BIBLE LEAF Ref 403 verso

This is a superb leaf with a historiated initial from a Bible that was produced in France (Paris) in the middle of the thirteenth century.

 

The text begins at the Book of Wisdom, chapter 18 in verse 13 and continues to the end of that Book. It is followed by the Prologue to the Book of Ecclesiasticus (“Multorum nobis et magnorum”) and the opening of that book through to chapter 2 in verse 11.

 

The size of the leaf is 198mm x 138mm (7 17/20ins. x 5 4/10ins.).

 

To the side of the initial, in the margin, can be seen the artist's sketch for the historiation.

 

PURCHASE DETAILS: -

Purchased from Griffon’s Medieval Manuscripts, November 2014, their catalogue number 2934.

 

GENERAL COMMENTS: -

This is a nice leaf on thin vellum that is in overall good condition and must have been from a good quality pocket Bible.

 

Ref 397, Ref 398, Ref 403, 502, 587, 588 and 589 are from the same Bible.

 

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION RELATING TO THE BIBLE LEAVES REF 397, REF 398, REF 403, REF 502, REF 587 REF 588 and REF 589: -

 

PROVENANCE: -

It has been established that the above leaves are from the Bible that was lot 72 in Sotheby's London sale of Western Manuscripts and Miniatures on 1st. December 1998 and which was described there as “Bible, in Latin, with the Interpretation of Hebrew Names, illuminated manuscript on vellum (Paris, mid-thirteenth century ) Est. £12,000-18,000. It sold for £35,000 plus buyers premium of £5,000.

The catalogue description included the following provenance information: -

(1) In England in the Middle Ages, presumably in East Anglia. Notes on the second flyleaf are apparently signed “J. Doys”. Above that is an ownership inscription in a fifteenth-century hand, “John Paxten doone thys bok”. Paxten is an acceptable varient of Pasten, and the manuscript might have belonged to the celebrated Suffolk family of letter-writers, perhaps John Paston (1421-1466), legal advisor to Sir John Fastolf, or to either of his sons, both called John. The elder son, John Paston II (1442-1479), had a notable library of Middle English books, including a manuscript of Chaucer and a very early copy of Caxton.s Game and Playe of Chess, and in January 1475 he bought for 20s.6d. The library of the family chaplain, James Gloys (d.1473), which must have included a Bible (N.Navis, Paston Letters and Papers,I, 1971, pp.516-8 and p.373).

(2) The library of Helmingham Hall, Suffolk, the house of the Tollemache family built in 1510. There were already manuscripts at Helmingham before the Reformation, and many others were gathered in from local East Anglian collections by Sir Lionel Tollemache, who succeeded his father in 1575 and died in 1612. His grandson, the third baronet (1624-1669), was created first Earl of Dysart in 1643. The present manuscript was rebound for the fourth Earl of Dysart (1708-1770), after his succession in 1727. It has the Helmingham shelf label L.J. II.14 (changed in pencil to IV.14); the brief list of Helmingham books by the Historical Manuscripts Commission, I, 1874, Appendix, p.61, refers to “several splendid MSS. Of the Bible”. It probably remained at Helmingham until the 1950's when a number of private sales took place, mostly through the Robinson brothers.

(3) Lord Wardington, with his gilt bookplate inside the lower cover.

(4) The property of the Comites Latentes Collection, Geneva, MS.203, bought at Christie's, 8th. December 1982, lot 139.

 

INFORMATION CONCERNING THE ILLUMINATION: -

The Sotheby's catalogue description included the following about the Bible's illumination: -

Although the book was used in England, it was almost certainly illuminated in Paris. The miniatures are characterised by tiny figures, bright colours – including pale green and orange – and gold highly burnished to a mirror finish. The styl is that of the SOISSONS ATELIER, as defined by R. Branner, Manuscript Painting in Paris during the Reign of Saint Louis, 1977, pp.77-8 and 216-7, a workshop which evidently specialised in the illumination of Bibles. It takes its name from a Bible now in Soissons, ms.63. A notable feature of the present Bible is that at least 35 of the historiated initials preserve guide sketches for the artist, little thumbnail diagrams in plummet in the margins to indicate the subjects to be drawn. They were intended to be erased, and sometimes there are shadowy marks of erasure. This is as addition to approximately 30 manuscripts recorded with such marks by J.J.G. Alexander, Medieval Illuminators and their Methods of Work, 1992, pp.184-185. The sketches occur on fols.47v (although the miniature is cut out, the sketch clearly represents God talking to a horned Moses), 74v, 119v, 132r, 155r, 172v (rather faint),177v, 186r, 196v, 209r, 211r, 213r, 217v, 222r, 227r, 238r (faint), 243v, 275v, 294v (faint), 298v, 316r, 325v, 326v, 328r, 328v (partly erased), 333r, 334r, 334v, 337v, 338v, 357r (faint), 401r, 415r, 420r and 434r.

 

ATTACHING THE LEAVES IN THE COLLECTION TO THE FOLIOS IN THE BIBLE: -

REF 397 is Folio 337v, Malachi preaching to two(?) men. This is a miniature for which there is a sketch. It is very faint and can only just be seen.

REF 398 is Folio 222r, Christ blessing. This is a miniature for which there is a sketch.

REF 403 is Folio 243v, Ecclesia holding a chalice. This is a miniature for which there is a sketch.

REF 502 is Folio 298v, Ezekiel dreaming of the man, ox eagle and lion. This is a miniature for which there is a sketch.

REF 587 is Folio 432r, Saint Peter with key. This miniature does not have a sketch.

REF 588 is Folio 368v, Saint Mark with his Llion. This miniature does not have a sketch.

REF 589 is Folio 332r, Habakkuk. This miniature does not have a sketch.

 

Done