blue, purple, and green, with burnished gold bezants on penwork stems and tendrils, the lower margin of the first leaf bearing the royal arms of the Kings of Aragon and Naples emblazoned in a wreath supported by two winged putti and surmounted by a crown; 179 exquisitely illuminated initials, 7 to 9 lines-high, containing coloured flowers and leaves with delicate white penwork on burnished gold grounds, some with short extenders, fol.1r bearing the Royal Arms of the Kings of Aragon contained in a wreath with crown on top supported by two winged putti; vertical creases in ff.2, 8, 26, 50 and 375, old crease mark to f.1, partial crease in f.38, f.1 slightly soiled and with small area of damp-stain at top near hinge affecting the uppermost portion of the illuminated border, chipping to the large initial on that page; some fading or rubbing to ink of the creased leaves and a few faded areas in fewer than 10 other pages; a few wormholes in first 10 leaves, 1 or 2 marginal wormholes in last few leaves; small stain to fol.84v, very occasional tiny chips to initials; apart from these minor flaws in extremely fine, pristine condition; Bound in early 19th-century diced Russia leather over wooden boards, sides with blind roll-tooled borders, spine with olive morocco lettering-piece, edges gilt and gauffred at an earlier date. Worn, joints split; in a modern morocco-backed folding case. c.380 x 260 mm. AN EXTREMELY FINE ROYAL COMMISSION WITH AN ALMOST UNBROKEN PROVENANCE, INCLUDING THREE KINGS, THREE CARDINALS, A PRINCE, AND AN EARL PROVENANCE During the exile of Frederick of Naples, many of the manuscripts from the Royal Library were sold to the bibliophile Cardinal d’Ambroise, initiating the interesting and impressive chain of provenance the manuscript boasts today. Cardinal d'Amboise purchased 38 manuscripts from the Royal Library of Naples. 1. Dated in colophon (30 December 1480, f.376v). Written and illuminated for Ferdinand I of Aragon, King of Naples (1456-1485), preeminent patron of Renaissance arts, collector, bibliophile, soldier and despot as well as entrenched opponent of Innocent VIII. The manuscript bears his royal arms on the first leaf. The manuscript was completed on December 30th in 1480, cf. colophon on fol.367r Anno a Jhesu Christi millesimo quadringentesimo et octagesimo die xxxo Decembris. De Hamel notes that December 30th 1480 fell on a Saturday and suggests that the scribe might have been working relentlessly to finish the manuscript in time for the royal New Year’s celebrations. 2. By descent to his son, Federico of Aragon (d.1504), King of Naples (1496-1501), until he was forced to yield his kingdom to Louis XII of France. 3. Bought form the former king, by Georges d’Amboise (1460-1510), Cardinal, Archbishop of Rouen, prime minister of the Kings of France, twice candidate for the papacy, bibliophile and patron of the arts; this manuscript is described in 1508 in the inventory of his Château de Gaillon (Delsile 1868, p.234, no.16), an extravagant renaissance palace, which he built with the intention to fill it with art and books. Employing 40 artists, 8 sculptors, 5 glass painters, 3 goldsmiths, and a dozen scribes, the Cardinal spent over a thousand livres on manuscripts in the year 1502-3. He bequeathed his Latin manuscripts to subsequent archbishops of Rouen. Destrez-Chenu (1953) lists 22 manuscripts, and later, 2 more were found, not listed in the inventory, creating a total of 24 manuscripts. 4. Cardinal Charles II de Bourbon-Vendôme (1550-1590) and Cardinal Charles III de Bourbon-Vendôme (1562-1594), both Archbishops of Rouen. The latter left part of the archepiscopal library to the Jesuits of the Collège de Clermont, and the other part to his nephew, the king of France (cf. Delisle, pp.258-60, and Guigard 1890, I, p.243-44). 5. Henri IV, King of France (1589-1610), who took possession of the entire library and added it to the Cabinet du Roi. Part of the Cabinet was housed in the then-abandoned Collège de Clermont in Paris. In 1604, the Jesuits reclaimed this building, which had originally belonged to them, as well as their share of the books, including this manuscript. 6. The Jesuit Collège de Clermont in Paris, with their 17th-century ownership inscription on f.1r, Collegii Paris. societatis Jesu, and, in the inner margin, the later note Paraphé au désir de l’arrest du 5 Juillet 1763, the latter referring to the closing of the College following suppression of the order in 1764. The books were sold in Paris in 1764, cf. Catalogus manuscriptorum codicorum collegii Claramontani, lot 539, purchased by: 7. Gerard Meerman (1722-1771), author of Origines Typographicae, who bought a large portion of the Clermont manuscripts (but was forced to present a certain number of them to the Royal Library of Louis XV obtain permission to export the remainder; by descent to his son Jean Meerman (1753-1815), for whom the manuscript was rebound, their joint sale, The Hague, Biblioteca Meermanniana […], part IV, 2 July 1824, lot 480, to: 8. Bertram, Fourth Earl of Ashburnham (1797-1878), no.88 in his Catalogue of the Manuscripts at Ashburnham Place, Appendix, [1861]. 9. Henry Yates Thompson (1839-1928), who bought the manuscripts of the Ashburnham Appendix in 1897, then sold a selection of them, including this one, under the Ashburnham name, at Sotheby’s, 1st May 1899, lot 39, to Emich. 10. Tammaro De Marinis (1878-1969), the bookseller and scholar of the Neapolitan Royal Library. When he closed his shop in 1925, the book was sold by him at Hoepli, 30 November 1925, lot 355, illustrated. 11. An unidentified owner; apparently, at this time, two engraved bookplates were affixed to the front pastedown, that of the Prince de Soragna (1773-1865), and a large 18th-century engraved armorial bookplate. 12. Private collection, Lugano, Switzerland. 12. An anonymous consignor, Sotheby’s London, 23 June 1998, lot 59. Sold to: 13. H. P. Kraus his catalogue 220/251. 14. Jonathan Hill 2014, his catalogue 213, lot 14. 15. Jörn Günther, his catalogue 2015, no.31. COMMENTARY This beautifully illuminated manuscript of impressive royal provenance contains two of Thomas of Aquinas’ major philosophical textbooks, Quaestiones de potentia dei (eng. On the power of God) and Quaestiones de malo (eng. On Evil). Aquinas’ Quaestiones are presented in the form of debates for the university classroom. During Aquina’s lifetime, the practice of debates was a quintessential part of taking a university degree and to assess students’ understanding of the material. The two treatises discuss central issues of God’s omnipotence and the nature of Evil, taking a multifaceted philosophical-theological approach that is characteristic of Aquinas’ writings. Both texts engage with some of the most fundamental questions of human existence, therefore skilfully bridging the gap between their historical and current readers. While both texts are part of Aquinas’ major works, manuscript copies are relatively rare (see Dondaine and Shooner 1967-85). The manuscript at hand is the result of an extraordinary bibliophile effort to create a complete set of Aquinas’ works for the Royal Library of Naples under Ferdinand I, King of Naples and Aragon. Ferdinand, following in his predecessor’s footsteps, was a prolific patron of Renaissance art and humanism, with his court attracting leading artists, among them the Bohemian scribe Venceslaus Crispus. Ferdinand I likely wanted to create a set of exemplars for the Royal Library, which had been built over multiple generations, initiated by King Alfonso V. Having studied at Montecassino and Naples before joining the young Dominican Order in 1244, Aquinas was regarded as Neapolitan, which partially explained the King’s interest in his works. Between 1484 and 1493, 16 manuscripts were copied by Venceslaus Crispus, a prolific output, particularly considering the calligraphic and elegant nature of his hand that can be identified in the more than 16,000 lines of manuscript. In his 1998 cataloguing, De Hamel described Venceslaus’ hand as “almost flawless in its perfection” (De Hamel, Sotheby’s, 23rd June 1998, lot 59), which aptly captures the distinguished humanist nature of his handiwork. 20 of the 24 recorded manuscripts from this monumental project survive, showing not only the long-lasting legacy and enduring importance of Aquinas’ work for Western philosophy, but also the appreciation of Venceslaus’s and Felice’s workmanship. 15 of the 20 manuscripts are published in the Europeana Regia database. Besides the manuscript at hand they include: ‘s-Heerenberg, Castle Huis Bergh, ms.14, Grenoble, BM, ms. 344, Louviers, Bibliotheque de la Ville, mss. 5, 7, 8; Naples, Biblioteca Nazionale, ms. VII B 4, Paris, BN ms. lat. 495, 674, and 6525, Smith-Lesouef ms. lat. 14; Valencia, Bibl. Univ., mss.47, 53, 380, 395, 764, 840, 847, 1377, 1718, 2296 and 2301; Vatican, Rossiano ms. 292; and one other manuscript in private hands (sold at Drouot, 19 May 1976, lot 48). Thomas Aquinas’ influence and long-lasting importance for Western theology and philosophy are pivotal and cannot be overstated. His achievements in the field of theology are akin to Dante’s literary output and Leonardo’s work as an artist and inventor. Aquinas was the first European medieval theologian to adapt the teachings of Aristotle in his works, therefore creating and shaping an enduring legacy for theologians, scholars, and philosophers to build upon. Much like Aristotle’s impactful achievements, Aquinas’ work changed and influenced the landscape of human thought for centuries. DECORATION A BOOK OF ROYAL PROVENANCE AND QUALITY MADE BY VENCESLAUS CRISPUS AND MATTEO FELICE The manuscript encompasses an impressive number of 179 illuminated initials with burnished gold and colours of velvet-like quality. Both initials and border decorations are attributable to the illuminator Matteo Felice (fl.1467–93), one of the leading artists working for the Royal Library of Naples. The slender putti and elegant initials are characteristic of Felice’s work, revealing their close relationship to other manuscripts illuminated by the artist in Naples around 1480 (cf. De Marinis, II, pp.157-60 and Alexander 1994, p.68). The copy at hand is one of the earliest manuscripts from the collaboration of Matteo Felice and Venceslaus Crispus, who collaborated on four other Aquinas manuscripts between 1489 and 1493. The production of these manuscripts and their payment are recorded in the royal accounts (cf. De Marinis, II, docs. 763, 847, 876 and IV, pls.236-38). Felice’s work uses motives and palettes characteristic of Paduan and Ferrarese illumination, which became popular in the 1470s following the marriage of Eleanora of Aragon (1450-1493) and Ercole d’Este (1431-1505), Duke of Ferrara, in 1473. The vegetal and geometric border decoration in this manuscript is reminiscent of beautiful margins in high-end Breviaries and Missals produced for the influential dukes of Este and Gonzaga. Matteo Felice not only incorporated these relatively new decorative influences but further developed and refined them. The manuscript at hand offers two fundamental works of Western theology, in a precious and attractive execution fit for a royal library. LITERATURE Christopher de Hamel, Sotheby’s 23rd June 1998, lot 59. Dante Petrarch Boccaccio. Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books. Stalden 2015, no.31. De Marinis, Tammaro. La biblioteca napoletana dei re d’Aragona. 1952-1957, vol. II, p.160. Delisle, L. Le Cabinet des Manuscrits de la Bibliotheque Imperiale (1868), I, pp.228, 245. Destrez, Jean and Marie-Dominique Chenu. “Une collection manuscrite des oeuvres complètes de S. Thomas d’Aquin par le roi Aragonais de Naples 1480-1493.” Archivum Fratrum Praedicatorum, 23 (1953), pp.309-26. Deville, L. Comptes de dépenses de la construction du Château de Gaillon. Paris 1850. Une Renaissance en Normandie. Le cardinal d’Amboise bibliophile et mécène. Exh. cat. Dondaine, H. F. and H. V. Shooner. Codices Manuscripti Operum Thomae de Aquino, I-III. 1967-85. Guigard, Nouvel Armorial du Bibliophile. Paris 1890. Mazzatinti, G. La biblioteca dei re d’Aragona in Napoli. 1897, p.183, no.617 (see online: http://archive.org/details/labibliotecadei00mazzgoog ). FURTHER READING Alexander, J.J.G. The Painted Page: Italian Renaissance Book Illumination, 1450-1550. 1994, p.68.

View 1 of Lot 19: Thomas Aquinas | Quaestiones de potentia dei. Quaestiones de malo | Italy, Naples | 30 December 1480

thomas aquinas | quaestiones de potentia dei. quaestiones de malo | italy, naples | 30 december 1480

427 x 330 mm, 289 leaves, complete, i-viii10, ix6, x-xiv10, xv2, xvi-xxiv10, xxv12, xxvi10-1 (last blank leaf missing), modern pencil foliation (incorrect from fol.121 on, counts 301 leaves), text block 300 x 210 mm, written in a single column in Gotica Libraria, 6 lines of musical notation in red ink, numerous initials with filigree penwork alternately in red and blue, 34 floral initials and 17 historiated initials; fol.1 darkened, some pages stained, some pages with tears to the lower margins, miniatures in good condition; binding of brown calf over wooden boards dating from the end of the 15th century with triple filets, repaired, front and back pastedown taken from a 15th century antiphonal.

View 1 of Lot 17: Antiphonal, Sanctoral covering the liturgical year from August 1st to Advent | Italy, Emilia-Romagna | circa 1270-75

antiphonal, sanctoral covering the liturgical year from august 1st to advent | italy, emilia-romagna | circa 1270-75

This lot includes 5 leaves (4 single leaves and one bifolium)

This lot includes 5 leaves (4 single leaves and one bifolium) Leaf 1, 10th-century Missal, a partial leaf, c.182 x 130mm, 22 lines written in brown ink in Carolingian minuscule, ruled in blind, 3 lines of early linear staffless St Gall neumes (Early German neumes), rubrics and 3 large capitals in red (stained and worn, text faded, especially on verso, red initials darkened, a few wormholes). Bound in grey buckram at the Quaritch bindery. Leaf 2, first half 11th-century Antiphonal, a bifolium, c.222 x 158mm, blind-ruled for 25 lines written in a regular Caroline minuscule, ruled space c.170 x 100mm, initials in red, psalm tone differential musical cues in the margins, St Gall (Early German) linear, staffless neumes (formerly used as a pastedown, slight darkening of the margins, the margins slightly trimmed, with the loss of parts of marginalia, some creasing). Leaf 3, mid-11th-century Psalter, c.269 x 165mm, 24 lines written in brown ink in a late German Carolingian minuscule, ruled space: c.200 x 120mm, 24 lines of early staffless adiastematic (unheightened) St Gall neumes (Early German neumes), rubrics and large initials in red, early foliation 'xlxii' (small cut in the upper part of the leaf with small loss to text and music, a little darkened). Bound in grey buckram at the Quaritch bindery. Leaf 4, second half 11th-century Breviary, c.270 x 210mm, 33 lines written in dark brown ink in a late Carolingian minuscule of 2 sizes, ruled space: c.260 x 170mm, stylised St Gall neumes in transitional form, rubrics and initials in red (a few stains). Bound in grey buckram at the Quaritch bindery. Leaf 5, second half 11th century Breviary, c.292 x 193mm, a single leaf, 29 lines written in brown ink in a regular Romanesque book script in two sizes, ruled space: c.240 x 150mm, staffless adiastematic (unheightened) St Gall neumes (Early German neumes) above lines, rubrics and three 2-line initials in red (recovered from use as a pastedown, verso consequently almost entirely scrubbed, some darkening to the margins, some cuts, creases and fading). Bound in grey buckram at the Quaritch bindery. AN INTRIGUING COLLECTION OF EARLY LEAVES PROVENANCE Leaf 1 1. Antiquariat J. Voerster, Stuttgart. 2. Bernard Quaritch, acquired in 1993 by: 3. Schøyen Collection, MS 1663. Leaf 2 1. Internationaal Antiquariaat Menno Hertzberger, Amsterdam 22 June 1966, lot 1126, purchased by: 2. Ludwig Rosenthal Antiquariaat, Hilversum, Netherlands. 3. Bernard Rosenthal, his ‘I/203’ (1966-1987). 4. Bernard Quaritch, Bookhands of the Middle Ages, III, cat. 1088 (1988), no 35. 5. Schøyen Collection, MS 98. Leaf 3 1. Antiquariat J. Voerster Collection, Stuttgart. 2. Bernard Quaritch, acquired in 1993 by: 3. Schøyen Collection, MS 1667. Leaf 4 1. Walter Goldwater (1907-1985), American antiquarian bookseller and founder of University Place Book Shop, New York. Acquired from him in January 1967 by: 2. Bernard Rosenthal, his ‘I/206’. 3. Bernard Quaritch, Bookhands V, cat. 1147 (1991), no 34, acquired in 1990 by: 4. Schøyen Collection, MS 641. Leaf 5 1. Robert Babcock, New Haven. 2. Bernard Quaritch, acquired in 1993 by: 3. Schøyen Collection, MS 1769. COMMENTARY This lot brings together 5 leaves containing St Gall Neumes, ranging from the 10th century to the second half of the 11th century. The leaves form a fascinating collection, offering insight into the use of neumes in the context of St Gall Abbey and its liturgical and musical practices. Encompassed are a leaf from a 10th-century Missal, an 11th-century Antiphonal, an 11th-century Psalter leaf, as well as two leaves from two different 11th-century Breviaries. This selection of leaves reveals the breadth of liturgical manuscripts in demand and use during the 10th and 11th centuries – an important time for the refinement of musical practice during mass. Neumes in their basic form provided an aide-memoire by means of a specialised notation for chants sung during mass and for Gregorian chants. These chants are still renowned for creating harmony out of chaos, shaping and elevating the individual voice to fashion an otherworldly melody that cannot be simply detangled by the listener. The practice of music and singing were central parts of daily life in religious foundations. Some of the earliest examples of neumes can be traced back to 9th-century St Gall, Metz, and Laon, which were important monastic foundations that would produce some of the leading medieval scholars, such as Notker Balbulus, Adalbero I of Metz, and Anselm of Laon. St Gall neumes are seen as particularly distinguished for their time, as the monastery had a strong tradition of creating elaborate musical manuscripts from the 9th century onwards. In their earliest incarnation, a single neume could stand for a tone or a melodic pattern. Staffless neumes, such as in leaf 1 and 2 were called cheironimic neumes. This earliest notational system provided information about pitch changes and the relative duration of a sung syllable, acting as a mnemonic device for how the melody was sung, but not offering enough contextual information to reconstruct the melody. The musical manuscripts of St Gall formed some of the earliest traces of Western Christian musical practice, with a clear artistic ambition and vision which is captured in the leaves at hand. In their differing approach to musical notation, the leaves show the refinement and development of the use of neumes in St Gall, from the early 10th to the late 11th century, ranging from early staffless examples to the stylised forms of musical notation typical in the second half of the 11th century. TEXT AND MUSIC Leaf 1, Missal, a partial leaf with St Gall Neumes, in Latin, manuscript on vellum [Germany, 10th-century] The fragment contains the text for the mass for the Monday after the 3rd Sunday in Lent, beginning at the end of the postcommunion for the 3rd Sunday in Lent: 'A cunctis nos, Domine, reatibus & periculis [...]' followed by the sung mass 'In Deo laudabo'; the Psalm ('Miserere mei'); the prayer 'Cordibus nostris' and the reading 'In diebus illis'. The script is a regular 10th-century minuscule, with open bow on 'g', dotted Caroline 'y', rounded 's'. The sung portions are written in a smaller script, with early linear staffless neumes. Neumes of this period from the East Frankish territories convey many nuances and small details of inflections for the singer, without giving precise details of pitch. Leaf 2, Antiphonal fragment with St Gall Neumes, in Latin, manuscript on vellum [Germany, first half of the 11th century] A table listing the incipits of chant texts for offices of saints, with marginal notes showing the modal formulae associated with each antiphon supplied with primitive German neumes. The text is non-consecutive and contains a table of Sanctoral offices, from St Paul the Apostle (30 June) to St Pantaleon (7 July), and St Maurice (22 September) to All Saints (1 November). Linear, staffless neumes represent the most primitive stage of notation, without any cue to the pitch of each neume, making performance fully dependent on oral tradition. Leaf 3, A leaf from a Gradual with St Gall Neumes, in Latin, manuscript on vellum [Germany, mid-11th century] The text of the fragment is the Masses for the Vigil of Sts Peter and Paul, the Feast of Sts Peter and Paul, with versicles, gradual, offertory and communion, from '[Nimis con]fortatus est principatus eorum' to 'Qui operatus est Petro in apostolatu [operatus est]'. This is a clear and neat example of German Carolingian script and St Gall notation: the virga is slightly curved and on a slant; the pes, clivis, and torculus are rounded. The script is made up of accent neumes, with the signs aligned horizontally above the words and not diastematic. Already in the 11th century we see a slight thickening of the cursive penwork. Leaf 4, A leaf from a Breviary with St Gall Neumes, in Latin, manuscript on vellum [Germany, second half 11th century] The leaf contains the end of the Feast of St Michael (29 September) and the beginning of the Feast of Sts Remigius, Germanus and Vedastus (1 October) from '[principem Persarum contradicen]tem tuis precibus et meae legationi verumtamen Michahel archangelus [...] to the rubric: 'In nativitate Sanctorum Remigii Germani Vedasti [confessorum?]'. The script, written in dark brown ink in a thick, bold hand, can be compared to Bernhard Bischoff, Kalligraphie in Bayern, 1981, no 9, p.27, also from the second half of the 11th century, and a leaf from a Gregorian Sacramentary sold at Christie's, The History of Western Script, Important Antiquities and Manuscripts from the Schøyen Collection, 10 July 2019, lot 434. The St Gall notation here is slightly stylised, with Psalm tone differential musical cues in the margins. Leaf 5, A leaf from a Breviary with St Gall Neumes, in Latin, manuscript on vellum [Northern Italy, second half 11th century] The leaf contains readings for the Feasts of Staints Sixtus (August 6/7) Cyriacus (August 8) and Lawrence (August 10), beginning: 'Beatus Syxtus episcopus respondit: Ego semper sacrificavi [...]'. Notation is added to some but not all of the chant texts, in a contemporary hand. LITERATURE Unpublished. FURTHER READING Eccardus (Sangallensis): St. Galler Klostergeschichten/Ekkehard IV. transl. by Hans F. Haefele, 3 ed., Darmstadt 1991. Töne für die Seele Musik in St. Galler Handschriften Sommerausstellung 29. April bis 9. November 2025 Franziska Schnoor, Basel 2025.

View 1 of Lot 1: 5 fragments with St Gall Neumes | Germany and Northern Italy | 10th-11th century

5 fragments with st gall neumes | germany and northern italy | 10th-11th century

415 × 280 mm, an illuminated single leaf from a Missal, depicting the crucifixion, Christ flanked by Virgin Mary and Saint John on gold ground, in frame of red and blue with golden floral elements, the frame is surrounded by fine sprouting and curling vines in dark ink interspersed with flowers, initials ‘MI’ embedded on the left in the ink drawn border, below the scene is a golden ‘kissing-cross’; gold leaf rubbed and pigment rubbed particularly figure of St John and lower half of miniature, water damage stain in right lower margin, centre fold crease and two horizontal creases which show that the miniature was kept folded for some time.

415 × 280 mm, an illuminated single leaf from a Missal, depicting the crucifixion, Christ flanked by Virgin Mary and Saint John on gold ground, in frame of red and blue with golden floral elements, the frame is surrounded by fine sprouting and curling vines in dark ink interspersed with flowers, initials ‘MI’ embedded on the left in the ink drawn border, below the scene is a golden ‘kissing-cross’; gold leaf rubbed and pigment rubbed particularly figure of St John and lower half of miniature, water damage stain in right lower margin, centre fold crease and two horizontal creases which show that the miniature was kept folded for some time. A SERENE CRUCIFIXION SCENE BY THE MASTER MICHAEL PROVENANCE 1. From a Missal produced in the area of Vienna/Salzburg, potentially Klosterneuburg c.1430. 2. Verso of leaf reused as a Dutch notarial document in 1489. 3. Private collection, Europe. COMMENTARY This beautiful leaf originates from a large-format Missal and depicts a finely executed Crucifixion scene set within a blue and red frame. Christ on the Cross is flanked by the Virgin Mary and Saint John, set against a radiantly gilded background. The figures are characterised by slender proportions and expressive restraint. Together with the stylised drapery, this firmly roots the work within the International Gothic style. The soft, almost pastel-like palette with its hues of terracotta, lapis blue, and pale green, emphasises the warm gold. The leaf is strongly reminiscent of the work of Master Michael, based on its composition, elegant figures, and decorative details. The floral marginalia and the emotionally restrained presentation of the figures are both features that are closely aligned with manuscripts attributed to the circle of Mater Michael, such as the Getty Missal (Ludwig V 6) and the Klosterneuburg Antiphonals (Cod. 65–68). Master Michael was active in Vienna and Klosterneuburg between 1420 and 1450. Embedded discreetly within the left margin is a monogram reading ‘MI’, likely referencing the artist or rubricator. While no securely documented monogram is known for Master Michael, the initials correspond to his name and may indicate authorship or workshop oversight. The leaf’s verso bears a notarial deed in Middle Dutch, dated 1489, granting Johann Schreiver, citizen of Lübeck, a parcel of agricultural land by the former owner Didrich of Hettwischen. The re-use of large pieces of good-quality vellum, as offered by obsolete liturgical manuscripts, is a well-documented practice for later legal documents. Using the verso of an elegant miniature seems counterintuitive, but it certainly made the contract eye-catching and might have lent it additional spiritual weight. A beautiful leaf whose artistry and overall condition reveal much about the (after)life of liturgical manuscripts. LITERATURE Unpublished. FURTHER READING Getty Museum, Ludwig V 6 (Missal, c. 1420–30). cf. Klosterneuburg, Cod. 65–68 (Antiphonals, ca.1430). Rischpler, S., Der Illuminator Michael. Purkersdorf: Brüder Hollinek, 2009.

View 1 of Lot 6: Illuminated Leaf from a Missal with Dutch text on the verso | Austria, possibly Vienna/Salzburg or Klosterneuburg | c.1430

illuminated leaf from a missal with dutch text on the verso | austria, possibly vienna/salzburg or klosterneuburg | c.1430

PETRUS ROSELLI (active, Palma de Mallorca, 1447–1469), illuminated Portolan chart of the Mediterranean World, including the Mediterranean and Black Seas, written in Latin and Catalan on a single very large membrane of vellum (22 x 37 inches, variable), drawn in brown ink with hundreds of place-names elegantly written in black or red in a small gothic book-hand, the coastlines lightly washed in green, small islands coloured in red, blue, green, or black, elaborately ruled from 16 loxodromic networks with rhumb-lines of red and green, emblazoned polychrome shields and flags of many countries, 9 city views drawn as fantastic coloured castles (blue, orange, green, and beige), most flying national flags, Andalusia depicted with huge green hills, 4 orange and green distance scales at upper and lower edges, signed and dated by Roselli on the western neck of the portolan, Pete. Rosell. La feta en malorqua en l ano Mccccxxxxvii [1447], written vertically so that it would be read from the west facing eastwards, nail holes at eastern edge, where the chart would have been secured for consultation.

PETRUS ROSELLI (active, Palma de Mallorca, 1447–1469), illuminated Portolan chart of the Mediterranean World, including the Mediterranean and Black Seas, written in Latin and Catalan on a single very large membrane of vellum (22 x 37 inches, variable), drawn in brown ink with hundreds of place-names elegantly written in black or red in a small gothic book-hand, the coastlines lightly washed in green, small islands coloured in red, blue, green, or black, elaborately ruled from 16 loxodromic networks with rhumb-lines of red and green, emblazoned polychrome shields and flags of many countries, 9 city views drawn as fantastic coloured castles (blue, orange, green, and beige), most flying national flags, Andalusia depicted with huge green hills, 4 orange and green distance scales at upper and lower edges, signed and dated by Roselli on the western neck of the portolan, Pete. Rosell. La feta en malorqua en l ano Mccccxxxxvii [1447], written vertically so that it would be read from the west facing eastwards, nail holes at eastern edge, where the chart would have been secured for consultation. A BEAUTIFUL PORTOLAN CHART, EARLIEST OF TEN NAVIGATION MAPS SIGNED BY PETRUS ROSELLI, THE MOST PROLIFIC MEMBER OF THE MALLORCAN SCHOOL OF CARTOGRAPHERS PROVENANCE 1. The Martelli family of Florence, merchant princes who likely commissioned the chart from Petrus Roselli; descended in the Martelli archive for more than five centuries; sold, ca. 1968, to 2. Kenneth Nebenzahl, rare book and cartography dealer, Chicago; featured in his Catalog 20, Rare Americana (1968), item 164, described as coming “directly from the collection of Count Martelli in Florence,” sold, ca. 1968, to 3. Zinon C. Possis, Edina, Minnesota, sold, 1981, through the offices of Kenneth Nebenzahl, to 4. Cindy and Jay Pritzker, Chicago. COMMENTARY This beautiful portolan chart is the earliest of ten navigation maps signed by, or attributed to, Petrus Roselli, the most prolific member of the Mallorcan cartographic school. The Mallorcan school flourished from the thirteenth through fifteenth centuries on the largest of the Balearic Islands, an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. Mallorcan portolans characteristically include extensive details of cities (here including Barcelona, Venice, Jerusalem, Damascus, and Cairo), mountains, and rivers (the Nile, Dnister, Danube, Tiber, Arno, Rhone, and Guadalquivir); distinctive colouring of Mallorca (here striped in grey and black); heraldic flags denoting kingdoms (the flag at Istanbul is Byzantine, underscoring that the chart was drawn prior to 1453, when the city fell to the Ottomans; and a blue and white striped banner with a Star of David denotes Attalia, Turkey); and occasional text in vernacular Catalan as well as Latin (as with the cartographer’s inscription). The present map is so early in Roselli’s career that it does not feature the elaborate wind discs and compass roses that he used to embellish his later portolans. This early example also features the standard number of sixteen rhumb-lines, or loxodromes; it was Roselli who first increased that number to thirty-two, starting with his 1449 portolan, now in Badische Landesbibliothek, Karlsruhe. Roselli was believed to be an Italian cartographer until Charles de La Roncière’s La découverte de l'Afrique au moyen âge: cartographes et explorateurs Ro(Cairo, 1924) established that the name Roselli/Rossell could be traced back to the twelfth century among the converted Jews of Barcelona. Catalan Jews and conversos dominated the Mallorcan school until their expulsion from the Kingdom of Aragon at the end of the fifteenth century. Roselli may have been of Italian origin or not—for a time it was speculated that he might have been a pupil of the Genoese cartographer Battista Beccario—but for cartographical purposes he must be considered a Catalan. Catalan was also well known for the production of other aids to navigation and astronomy—and Roselli himself was a skilled compass-maker.Portolan charts, which appear to have originated in the late thirteenth century, as far as can be deduced from the documentary record and examination of surviving examples, gave a coastal configuration for the Mediterranean and Black seas of unparalleled accuracy for their time. Armando Cortesao believed that the ‘advent of the portolan chart … was one of the most important turning points in the whole history of cartography.’ Their contemporaries, the later medieval mappaemundi, display a view of the world that reflected theological concerns and was sometimes dominated by them. By contrast, the portolan charts encapsulate the Mediterranean seaman's intimate knowledge of his own world. Ironically, it was the charts’ exceptional usefulness to practical men that has left a comparatively small sample for study” (Campbell, 1986, p. 67). The Pritzker portolan chart was unrecorded until it was rediscovered in the 1960s in the archive of the Martelli family in Florence, who likely commissioned it. The Martellis were influential Florentine merchant princes and rivals of the Medicis, until the families were united by the marriage of Camilla Martelli and Cosimo I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, in 1570. This portolan was designed to be used on a ship: its scale is unusually large owing to the relatively limited geographic area covered and the large size of the parchment membrane. The chart embraces the entire shorelines of the Mediterranean and Black seas, including Spain, France, Italy, Greece, the Byzantine Empire, Egypt, and Northern Africa. Because Roselli’s portolans were custom-made for the client’s purpose and zone of interest, the one made for the Martellis omits the Atlantic and Baltic coasts, and most island and inland towns. Although Roselli prepared this portolan as a practical navigational chart and not as an ornament for a nobleman’s library, because it remained in a single family for more than five centuries it survives in brilliant condition, remarkably bright and fresh. Not only is the present example of the Mediterranean and Black seas the earliest recorded portolan by Roselli, only nineteen charts worldwide can be dated earlier and these are almost exclusively held by institutional collections. Only one other of Roselli’s ten charts has ever appeared at auction, a 1469 portolan of Europe, the Near East, and Africa deaccessioned by the Getty Museum and sold by Sotheby’s in 1988 for £165,000 ($300,000). While the current location of the 1469 chart is not known, with the exception of the Pritzker example, all of Roselli’s other portolans are held by museums and libraries: Museo e biblioteca Guarnacciana, Volterra; Badische Landesbibliothek, Karlsruhe; Newberry Library, Chicago; Bibliotheque nationale, Paris; Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg; British Library, London; James Ford Bell Library, University of Minnesota; and the Hispanic Society of America, New York. THIS REPRESENTS PERHAPS A FINAL OPPORTUNITY TO ACQUIRE A SIGNED AND DATED PETRUS ROSELLI PORTOLAN CHART— OR, INDEED, ANY PORTOLAN CHART—FROM THE FIRST HALF OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. LITERATURE Campbell, Tony, “Census of Pre-Sixteenth-Century Portolan Charts,” in Imago Mundi 38 (1986):67–94. Campbell, Tony , “Portolan Charts from the Late Thirteenth Century to 1500,” in The History of Cartography. Volume One: Cartography in Prehistoric, Ancient, and Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean, ed. Harley & Woodward. University of Chicago Press, 1987, pp. 371–463. Llompart, Gabriel, “Registro de los cartógrafos medievales activos en el puerto de Mallorca,” in Anuario de Estudios Medievales 27.2 (1997):1117–1148. Julio Rey Pastor & Ernesto García Camarero, La cartografía mallorquina. Madrid, 1960. Winter, Heinrich, “Petrus Roselli,” in Imago Mundi 9 (1952):1–11. cf. Mitchell A. Codding, “Petrus Roselli, ‘The Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, and Atlantic (Ireland to the Canary Islands,’ 1468” in Treasures from the Hispanic Society Library, ed. Codding & O’Neill. New York, 2021, no. 23.

View 1 of Lot 14: Illuminated Portolan Chart of the Mediterranean | by Petrus Roselli | Spain, Mallorca | 1447

illuminated portolan chart of the mediterranean | by petrus roselli | spain, mallorca | 1447

c.150 × 115mm, 78 leaves, apparently complete, i-vi10, vii14 (back paste down bound with this quire, creating the impression of an incomplete gathering, however, text of this quire is complete), viii4, no apparent evidence that there was ever a calendar or any other additional material that has been removed, pastedowns comprising of two partial 13th-century French leaves of Ovid’s Amores, i.14 (front), and ii.7 to ii.8 (back), with extensive interlinear and marginal glosses; written in Gothic bookhand (quire 8 likely by a different scribe), ruled in lead point for 20–21 lines per page; rubrics in red, 1-, 2-, and 3-line initials in red, one 6-line initial in red and green, head of page foliated in 15th/16th-century roman numerals in ink and in 19th-century Arabic numerals in pencil; contemporary binding sewn on three double bands laced into slightly bevelled wood boards, flush with the leaves, covered with red-stained leather, recesses in the back board for the straps of two strap-and-pin clasps, the pins still present in the front board, apparently unrestored; binding darkened on the outside but still bright and vibrant on the wide turn-ins, leaves darkened in margins, not affecting text legibility, clear marks of usage due to the nature of the book.

c.150 × 115mm, 78 leaves, apparently complete, i-vi10, vii14 (back paste down bound with this quire, creating the impression of an incomplete gathering, however, text of this quire is complete), viii4, no apparent evidence that there was ever a calendar or any other additional material that has been removed, pastedowns comprising of two partial 13th-century French leaves of Ovid’s Amores, i.14 (front), and ii.7 to ii.8 (back), with extensive interlinear and marginal glosses; written in Gothic bookhand (quire 8 likely by a different scribe), ruled in lead point for 20–21 lines per page; rubrics in red, 1-, 2-, and 3-line initials in red, one 6-line initial in red and green, head of page foliated in 15th/16th-century roman numerals in ink and in 19th-century Arabic numerals in pencil; contemporary binding sewn on three double bands laced into slightly bevelled wood boards, flush with the leaves, covered with red-stained leather, recesses in the back board for the straps of two strap-and-pin clasps, the pins still present in the front board, apparently unrestored; binding darkened on the outside but still bright and vibrant on the wide turn-ins, leaves darkened in margins, not affecting text legibility, clear marks of usage due to the nature of the book. GERMAN BOOK OF HOURS WITH THE ONLY RECORDED USE OF NUREMBERG. A FASCINATING WITNESS TO VERNACULAR DEVOTIONAL PRACTICES PROVENANCE 1. It is likely that the manuscript was made in Nuremberg; among the confessors in the list of saints in the litany are Willibald (venerated at Eichstatt, south of Nuremberg) and Sebald, the patron Saint of Nuremberg, the ‘S’ of his name executed in red – the only saint whose name has been distinguished in this fashion. The main text ends with a request that anyone who finds the book should return it to master Walter S.: ‘Quis hoc invenit <…>endi(?) domino Waltero S<…>burg(?) reddere debet’, and two more lines, perhaps in German (more thoroughly erased). 2. Joseph Baer & Co., Frankfurt booksellers from 1785 to 1934; provisionally sold in 1860 to: 3. Hans Philipp Werner (1801–1872), Freiherr von und zu Aufseß: passed by him for accessioning by: 4. The Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg (of which von Aufseß was the Director): with their number inscribed in 19th-century ink ‘15,308’ (front turn-in; the same number in pencil on the first page), and their circular ink-stamp (an eagle in a circle; Lugt no. 2809); the Museum accession register for 2 May 1860, however, records ‘All works from this purchase [‘from bookseller Bär’] (Nos. 15299–319) [including no. 15308] returned to V. Aufseß as a result of the disagreement with Bär’; presumably there was a misunderstanding between Aufseß and Baer about the price, and the 21 items were returned by the former to the latter. Dr. Johannes Pommeranz, Head of the Library at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, confirms that the manuscript has not been stolen from the museum, despite bearing its stamp and accession number. COMMENTARY German vernacular Books of Hours, like the manuscript at hand, are a precious rarity that offer fascinating insights into the changing devotional landscape of medieval Europe. Jeffrey Hamburger states that only around 50 Books of Hours in German are extant (Hamburger in Bilderwelten 2017), with most of them being held at German institutions. While other countries, like the Netherlands, had a strong tradition of vernacular Books of Hours early on, the German-speaking regions never produced vernacular Books of Hours to the same extent. While prayer books in the German dialects are not uncommon and formed an important part of devotional culture, Books of Hours in German are absolutely rare. The manuscript at hand, therefore, offers a rare occasion of a German translation of the Latin text for the Hours of the Virgin and the Office of the Dead, likely for an owner who did not know Latin but who wanted to follow the Latin mass – a fact hinted at by the Latin cues in the text. The desire to understand texts at the heart of devotional practices is a very human notion and hints at the paradigm shift in religious practices, foreshadowing the Reformation, which would change the face of Christian religion irrevocably. The liturgical Use for both the Hours of the Virgin and of Office of the Dead appear to be unrecorded, as it is absent from Erik Drigsdahl’s tables for the Hours of the Virgin and from Knud Ottosen’s tables for the Office of the Dead. In this case, the text offers a unique witness to the daily liturgical practice of one of the major German cities. The fact that the final quire, which mentions St Sebald, is apparently a near-contemporary addition, may indicate that the book was produced in another location and was subsequently adapted for Nuremberg. Despite this, the liturgical Use is still likely unique and further research is needed to establish the exact city or diocese for which it was intended. TEXT [Items 1–3 occupy quires 1–7] 1. ff.1r–5r, Mass of the Virgin: ‘Hie hebet sich an die loblich lang messe von unser liben frawen und dar nach. Salve vol aller heilikeit Maria muter vnd mait dem rainer leip den kunik gepar …’, mostly in German, with occasional Latin cues. 2. ff.5r–38r, Hours of the Virgin: ‘Hie sebt sichan die metten. Domine labia meaaperies. Herre du auf mein lebsen das mein munt kunde … das sint laudes metten. (fol. 12v) … Das ist preim (fol. 19v) … Terz (fol. 23r) … Das ist die sexte (fol. 25r) …Die none (fol. 27v) … Vesp(er) (fol. 29v) … Completorium (fol. 34v) …’ 3. ff.38r–59r, Hours of the Passion, mostly in German, with Latin cues: ‘Incipit cursus de passione domini. Domine labia mea aperies. Herre tu auf mein lebsen …’, with Lauds (fol. 41r), Prime (fol. 42v), Terce (fol. 43v), Sext (fol. 44v), None (fol. 46r), Vespers (fol. 47r), and Compline (fol. 49r). 4. ff.54r–59, Prayers, in German: ‘Das gepet sprech der mensch … Von der olung… Dar nach get aber ein …’ 5. ff.59r–74v, Office of the Dead, an unrecorded Use, in German with Latin cues: ‘Das ist die vigilg &cet(er)a. Verba mea auribus percipe domine intellige clamorem meum. Herre v(er)nim mein wort mit demen oren …’; followed by an erased inscription (see Provenance). [Items 4–5 occupy quire 8] 6. ff.75r–76v, Two prayers in German: ‘Eva du lebentigew fruht …’, and: ‘Herre hilf mir das ich dich also enpfangen …’ 7. ff.76v–78v, Litany of saints and petitions. LITERATURE Unpublished. FURTHER READING Jeffrey F. Hamburger, Béatrice Hernad, Karl-Georg Pfändtner, Robert Suckale, Gude Suckale-Redlefsen, Bilderwelten. Buchmalerei zwischen Mittelalter und Neuzeit exhibition catalogue of the Bavarian State Library, 13th April 2016 to 24th February 2017 ed. Bavarian State Library.

View 1 of Lot 15: Book of Hours in German, Use of Nuremberg(?), with Latin incipits | Germany (Nuremberg?) | 2nd half of the 14th century

book of hours in german, use of nuremberg(?), with latin incipits | germany (nuremberg?) | 2nd half of the 14th century

Illuminated initial, cutting, tempera and burnished gold on vellum, 85 x 90 mm, initial ‘S’, reverse with remains of one line of text and music on a four-line red stave, rastrum 42 mm, slight cracking and some rubbing to the gold leaf, cut to shape, framed.

Illuminated initial, cutting, tempera and burnished gold on vellum, 85 x 90 mm, initial ‘S’, reverse with remains of one line of text and music on a four-line red stave, rastrum 42 mm, slight cracking and some rubbing to the gold leaf, cut to shape, framed. SAINTLY BISHOP ILLUMINATED BY THE MASTER OF THE GRADUALS OF SAN SALVATORE PROVENANCE 1. Reiss & Sohn, 2001. 2. Private Collection. 3. Sotheby's, London, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts Sale, 6 December 2016, lot 9. 4. Acquired by present owner from the above sale. COMMENTARY Set against a golden backdrop within an elegantly curving initial 'S', the saintly figure of a bishop stands. His gaze directed to the left, humbly cast downward as if in deep contemplation. This serene and thoughtful expression of the Bishop Saint reveals the strong influence of the artist Vincenzo Foppa (1430-1515/6), one of the most prominent Lombard painters. The velvet nature of the colours and the soft shading for the skin and cloth reveal the high quality of work achieved by the Master of the Graduals of San Salvatore which recalls the smooth painted surfaces of the artist’s monumental works in panel paintings (cf. a panel with St Dominic, priv. coll.; see Mulas, op. cit. 2007, fig. 3). This illumination was attributed to the Master of the Graduals of San Salvatore in Pavia by the scholar Pier Luigi Mulas (Le Maître des Graduels de San Salvatore de Pavie’, pp. 223-33, and ‘I Corali di San Sisto’, pp. 45-66). The artist takes their sobriquet from two graduals, now held at the Pavia, Museo Civico, MSS 544 and 545, which he illuminated for the Benedictine monastery of San Salvatore in Pavia. This Master was active around the end of the fifteenth until the beginning of the sixteenth century in Lombardy where he worked not only as an illuminator but also as a panel painter. Like many of the leading artists of the time, he was able to create monumental works such as frescoes and panel paintings as well as small-formatted works like miniatures for illuminated manuscripts. Over the duration of his career, the Master developed from the more traditionally Gothic approach inspired by the works of Belbelo da Pavia, to a decorative Renaissance style. All works produced by the Master of the Graduals of San Salvatore appear to have been created for Benedictine monasteries belonging to the congregation of Santa Giustina, Padua (Canova 1984, p. 490), which suggests the artist might have been a member of the order. LITERATURE Ibidem. ‘I Corali di San Sisto’, in I corali benedettini di San Sisto a Piacenza, 2011, pp. 45-66, esp. p. 57, fig. 15. Mulas , Pier Luigi. ‘Le Maître des Graduels de San Salvatore de Pavie’, in Quand la peinture était dans les livres, 2007, pp. 223-33, esp. p. 223. Mariani Canova, Giordana. "La miniatura nei manoscritti liturgici della congregazione di S. Giustina in area padana: opere e contenuti devozionali." In Riforma de/la Chiesa, cultura e spiritualita nel quattrocento veneto: Atti de! convegno per ii VI Centenario de/la nascita di Ludovico Barbo, Cesena, pp. 490.

View 1 of Lot 11: A Bishop Saint, historiated initial ‘S’ from a Choirbook on vellum, illuminated by the Master of the Graduals of San Salvatore in Pavia | Italy, Lombardy | c.1500

a bishop saint, historiated initial ‘s’ from a choirbook on vellum, illuminated by the master of the graduals of san salvatore in pavia | italy, lombardy | c.1500

Bifolium with illuminated initial 'D', 550 mm x 388 mm (initial approx. 8 cm x 9 cm), c. 49 lines, 15th century clear Gothic bookhand and Gothic minuscule; large initial on burnished gold, showing God in a white tunic, hand held in blessing; minute darkening of margins.

Bifolium with illuminated initial 'D', 550 mm x 388 mm (initial approx. 8 cm x 9 cm), c. 49 lines, 15th century clear Gothic bookhand and Gothic minuscule; large initial on burnished gold, showing God in a white tunic, hand held in blessing; minute darkening of margins. HEAVENLY SPLENDOUR: OPENING INITIAL OF VINECENT DE BEAUVAIS' SPECULUM MAIUS PROVENANCE 1. UK, Private Collection COMMENTARY The glistening initial depicts the figure God (see the running title: De deo cratore mundi) clothed in a white shift, holding a book, his hand raised in a blessing. Elegant acanthus leaves in shades of blue with white tracings form the body of the initial which is executed on a bed of burnished gold, mirroring the heavenly splendour of Christ. The descender, the tail of the letter, reaches the full length of the column and is decorated with geometric patterns reminiscent of gothic architecture. Delicate floriate sprays of red, blue, and gold trefoil leaves surround the head and foot of the right column. The initial provides an impressive opening to Vincent de Beauvais' Speculum Historiale, Chapter 1, accompanying the incipit: "Deus est substancia in corpore a simplex et in commutabilis..." The first eight lines of the text are executed in a large decorative Gothic bookhand before continuing in a smaller and heavily abbreviated Gothic minuscule. On the facing leaf, we find the table of contents with rubrications for the individual chapters. Vincent de Beauvais (c. 1184-1264) was a Dominican friar and author of at least thirteen works. He likely began his career at Paris's Dominican house around 1215-1220 before moving to the monastery in Beauvais. The Speculum Maius (Great Mirror), is his most extensive and widely read work. Vincent worked on the compendium for almost thirty years it was intended to bring together the most important knowledge of its time. The Speculum is divided into three books: The Mirror of Nature (Speculum Naturale), The Mirror of Doctrine (Speculum Doctrinale), and The Mirror of History (Speculum Historiale). Of the three books, the Mirror of History was the most popular. The work opens with the mysteries of God and the heavens and concludes with with a short narrative of the crusade of St Louis in 1250. Vincent's dedicated efforts provided an incredible wealth of literary sources, as he devoted multiple chapters to classical authors, offering extracts from Cicero, Ovid, and Origen alongside clerical authors such as Augustine, John Chrysostom, and Jerome. The eye catching initial pays homage to one of the most influential texts of the 13th century. FURTHER READING Franklin-Brown, Mary (2012). Reading the world: encyclopedic writing in the scholastic age. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

View 1 of Lot 5: Vincent Beauvais | Speculum historiale in Latin bifolium on vellum with large illuminated historiated initial | Netherlands | c.1430

vincent beauvais | speculum historiale in latin bifolium on vellum with large illuminated historiated initial | netherlands | c.1430

A tiny <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=illuminated+manuscript&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">illuminated manuscript</a> on parchment Book of Hours produced in Paris for the extremely rare south-western French Use of Saintes.<ul><li>Northern France, circa 1470-1480.</li><li>Text in Latin.</li><li>190 leaves on parchment (plus two paper endleaves at front and back).</li><li>16 lines, ruled in red ink, written in very small, dark brown lettre bâtarde, rubrics in red.</li><li>Calendar in red with significant names in blue, line fillers, illuminated initials in red and blue, with gold and white tracery.</li><li>Panel border decoration framing text on outer margin throughout 146 pages, with designs of swirling hairline stems bearing numerous acanthus and ivy leaves, fruits and flowers in blue, green and red, and gold bezants.</li><li>Three large initials measuring 5 lines high, containing white and blue flowers on liquid gold grounds, including illuminated full panel borders on top, bottom and outer margins of text.</li><li>Five large miniatures by Maître François, in arch-toped compartments in same decorative style, including birds, berries and drolleries, above large initials and five lines of text.</li><li>Bound in seventeenth-century French olive-brown morocco with gilt ornamental roundel motifs filled with small dotted tooling around cover borders and spine, some rubbing on raised bands, marbled endleaves, gilt edges.</li></ul> Illumination:Beautifully intricate miniatures painted with extensive liquid gold highlights.(1) fol. 31r, the Annunciation, the Virgin kneeling before Gabriel on the right with a banderole “ave maria gracia”, a green canopy and architectural frame above, gothic windows behind, and border including white flowers, red berries, songbirds and a peacock; (2) fol. 57r, the Nativity, the Child lying on the hem of the Virgin’s robe who kneels with Joseph outside the stable, a donkey and a cow behind, a hill to the right; (3) fol. 64r, the Annunciation to the Shepherds, two shepherds and a shepherdess gazing up as two angels appear in the heavens holding a musical scroll, sheep in the foreground drinking from a spring, a dog asleep, landscape and two towers in the background; (4) fol. 86r, the Coronation of the Virgin, with the Virgin in Heaven kneeling before the Throne of God as an angel leans over a tapestry and places a crown on her head; (5) fol. 98r, David in prayer, kneeling before an open book on a wooden lectern, harp beside him as God appears in the sky above, with a centaur drollery shooting an arrow at a grotesque in the border.

Book Of Hours, Use Of Saintes, In Latin, Illuminated Manuscript On Parchment

A finely bound collection of Sufi poetry from Sa'di, Rumi, Qasim'i Anwar, Hafez, Homayoon, Amir Muhammad Saleh and Halali.<ul><li>Safavid Persia: dated 957 AH (1550–51 AD).</li><li>121 leaves.</li><li>Illuminated manuscript on fine polished paper, in Farsi.</li><li>A "Ghazal" is a lyrical form of Persian poetry that is amorous and often illusive in nature, forming expressions on themes of love and loss which are also strong themes in Sufi poetry.</li><li>Double column, 15 lines fine black nasta'liq script, headings in gold or blue throughout, illuminated polychrome headpiece opening the text, richly decorated in gold and lapis, with seven additional illuminated banners in the text (each of these opening the ghazals of a new poet), remains of silk markers to outer edges of each section, catch words throughout, leaves ruled in gilt, orange and blue throughout, housed in a fine contemporary hand-painted black leather binding with flap, painted in gilt with spiraling floral motif, with sunken central medallions and corner pieces decorated with gilt filigree details, ruled in gilt, with very fine tan leather doubleurs, central medallions and corner pieces with delicate incised leather filigree work over navy and green silk backdrops.</li></ul>

Divan of Ghazals: Collected Sufi Poetry

Books, Manuscripts & Music

Sangorski & Sutcliffe Binding—Edward Fitzgerald, translator

Sangorski & Sutcliffe Binding—Edward Fitzgerald, translator Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam translated into English verse by Edward Fitzgerald with an introduction by A.C. Benson... Reproduced from a manuscript written and illuminated by F. Sangorski & G. Sutcliffe. Bushey, Herts: Engraved & Printed by André & Sleigh Ltd, [1911] SIGNED BY THE BINDERS ON FRONT FREE ENDPAPER ("F. Sangorski | G. Sutcliffe"), folio (341 x 247 mm), on japan vellum, plates, illustrations, and initials printed in gold and colours, text printed in red and black, original vellum gilt, elaborate peacock design in gilt to upper cover, peacock features, flowers, and clouds all heightened with hand-colouring, lower left-hand corner of upper cover numbered "R[egistered] D[esign] No. 562943", gilt spine with black morocco title label and "SIEGEL, HILL, & CO." lettered in gilt at foot, top edge gilt, others uncut, maroon silk moiré endpapers, inner dentelles, original fretwork clasps, each studded with three amethysts, housed in contemporary fleece-lined cloth green cloth box, some marginal soiling, lower clasp slightly damaged, some wear to cloth case A HIGHLY ATTRACTIVE DECORATIVE BINDING BY THE LEGENDARY ARTISANS ACCLAIMED AS THE "ROLLS ROYCE OF BOOKBINDING". The present copy appears to be from the deluxe issue of 25 copies on japan vellum, issued by Siegle, Hill & Co. in 1911, though there is no limitation page present. Standard edition copies were issued in a limited edition of 550 numbered copies, but lack several key features found on the present copy, namely: hand-colouring to the upper cover, padded silk endpapers, and decorative clasps.

View 1 of Lot 85: Edward Fitzgerald, translator | The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam..., Bushey, [1911], Sangorski & Sutcliffe original vellum, elaborately gilt with jewelled clasps, signed by Francis Sangorski and George Sutcliffe

edward fitzgerald, translator | the rubaiyat of omar khayyam..., bushey, [1911], sangorski & sutcliffe original vellum, elaborately gilt with jewelled clasps, signed by francis sangorski and george sutcliffe

The Haggadah, executed by Arthur Szyk, edited by Cecil Roth, London: Beaconsfield Press, Limited, [1940]

The Haggadah, executed by Arthur Szyk, edited by Cecil Roth, London: Beaconsfield Press, Limited, [1940] 4to (282 x 240mm), NUMBER 26 OF 125 COPIES SIGNED BY THE ARTIST AND EDITOR, printed on vellum in Hebrew and English, artwork by Arthur Szyk including decorative initials, borders, and 14 full-page illustrations, original full blue morocco pictorial gilt binding by Sangorski and Sutcliffe, spine gilt in seven compartments, pictorial silk doublures with monochromatic illustration of Moses, housed in original publisher's blue half morocco clamshell case, extremities of case rubbed and bumped LIMITED EDITION — NUMBER 26 OF 125 VELLUM COPIES SIGNED BY SZYK AND ROTH FOR SALE IN THE BRITISH EMPIRE. A FINE COPY of The Szyk Haggadah, representing the culmination of a thousand-year-old tradition of illuminated Hebrew manuscripts. Upon its publication, The Szyk Haggadah was described by the Times Literary Supplement of London as “a book worthy to be placed among the most beautiful of books that the hand of man has produced.” Each individually illuminated text is an example of both extraordinary artistic accomplishment and of profound scholarship. Given the unfolding events in Nazi Europe, the Haggadah became, for Szyk, a personal and political statement. Dedicating his Exodus narrative to King George VI (1895-1952), Szyk acknowledged the key role that England, his temporary place of residence, had to play in Jewish survival: “At the Feet of Your Most Gracious Majesty i [sic] humbly lay these works of my hands, shewing forth the Afflictions of my People Israel. arthur szyk [sic], illuminator of Poland.” Of his accomplishments, Szyk wrote in French on the page opposite the title: “I am but a Jew praying in art, and if I have worked, if I have succeeded to some degree, if I have been favorably accepted among the elite of society, I owe it all to the teachings, traditions, and eternal virtues of my people.” LITERATURE: Irvin Ungar, “Telling the Story: A History of the Szyk Haggadah,” in Byron L. Sherwin and Irvin Ungar (eds.), Freedom Illuminated: Understanding the Szyk Haggadah (Burlingame, CA: Historicana, 2008); Avraham Yaari, Bibli’ogerafyah shel haggadot pesah me-reshit ha-defus ve-ad ha-yom (Jerusalem: Bamberger & Wahrman, 1960), 159 (no. 2285); Isaac Yudlov, Otsar ha-haggadot: bibli’ogerafyah shel haggadot pesah me-reshit ha-defus ha-ivri ad shenat [5]720 (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1997), 271 (no. 3713); Isaac Yudlov, “Defusei kelaf be-beit ha-sefarim ha-le’ummi ve-ha-universita’i,” Kiryat sefer 68 (supplement) (1998): 261-273, at p. 273 (no. 42).

View 1 of Lot 102: Arthur Szyk and Cecil Roth | The Haggadah, [1940], number 26 of 125 vellum copies signed by Szyk and Roth

arthur szyk and cecil roth | the haggadah, [1940], number 26 of 125 vellum copies signed by szyk and roth

Important Judaica

Limited facsimile edition — number 181/500 copies, stamped and signed by the publisher — of “the most lavishly illuminated Hebrew Bible to have survived from medieval Spain.”

Limited facsimile edition — number 181/500 copies, stamped and signed by the publisher — of “the most lavishly illuminated Hebrew Bible to have survived from medieval Spain.” The Kennicott Bible is one of the most celebrated Hebrew manuscripts ever produced: a complete Hebrew Bible written and illuminated in 1476 in La Coruña, Spain. Its clear, carefully vocalized text was copied by the accomplished scribe, vocalizer, and masorator Moses ben Jacob Ibn Zabara. The volume’s vivid decoration and narrative imagery were painted by Joseph Ibn Hayyim, a master artist drawing on the Cervera Bible as well as Jewish, Islamic, and Christian traditions. Produced over the course of about ten months, the manuscript also includes Rabbi David Kimhi’s (1160–1235) popular grammatical treatise Sefer Mikhlol. Commissioned by Isaac ben Don Solomon de Braga, who apparently took it with him into exile after the Spanish expulsion of 1492, this remarkable volume combines technical precision with visual richness, its micrographic Masorah forming geometric designs and its colorful motifs illustrating the cultural diversity of late medieval Spain. This faithful facsimile reproduces the original manuscript (now Bodleian Library MS Kennicott 1) at full size and in eleven colors, with extensive use of gold and silver leaf. It is accompanied by a commentary volume coauthored by Bezalel Narkiss and Aliza Cohen-Mushlin, both of the Center for Jewish Art at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, analyzing paleographical, codicological, and art-historical aspects of the book hailed by Cecil Roth as “one of the finest Hebrew manuscripts in existence.” Physical Description Facsimile volume: 460 folios (approx. 11 5/8 x 8 1/2 in.; 295 x 218 mm) (modern foliation: 1–17, 17a, 18–143, 143a, 144–151, 151a, 152–266, 266a, 267–281, 281a, 282–332, 332a, 333–412, 412a, 413–453) printed by offset lithography (in up to eleven colors) on specially milled Italian 160-gsm, neutral-pH “vegetable parchment” paper, each leaf’s opacity, feel, and thickness almost matching that of the original manuscript; 238 pages illuminated with lively colors, burnished gold, and silver leaf; twenty-four canonical book headings; forty-nine parashah headings structured with gold in different motifs featuring zoomorphic figures in many colors; twenty-seven lavishly illuminated arcaded pages framing the text of the Sefer mikhlol; nine fully illuminated carpet pages; 150 psalm headings, numbered and illuminated with gold and silver. Fine Italian morocco goatskin box-binding over specially prepared boards; interlacing geometric designs on all six sides embossed with handmade dies; facsimile edges gilt with 23-carat gold leaf; spine in seven compartments with raised bands; a few minor scratches on the inside of the box binding. Commentary volume: 97 pages (12 1/4 x 9 3/4 in.; 310 x 250 mm) printed on mould-made, cold-pressed Magnani 160-gsm paper, plus an unbound limitation slip stamped and signed by a representative of the publisher. Bound in blind-tooled morocco, lightly scratched; spine in seven compartments with raised bands. Facsimile and commentary volumes enclosed in a blue, velvet-lined presentation portfolio box, slightly scuffed; title stamped in blind on upper board. Literature Leila Avrin, “Illuminated Hebrew Manuscript Facsimiles,” Ars Orientalis 20 (1990): 189-195. Yael Zirlin, “Review of The Kennicott Bible,” Jewish Art 12-13 (1986-1987): 355-356. Facsimile Editions Website (https://www.facsimile-editions.com/en/kb/) MS Oxford, Bodleian Library, Kennicott 1 (https://iiif.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/iiif/viewer/5e43568d-e01e-444c-870f-485b90b25b5c#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&r=0&xywh=-4093%2C0%2C14219%2C7385)

View 1 of Lot 87: The Kennicott Bible with Accompanying Commentary Volume (London, 1985: Facsimile Edition)

the kennicott bible with accompanying commentary volume (london, 1985: facsimile edition)

Bibliotheca Brookeriana VIII

RIDOLFI, PIETRO. Historiarum seraphicae religionis libri tres seriem temporum continentes, quibus brevi explicantur fundamenta, universique ordinis amplificatio, gradus, et instituta; nec non uiri scientia, virtutibus, et fama praeclari. Venice: Francesco De Franceschi, 1586

RIDOLFI, PIETRO. Historiarum seraphicae religionis libri tres seriem temporum continentes, quibus brevi explicantur fundamenta, universique ordinis amplificatio, gradus, et instituta; nec non uiri scientia, virtutibus, et fama praeclari. Venice: Francesco De Franceschi, 1586 FIRST EDITION WITH THE ARMS OF THE CARDINAL CHARLES II OF BOURBON-VENDÔME. Pietro Ridolfi (1536-1601) served as Bishop of Venosa from 1587 to 1591 and Bishop of Senigalia from 1591 to 1601. First edition of his life of Saint Francis and history of the Franciscan order. This copy contains the copperplate engraved frontispiece by Girolamo Porro (1520-1604), but this, along with the dedication leaf, was probably supplied from another copy. These volumes bear the arms of Cardinal Charles II de Bourbon-Vendôme (1562-1594), advisor to Henri III of France. The same arms and motto are found on small number of extant volumes, including the binding of an illuminated manuscript in the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF Latin 6310) and, in the present sale, lot 1863 (Vignier). Folio (356 x 218 mm). Roman type, 56 lines plus headline. Collation: πA4 b8 c6 A-K6 L4 M-2B6 2C4 2D-3F6 3*G6 3G-3M5 (b4 missigned as a4): 367 leaves (only, of 368; lacking terminal blank). Engraved frontispiece title, woodcut illustrations throughout, woodcut initials and ornaments, some passages marked in pencil. (Title-page and dedication leaf likely from another copy, light marginal spotting, paper flaws to some margins.) Binding: French red morocco (364 x 228 mm), triple gilt fillet border around sides, flat spine with triple gilt fillet frame, horizontal 4-line gilt title at head, at centre the arms of Charles II de Bourbon-Vendôme, at tail a medallion with a lily and the motto "SVPERAT CANDORE ET ODORE", edges gilt. (With old repairs to spine ends, hinges and corners.) Provenance: Cardinal Charles II de Bourbon-Vendôme (1562-1594), arms on spine—early initials on title and dedication leaf (likely from another copy)—inscription "ex bibliotheca Domus S(anc)ti Caroli Paris(iensis)" (Maison Saint-Charles Borromeo) on dedication leaf (likely from another copy). Acquisition: Purchased in 1990 from Librairie Sourget, Chartres. References: USTC 852551; Edit16 CNCE 28185

View 1 of Lot 263: Ridolfi, Historiarum seraphicae religionis libri tres, Venice, 1586, red morocco gilt for Cardinal Charles II de Bourbon-Vendôme

ridolfi, historiarum seraphicae religionis libri tres, venice, 1586, red morocco gilt for cardinal charles ii de bourbon-vendôme

VITRUVIUS POLLIO, MARCUS. De architectura libri decem, summa diligentia recogniti, atque excusi. Cum nonnullis figuris sub hoc signo * positis, nunquam antea impraessis. Additis Iulii frontini de aqueductibus libris, proter materiae affinitatem. [Lyon: Lucimborgo da Gabiano, 1523]

VITRUVIUS POLLIO, MARCUS. De architectura libri decem, summa diligentia recogniti, atque excusi. Cum nonnullis figuris sub hoc signo * positis, nunquam antea impraessis. Additis Iulii frontini de aqueductibus libris, proter materiae affinitatem. [Lyon: Lucimborgo da Gabiano, 1523] THE FIRST ILLUSTRATED ARCHITECTURAL TREATISE PUBLISHED IN FRANCE. Much new information about the publication history of this book has been extracted by Angela Nuovo from letters she discovered in the Archivio di Stato di Venezia. These indicate that after the premature death of Baldassare Gabiano (1517/1519), his younger brother Lucimborgo was appointed by their uncle, Giovanni Bartolomeo, as manager of the bookshop in Lyon. In a letter of 5 June 1522, Lucimborgo reports to Giovanni Bartolomeo his intention to commence printing of the Vitruvius in a month's time, but five weeks later he was faced by an unforeseen problem: Guilluame Huyon, one of the printers working frequently for the Gabiano family, had died of the plague, and his italic types (littera cancelaresca) were now inaccessible (in cases of the plague, houses were nailed shut). In a subsequent letter (25 November 1522), Lucimborgo writes that printing types had just been ordered in Florence. The Lyon Vitruvius of 1523 is usually seen as a counterfeit or replica of the Florentine editions of 1513 / 1522, and with good reason, since Lucimborgo’s copy text was the Giunta edition of 1522, and Giocondo’s dedication to Giuliano de’ Medici, as well as the table of contents and index, are reprinted. The Lyonese edition is, however, much more richly illustrated. The illustrations made for the Giunta edition were crudely modelled upon those illustrating Giocondo’s 1511 edition, except for four which were new, and intended to complement the set. Lucimborgo expresses in his letters a passion for making his books as attractive as possible, and he made a concerted effort to enrich the illustration of his Vitruvius, commissioning in addition to a set of careful copies of the 136 woodcuts in the 1511 princeps (he chose not to include the four added by Giunta in 1513), copies of 34 woodcuts in the 1521 Como Vitruvius. The latter are designated by an asterisk (*) and announced on the title-page: “cum nonnulis figuris sub hoc signo positis numquam antea impraessis”. In the last of his surviving letters, dated 2 January 1523, Lucimborgo reports that he was still waiting to receive some woodblocks from the cutters. 8vo (163 x 94 mm). Italic type with some Greek, 32 lines plus headline. Collation: A-H8 I-M4 N-Z8 AA-FF8: 216 leaves. Title printed in red within ornamental woodcut border, numerous woodcut illustrations, illuminated initials, text area ruled in red. (Occasional soiling and staining, illustration on H4 printed upside down.) Binding: Early nineteenth-century French red long-grained morocco (169 x 104 mm), two blind fillets around sides, small gold ring at corners, flat spine, eight gilt fillets across spine, title and author, gilt wavy roll along edges of covers, gilt circles on turn-ins, yellow marbled endpapers, gilt edges, silk bookmark. (Lightly rubbed.) Provenance: Unidentified owner, occasional contemporary marginalia — Claude Therouenne, ownership signature "Cl. Therouenne 1639" at foot of title-page — unidentified owner, inscription "Le Prince 1750" at foot of title-page — Robert Spence (1784-1845), ex libris "R. Spence," ex libris (version without the steeple), purportedly cut in wood by Bewick — unidentified owner, initials illuminated in gold with colored background and white tendrils (probably 19th century) — Fernand Pouillon (1912-1986) — Ader Picard Tajan & Claude Guérin, Monte Carlo, 1 July 1986, lot 135 (realised FF 31,000). Acquisition: Purchased at Ader Picard Tajan via Martin Breslauer Inc. References: UCLA 1172; Renouard 315/59; not in Shaw; Baudrier, VII, 167 (with slight variants); FB 90883; USTC 145582; Pier Nicola Pagliara, ‘Le De Architectura de Vitruve édité par les Gabiano, à Lyon en 1523’ in Serlio à Lyon. Architecture et imprimerie, 2004, pp. 359-365; A. Nuovo, “Transferring humanism: the edition of Vitruvius by Lucimborgo de Gabiano (Lyon 1523)” in Lux Liborum. Essays on books and history for Chris Coppen (Mechele 2018), pp. 17-37

View 1 of Lot 326: Vitruvius, De architectura libri decem, [Lyon, Lucimborgo da Gabiano, 1523], early nineteenth-century French red long-grained morocco

vitruvius, de architectura libri decem, [lyon, lucimborgo da gabiano, 1523], early nineteenth-century french red long-grained morocco

The Library of Barry Yampol: A First Selection. Part 2

Vincentius Bellovacensis Speculum naturale. Part I. [Strassburg: Printer of the Legenda aurea, not after December 1481] Imperial Folio (468 x 326 mm). Gothic and roman type, 69 lines plus headline, text in double columns. Collation: [1–410 5–238 24–2510 26–358 3610 378 3810 398] (1/1 blank, 1/2r–23/6v Books 1 [comprising prologue and chapter headings of all books]—11, 24/1r Book 12, 26/1r–36/10r Books 13–17, 36/10v blank, 37/1r Book 18, 37/6v blank, 39/2r–8v Book 19 headings): 326 leaves (of 602, without blank 1/1 and 39/1, and lacking part II, containing Books 19 text 33, quires 40–74). Contemporary South-German decoration, 12-line magenta initial with white modelling on punched gold ground within a green fictive frame with foliate extensions, 10-line initial in blue with red Maiblumen decoration and extensions opening Book II; initials to Books 9–18 in red (initial spaces in Books 3–8 left blank), 3-line chapter initials alternating red and blue, red paragraph marks; small wormholes in text in first 18 quires, slightly heavier at end, illuminated initial rubbed. Contemporary German blind-stamped calf over wooden boards, two brass catchplates preserved; restored, rebacked. Second edition of the Speculum naturale, the first printed encyclopedia of natural history. Compiled by the Dominican scholar Vincent of Beauvais (c.1190–1264) in the mid-thirteenth century, the Speculum sought to encompass all knowledge of the natural world as understood in Western Europe, treating cosmology, the four elements, plants, animals, and the anatomy and psychology of man. The Speculum was truly vast, encompassing thirty-two books and 3,718 chapters. Drawing on classical, Arabic, and scholastic sources, it participates in the long encyclopedic tradition rooted in Pliny’s Natural History, whose printed editions form a particular strength of the Yampol Library. REFERENCES BMC I, 880; Goff V-293; ISTC iv00293000 PROVENANCE ?Grey[...]-Issensis monastery (16th/17th-century inscription) — Christie’s London, 26 March 2003, lot 109

View 1 of Lot 211: Vincentius Bellovacensis | Second edition of the first printed encyclopedia of natural history, summarizing medieval knowledge of the natural world

vincentius bellovacensis | second edition of the first printed encyclopedia of natural history, summarizing medieval knowledge of the natural world

BEMBO, PIETRO. Epistolarum Leonis decimi pontificis maximi nomine scriptarum libri XVI. Placuit praeterea ejusdem autoris epistolas aliquot sanequam doctas adnectere, videlicet ad Longolium III; ad Budaeum II; ad Erasmum I. Lyon: Thibaud Payen, 1540

View 1 of Lot 36: Bembo, Epistolarum libri XVI, Lyon, 1540, Roman impresa binding by Niccolò Franzese for Apollonio Filareto

bembo, epistolarum libri xvi, lyon, 1540, roman impresa binding by niccolò franzese for apollonio filareto

The Library of Barry Yampol: A First Selection. Part 1

Plinius Secundus, Gaius (Pliny, the Elder)

Plinius Secundus, Gaius (Pliny, the Elder) Historia naturalis [Italian] (Tr: Christophorus Landinus). Venice: Nicolaus Jenson, 1476 Super Royal folio (420 x 270 mm). Roman and Greek types, 50 lines, initial spaces with printed guide-letters. Collation: [1–2110 22–268 27–3510 3610 (+ 10* le piu morbide) 378 3810 398 40–4110 428 4310]: 413 (of 415) leaves (lacking first and final blanks). Illuminated border and 3 initials on 3/2r, with flowers, foliage, fruit and vases in gold leaf, red, blue, yellow and green, medallion in lower border with illuminated arms, the illumination Florentine and attributed by Manfred von Arnim to Francesco d’Antonio del Chierico; 15-line Antiqua preface initial, 6-line Antiqua prohemio initial, and 35 eleven-line Antiqua book initials, all finely illuminated in gold leaf, colors and penwork with backgrounds and flourishing of flowers and foliage; Antiqua initials in blue; a few manuscript signatures pre-served; a few pinpoint wormholes at beginning and end, not affecting the illumination, the illuminated border slightly rubbed, several leaves with marginal nicks, marginal tear in 12/1, scattered spotting, mostly confined to the margins. some light offsetting from the illuminated initials. minor soiling and stains, a few early marginalia. Contemporary Florentine calf over reverse-beveled wooden boards, elaborately blind-tooled to a panel design, remains of 4 clasps (1 decorated brass catchplate retained), 2 (of 4) brass bosses on upper cover, vellum endleaves, edges stained yellow; rebacked, some worming, corners repaired. Half brown morocco folding-case. First edition in Italian of this ambitious and influential work, the most significant and best documented publication from the presses of Nicolas Jenson; a fine, crisp, tall copy. Contemporary evidence within the Strozzi Family archives demonstrates that the Florentine Strozzis commissioned the printing, bought the paper—over 400 reams—and paid the translator, the famous humanist Cristoforo Landino. De Roover has suggested that as many as 1025 copies were printed and the total edition size may well have been larger still. A large number of finely bound and illuminated copies survive on paper and vellum of both the Latin 1472 edition (Goff P788) and the Italian edition. “The colophon of Plinio, of 415 leaves, is dated 1476, without month and day, but various memoranda of Girolamo Strozzi suggest that it was produced quickly, within the first half of the year” (Needham). The majority of the illuminated copies are from several Venetian shops. The present copy is especially noteworthy due to its contemporary Florentine binding and the fine illumination attributed to Francesco d’Antonio del Chierico (1433–1488). REFERENCES BMC V 176 (IC.19694); Goff P801; GW M34342; ISTC ip00801000; Arnim, Bibliothek Otto Schäfer 275; Arnim, Europäische Einbandkunst 76; F. de Roover, "Per la storia dell'arte della stampa in Italia," in La Bibliofilía 55 (1953):107-117; De Marinis, Legatura artistica 1593. For the printing of the Jenson Pliny, see Paul Needham, “Concepts of Paper Study,” in: Puzzles in Paper: Concepts in Historical Watermarks, ed. D W. Mosser, M. Saffle, & E. W. Sullivan II (Oak Knoll Press & The British Library, 2000):1–36. For Venetian illumination in copies of the Jenson Pliny, see Lilian Armstrong, "The Illustration of Pliny's Natural History in Venetian Manuscripts and Early Printing," in Manuscripts in the Fifty Years after the Invention of Printing, ed. J. B. Trapp & L. Hellinga (London, 1983):97–105 PROVENANCE Jacopo Bernardo Serzelli (signature, illuminated arms, sixteenth century) — Conte Girolamo Bardi — Otto Schäfer (acquired, 1962, from Gilhofer & Ranschburg; Sotheby’s New York, 8 December 1994, lot 145) We are grateful to Paul Needham for his consultation on this lot.

View 1 of Lot 20: Pliny | The first edition in Italian of the Natural History, Venice: Nicolaus Jenson, 1476

pliny | the first edition in italian of the natural history, venice: nicolaus jenson, 1476

FULVIO, ANDREA. Illustrium imagines. (Rome: Giacomo Mazzocchi, 15 November 1517)

FULVIO, ANDREA. Illustrium imagines. (Rome: Giacomo Mazzocchi, 15 November 1517) FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST PRINTED BOOK DEDICATED TO ANCIENT COIN PORTRAITS, in an elegant Nuremberg binding for Georg Römer, with his family arms printed and illuminated on an inserted vellum fly-leaf, as in other books from the library. Georg Römer was a passionate collector of coins and medals. While still a student, he commissioned three portrait medals, and by the mid-1540s he possessed a numismatic collection so noteworthy that Jacopo Strada, Hubert Goltzius, and Samuel Quiccheberg journeyed separately to see it. For a full description of the bindings made for Römer and a census of 24 known volumes, see Bibliotheca Brookeriana I, 11 October 2023, lot 78; that binding featured the same centrepiece, cornerpieces and leafy stamps, and also contained the painted armorial on a vellum leaf. In the census of copies given in that catalogue, this Fulvio is number 5. 8vo (154 x 104 mm). Italic type. Collation: A-Z4 AA-GG4: 120 leaves. Architectural woodcut title-border, 2 white-on-black woodcut strapwork initials, woodcut printer's device on GG4v, 204 white-on-black woodcut portrait medallions, possibly by Ugo da Carpi, each set at the head of an architectural woodcut text-border (eight variously repeated). Binding: Contemporary German red morocco over thin wooden boards (161 x 112 mm), possibly by Christoph Heusler of Nuremberg, centrepiece comprised of four leafy stamps repeated in corners, double gilt fillet frames with leafy tool in inner corners, plain spine and edges, stubs from two pairs of ties, the number 15 written in ink on foredge. (Lightly rubbed at extremities, a few tiny wormholes at spine and lower board edge, vellum leaf with armorial becoming detached.) Provenance: Georg Römer of Nuremberg, hand-coloured and illuminated woodcut coat of arms printed on vellum and bound at front — Christopher Wenzel Graf von Nostitz (1643-1712), inscription "CWRVNostitz" on vellum armorial, thence by descent, sale of the Bibliothek Lobris (the family castle), Munich, Ludwig Rosenthal, 22 April 1895, lot 1151 — W.R.H. Jeudwine (1920-1984), booklabel, sale, Bloomsbury Book Auctions, 18 September 1984, lot 66 — Pierre Berès, catalogue 77 (1987), no. 39 — Jaime Ortiz-Patiño (1930-2013), sale in our New York rooms, 21 April 1998, lot 113. Acquisition: Purchased in 1999 from Librairie Thomas-Scheler, Paris, with their booklabel. References: Edit16 19989; Dekesel F15; Mortimer, Harvard Italian 203; USTC 831110; Binding: A. Hobson, "Some Sixteenth-Century Buyers in Rome and Elsewhere," Humanistica Lovaniensia 34A (1985), 65-67

View 1 of Lot 133: Fulvio, Illustrium imagines, Rome, 1517, Nuremberg binding of red morocco gilt for Georg Römer

fulvio, illustrium imagines, rome, 1517, nuremberg binding of red morocco gilt for georg römer

Shalom of Safed—born Shalom Moskovitz in 1887 and a lifelong resident of the storied Galilean city—stands among the most beloved naïve painters of twentieth-century Israeli art. A Hasidic Jew steeped in Safed’s rich mystical and cultural traditions, he spent decades working as a watchmaker, silversmith, and stonemason before turning to painting only in his mid-fifties. Despite his late start, Shalom quickly achieved international recognition for a body of work devoted to the narratives, rituals, and daily rhythms of Jewish life.

Shalom of Safed—born Shalom Moskovitz in 1887 and a lifelong resident of the storied Galilean city—stands among the most beloved naïve painters of twentieth-century Israeli art. A Hasidic Jew steeped in Safed’s rich mystical and cultural traditions, he spent decades working as a watchmaker, silversmith, and stonemason before turning to painting only in his mid-fifties. Despite his late start, Shalom quickly achieved international recognition for a body of work devoted to the narratives, rituals, and daily rhythms of Jewish life. Rendered in his signature “primitive” style, his compositions blend vivid blocks of color, flattened space, and text drawn directly from scripture, creating images that read almost like illuminated chronicles. This charming depiction of Sephardic Jews reciting Psalms in a Safed synagogue reflects the artist’s profound engagement with both his community and its traditions. Set against the luminous light of the Galilee and shaped by the mystical heritage of Safed, the painting embodies the warmth, devotion, and narrative clarity that define Shalom’s oeuvre.

View 1 of Lot 100: Shalom of Safed (Shalom Moskovitz, 1887–1980)  Sephardic Jews Reciting Psalms in a Synagogue [Safed, Mid-20th century]

shalom of safed (shalom moskovitz, 1887–1980) sephardic jews reciting psalms in a synagogue [safed, mid-20th century]

Fine Books & Manuscripts, Including Americana

(Book of Hours) Commendation of Souls, from a Book of Hours in Latin, manuscript on vellum. [Northern France, first half of the 15th century] 8 leaves (a complete quire) (207 x 150 mm), on vellum, written in Latin with a French rubric, 16 lines per page in a formal gothic textura, one large illuminated foliate initial with a three-sided border, ten small champié initials, numerous one-line initials alternately gold with blue penwork or blue with red, line-fillers in blue, red, and gold; three margins of the first leaf excised. Later paper boards with tan sheepskin spine; worn. The text comprises the full Commendation of Souls (Psalms 113–116 and accompanying prayers), introduced by the French rubric “Sens(uivent) les comendasses.” The sequence was common in French Books of Hours of the fourteenth century but declined in use during the first half of the fifteenth. It is distinct from the longer Sarum Commendation of Souls centered on Psalm 118, frequently found in Flemish Books of Hours made for the English market. PROVENANCE Likely Maggs (clipped bookseller description and pencilled dealer codes) — Alexander Scott (pencil inscription, “Ex libris Alexander Scott Carlin, London 1921,” and “MS No. 5.”) — Sotheby's London, 30 November 2021, lot 63

View 1 of Lot 1073: (Book of Hours) | Commendation of Souls, from a Book of Hours

(book of hours) | commendation of souls, from a book of hours

LITURGY. MISSAL. AUTUN, SAÔNE-ET-LOIRE. Missale secundum ritum insignis ecclesiae Eduensis sacerdotibus eiusdem ecclesie perquam necessarium. Ipsi enim missam celebrare intendentes quo pacto ad diuinum officium. Paris: Jean Petit & Jean Kerbriant, March 1530

LITURGY. MISSAL. AUTUN, SAÔNE-ET-LOIRE. Missale secundum ritum insignis ecclesiae Eduensis sacerdotibus eiusdem ecclesie perquam necessarium. Ipsi enim missam celebrare intendentes quo pacto ad diuinum officium. Paris: Jean Petit & Jean Kerbriant, March 1530 A fine example of a contemporary Parisian binding by the "Pecking Crow Binder", thus named for "this atelier's most prominent tool, a bird pecking at grain... The bindings from this shop cover books or manuscripts, written or printed between [1497] and 1550" (Henry Davis Gift). This workshop produced bindings for François I, Jean Grolier and Cardinal Perrenot de Granvelle. 8vo (185 x 117 mm). Gothic type: 42 lines plus headline. Collation: a8 a-v8 aa-hh8 ii10 A-D8 E10: 284 leaves. Title-page with woodcut device, printed in red and black, initials illuminated in yellow. Binding: Parisian brown mottled calf over wooden boards (192 x 132 mm), by the Pecking Crow Binder, late 1530s, border with elongated arabesques, azured fleurons, and solid fleurons at corners, inner border of arabesque lace, inner eight-sided elongated frame of straight and curved fillets, arabesque cornerpieces, in centre a cartouche composed of solid arabesques and azured fleurons enclosing a hand holding a flowering branch on which perches a small pecking crow, surmounted by an open crown, traces of 2 clasps, edges gilt and gauffered. (Spine ends renewed). Provenance: Claude Loysel (d.1571), title-page with ownership inscription (struck through in ink by a later owner) and motto "O[mn]ia Va[n]itas" (same motto on Loysel's tomb in Notre-Dame de Beaune) — Vivant-Augustin Ganiare (1698-1781), doctor of medicine, partly-erased purchase inscription with initials "v.g." and date 1730 on flyleaf — Antoine Gandelot (1714-1785), gift inscription dated 1771 — Jean Fürstenberg (1890-1982), booklabel — Martin Breslauer Inc., New York, catalogue 106, item 33. Acquisition: Purchased in 1989 from Martin Breslauer Inc. References: BP16 106415; USTC 185039; Exposition de reliures de la Renaissance: collection Jean Furstenberg, 30 September 1961 (Paris 1961), no. 77

View 1 of Lot 190: [Liturgy] Missale secundum ritum insignis ecclesiae Eduensis, Paris, 1530, Parisian brown mottled calf gilt

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