Catalogue 10 - Pagina Sacra

10 Pagina Sacra Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books AG

Pagina Sacra Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books AG, Stalden 2011

Pagina Sacra

3

cat. 10

Catalogue 10

Pagina Sacra Bibles and Biblical Texts 1050–1511

Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books AG, Stalden 2011

Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books AG Mosboden 1 • 6063 Stalden / Switzerland e-mail: info@guenther-rarebooks.com www.guenther-rarebooks.com

By appointment only As far as possible reproductions represent the original dimensions of the items they illustrate. Reproductions with reduced dimensions are marked with an asterisk .

Full titles of bibliographical references beneath each entry are given at the end of the catalogue.

All items offered in this catalogue are subject to prior sale.

Editing: Gabriele Bartz, Marion Hanke, Grant McLean, Chris Wells and Beatrix Zumbült Texts: Gabriele Bartz, Marion Hanke and Beatrix Zumbült Layout and design: Heikedine Günther Photography: Daniel Meyer, Fotostudio Luzern Postproduction for Print: Printed by: Abächerli Druck AG, Sarnen Bound by: Buchbinderei Burkhard, Mönchaltdorf © 2011 Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books AG, Stalden.

All rights reserved.

Front cover: Cat. 21 Frontispiece: Cat. 10 Printed in Switzerland 2011 ISBN 978-3-033-03053-4

Contents Preface

9

Introduction 10

Catalogue Illuminated manuscripts

1. Four Gospels, France, Brittany, c. 1050 2. Four Gospels with Kephalaia, written

by Manuel Hagiostephanites for John of Crete, Cyprus, dated 1156

16

34

4. St Gregory the Great, Moralia in Job, vol. I, Italy, Abbey of Santa Maria de Morimondo, before 1174/75

42

5. Petrus Lombardus, Glossatura magna in psalmos, France, Paris, c. 1200

48

6. New Testament, Italy, Verona, c. 1215

54

8. Biblia latina, illuminated by the workshop of the ‘Bible moralisée’, France, Paris, c. 1220-30 9. Petrus Lombardus, Glossatura magna in psalmos, illuminated by the workshop of the ‘Vie de Saint Denis’, France, Paris, second quarter 13th century and Spain, c. 1460 10. Biblia latina, so-called Bible of Aulne Abbey, Northern France or Flanders (Hainault?), c. 1240-50 11. Biblia latina, pocket bible, France, Paris, c. 1250

98

13. Psalterium non feriatum, Flanders, Diocese of Tournai, c. 1270-80

104

14. Epistolary, northern France or Paris, c. 1315

116

15. Guiart des Moulins, Bible historiale: Genesis, Giovanni Boccaccio, Patient Griselda, and other texts, illuminated by the Master of the Berry Apocalypse, France, Paris, c. 1416

122

16. Federigo da Venezia, Commentary on the Apocalypse, Italy, Venice, c. 1420

134

17. Biblia latina, the Matthias Bible, signed

by Matthias of Raudnitz, Bohemia, Prague (?) and Lipnice, dated May 1421

138

18. Biblia latina, the Bible of Wouter Grauwert, illuminated in the circle of the Master of Catherine of Cleves, northern Netherlands, 1443-45

142

19. Seelentrost, southern Germany, c. 1470-80

150

20. Guiart des Moulins, Bible historiale, Flanders or northern France (Amiens?), c. 1480-85

154

21. Ludolphus Carthusiensis, Vita Christi, in French, vol. II, illuminated by the Master of the Chronique scandaleuse, France, Paris, 1505-08

164

26

3. Epistles of St Paul, glossed, northern France or southern England, third quarter 12th century

7. Gospel Lectionary of Cistercian use, Italy, Abbey of Santa Maria de Morimondo?, between 1218 and 1228

12. Biblia latina, England, Oxford, c. 1250-60

62

66

74

80

94

Early printed books 22. Biblia latina, Mainz: Johann Fust and Peter Schoeffer, 14 August 1462

180

23. Blockbook – Biblia Pauperum, Schreiber ed. I, Netherlands, c. 1466

184

24. Biblia germanica, Augsburg: Günther Zainer, between 1474 and 1476

192

25. Guillelmus Parisiensis (ed.): Johannes Herolt, Postilla super epistolas et evangelia, Lyon: Nicolaus Philippi and Marcus Reinhart, 1482 196 26. Biblia germanica, the so-called Ninth German Bible, Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 17 February 1483

198

27. Seelentrost: Das ist der sele trost genannt, Augsburg: Anton Sorg, 14 March 1483

204

28. Bruno, bishop of Würzburg (ed.), Psalterium latinum with interpretation, Würzburg: Georg Reyser, c. 1488-89 – with two metalcuts

208

29. I: Ulrich Pinder, Speculum passionis, Nuremberg: Friedrich Peypus, 1507 II: Philesius Ringmann (ed.): Johannes Geiler von Kaysersberg, Passionis Christi, Strasburg: Johann Knobloch, 1506 III: Johannes Kusswerth (ed.): Marcus Coccius Sabellicus, Historia hebreorum ex Enneadibus excerpta, Basel: Adam Petri for Ludwig Hornken, 1515 214 30. Albrecht Dürer, the Engraved Passion, Nuremberg: 1508-13

218

Key to bibliographical references

222

Preface

Medieval books have many facets: for the collector they are an inexhaustible source of renewed desire, for the scholar they are an astonishing font of ever more knowledge, for the investor they are a safe investment that continuously increases in value, and for the amateur they provide an amazing insight into the world of our past. I have great pleasure in presenting the tenth catalogue of my rare book business, which is also the first to be produced from our new domicile in Switzerland. This catalogue is dedicated exclusively to one subject – also a novelty in the history of my company – to the Bible. The Christian Scriptures are represented here in thirty manuscripts and incunables. This collection reveals the extraordinary diversity of the types of books developed from the Bible in the Middle Ages: books for the liturgy, for scholarly study, books for sermons, and books for the wealthy and well-educated layman – only a few were able to read at all, especially Latin.

Once again, I have had the privilege of feeding my own passion for collecting and for exploring medieval manuscripts and incunables that had been preserved in private collections, sometimes for centuries. This catalogue presents them to the public for the first time and devotes some closer research to them. Among the new discoveries you will find the Epistles of St Paul (no.

3), a Bible from the Bible moralisée atelier (no. 8) and the breathtaking Bible of Aulne Abbey (no. 10). The Bible of Wouter Grauwert is equally unknown and is also of distinguished provenance (no. 18). The observant chronicler, however, will discover familiar faces from the history of book collecting, that have been in the possession of famous bibliophiles: the Gospel Book from the storm-worn coasts of Brittany (no. 1) and the History Bible (no. 15) both of which were part of the library of Sir Thomas Phillipps; Peter Lombard’s Glossatura magna (no. 5) once belonged to Charles William Dyson Perrins and later to Major Abbey. The second volume of the Vita Christi of Philippine de Gueldre (no. 21) had already been separated from the first volume – now preserved in the Bibliothèque municipale of Lyon (ms. 5125) – when it was one of the treasures of Henry Yates Thompson's library. Having been in private hands for 90 years, the work of the Master of the Chronique scandaleuse is now obtainable once again.

Antiquarian book dealers’ catalogues could hardly deliver the desired precision in their description of the objects contained in them, if they did not receive invaluable insight from scholars, specialists in their particular fields. I am very grateful for their knowledgeable advice.

I would like to thank in particular Beate Braun-Niehr, James Marrow, Hope Mayo, Annemarie Stauffer, Patricia Stirnemann, Hans-Walter Stork and Dominique Vanwijnsberghe for contributing their expertise. Equally important are the technical aspects of the catalogue, which our photographer Daniel Meyer and our printer Abächerli Druck AG have provided so professionally, competently and kindly. Once more, my wife Heikedine has faced the thankless task of matching the colours of the images, together with Jörg Brunner of Abächerli.

I would like to express my infinite gratitude for this and, moreover, for her general support and encouragement throughout the development of this catalogue. I am also obliged to Beatrix Zumbült and Marion Hanke, both of whom again proved of value in carefully translating some fiddly German texts into English, as well as dealing with their other duties in the office. I am much indebted to Chris Wells and Grant Mclean for their great commitment in proofreading the texts and for devoting their precious time to check our language. We enjoyed working with them very much.

All in all, however, without the immense and concerted efforts of my team, this catalogue would have been impossible. Beatrix Zumbült and Marion Hanke, who were generally responsible for the catalogue entries, and Silke and Holger Krampe have accomplished the incredible task of completing the catalogue and ensuring its delivery on time. For this and for their unfailing commitment whilst we moved the company to Switzerland, I am very much obliged. It was of special pleasure and delight to me that Gabi Bartz spontaneously agreed to compose the introductory text and to revise the descriptions.

Please allow me now to invite you to discover and contemplate the books in this catalogue, as their quality and their beauty is far more eloquent than I could be (as I am a man of few words).

Dr. Jörn Günther, Stalden, August 2011

9

Introduction

Thirty Masterpieces covering a period of almost 500 years offer a splendid survey of the rich variety of books of Holy Scripture in Christendom. They reflect both a never-ending desire for insight into the Holy texts and a profound sense of awe inspired by the words from the book of books throughout the centuries.

We chose the title pagina sacra for this catalogue, as this is how the early glossators referred to the Holy Scriptures. It became evident from early on, that the words of the Bible were not necessarily easily comprehensible at their first reading. In the 5th century, John Cassian suggested a system of exegesis, covering four different layers of meaning, which has been followed ever since: firstly, in the literal and historical sense, secondly in the dogmatic sense defined by the tripartite unit of faith love - charity, thirdly in the moral sense and finally in the apocalyptic sense of the Bible. While the first and literal sense was considered sufficient for the common priest, the other three layers of meaning were reserved for well-educated theologians. Three major sections of the Bible have been particularly subject to comment: the beginning of Genesis, the book of Psalms and the Pauline Epistles, as these texts were often relevant in service.

Scribes had the particularly difficult task of producing such manuscripts with glosses (or commentaries), which needed to be placed either between the regular lines of text (interlinear) or in the margins, accompanying the main block of text (marginal). Since the amount of space for the text depended on the amount of commentary provided for each verse, the scribes had to calculate beforehand the spacing of the page, usually using spacious lines for the main text of the Bible and placing the text of the commentary either in small interlinear lines or in a wider margin. We are able to present three types of these glossed manuscripts in this catalogue, each of them a stunning example of medieval erudition (nos. 3, 5, 9). The glossed Pauline Epist­ les from England from the third quarter of the 12th century (no. 3) shows exactly these techniques: shorter annotations were placed between the lines in a smaller script, and the lengthier ones were written in the inner or outer margins. Each annotation repeats the first words of the sentence which it comments on so it could immediately be traced back to the original text. As this form of mise-en-page was rather complicated, profes10

sional secular, or semi-secular, scribes were usually entrusted with the production of this kind of book. In fact, the illuminator named the Simon Master after his patron abbot Simon of St Albans was neither monk nor friar. He represents the so-called Channel style as one of its most important artists. Manuscript witnesses of this style come both from France and from England.

The present book has been kept in Italy since the 14th century, and, as the fine 16th-century Italian binding of our Pauline Epistles suggests, these books have been cherished throughout the centuries.

Peter Lombard’s gloss of the psalms, the magna glossatura made in Paris about 1200 (no. 5), represents another method of organising the text, which lends itself to a layout incorporating a commentary that is considerably longer than the verses of the Bible: the Psalms are written in red while Peter’s gloss appears in black ink. In addition, the scribes underlined some words in red and used tiny signes-de-renvoi in the margins corresponding to them. Peter Lombard himself is said to have invented this system of marking, quoting and identifying sources. However, as it was rather expensive and time consuming to realise, it was employed only in the very earliest manuscripts with Peter’s commentary. The Almagest workshop, responsible for the illumination in our manuscript, conveys the typical elements of the early Channel style with additional classical refinement. It is therefore hardly surprising to find that the manuscript was a cherished part of a monastic library for a long time. Later, in the 19th century, famous collectors such as Dyson Perrins and Major Abbey proudly counted this piece amongst their treasures. The same text, Peter Lombard’s Glossatura magna in psalmos, appears in another manuscript from the second quarter of the 13th century, with a different, equally elaborate mise-en-page (no. 9). In this case, the scribes employed the alternate line system in such a way that the psalms, written on every other line, cover only half a column, while the glosses, written on each line in a half-size script, surround them. Again, we find red underlining, and the sources, the scholars quoted with their abbreviated names, in red ink in the margins, referred to the main text with a special combination of red dots. The workshop responsible for the illumination of the manuscript, the so-called Vie de Saint Denis atelier, was one of the most prolific workshops in Paris in the second quarter of the 13th century.

The style of the Bible moralisée atelier (no. 8) was even more in ­demand. Again, the second, slightly later Peter Lombard manu­script bears witness to how collectors ­admired the beauty of the book over the centuries: it was acquired for an important Spanish private library, for the marquises of Astorga.

To produce a complete Bible, normally consisting of several volumes, was both time-consuming and costly, therefore, they were not made very frequently. Gospel books served the purposes of the liturgy much better as they contained all the necessary readings. The present catalogue contains two very different, though equally spectacular examples of gospel books: the first one originates in Brittany, made at a time when the country had only just begun to gradually recover from the Viking’s invasion (no. 1). Thanks to Bernhard Bischoff and his great knowledge this manuscript can be located in Brittany despite the many doubtlessly English characteristics of the script. Quite understandably, manuscripts from this period and this region are extremely rare. It is all the more extraordinary to be able to include this codex in the catalogue, which could originate from the abbey of Landévennec, close to the mouth of the river Aulne. It was kept in the library of the Benedictines of St Sauveur-le-Vicomte in Normandy in the 14th century. Sir Thomas Phillipps was later proud to possess this unique manuscript.

Whereas one can almost deduce the difficult and adverse circumstances under which the Breton gospel book was produced from its austere decoration, the second book of the genre in our collection abounds in lavish illumination (no. 2). Not only is it in outstanding condition, but its complete colophon, the work of Manuel Hagiostephanites, dated 1156, lends it exceptional importance. Twenty years ago scholars argued that it must have been made in Constantinople; now however, it is clearly more reasonable to locate it to Cyprus, as it was made for the Cypriot archbishop John of Crete. As such, it has become a most important piece of evidence for the existence of Cypriot book production in the 12th century. Although the codex is slightly larger than the older Breton gospel book, we may assume that it was intended for the private use of Archbishop John of Crete rather than for liturgical use.

It is only very rarely that an antiquarian bookseller has the opportunity to offer such manuscripts, with such colophons – in this catalogue there are actually three of them (see nos. 2, 17, 18). However, even more scarce on the market are those manuscripts that are recorded in surviving medieval library catalogues. This is the case, however, with St Gregory the Great’s Moralia in Job from the Cistercian abbey of Morimondo near Milan (no. 4). This extensive commentary on the book of Job was usually divided into two or three volumes

– a very substantial exegesis on only one book of the Bible. Again, Gregory’s voluminous oeuvre, as well as the text’s unbroken success throughout the centuries, testifies to the reverence accorded to the scripture. Our manuscript from Morimondo must have been made just after the founding of the monastery near Milan, as it still shows several French influences in the script.

Indeed the scribes followed the Cistercian principle of austerity and reduced the decoration of the manuscript to a minimum, whilst on the other hand emphasising the elegance of the layout, which could almost be said to foreshadow what Fust and Schöffer realised in their printed 48-line Bible (no. 22) some centuries later.

Then, there is another manuscript in this catalogue to be attributed to the scribes of Morimondo abbey for liturgical reasons: a gospel lectionary (no. 7), now with undoubtedly Italian script. Gospel lectionaries contain sections of the Gospels arranged according to the ecclesiastical year and include particular feast days for the intended diocese (which can help to localise a manuscript), whereas gospel books comprise the biblical text, the Gospels, in their usual order, sometimes only extended by a Capitulary, which lists those readings for service in the course of the liturgical year.

Manuscripts that cover the New Testament alone belong to the most peculiar of the types of book amongst those parts of the Bible that were produced separately.

They first appeared in southern France and northern Italy at the end of the 12th century. This kind of manuscript emerged with the development of the Waldensian movement and is characterised by certain textual variations concerning the Epistles (cf. the un-illustrated manuscript in Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, theol. lat. oct.

106). In 1184, on the occasion of the council of Verona, the Dominican pope Lucius III (1181-84) and emperor Friedrich Barbarossa decreed severe regulation to suppress the Catharist and the Waldensian movements. In 1233 the first suspects were sentenced to death by the inquisition in Verona. Scholarly opinion suggests today, that manuscripts such as no. 6 in this catalogue were made, to a certain extent, for lay fraternities, as part of an orthodox counter movement. In fact our impressive manuscript, that includes a delicate full-page miniature most likely originates in Verona, an artistic melting pot where many regional influences coalesced due to the geographical position of the city.

The one-volume bible made around 1220-30 (no. 8) returns us to Paris, where in the first decades of the 13th century the books of the Bible were arranged by and large in the order that is still valid and known today.

The manuscript in question is of a grand folio format (292 x 197 mm), and thus still far from being an easily portable volume, but nonetheless, it is an early singlevolume copy. It is immediately tangible here that the text-compilers, probably professional libraires, still had 11

difficulty in designing the new outline of the texts to plan the layout of the codex. Painters who were also involved in illuminating the famous Vienna Bible moralisée (ÖNB, cod. 2554) executed the impressive picture-cycle, as the stylistic and iconographic similarities imply. Apparently, these painters maintained their own workshops. The Bible of Aulne Abbey (no. 10) on the other hand, is only 20 years younger, but differs significantly from the Paris Bible containing these historiated initials from the Vienna Bible moralisée atelier. The comparatively large initial fields provided here indicate the high ambition of a very wealthy patron.

Moreover, the scribes strove for precision in the text, which apparently indicates that the book was made for the Cistercain monastery of Aulne-sur-Sambre. No catalogue of this monastic library is preserved, but the handwritten late medieval entry ‘Liber beate marie virginis de Alna’ gives strong evidence that the manuscript was made for the abbey. The style of the exceptional miniatures suggests the Hainault as its place of origin, though, as only few comparable manuscripts of similar quality from the Hainault have survived, it is difficult to classify. Thus, it will be one of the future exciting tasks of scholarly research to identify or characterise the two painters of the Aulne Bible and introduce them to the art history of the region, where this manuscript is sure to find its special place. Apart from its exceptional value for art history, the Aulne Bible is by far the most beautiful Bible to be offered on the market for a long time.

It is commonly assumed, that the restructuring or rearrangement of the books of the Bible at the beginning of the 13th century finds its origin at the university of Paris, which had been founded only slightly earlier.

However, the success of the so-called Paris Bible was not necessarily simply based on the obligatory requirements of university teaching. Students would have had to learn the various interpretations and explanations by the major authorities and thus would rather have had preferred single books of the Bible or commentaries.

What seems to have been much more relevant for the success of the portable Paris Bible is the founding of the mendicant orders of the Dominicans and the Franciscans in the first decade of the 13th century, as their members needed indeed genuinely portable books for their missionary work. These preaching monks, wandering from place to place without any property of their own to announce the word of God, caused these so-called pocket bibles to fly off the shelves. The extremely thin parchment used, combined with the very tiny script allowed the inclusion of biblical books into one fairly small volume that could fit into any frock.

Together with a calendar and the Interpretations of Hebrew Names, the bibles assisted in composing sermons following the ecclesistical year. The Interpretationes nominum hebraicum are in fact the last remnants 12

of commentaries and glosses. This alphabetical index of names and their allegorical meanings was attributed to Stephen Langton and was composed at the end of the 12th century. The pocket bible in our catalogue (no. 11) though seems to have been owned by a Dominican friar or priest from the university milieu, as is indicated by the additional biblical readings suitable ‘ad magistros et scolares’. Perhaps the first owner was Flemish, but we certainly know that the manuscript was in French Flanders in the late middle ages, given its present binding.

Whilst the Parisian and the Italian universities became the centres of scholarship on the continent at the beginning of the 13th century, the first universities in the British Isles were developing in Oxford and Cambridge.

Here, we present an English bible from the middle of the 13th century, made in Oxford (no. 12). Almost twice the size of the Paris pocket bible (no. 11), it is ruled almost as a glossed manuscript would be. The elegant and extraordinarily delicate fleuronnée as in this manuscript is typical for Oxford, where the lush illumination must also originate. The annotations and entries dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries, in fact prove that the codex belonged to a university library in Oxford. Doubtless this bible was made for a scholar. In contrast, the psalter with a calendar for the diocese of Tournai (no.

13), has certainly always been in the possession of noble families, up to the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm IV. This psalter served a lay-person each day for private devotion, even though the calendar shows traces of the liturgical calendar. As 13th-century book illumination in Flanders has not yet been subject to extensive research, comparable examples from this region are apparently rare. Nevertheless, both the bible from Aulne Abbey (no. 10) and the Tournai psalter are exquisite examples of high book art in the Hainault resp. in Flanders from the 13th century, and both possess incredibly beautiful miniatures. The psalter, moreover, has a textile cover, of which no comparable equivalent is known.

Another manuscript, an epistolary (no. 14) brings us close to the region of Flanders with regard to its illumination. Epistolaries were intended for liturgical use exclusively, and therefore contain all the texts following the ecclesiastical calendar. Next to the epistles from the New Testament, which form the main part of the book, epistolaries also include the feast-days of the Saints, which help localising the manuscript. Particularly the lection ‘de sanctuariis istius capelle’ in our copy implies that the book was intended for use in the famous Sainte Chapelle in Paris, the palace chapel of the French kings in the royal residence.

A further manuscript (no. 15) from this catalogue, in a broader sense, was produced in the artistic environment of the royal court, as the Master of the Berry Apocalypse, who illuminated this codex, also executed

several commissions for the Duke of Berry, brother of the French king Charles V; this manuscript crosses the threshold from the 14th into the 15th century. Textually it is most unusual, as it fuses the book of Genesis, taken from the Bible historiale of Guiart des Moulins, a text that should be titled Etablissement de la bible, the Lives of the Saints, and a French translation of the Griseldis Story from Giovanni Boccaccios Decameron. Such peculiar compilations were conceived from the outset for laypersons, as exciting and instructive reading. Guiart’s Bible historiale is not a direct translation from the Vulgate, but is actually based on Petrus Comestor’s Historia scholastica, which treated the Holy Scriptures as a kind of historical schoolbook. This type of history bible was successful as a genre from its creation at around 1300, and most of them have precious illumination cycles.

This catalogue contains the only Bible historiale still in private hands which originates in northern France or Flanders (no. 20). It is among the latest copies of this type of manuscript.

raine had their luxurious copy of the Vie du Christ made between 1506 and 1508 (no. 21). Interestingly, Mathias Huss from Lyons had already printed the Vita Jesu Christi e quatuor Evangeliis et scriptoribus orthdoxis concinnata by Ludolph of Saxony in 1487, in the French translation of Guillaume Lemenand, and Antoine Vérard in Paris followed him in publishing a precious volume of the text with woodcut-illustrations in 1503.

Nevertheless, Philippine preferred to possess an illuminated manuscript. Two different artists were involved in illuminating this copy, made in two volumes, the first of which is now kept in Lyon. The Master of Philippine de Gueldre executed the first, while the Master of the Chronique scandaleuse devoted himself to the illumination of the second. Having worked for the French king as well as for Vérard, he seems to have aimed at cumulating all advantages of manuscript illumination in this oeuvre. It is hardly surprising that the collector Henry Yates Thompson so admired this devotional book, probably not only for its miniatures.

The manuscript tradition recounting the Apocalypse as a visionary narrative took a different path. Federigo da Venezia composed a commentary on the Apocalypse in Padua around 1393. Illuminated copies from Italy such as ours (no. 16) are very rare and hardly ever found on the market. However, comparable manuscripts from Candia, the Venetian colony at Crete, have survived.

The Staatsgalerie Stuttgart houses fragmentary Italian panels with depictions of the Apocalypse, which seem to have inspired a couple of earlier Cretan manuscripts of Federigo’s commentary; in particular, they instigated the iconography of the miniature with St John at the feet of the apparition of the Son of Man.

When Philippine de Gueldre had her copy of the Vita Christi made as a manuscript, the printing press had long since been invented, and printing with moveable types had already been successful for 50 years. Until recently, it was commonly assumed that printed blockbooks had preceded the technique of moveable type for about a decade. However, it turns out that blockbooks and incunables were in fact produced simultaneously over a period of about 60 years in the 15th and early 16th centuries. For a blockbook, the woodcutter carved both the text and the illustration into the same panel (woodblock), which was then printed.

The rubbing technique used in the printing process and the water based printing ink usually required the printer to restrict the printing to one side of the paper sheet only. Being printed from woodblocks, neither the letters nor the illustrations reproduced very subtly; on the other hand it was unquestionably an advantage that the woodblocks were much easier to handle and to transport. Compared to printed works from the Gutenberg press, blockbooks may have been the cheaper product in their time; this, and their popular content probably helps explain why so few blockbooks have come down to us. As they were usually made without a proper colophon they are certainly hard to date and to localise. Their somewhat wild and archaic appeal, that is still so attractive to us today, together with their rich illustration and the comparatively low price, helped to keep the production of blockbooks going on for decades. The form of the text of the Biblia pauperum in our blockbook-edition (no. 23) is again unusual with regard to the original biblical text. The manuscript tradition of this picture text dates back to the 13th century and recurs in the blockbooks. Forty pages (i.e. 20 double-leaves) relate the images of the Old- and New Testament to each other, following the

The Bohemian bible (no. 17) is the second manuscript in this catalogue containing a dated colophon and the name of a scribe. In 1421, during its creation, King Sigismund and the Cathedral Chapter had to flee Prague, as the Hussites took control of the city.

Our scribe, Matthias of Raudnitz, probably also escaped, together with his patron and the half-finished manuscript, and was able to complete it in Lipnice in May 1421. The bible for Wouter Grauwert (no. 18), once again includes a dated colophon with the scribe’s name. It represents a landmark which enables historians to explore both the history of devotion and book illumination in Utrecht in the middle of the 15th century. The arrangement of the books of the Bible in this two-volume manuscript is unique; moreover, the extraordinarily exquisite illuminations can certainly be attributed to the circle of the Master of Catherine of Cleves.

The latest manuscript in this catalogue owes its existence to a ducal commission. Philippine de Gueldre, Duchess of Lorraine, and her husband René II of Lor-

13

p­ rinciples of medieval typology. The scenes depicted from the New Testament provide evidence of the Old Testament prophecies. Only short texts accompany the woodcut illustrations, and are comprehensible only to those who knew the Bible well, which suggests that the Biblia pauperum was meant as an instrument for memorizing the correlation of the Old- and New Testament. This exceptional book is another to have been part of the libraries of several famous bibliophiles such as Dyson Perrins, the Duke of Northumberland and J.R. Ritman.

of woodcuts is in delicate contemporary colouring, whilst the first initial is decorated with tendrils and even with burnished gold, recalling manuscript illumination. Günther Zainer started as a scribe in Augsburg and had later learned the trade of printing at Strasbourg, before becoming one of the most successful printers of the 15th century. Hence, he developed his profession from manuscript production through to printing. In the German speaking countries vernacular bibles sold fairly well, whereas in other countries the market for such works was much more hesitant.

It is hardly surprising that the unprecedented success story of printed books effectively started with the Bible. Clerical communities especially had wanted to obtain exactly identical copies of the Holy Scriptures for centuries. It is therefore very likely that Gutenberg aimed at this group of clerics in particular when starting his enterprise to print the Latin Bible. Considering the great concerted financial and material efforts required to write just a single manuscript, we can ima­ gine the disproportionately higher risk involved in such an enterprise. In fact, Gutenberg went bankrupt shortly after its creation. Apparently, Gutenberg left parts of his workshop and equipment to Johannes Fust, who founded his own workshop together with his son in law Peter Schöffer, who had previously worked at Gutenberg’s printing press. In the aftermath of Gutenberg’s bankruptcy, the new team produced the first dated Latin bible with a printer’s device, which was finished on the 14 August 1462 (no. 22), typeset after a copy of the Gutenberg Bible. Moreover, Fust and Schöffer set out to print it in more than one colour, like the 1457 psalter from the same press, but they soon faced an explosion in their costs, which is why only a couple of quires appear in multiple-coloured printing. Furthermore, they employed two different types, another reason to regard this book as a technical masterpiece. Previously Gutenberg had hoped to attract possible monastic customers and thus, he printed more copies of his Bible on paper than on vellum. Evidently, however, more wealthy people were interested in buying books, so Fust and Schöffer reacted to the market and increased the number of copies printed on vellum.

Comparing our copy, one of the rare examples printed on paper, to the early Cistercian manuscript from Morimondo abbey (no. 4), we are surprised to find how incredibly modern the layout is in the 12th-century manuscript.

Anthologies of sermons, such as the Postilla super epistolas et evangelica by the Dominican Johannes Herolt (no.

25) edited by Guilelmus Parisiensis also sold very well.

Clerics as well as lay-persons read these compilations for edification and guidance. The edition in the present catalogue, printed by Nicolaus Philippi and Marcus Reinhard in Lyon in 1482, was the first to be enhanced with woodcuts. Thanks to woodcut illustration, books could be decorated with innumerable images; this incunable, for example, contains 54 column-width illustrations and a frontispiece that decorate 111 leaves. A handwritten book with the same ratio of miniatures to text would have been a tremendously luxurious object.

Printers discovered quite early on though that reusing woodblocks more than once was economically beneficial. In fact, the woodcuts in our book exceed the width of a column, as the Lyon printers had acquired the blocks from Martin Schott of Strasbourg – who had had them made for his German Plenary in 1481 – and incorporated them into their own printing. One of the book’s first owners left a mark of his own artistry in our copy, a drawing which though certainly of minor quality, still evidences how much he appreciated the book.

Between 1474 and 1476 Günther Zainer printed the third German bible in Augsburg (no. 24). This edition contains another innovation, namely that all the historiated initials are printed rather than being added by hand later. Seventy three woodcut initials serve to introduce each of the books of the Bible, thus visually structuring the text. In the present copy, the ­majority 14

The opportunity to present both a manuscript and a printed version of the same text (nos. 19, 27) is rare.

The Seelentrost (‘Consolation of the Soul’), composed in Middle Low German in the middle of the 14th century, that mainly deals with the Ten Commandments through more than 200 exempla, written in dialogue.

A number of manuscripts containing the large Seelentrost do in fact survive (55), but there are only three manuscripts known to contain both the small and the large Seelentrost, among them the one in our catalogue (no. 19). The famous Augsburg printer Anton Sorg was the first to add woodcut illustrations to the large Seelentrost in 1478. His second edition, dated 1483, witnesses the great and continuing popularity of this devotional text and is included in this catalogue as no. 27.

Anton Koberger in Nuremberg finished his magnum opus on the 17th of February 1483 (no. 26), financially the most admirable project of the early printing press, the so-called Ninth German Bible. Evidently provided

with sufficient capital, Koberger dared to risk the astonishingly high print run of a thousand or a thousand five hundred copies. He secured his sales by installing branches of his ‘publishing-house’ in many important cities. In order to be able to offer choice to his customers, he produced various versions of this bible: an uncoloured one and two differently coloured. Our copy belongs to the luxurious version that includes 109 woodcuts in costly colouring using expensive pigments and burnished gold. The horizontal woodcuts are based on the model of the Cologne Bibles of 1478, which Koberger probably had already helped to finance. The layout of this bible is astonishingly similar to the northern French manuscript of the Bible historiale (no. 20).

Bruno of Würzburg’s Psalter-Commentary, printed by Georg Reyser in Würzburg c. 1488-89 (no. 29) recalls the early glossed manuscripts we also present in this catalogue (nos. 3, 5, 9). Reyser used two different typefaces and printed in two colours. This copy contains two previously undiscovered and probably unique metalcuts that have been added as pastedowns, which are its main attraction. The metalcuts originate from a workshop in the Upper Rhine region. Metalcuts regularly served as souvenirs from pilgrimages.

Both the motifs used in these images, the Adoration

of the Magi and St Ursula are closely associated with the city of Cologne so that we may assume the motifs originated there. Printed images of this kind very rarely survived, and if they did, it is because they were preserved inside books.

The sammelband containing Pinder’s Speculum passionis, Geiler’s Passionis Christi and Sabellicus’ Historia hebreorum was published after the incunable era, but presents various precious series of full-page woodcut illustrations of the leading German artists of the early 16th century: Hans Schäufelein, Hans Baldung Grien, Hans Süß von Kulmbach and Urs Graf (no. 29). Whilst the woodcuts in the Ninth German Bible (no. 26) seem to have been designed almost with the intention of being coloured afterwards, the images in this anthology would have suffered a distinct loss of effect, if they had been coloured. The artists employed such meticulous use of hatching and cross-hatching to evoke three-dimensionality that both lit and shaded objects were depicted effectively without colouring. Members of Dürer’s workshop designed the illustrations for Pinder’s Speculum during the master’s second journey to Italy.

Although Dürer’s own hand is not precisely traceable in the Speculum, we find his flourishing mastery in the sequence of the famous ‘Engraved Passion’ (no. 30), a worthy conclusion to this catalogue.

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A rare manuscript from Brittany made shortly after the Viking invasions

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Four Gospels, in Latin Decorated manuscript on vellum.

France, Brittany, c. 1050.

192 × 128 mm. 134 [of 135] leaves (+ 2 modern vellum flyleaves front and rear), collation: I8, II8–1 [lacking iii, (vi loose)], III-VIII8, IX8+5 [v-ix leaves of the late 11th century inserted into the middle of the quire], X-XVI8, XVII 2. Modern foliation, repeating ‘79’ (numbering is followed in this description). – Written space: 164 × 93 mm, ruled with a scoring instrument for a single column of 26 lines (25 on fol. 68–72), except for fol. 78v, the genealogy of Christ, which is in four columns, prickings occasionally present in outer margins. Written in dark brown ink, apparently by a single scribe, in a small neatly-formed Carolingian script. The first letters of paragraphs are written in the margins, marginal concordance numbers occasionally preserved. A few capitals touched in red to fol. 14. 12 large penwork initials of uncoloured interlaced and patterned bands, one with dragon’s head, one containing a man’s face, 3 very large decorated initials in the same style in red and green over brown ink, one initial terminating at top left and centre with three dragons’ heads, 12 pages of canon tables composed of tall patterned columns surmounted by arches decorated with spiral, zig-zag and interlaced patterns in orange, green and yellow.

– A face scribbled on fol. 26. Some leaves stained and some slightly cropped in the outer margins, affecting annotations, a few holes and natural flaws in the vellum neatly repaired; margins of the last leaves defective and repaired. – English early 19 th century green morocco, arms of Rev. Theodore Williams gilt on lower cover and his initials and crest on the upper, spine with gilt title and gilt lattice-work design. Housed in a modern leather solander box.

Provenance: 1. The Benedictine monastery of St Sauveur-le-Vicomte in the diocese of Coutances, Normandy. A 14th-century inscription appears three times (fol. 1, 73v, and 133v), ‘Iste liber est de abbatia sancti saluatoris uicecomitis const’ dioc’. Two 15th-century inscriptions on last page (fol. 133v) repeat the ownership note and one mentions ‘Ego Johannes frater vester’. Two further notes record the death, on 11 October, of ‘Frater Guillelmus monachus’. The Abbey of St Sauveur-le-Vicomte was founded in 1080. The additional fol. 68-72 were probably written at the monastery.

2. Many of the manuscripts from St Sauveur passed into the collection of Charles de Montchal, Archbishop of Toulouse († 1651), titular abbot of the monastery. The present manuscript is very similar to, but perhaps not identical with, cod. CXCIV in Montchal’s collection (Montfaucon, Bibliotheca Bibliothecarum Manuscriptorum Nova, Paris 1739, II, 904).

3. Rev. Theodore Williams (1785-1875); his sale, Evans, 5 April 1827, lot 483; the catalogue observes, ‘it should be placed in a Public Library, in order to allow of its close examination and collation’; bought by S.S. Singer, Librarian to the Royal Institution, for Phillipps.

4. Sir Thomas Phillipps, ms. 3501. Phillipps attended Williams’ sale. He purchased only eight manuscripts, including those bought by Singer on his behalf. They were all of distinction, including the Gospels of Matilda of Tuscany (now in the Pierpont Morgan Library) and the Gundulf Bible (now in the Huntington Library). The purchases, according to the late Dr. A.N.L. Munby (Connoisseurs and Medieval Miniatures, 80), show ‘the best instance of Phillipps’s excercising choice’.

5. Sotheby’s, London, sale of Sir Thomas Phillipps, ­26 November, 1975, lot. 817.

6. Private collection, Switzerland.

Text: fol. 1: Prologues to Matthew, ‘Beatissimo Pape Damasso Hieronimus, Nouum opus …’ (Stegmüller 595, Préfaces 153/4) – fol. 2v: ‘Matheus ex iudea …’

(Stegmüller 590, Préfaces 170/1) – fol. 3v: ‘Plures fui-

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sse …’ (Stegmüller 596, Préfaces 155) – fol. 5: ‘Amonius quidem …’ (Stegmüller 581, Préfaces 157) – fol.

6: Canon Tables (lacking one leaf between fol. 10 and 11, containing Canons VIII and IX) – fol. 12: Capitula for Matthew, ‘De nativitate …’ – fol. 13v: Matthew’s gospel – fol. 48: Prologue to Mark, ‘Marcus Evangelista …’ (Stegmüller 607, Préfaces 171) – fol. 48: Capitula for Mark, ‘De iohanne baptista …’ – fol. 49: Mark’s gospel (fol. 67v breaks off at Mark XV:41 and con­t inues again on fol. 73 without loss of text) – fol. 68: John XIII:1 to XVII:9 (additions of the 11th century) – fol.

73v: Prologue to Luke, ‘Lucas syrus …’ (Stegmüller 620, Préfaces 172) – fol. 74: Capitula for Luke, beginning ‘Ommutuit et …’ – fol. 75v: Luke’s gospel – fol.

105: Prologue to John, ‘Hic est iohannes …’ (Stegmüller 624, Préfaces 172) – fol. 105v: Capitula for John, beginning ‘Pharis eorum …’ – fol. 106: Lectio Actium Apostolorum ‘In diebus illis, Multidudinis …’ – fol.

106v: John’s gospel – fol. 129v: Incipiunt capitulare evangeliorum de circulo anni, ‘In natale domini ad sanctam mariam maiorem …’

Gospel books contain the four accounts of the life and death of Jesus Christ. In the second half of the first century, these were thought to be authentic accounts by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John translated from Greek into Latin. During the reign of Constantine the Great in the fourth century, the texts were divided into numbered sections summarised in special lists in the opening pages, called canon tables. These lists, usually with distinctive decoration, as in our copy, were introduced to identify corresponding sections of the gospels, and to mark passages that appear only once. St Jerome later adopted this division and included prologues. Chapter indexes and prologues to each gospel were also added.

At the end there is a capitulary, a list of the sections to be read during mass following the ecclesiastical year.

The table in this manuscript does not, unfortunately, record specific feasts or local saints that would assist in locating the codex to a particular diocese.

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The gospels have always been the central text of Christianity, which is why they have been especially cherished throughout the ages. In the Catholic tradition, priests would only handle the codex with cloaked hands, as the sacred could not be touched with bare hands. The gospel book represented the Word of God and consequently the Saviour. Even today it is of preeminent importance in Christian liturgy.

The canon tables (fol. 6-11v) are placed in architectural frames. They are composed of tall patterned columns surmounted by round arches decorated with spiral, zigzag and interlaced designs in orange, green and yellow.

Numbers in the tables are divided into groups of five surrounded by a square frame of coloured bands; simple leafy decoration projects from the tops of the tables.

Titles for the tables appear within the arches, written in orange uncial letters. A coloured symbol on fol. 10v resembles a monogram (XX and A?). The opening initial ‘B’ on fol. 1 is composed of interlaced and patterned bands of red and green over brown ink, terminating at top left and centre with three dragons’ heads.

The tall initial ‘L’ on fol. 13v has similar interlacing, drawn in black, and coloured with shades of orange.

There are twelve penwork initials in the same style but uncoloured on fol. 48, 48v (with a dragon’s head), 49, 73v, 74 (incorporating a man’s face), 75v (two initials, one incorporating a cross), 100b (the passion according to Luke), 105, 105v, 106, 106v (with a wing, perhaps symbolising John’s eagle) and 125v (the Passion according to John). There are plain coloured initials in green on fol. 2v and 5, and in red on fol. 3v and 14v. One plummet drawing of a man’s head in Romanesque style on fol. 26.

The scribe used numerous abbreviations. The script shows a slight forward slant, long descenders to ‘p’ and ‘q’ and several insular features. Bishop developed a set of criteria to identify English Carolingian manuscripts (Bishop 1971, p. xii f.). The script compares strongly, particularly with regard to the letters ‘g’ and ‘e’, to a gospel book from the first half of the 11th century in Cambridge (Pembroke College, ms. 301). However, unlike the Cambridge manuscript, which was never completed, the present gospel book was never intended to contain miniatures, as is evident from the quire scheme.

It is not easy to identify the origin of this book, as the specific artistic style of a monastery could depend on an abbot’s interests and his pattern of travel. After the conquest of England by the Normans in 1066, mutual influence is noticeable in northern France as well as in the British Isles; we also know of travelling English masters who left examples of their art in French manuscripts (Orléans, Bibl. mun., ms. 175).

It is not known when the five inserted leaves, fol. 6872, were bound into the manuscript, although their position within the book suggests a later addition.

These leaves were written in Normandy in the last 18

quarter of the 11th century, probably at the monastery of St Sauveur-le-Vicomte. The additions show the distinctive ‘prickly’ script which, perhaps through the influence of Lanfranc, became a feature of the Norman scriptorium of Christ Church, Canterbury (Ker 1960, pp. 26-27). The main text of our manuscript is not, however, related to the comparatively homogenous style of the two most important monasteries in Normandy in this period, Mont-Saint-Michel and Fecamp ­– the chief example of which is the Sacramentary of Mont-Saint-Michel (New York, PML, M. 641).

In 1975 Professor Bernhard Bischoff informed Sotheby’s that the present Gospels were probably written in Brittany. The art of Breton scriptoria reached its high point in the 9th century. Dunville identified about 100 Breton manuscripts form this period, among them the Harkness Gospels (New York, PML, M. 115), written at the abbey of Landévennec, from where books were exported to England. These manuscripts are distinguished by unpretentious decoration, using pen drawings filled with washes rather than precious colours and gold. However, the situation changed dramatically with the invasion of the Vikings at the beginning of the 10th century. Even at the turn of the millennium, the situation remained precarious in all institutions, politics, and the clergy. It was not until the middle of the 11th century that any economic revival occurred, and regeneration could commence.

Surviving examples of manuscript production from Brittany are extremely scarce, so any comparative study is barely possible. One of the few extant manuscripts of this period that can be unquestionably connected to Brittany is the Cartulary of Landévennec (Quimper, BM, ms. 16), datable 1047-57. Landévennec, situated near the mouth of the Aulne, was founded in 485 by Irish monks, and in 818 became a Benedictine monastery. When the Vikings invaded Brittany in 913, the surviving monks emigrated or fled to Montreuil-surMer; rebuilding began only around the middle of the 11th century. Another example of a Breton manuscript of the period is Angers, BM, ms. 477 (now Rés. Ms. 0493): although its tables have round arches constructed with a compass, their colouring is similar to that in our manuscript, as are the leafy ornaments sprouting from capitals or bases. Further research should confirm the locating of our manuscript to Brittany. This manuscript’s structure, decoration, and vellum, all point to a period when monks, after a time of dramatic change, were striving to find renewed stability. Its archaic and intense simplicity is still impressive today.

Literature: The manuscript is hitherto unpublished.

Ker 1960; Bishop 1971, pp. xi ff.; Chédeville 1987, pp.

225-227; Dumville 1993, p. 3 f.; exh. cat. New York 2005, no. 6; exh. cat. Paris 2005, pp. 39-43, 300 f., no.

193, 248.

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The so-called John of Crete Gospels of 1156

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I. Four Gospels with Kephalaia II. Manuel Hagiostephanites: Poem in Honour of Archbishop John of Crete III. Gospel Readings for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday Illuminated manuscript in Greek on vellum and paper, written by Manuel Hagiostephanites for John of Crete.

Cyprus?, dated 1156 (July, A.M. 6664) and 16 th century (text III).

224 × 162 mm. 342 (vellum) + 11 (paper) leaves + 1 later paper flyleaf, complete: I 2, II-XII8, XIII6, XIV4, XV-XXV8, XXVI6, XXVII-XXXVI8, XXXVII6, XXXVIII8, XXXIX6, XL-XLV8, XLVI12-1 (paper). Original quire signatures are indicated in the Greek alphabet in the outer upper margin at the beginning of each gathering, modern pencil foliation in lower outer corner: 2-352, including the paper leaves at end and some errors: no. 122 omitted, leaves after 133, 240 and 291 unnumbered. – Written space 158 × 94 mm, ruled in blind for one column of 20 lines (31 in the 3rd text), ruling type Lake I 31 b, 20 letters per line. Written in Greek minuscule in black ink, small initials, canon numbers and headings throughout in crimson ink overlaid with unburnished gold.

Lections indicated in red presumably by a later hand. 4 large illuminated initials (1 historiated), 4 half-page and 4 full-page miniatures. – Generally in good condition with some damp stains particularly at the beginning and end, which cause no loss or obscuring of the text. Prickings still visible in outer margins. A few small rust holes (partly restored) in the first two leaves from the nails which originally held the bosses and clasps, now lost. Leaves numbered 153-155 have tears repaired at a very early date with strips of manuscript leaves. – Greek 18 th-century calf over wooden boards, sewn on four cords. Faint traces of 4 round corner pieces and a large central boss in the form of a crucifix. Worm holes in front and back covers, two clasps missing, joints and spine discreetly restored. Former front paper flyleaf now used as pastedown. Housed in a modern black leather solander box.

PROVENANCE: 1. Made for John the Cretan, archbishop of Cyprus, dated 1156 on fol. 340v. “In the long subscription (fol. 341r/v) of thirty four iambic verses full of poetic flattery of the Comnenian era, we learn that the volume was copied by Manuel Hagiostephanites on the order of the archbishop of Cyprus (115277), John the Cretan” (Constantinides/Browning 1993, p. 85). The period during which Johannes Kretikos was bishop was very unsafe: from 1155 Cyprus had been under constant attack by Renaud de Châtillon and from 1158 Cyprus had also suffered frequent invasions from Egypt. In 1157 and 1170, John the Cretan attended synods in Constantinople (Laurent 1949, pp. 33-35).

The first two parts of the manuscript were copied by a single scribe, Manuel Hagiostephanites. The volume was completed in July A.M. 6664 (= A.D. 1156), as recorded in the scribal colophon on fol. 340v. We know the surname of this scribe as Boukellaros from another Tetraevangelion he had copied three years before (Rome, Bibl. Vat., Barb. Gr. 449). Hagiostephanites may be interpreted either as his family name or as the name of the monastery where Manuel became a monk.

This “abbey of St Stephen” was most probably located in Cyprus, rather than in Constantinople (Canart 1981, n. 45).

2. Monastery of Hagias, Andros (Greece). “It is not known when the manuscript left Cyprus to reach the monastic community of Zoodochos Pege or Hagia in the island of Andros. The manuscript was certainly there in 1748 when it was rebound by its abbot, Parthenios [as noted on fol. 1v, now the pastedown]. It was first described by Constantine Pleziotes, the ex-bishop of Stauroupolis, in 1880 as no. 1 of this collection. In September 1897 the manuscript was examined by Sp. P. Lampros … [Lampros 1898, no. 32]. The manuscript seems to have remained in the monastery until at least 1926. R. P. Nowack examined the collection of the monastery of Hagia in November 1953 and found all 26

the manuscripts described by Lampros except no. 32” (Constantinides/Browning 1993, p. 86).

3. Louis Birkigt, an industrialist from Geneva, son of the Swiss engineer Marc Birkigt, the founder of Hispano-Suiza automobiles. The sale of Louis Birkigt’s collection, Librairie André Cottet, Geneva, 10 November 1967, lot 2.

4. H.P. Kraus, New York, Illuminated Manuscripts from the Eleventh to the Eighteenth Centuries, cat. 159 (1981), no. 4. The manuscript was in Kraus’ possession, when Carr studied it in 1982.

5. Acquired by Martin Schøyen, Norway, in March 1989 (his ms. 231), his bookplate on front pastedown.

Constantinides and Browning, however, record the manuscript as still being part of the H.P. Kraus collection in 1993.

TEXT: fol. 2: Register – fol. 3: Blank – fol. 4–100v: The gospel of Matthew – fol. 101: Blank – fol. 102-165: The gospel of Mark – fol. 166-266: The gospel of Luke – fol. 267-340v: The gospel of John – fol. 341-341v: A verse subscription for John the Cretan – fol. 342-352: Gospel readings for Maundry Thursday and Good Friday (on paper).

The gospels contain the Byzantine recension, according to Aland 1361 and 1.2383, text category 5, the added paper leaves at the end are 14th-century bombycine folios.

The patron John of Crete was obviously less interested in a luxury copy for public display than in the text itself, which he apparently preferred to study in private. Manuel used a deep black ink, and his script is an angular and varied minuscule with a few enlarged and majuscule letters and a number of decorative ligatures and abbreviations. “On folio 203v we can observe the enlarged alphas, epsilons, zetas, lambdas and phis, the majuscule or with diagonal tail deltas, and the ligatures delta-epsilon-xi, epsilon-iota, epsilon-kappa, epsilonlambda-theta, epsilon-phi, chi-rho. Worth observing

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are the ligatures of the words autouV (lines 8 and 13) and apelqonteV (last line). The scribe uses goldover-magenta ink for the initials and canon numbers. The text on the opening folio of each gospel is gold-over-magenta” (Constantinides/Browning 1993, p. 85). This volume seems to have been much more carefully executed than the Barberini Gospels (Rome, Bibl. Vat., Barb. gr. 449), so that without the evidence of the colophon, one would hardly suppose that one and the same scribe was responsible for both codices.

The low-epsilon ligatures, the very black ink and blocky script, the purple colour scheme, and the techniques of applying paint and gold in particular, unite a group of manuscripts that are also artistically related (see below). They form a cluster of manuscripts that were produced in Cyprus and Palestine which differ in style from those originating in the capital.

ILLUMINATION: fol. 3v: St Matthew – fol. 4: The Nativity – fol. 101v: St Mark – fol. 102: The Baptism of Christ – fol. 165v: St Luke – fol. 166: The Birth of St John the Baptist – fol. 266v: St John – fol. 267: Anastasis.

As is usual in Greek manuscripts all the miniatures suffer from flaking to some degree; they are, however, in significantly better condition than those in Barbarinus 449, the only other manuscript known to have been written by Manuel Hagiostephanites. Thus they afford an excellent opportunity to analyse the techniques used to paint them, so often impossible, since such miniatures are frequently reduced to red underdrawings. The style of the painting is characterised by heavy outlines in deep colours, heavy brows, and cheeks highlighted with dabs of red. Gold predominates as the background. The palette encompasses a full range of colours which tend to be rich and creamy, with a pastel quality. A crenellated border, while not universally applied, is to some extent a mark of the school.

Annemarie Weyl Carr discussed and analysed Byzantine manuscripts exhaustively, among them the present one, which she named the Kraus Gospel Book as it was still in H.P. Kraus’ collection in New York when she studied it. Together with the tetraevangelion Barberinus 449, also written by Manuel Hagiostephanites, this manuscript defines the basic criteria for a Cypriot style; as Carr states, this tetraevangelion and the Barberini codex were produced in Cyprus, as both the scribe’s name, as well as the patron, John the Cretan, were Cypriot. These two manuscripts are the outstanding codices within the so-called Chicago subgroup, which Carr named after Chicago, University Library, ms. 965 – formerly known as ‘family 2400’ –, because they are the only ones to be dated and located through both the scribe and the patron. The two gospels as well as a Palestinian lectionary dated 1152 ( Jerusalem, Anast.

9) constitute the basis of the Cypriot and Palestinian School of Illumination, with Manuel’s works being the 28

earliest witnesses of the so-called decorative style. Carr was able to show that all the surviving manuscripts of the decorative style form a coherent group, and are contemporary to Comnenian and late Comnenian art.

Interestingly enough, the Barberini manuscript does not show either the same justification or the same hand in its illustration as the present manuscript. This implies that each book was not only an individual commission, but also an individual enterprise, bringing together different artists and scribes, who apparently did not work within the context of a workshop.

Carr linked the two codices to Paris, BN, Supplement gr. 1335, St Petersburg, Russian National Library, gr.

105, and partly to Chicago, University Library, ms.

965, because all of these share the same pink, green and bright chalky blue colour scheme. She also found parallels in the background architecture in other manu­ scripts in London, Paris and Mount Athos. Across the whole group, however, no miniature is identical to another, although the illuminators only shared a limited choice of models. Carr therefore assumes that these manuscripts cannot have been made in a scriptorium with an adjacent book illuminators’ atelier, but that they were more probably made by single, loosely connected scribes and illuminators. It is this artistic diversity in particular that makes localizing the group so problematic, and almost impossible, if it wasn’t for the colophons of Manuel Hagiostephanites. Indeed Gamillscheg, despite the colophons, continues to assert that these manuscripts were produced in Constantinople, because of their diverse character (Gamillscheg 1987, p. 316).

Carr states that a massive influence from Constantinople also distinguishes this group; she singles out the lavishness of ornament, historiated initials, historiated or carpet headpieces, and argues that artistic influences from the capital were absorbed in Cyprus during the metropolitan involvement in the early Crusades.

Carr suggests that the artistic ambiance of the whole Chicago subgroup was also determined by administrative, and above all monastic, ties in Southern Greece, perhaps including Rhodes, and Cyprus – as Peloponnesian and Cypriot monasteries and authorities were united in seeking their spiritual roots in Palestine. The size of the books, and their informal script, imply that most of the members of the Chicago subgroup were conceived for private rather than public use.

Manuel Hagiostephanites (and thus the present manuscript and its companion in the Vatican Library) is of central importance in the tradition of Cypriot and Byzantine book illumination in the second half of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th century. Later manuscripts in the Chicago subgroup, and indeed later manuscripts of other styles, frequently refer back, both in terms of script and illumination, to these ‘archetypes’ connected with Manuel. Our manuscript exhibits the closest kinship with the St Petersburg Gospels

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(s.a.), for not only are its gospel illustrations clearly related, but all four Evangelists’ portraits are obviously derived from the same archetype as ours. The portraits of the Evangelists are not without special interest in our manuscript, as Matthew, Mark, and Luke are asso­ ciated with symbols, which is rare in Byzantine minia­ ture painting.

Fol. 3v: St Matthew writing, full page. The Evangelist is seated facing right, before an architectural background on the left and right. His chair is decorated with curvilinear designs (rare, but also seen in the St Petersburg Gospels). To the lower right is what appears to be the bust of an angel. His facial features are particularly well preserved.

Fol. 4: The Nativity, half-page, as headpiece to the gospel of Matthew, decorated initial beta. A half-page miniature within a crenellated border, as are all the illustrations to the gospels. Some flaking on Mary’s face, but the facial features on the other figures are fairly well preserved. Red and gold predominate.

Fol. 101v: St Mark thinking, full page. Mark is seated facing forwards. In the St Petersburg Gospels he faces right, but the remaining composition is so similar that a common archetype can be readily supposed. Some flaking on his body reveals the red underdrawing, but his face is virtually perfect. His symbol, a lion, at upper left. An architectural background at left and right.

Fol. 102: The Baptism of Christ, half page, as headpiece to the gospel of Mark, decorated initial alpha.

In unusually fine condition, with all four figures especially well-preserved apart from their faces. A close parallel can be drawn to the miniatures in the Paris and St Petersburg manuscripts and also to the Queledjlar Fresco in Cappadocia.

Fol. 165v: St Luke dipping his pen, full page. Seated facing right on a chair with gold and brown curvilinear patterns. This miniature has some flaking, but is still fairly well preserved. An unidentifiable species of bird is sitting on a roof in the upper left.

Fol. 166: The Birth of St John the Baptist. A very rare and remarkably well preserved miniature, somewhat differently composed to its counterpart in the Rockefeller McCormick New Testament. Added to ours is the figure of Zechariah the priest, to our knowledge not otherwise found as part of the birth scene in book

30

illustration, although they are found together in the Mt. Athos frescoes. H.R. Willoughby states, “Almost never does the birth of the Baptist appear as a miniature in partially illustrated Gospels”.

Fol. 266v: St John seated, full-page. The Evangelist is seated facing right on a high-backed chair painted in gold and brown. Our miniature is badly flaked at the lower right, and it is possible that a symbol has been lost.

Fol. 267: The Anastasis, as headpiece to the gospel of John, and a decorated epsilon. The equivalent of the ascension in western manuscripts. This miniature is fortunately rather well preserved, for, iconographically, it is the most complex illustration of the resurrection to survive in this school of painting. On the left are Adam and Eve and on the right Solomon and David. The addition of John the Baptist is to be expected. The three other figures however, two in Hades and one next to John, we cannot identify with certainty. Beneath Jesus appears to be an animal or grotesque figure, perhaps representing Satan, who, as is traditional, grovelling at Christ’s feet, although it is generally thought that Satan was dropped from the iconography of the ascension in the 12th century, only to reappear at Athos in the 14th.

This entry is largely based on the writings of Annemarie Weyl Carr if not otherwise noted.

LITERATURE: Lampros 1898, p. 167-169; Vogel and Gardthausen 1909, p. 274; Goodspeed, Riddle and Willoughby 1932; Willoughby 1933, p. 3f.; Lake and Lake 1934, no. 10; Laurent 1949, pp. 33-35; Darrouzès 1957, p. 135, no. 8 (Darrouzès never saw the manuscript, the information being taken from Lampros 1898); Richard 1958, p. 29; Buchthal 1964, p.

217ff.; Aland et al., p. 130; Weyl Carr 1973; Cutler and Carr 1976, p. 315, n. 64, 117; Cutler 1979, p. 141; Spatharakis 1979, p. 141; Nelson 1980, pp. 31f., 110; Canart 1981, p. 25, 31, 34f., n. 19, 44, 45, 73, fig. 2; Spatharakis 1981, no. 151, pls. 290f.; Weyl Carr 1982, no. 16, p. 40, n. 42-44, 47, 60; Gamillscheg 1987, p.

314-316, 319f., fig. 2; Weyl Carr 1987, p. 7, 12-28, 127, 137, 142f., 149, 261f., no. 79; Constantinides and Browning 1993, no. 9; Weyl Carr 1993, p. 283ff., n.

8; De Hamel 2202, p. 61; the manuscript is recorded at www.schoyencollection.com/bibleGreekNT. html#231 (last call September 2011).

cat. 2

cat. 2

cat. 2

An exquisite early witness of the Channel Style

3

Epistles of St Paul, glossed, in Latin Manuscript on vellum, illuminated by the Simon Master.

Northern France or southern England, third quarter of the twelfth century.

264 × 180 mm. 2+143 [of 144]+2 leaves: I-XI8, XII8–1 [lacking iv], XIII-XVIII8. – Written space 210 × 160 mm, ruled in plummet for 21 lines in one column for the central text with two smaller columns at inner and outer margins, written by one scribe in black ink in a protogothic bookhand. Rubrics in red, headings and first line of the epistles in red and blue, 13 painted initials in red and blue with infilling in blue and red penwork for the prologues, 9 very large richly illuminated initials by the Simon Master incorporating dragons, lions, birds, a man wrestling, etc. all amongst lush coloured foliage with white tracery and burnished gold grounds. – Portions of four further initials now partly excised (fol. 53: II Corinthians, fol. 80: Ephesians, fol. 104: II Thessalonians, fol. 120v: Philemon). Many sidenotes and additional glosses mostly in two distinct hands, one more or less contemporary, either French or English, the other probably a 14th century Italian hand. – Some thumbing and negligible staining and darkening of vellum, wide clean margins, upper margins slightly trimmed, prickings partly visible in outer margins, a few wormholes at end, generally in excellent condition. – Bound in Italian red-brown morocco over pasteboard, c. 1570, gilt ornamental stamps, a medallion at centre of both covers, edges gauffered, boxed.

Provenance: 1. Marginal annotations in Italian and the binding suggest that the codex was in Italy from the 14th to the 16th century.

2. Sotheby’s, 29 June 1905, lot 643.

3. Private collection, Switzerland. Shelfmark “Ms 1102” on spine of book case.

Text: fol. 1: Romans (“Paulus hebraice quietus graece modicus latine...”) – fol. 28: I Corinthians – fol. 53: II Corinthians – fol. 70: Galatians – fol. 80: Ephesians – fol. 88v: Philippians – fol. 94: Colossians –[fol. 99a lacking] fol. 100: I Thessalonians – fol. 104: II Thessalonians – fol. 107: I Timothy – fol. 113v: II Timothy – fol. 117v: Titus – fol. 120v: Philemon – fol.

121v: Hebrews.

The manuscript contains the fourteen epistles of St Paul, with the Glossa ordinaria, in the standard order.

Most of the books are preceded by their usual prologue. The biblical text occupies the central of three columns, with the glosses on either side. Each column is of consistent width throughout the volume. There are also interlinear glosses in a smaller script in various hands. The central biblical text is that of the Latin Bible, with selected short quotations arranged in the margins on either side (glossa marginalis), extracted from earlier biblical commentaries, interpretating the text verse by verse both literally and allegorically.

Glosses were compiled from the second half of the 11th century in cathedral schools, in order to facilitate the study of the bible, as text and explanatory commentary could be read on the same page. The interpretations originate mainly from the works of the Church fathers. The psalms and the epistles of St Paul were most commented on, which is why the largest number of collected glosses occur in these biblical books. The most important work of its kind at the time were the glosses of Anselm of Laon (c. 1050–1117), which became known as the glossa (ordinaria) because of the major impact it had on the interpretation of biblical texts.

34

Anselm of Laon had such a great reputation that it was regarded as an honour to be counted among his students. The gloss on the epistles of St Paul was probably compiled in Laon under the supervision of Anselm.

Copies were in circulation probably as early as 1113.

The text in the present volume was clearly edited very carefully, as the scribe supplied missing letters and words immediately. Arranging glossed texts in three columns required considerable skill in organising the page, as the biblical sections had to be aligned with the surrounding commentaries. In order not to waste too much space on the parchment, most scribes frequently used abbreviations in non-commented text, as can be seen here in the prologues, whereas other ­sections are written out in full. In this manuscript they employed a large and angular script for the biblical texts, while for the glosses they chose a smaller one. This new type of book and text-layout was, it seems, hard to execute for monastic scriptoria; it is recorded that at St Albans, for instance, abbot Simon (1167–82) ­consequently once hired professional secular scribes (de Hamel 1984, p. 56). The system of ­arranging texts in three columns originated in Paris, though this does not necessarily imply that our scribe was French, as supposedly it was a technique adopted in England shortly afterwards (exh. cat. Cambridge 2005, p. 95).

Illumination: The present volume is one of the earliest and most handsome of the luxurious glossed biblical manuscripts. The initials are painted on mono­ chrome grounds with their interiors in a constrasting colour and decorated with multicoloured spirals of tendrils and floral ornaments. Dog- or lion-like beasts inhabit the foliage and of particular interest are letters which are composed of the bodies of beasts and dragons curving around and biting their own extremities.

These stylistic characteristics point to the abbey of St Albans, where abbot Simon endeavoured to enrich the monastery’s library.

cat. 3

Simon, according to the Gesta abbatum, “repaired the scriptorium, at that time almost disused and in poor repair, and introduced into it certain praiseworthy customs” (exh. cat. Cambridge 2005, p. 94). He was especially keen to acquire copies of glossed books of the bible, and maintained close contacts with the ­Augustinian house of St Victor in Paris and is known to have sent scribes there to copy new texts. It is particu­ larly Peter Lombard’s Magna glossatura on the Pauline epistles in Cambridge (Trinity Coll., ms. O.5.8) that is most linked to Abbot Simon’s incumbency. This manu­script represents one of the most important witnesses of the so-called Channel Style of a group of book illuminators who were active in England and Paris. Cahn named the main exponent of the Channel Style at St Albans the Simon Master, because of his involvement in Abbot Simon’s books. The Simon Master was also responsible for the decoration of the present manuscript. He was an itinerant craftsman active on both sides of the Channel and there is still much scholarly discussion as to how he managed to operate in France and in England at the same time. However, there is strong evidence that such exchanges took place: for example, two glossed books, stylistically very close to the present manuscript, were made for Thomas Beckett, archbishop of Canterbury, during his exile between 1164 and 1166 at Pontigny and Sens (a glossed Pentateuch, Oxford, Bodl. Libr., ms. Auct. E. inf. 7 and Cambridge, Trinity Coll., ms. B.3.11 and B.5.5), and were brought back from France to England shortly before Becket’s martyrdom in Canterbury Cathedral

36

in 1170. Both of these manuscripts are now thought to have been made in Sens – where, in fact, we know Herbert of Bosham, Thomas’s secretary, stayed after 1170, while he had his own books produced there. The Simon Master was also, moreover, commissioned as a book illuminator in France – at the Capuchin abbey of St Bertin, where he decorated a giant bible (Paris, BN, lat. 16746). Many further parallels to the present codex are to be found in glossed manuscripts made on some kind of professional basis in Paris. These parallels include Paris, BN, lat. 11565, Peter Lombard’s gloss on the psalms, which belonged to a canon of St Victor (de Hamel 1984, pl. 18b), and Cambridge, Pembroke Coll., ms. 147, Ezekiel with gloss, which is preserved in its original stamped binding and is fairly securely attributable to Paris. These glossed manuscripts of the 1160s are the earliest books with any substantial illumination attributed to Paris, and are probably the first books made in Europe in some kind of professional workshop.

The extraordinary quality of craftsmanship and design in the present manuscript deserves to be emphasized.

From the soft high-quality vellum to the fine script and highly finished illumination, this is a book of extreme elegance and finesse.

Literature: The manuscript is hitherto unpublished.

Dodwell 1954, pp. 107–109; Cahn 1972, pp. 187–211; de Hamel 1984, pp. 1–4, 56; de Hamel 2002, p. 84, 108f.; exh. cat. Cambridge 2005, no. 27.

cat. 3

cat. 3

cat. 3

cat. 3

cat. 3

A Cistercian masterpiece of austere beauty from the famous Morimondo abbey

4

St Gregory the Great, Moralia in Job Books 1-18 (of 35 Books), vol. I Decorated manuscript on vellum.

Italy, Abbey of Santa Maria de Morimondo, near Milan, before 1174/75.

420 x 283 mm, 2+242+2 leaves: I8-1 (i blank), II-XXVII8, XXVIII8+1, XXIX8, XXX10. A contemporary foliation, in red, runs: 1, (2-19 irregularly), 20-242.

Modern pencil foliation, incorrect. Numerical signatures and catchwords on the last leaf of each quire. – Written space 318 x 200 mm, ruled in lead and blind for two columns of 41 lines. Written in a fine Praegothica, by several scribes, in brown and black ink, with running heads in red. – With numerous fine very large parted initial letters, in the Cistercian style, in red, blue and green. – Thick parchment, slightly cockled, but very clean in the middle of the book block, wide margins, prickings partly visible, untrimmed. First 16 leaves with a couple of wormholes, last leaf damaged and darkened (see below).

Very early annotations and corrections in the margins. – 18th century quarter calf over heavy wooden boards, as is typical for most of the manuscripts from Morimondo (Ferrari 1993, p. 257). Lettered on spine “S. Gregor. in Job”.

Provenance: 1. A manuscript ex-libris in a contemporary hand (fol. 242): “Liber sancte marie de Morimondo”, with the later addition “In inventario XI”, the latter numeral written over with “i5xii”. The Cistercian monastery of Morimondo, close to Milan and to Pavia, was founded by its mother-house Morimond, in Lorraine, in 1134. During the incumbency of abbot Jacob the monks started erecting a church in 1182. It was secularised in 1799. The Morimondo library catalogue (which must have been written by 1174 on liturgical evidence) survived, and it records this manuscript and its missing companion volume as “Moralia in Job in duobus voluminibus” (Cambridge Mass., Harvard College, Houghton Library, fMS Typ 223, fol. 227v, line 8). Bound in as endleaves are two bifolia, one at the beginning, one at the end, which are from vol. II, and we must assume that this second volume was so damaged at some time in the past that it was broken up for use as binding material. Fol. 2v of the bifolium at the front of our codex bears the signature III; the leaves contain Gregory’s commentary on chapter 29 of Job (verse 6, “Lavabam pedes meas butyro”, which is in book XIX). Both it and the rear bifolium agree in number of lines, script, and format with vol. I. The historian Paolo Giovio (1483-1552) acquired part of the library of Morimondo Abbey, and later dispersed it. The Cistercian abbot F. Ughelli († 1670) later recorded all those 12th-century manuscripts that remained in the monastery. This list has survived and is kept in Rome, Bibl. Vat., cod. Barb. 3229 (fol. 463); it notes as no. 7 “Sancti Gregorii Moralia in Job”, and as no. 28 “Diui Gregorii in Job”, which implies that the present copy was not amongst the Giovio books (Leclerc 1961, p. 177, 181, 182). Furthermore, if it is true that Brother Cirillus Selvaggioni (or Savalggiani) finished reading the book on 2 December 1656, as is noted on fol. 242, this is further evidence that the manuscript was still part of the monastic library in the 17th century. There are two further manuscripts from Morimondo that bear similar inscriptions by the same monk: Milan, Bibl. Braidense, Gerli ms. 12 ( Jerome, Commentary on the minor prophets; the precise date is however illegible); another dated (1665) 42

note by Cirillus is recorded in a commentary on the Apocalypse, that was sold at Laurence Witten, Cat. 8 (1978), lot 58 (Ferrari 1999, p. 41, n. 32; Ferrari 1993, p. 259f., n. 31). The Braidense manuscript appears to have flyleaves from the second volume of the present copy of Gregory’s Moralia (Ferrari 1999, p. 42). It thus seems more probable that the manuscript was among a collection that came to the seminary library of Como at some point before 1819, donated by Carlo Revelli, bishop of Como (1793-1819). Part of this donation was almost immediately swapped for a couple of printed books with count Francesco Giovio (17961873). Ferrari thinks that the present manuscript was part of the Giovio library in the late 19th century (Ferrari 1993, p. 288f., 303). That library was later dispersed in many smaller sales.

2. Christie’s, 1 June 1977, lot 160.

3. H.P. Kraus, New York. His manuscript pencil collation on rear pastedown, dated March 1978.

4. Martin Schøyen, Norway (his ms. 31). His bookplate on front pastedown.

Text: St Gregory the Great (c. 540-12 March 604) was elected pope on 3 September 590. It was in the period between his return from Constantinople, where he had been sent as the ambassador to the imperial court by pope Pelagius II, and his election as pope in Rome in 590, that Gregory wrote his famous Moralia in Job. The text comments on the biblical book of Job verse by verse in 35 books. In his introduction, Gregory explains that “the work originated as a series of talks given at the request of the monks who accompanied him to Constantinople during the years 579-586” (Light 1988, p. 53). “The text is a mystical and alle­ gorical exposition of the many levels of signification of the book of Job, and it was to be a storehouse of moral theology throughout the Middle Ages” (Binski, exh. cat. Cambridge 2005, p. 104). The text became enormously popular in European monasteries, and together with Augustine’s Enarrationes in Psalmos, was one of the most frequently copied biblical commentaries in the Middle Ages. By inserting introductions and summaries at certain points in the text, Gregory already

cat. 4

implied that he intended his work to be divided into six parts or volumes. Generally speaking, the medieval witnesses of the Moralia survive in two-, three- and four-volume formats (Light 1988, p. 53). “The usual division for a two-volume copy was after book 16; some scribes broke from Gregory’s divisions and divided their text after books 17 or 18.” The identical justification of the two inserted bifolia suggests that the present volume must have been part of a two-volume edition, divided after book 18.

It is very interesting to note, however, that the Houghton Library at Harvard University in Cambridge (Mass.) houses a manuscript of the Moralia, also written in Morimondo Abbey in the second half of the 12th century, containing books 26-35 (fMS Typ 702).

Hope Mayo, curator of manuscripts at the Houghton Library, has compared our copy and the Harvard copy, and concludes that although the script and the decoration of the initials are very similar, they did not belong to the same set. In addition, the Harvard manuscript has quire numbers starting with one, so that it was certainly volume three of a three-volume edition. It is for this reason that Light tentatively questioned Leclerc’s hypothesis that the Harvard manuscript could be identified with the copy of the Moralia that is mentioned in the 1174/75 catalogue – which was recorded as a copy in two volumes. Consequently, Ferrari identified the present manuscript as being the one from the early times at Morimondo Abbey (Ferrari 1999, p. 44).

It is very unusual, however, to find that a monastery that was founded only in 1134 already had two copies of a very voluminous text by the second half of the 12th century, when both copies must have been finished at the monastery’s own scriptorium. It is interesting to note that the justification of the written space in the present book and in the Harvard volume is very similar, but the Harvard copy is ruled for 39 lines and a little smaller (408 x 269 mm), whereas ours is ruled for 41 lines. To explain this, we might suggest that the second copy was perhaps made in Morimondo for the daughter monastery of Santa Maria dell’Acquafredda in the Diocese of Como, which was founded in 1142.

It also could be that the text of the Moralia was so much sought after in Morimondo itself that the friars felt the need for a second copy.

This codex must have been amongst the earliest to have been written at Morimondo Abbey. An inscription, partly obliterated, dated Friday June 29, 1252 (in error: that date was in fact a Saturday) on fol. 2 of the bifolium of vol. 2 at the beginning states that the brothers Jacobus of Benixio and Jacobus of Lomacio gave together concerning this book five solidi and 6 (?), to wit, for the binding and covering to Dom Collumbo the prior of Morimondo. The presence of this inscription probably indicates that vol. II was for some reason broken up before 1252, and that the present volume

44

was then rebound with leaves from vol. II as endleaves (as was in Bibl. Braidense, Gerli ms. 12).

Ferrari called the style of the script in the surviving Morimondo manuscripts “nord-italiana francesizzante” (Ferrari 1993, p. 256). According to the Carta caritatis, the letters, i.e. in this case the initials, ought to be monochrome and not painted. This makes clear the paramount importance of austerity, an aesthetic that also dominates Cistercian architecture. Initials, therefore, were only intended to structure the text, rather than to enhance it. This principle or command is more or less followed in the present manuscript , but initials do appear in different colours and in significant sizes. The painted initials for both the prologue and the beginning of the first book cover almost the width of a text-column. The initial introducing book 18 is simpler, but it subtly encloses the chapter-number below with its stem. It is the decoration of this initial in particu­lar that allows a closer comparison of this manuscript to Gilbert de la Porree’s commentary on the psalms, another Morimondo-manuscript at Harvard (fMs Typ 29). It appears to be close in style to our Moralia in Job with regard to script and initial decoration, and the binding over very thick boards, combining leather and paste paper, is also very similar. Light (1988) also compared the present manuscript with another Morimondo codex in Cambridge (Fitzwilliam Museum, McLean 113: Jerome, Commentary on Matthew) and dates Gilbert’s commentary to the third quarter of the 12th century. Equally comparable is Jerome’s commentary on the minor prophets (Bibl.

Braidense, Gerli ms. 12 – Ferrari 1999, pl. 15): the script in both manuscripts is so similar that they might even have been written by the same scribe.

It is very seldom that a 12th-century manuscript appears on the market which can be identified as originating from a well-known source, and which can be located in a contemporary catalogue. This impressive manuscript renouncing mere superficial luxury, embodies the new clarity and purity of faith of the Cistercians.

Literature: Cambridge (Mass.), Houghton Library, fMS Typ 223, fol. 227v, line 8; Martini 1931, no.

12, pp. 12-13; Ferrari 1993, p. 269, 303; Ferrari 1999, no. 6. The manuscript is recorded at www.schoyencollection.com/patristic.html#031 (last call September 2011).

Exhibited: Oslo, Katedralskole 850 år, 10-14 March 2003.

Exh. cat. Cambridge (Mass.) 1988 (Light), nos. 1, 19; exh. cat. Cambridge 2005.

We wish to thank Ms Mayo Hope, Philip Hofer Curator of Printing and Graphic Arts, Houghton Library of Harvard University, for comparing the present codex to the Morimondo manuscripts from their collection.

cat. 4

cat. 4

cat. 4

A highly refined piece from the artistic milieu of the Almagest workshop

5

Petrus Lombardus, Glossatura magna in psalmos Manuscript in Latin on vellum, illuminated by the Almagest workshop.

France, Paris, c. 1200.

280 × 202 mm. 1+204+1 leaves, complete: I-XXV8, XXVI4. – Written space 188 × 123 mm, ruled in plummet in double column for 55 lines with multiple outer columns for authorities and glosses, text begins above top line. Biblical text written in red, commentary written in dark brown ink in script of same size in an extremely fine and regular early gothic hand by at least three scribes, very many marginal glosses especially towards the beginning in an exquisite small gothic hand. Lemmata underlined in red, authorities in narrow column in outer margins in red, versal initials throughout, sometimes with flourishes in biblical text in blue and in commentary in red, three-line psalm initials throughout in biblical text in dark blue with red penwork and in commentary in red with blue penwork, 18 mostly ten-line illuminated initials and two historiated initials, height ranging from four to sixteen lines, in very elaborate and delicate designs of intertwined spiral stems with the heads of dragons and lions, lush leaves and clambering animals in colours, tracery and burnished gold. – Some early corrections to the text and some other medieval sidenotes, first page a bit worn, some leaves rather thumbed and with signs of use, a few stains and other marks, overall in very good condition. – Bound in old red velvet over massive medieval wooden boards set with 12 th-century metal fittings sewn on 5 thongs, the upper cover of wood about 18 mm thick with a central hollowed recess (c. 205 × 130 mm) presumably once for an enamel or ivory, now showing traces of a formerly affixed metal crucifix, held in place by four strips of copper gilt, two of them Mosan work of the second half of the 12th century with repeated stamped impressions of a palmette within an arch, surrounded by four metal gilt beaded-edged frames divided into rectangular compartments enclosing purple velvet, corners bare from removal of enamel plaques (see below), lower cover of wood about 6 mm thick covered with red velvet. In a brown morocco fitted case lined with blue velvet, gilt title.

Provenance: 1. In a monastic library at least until the 18th century. On fol. 1 is a shelfmark in a hand of c. 1700, ‘A.9’, cancelled with a cross and re-written below as ‘M.42’. At the foot of that page is an inscription “hunc librum religavit D. Philippus Fisens hujus monasterii religiosus et Cantor, 1721 (or perhaps 1724)”.

The surname of the monk is not quite clear, possibly Teisens, Trisens or similar, but it is an important clue, doubtless not insoluble, as to the book’s location before the French Revolution.

2. William Gott, of Leeds, bibliophile and book collector, with his gilt booklabel (see also no. 23).

3. His son John Gott (1830-1906), dean of Worcester 1885 and bishop of Truro 1891; the Gott library sold through Messrs. Sotheran, Biblioteca Pretiosa, 1907, the present manuscript being no. 301.

4. C.W. Dyson Perrins (1864-1958), no. 79 renumbered 25 for the Warner catalogue, with his bookplate and labels; sold at Sotheby’s, 29 November 1960, lot 102 to Mayerstein for Major Abbey.

5. Major J.R. Abbey (1894-1969), JA. 7064; his sale at Sotheby’s, London, 19 June 1989.

6. Martin Schøyen, Norway (his ms. 258).

7. Sam Fogg, London. The panel painting with the Flight to Egypt formerly on the front cover has been missing since then.

Text: fol. 1: Prologue “Cum omnes prophetas …”

(Stegmüller 6637) – fol. 2: Commentary on Ps 1 (Beatus vir) – fol. 7v: Commentary on Ps 6 (Domine ne in furore) – fol. 31: Titulus for Ps 26 (Dominus illuminatio mea) – fol. 31v: Commentary on Ps 26 – fol.

50: Titulus and Commentary on Ps 39 (Dixi custodiam) – fol. 65: Titulus for Ps 51 (Quid gloriaris) – fol.

65v: Commentary on Ps 51 – fol. 66: Commentary on Ps 52 (Dixit insipiens) – fol. 85: Commentary on Ps 68 (Salvum me fac) – fol. 108v: Titulus for Ps 80 (Exultate deo) – fol. 109: Commentary on Ps 80 – fol. 128: Titulus and Commentary on Ps 97 (Cantate domino) – fol.

48

131: Commentary on Ps 101 (Domine exaudi) – fol.

147v: Titulus and Commentary on Ps 109 (Dixit dominus).

Peter Lombard (c. 1095-1160) was probably the first truly magisterial teacher of the emerging schools of Paris (cf. no. 9). Peter commenced teaching at the cathedral school of Notre Dame in Paris certainly before 1144. He comprehensively revised two volumes of the old gloss, those for the psalms, and those for the epistles of St Paul. The Four Books of Sentences, and his glosses on the psalms as well as on the Pauline epistles are the major works of his that have survived. Herbert of Bosham states that his earliest known work, the commentary on the psalms (c. 1138), was not intended to be taught in class. Only between 1155-58 did Peter Lombard finish the revised version known as the magna glossatura, The Great Gloss. Herbert of Bosham, or one of his students, completed the final revisions of the text in the 1170s. Peter’s Great Gloss then replaced those glosses that had been most important until then, namely Anselm’s of Laon (cf. no. 3) glossa ordinaria, as well as Gilbert’s of Poitiers media glossatura. “(…) his commentary on Psalms was the scholastic gloss of choice for this part of the Bible” (Colish 1994, p. 170).

Both the bible text and the commentary appear within the same column and are written in the same size and type of script. To distinguish the two text-types, the scribe chose red ink for the biblical text and also underlined in red quotations from the Bible within the commentary. The citation of sources in the outer margins, also in red, he linked with the main text with tiny signes-de-renvoi essentially an early system of ­organising footnotes or references. In order to organise this system of scholarly annotations clearly, the ruling of the page requires more columns than usual. The microscopic and beautifully written sidenotes, especially towards the beginning reveal a knowledge of Greek

cat. 5*

and Hebrew sources (e.g. fol. 22 “omnia hec in libris platonis inveniuntur”) by one of the early, probably monastic readers.

Two features of the present manuscript suggest a very early or accurate exemplar. First the writing of the full psalm text in the same size script as the gloss but in red ink must have been very time-consuming to write and occurs in only a handful of the earliest copies of the text, all before 1180 (de Hamel 1984, pp. 22-23, n. 51).

Secondly, the citation of sources in red ink goes back to Peter Lombard himself, but the effort required to systematically fill in such sources and their comparative uselessness makes their appearance rare in all but the oldest manuscripts (de Hamel 1984, p. 32f.). A few other contemporary manuscripts containing Peter’s glosses show a different system, however, e.g. Paris, BN, lat.

11565, which was produced around 1193. In the lower outer margins of the rectos of the present manuscript are numbers from prima to septima: “The meaning is obscure”, wrote Warner (p. 77), but they simply represent the sevenfold division of the psalms, as indicated here with illuminated initials.

Illumination: Historiated initials on fol. 1: David playing the harp – fol. 131: Christ blessing.

In some ways the illumination of this manuscript is related to what is defined as the Channel Style (cf. no.

3) as evolved by the first professional illuminators who travelled to visit wealthy patrons and monasteries on both sides of the channel, and who finally settled in Paris. Typical of this style are massive folds in drapery, faces that recall Byzantinizing models, the figures, tendrils and spiralling forms with decorative elements incorporating animals, and finally so-called octopus foliage (e.g. fol. 128). The typical forms and shapes of the Channel Style appear in some way classically refined.

The two historiated initials on fol. 1 and 131 indicate a patron who was interested in obtaining a very precious manuscript. Burnished gold backgrounds in the initial fields and an additional gold frame for the historiated initial on fol. 131 indicate the same. King David on fol. 1 is wearing a crown in the form of a banneret and is cloaked in an unusually colourful green tunic heightened with white. The figure of Christ blessing, on the other hand, is dominated by a more severe colour scheme of blue and rose. The decorated initials are composed of meticulously designed spiralling tendrils and the characteristic octopus foliage. These initials are comparable with the Parisian manuscript of Ptolemy’s Almagest (BN, lat. 16200, fol. 4) which has a colophon stating it was copied from an exemplar from St Victor in Paris in 1213. The Almagest workshop, which was named after this manuscript, was active in the first dec-

50

ades of the 13th century, and was certainly located in Paris. Ever since Robert Branner grouped eleven manuscripts around the Paris Almagest in 1972, the number of other related manuscripts has steadily increased with new discoveries. By 1990, Patricia Stirnemann already knew of at least 20 examples produced in this atelier.

Consequently, the refined products of this workshop must have been much sought after at that time. The illumination in the present manuscript relates to the finest products of that workshop.

This is an unusually grand and exceptionally carefully prepared manuscript of Peter Lombard’s commentary on the psalms and is far above the usual quality of the general scholastic textbook. With its fresh colours, highly burnished gold, and the elegant polychrome effect of the script, this is an extremely elegant manuscript from the first decades of gothic art.

Binding: The thick wooden boards are doubtless medieval and it is simplest to suppose they were always part of the book. The upper cover has a central recessed compartment, presumably for an enamel plaque or possibly an ivory. The binding was reconstructed, using the old material, in 1721 (or 1724), and a mid-15th-century Florentine painting of the Flight into Egypt derived rather loosely from Fra Angelico’s panel in the Museo di San Marco in Florence, was then inserted into the recess. This is now missing (cf. Sotheby’s sales catalogues). Fitted around the frame of the binding were Mosan enamels of the evangelist symbols and there are blank spaces in each corner where these have been removed; all four were sold at Sotheby’s, 16 May 1968, lot 36, and resold from the Kofler-Truninger collection at Sotheby’s on 13 December 1979, lot 4. The oblong gilt metal strips stamped with repeated palmettes were originally Romanesque Mosan work and are struck from stamps used the workshop of Nicholas of Verdun and his circle in Cologne, c. 1181-1230 (exh. cat. Cologne 1972, p. 318, Stempelabdruck 1).

Another manuscript of Peter Lombard on the psalms with contemporary fittings and enamels is preserved in Manchester at the John Rylands Library, ms 6. Today, the recessed compartment shows traces of a metal crucifix, which has been removed.

Literature: Warner 1920, no. 25, pp. 76f., pl.

XXXIII; de Hamel 1984, pp. 7-9, 22, n. 51; de Hamel 2002, p. 333, fig. 71. Exhibited at the Conference of European National Librarians, Oslo, September 1994.

Exh. cat. Cologne 1972, p. 318; Avril 1976, pp. 38-40; Cahn 1975, p. 196f.; Branner 1977, pp. 27-29, 201f.; Aynes 1982, pp. 5-13; Stirnemann 1990, no. 20; Colish 1994, pp. 15-32, 170-188; de Hamel 2002, p. 104, 109f.

cat. 5*

cat. 5*

cat. 5*

A rare version of the Bible and an important example of north Italian art

6

New Testament, in Latin Illuminated manuscript on vellum.

Italy, Verona, c. 1215.

193 × 115 mm. 244 leaves, complete: I-IX12, X 2, XI 2 [one originally blank], XII-XIII12, most versos of final leaves with signatures and/or catchwords in centres of lower margins, foliated in roman numerals in the 14th century. – Written space 150 × 83 mm, double column, 30 lines, ruled in blind, beginning above top line, written in brown to dark brown ink in a small rounded late Romanesque hand, Eusebian concordances in a smaller script in outer margins of the gospels, prickings in outer margins only. Headings in red, running titles in alternately red and blue letters, decorated two-line initials throughout (usually at least four to five on every page), in red or blue with very simple contrasting penwork, opening word of each book in highly compressed red and blue capitals to the right of each opening initial, 26 large illuminated initials, from five-line to the full height of the page, in elaborate designs of lush flowers, leafy stems, and geometric patterns, sometimes with or formed of dragons or other creatures, all in colours with pale highlighting and black outlines, on burnished gold grounds, 2 large historiated initials, and one full-page miniature within full border incorporating 4 historiated roundels.

– Some early notes and textual corrections, texts added in the 13th century on otherwise blank pages after the gospels and at end. Some rubbing and signs of use, a few stains and faded pages, some light offsetting from illumination, generally very well-preserved, with original margins and in remarkably fresh condition. – Bound by Douglas Cockerell (1870–1945, his blind stamp on turn in lower cover, dated 1900) in red-brown morocco over oak boards, covers blind-tooled to a handsome interlaced design, title gilt, silver catches and clasps on plaited leather thongs, edges mottled yellow and blue at an earlier date.

Provenance: 1. James P.R. Lyell (1871–1949), his ms. 49, bought on 20 March 1942 from Rosenthal for £ 175 (his price code CAVV); after a bequest to the Bodleian, the residue of his manuscripts were purchased by Quaritch; their cat. 699 (1952).

2. Harry Lawrence Bradfer-Lawrence († 1965), his ms.

22, formerly on deposit at the Fitzwilliam Museum, sold en bloc to Quaritch.

3. Lawrence Witten, Connecticut, consigned by him to Sotheby’s, 5 December 1989, lot 76.

4. Collection Martin Schøyen, Norway, his ms 606.

5. Private collection, Switzerland.

Text: fol. 1: Gospels of Matthew ‑ fol. 31v: Gospels of Mark ‑ fol. 51: Gospels of Luke ‑ fol. 84: Gospels of John, text ends on fol. 110v ‑ fol. 111: early additions, including Wisdom 5:1-14, a short Virtues, the Marriages of St Anne, etc. ‑ fol. 113: Acts ‑ fol. 145: The canonical epistles ‑ fol. 158v: Apocalypse ‑ fol.

147: Pauline epistles: 147: Laodicians, 147v: Romans, 186v: Corinthians I, 198v: Corinthians II, 207: Galatians, 211: Ephesians, 216v: Philippians, 218v: Colossians, 221v: Thessalonians I, 224: Thessalonians II, 225v: Timothy I, 229: Timothy II, 231v: Titus, 233: Philemon, 233v: Hebrews ‑ fol. 244: Sermon on the Holy of Holies in the Temple (added later).

This is an entire New Testament. Until the 12th century, the Scriptures generally circulated in multiple volumes, usually in large format. In the course of the 1100s, scribes began to produce, more or less for the first time, composite volumes of all the biblical books assembled together in very small format and written in small scripts. The earliest examples are Italian, such as the early 12th century volume of the gospels at the Hougthon Library, ms. Riant 20 (Light 1988, no. 5), or the complete bible of about 1150 at Yale, Beinecke ms. 551 (de Hamel 1984, p. 37). These are presumably monastic, and not university books although they were perhaps made for private individuals.

54

Manuscripts containing the entire New Testament first appeared at the end of the 12th century, in the region between France and north Italy. In 1987 Luba Eleen assembled 26 early manuscripts of the complete New Testament, almost all attributed to north Italy (with only four of them not precisely attributed to that region). They are all united by their relatively small quarto or octavo format. With a height of 193 mm, the present manuscript is amongst the largest. It is particularly connected to a group of manuscripts which, on the evidence of their calendars (New Testament, Bibl.

Vat., Vat. lat. 39), or litanies (Psalter Hymnary, Verona, Bibl. Cap.), were probably made in Verona. These manuscripts and the present New Testament share the same simple penwork initials, especially the ‘e’ and the ‘c’ with double strokes in the contrasting colour and the decoration of other letters with simple curved lines. Even the handwriting of the present manuscript seems to be related to this group of manuscripts from Verona – and to a Liber juris civilis urbis Veronae, dated 1228 (Verona, Bibl. Cap.).

As an entire New Testament has no obvious liturgical function, and bearing in mind the small format, Eleen presumes that these codices were made for lay people – members of lay penitential confraternities. They were used for centuries by members of the confraternities (e.g. Oxford, Canon. Bibl., lat. 7); on the basis of the annotations, this could also have been the case in the present manuscript.

Illumination: fol. 112v: Crucifixion – fol. 148v: St Peter – fol. 174v: St Paul.

The splendid full-page crucifixion is iconographically related to that in the Verona New Testament in the Vatican (Vat. lat. 39, fol. 65). That manuscript has a similar figure of Christ with his feet placed on a ledge, the Virgin on the left with a shimmering white line around her headdress, and St John on the right, ­leaning forwards with his hand to his cheek. Only sun and moon mourning, and the roundels with the

cat. 6

­ vangelist’s symbols in the corners are missing. The E ultimate models may be Byzantine (Eleen 1987). There are additional manuscripts in the group assembled by Eleen which are comparable to the present manuscript – for example the ornamental formal frame can be seen as initial decoration in Paris, BN, lat. 320, illuminated probably in central Italy, c. 1200. It is possible to establish the origin of the latter manuscript by its calendar, which includes later additions of Veronesian saints. In it we also find historiated initials with extensions into the lower margin, the tips of which are held in the mouths of birds or beasts, comparable to the St Paul initial in the present manuscript (a corresponding element can be found in Vat. lat. 39, fol. 125v). In particular, one of the artists of the Paris manuscript whose initials are accompanied by the letter ‘M’, shows similarities in style to our New Testament. Although the Paris manuscript has 25 historiated initials, no full page miniature is to be found in it however, whereas the Vatican manuscripts (Vat. lat. 39 and Chigi A IV 74), and a third example from Eleen’s group (Venice, Coll. Giustiniani) are accompanied by large illustration cycles. A further manuscript also in the Vaticana is of related interest, Ottob. lat. 683, a New Testament discovered by Eleen, and to our knowledge otherwise unpublished, which contains four historiated initials, but does have a full-page crucifixion. The crucifixion in the present manuscript is painted on an unlined bifolium, and was made at the same time as the painted initials.

In our manuscript oval faces are defined by green shadowing, especially in the eye hollows, and by heavy eyebrows joined to long noses. The drapery is created by highlights and shadows in different colours, streng­ thening the Byzantine character of the illuminations.

The workshop of Vat. lat. 39, while mainly trained in

56

the Byzantinizing Romanesque style, shows certain German elements. These are visible in the crucifixion of the present manuscript, which could have had models of Austrian or German origin (Eleen 1985), as there was a constant interplay of influences between the schools of both sides of the Alps.

The crucifixion miniature in our manuscript sits between the Gospels and Acts, and may have had an interpretative function, possibly providing a bridge between two texts. Full-page crucifixion miniatures, common in sacramentaries, are exceedingly rare in bibles. The two historiated initials may also have had a symbolic linking function. Neither marks the beginning of its section of Canonical or Pauline epistles. The first shows St Peter, prince of the gospel apostles (fol.

148v), and the second shows St Paul, leader of the Early Christian evangelists (fol. 174v). These miniatures marry the two main elements of the New Testament, here in one of its earliest manifestations as a single volume.

With its combination of Byzantine influence and Germanic elements, the manuscript is an important witness to the evolution of the arts in the 13th century in Verona, when the pictorial arts were in a state of flux.

Literature: The manuscript is hitherto unpublished.

Avril/Gousset 1984, no. 169, pl. C; de Hamel 1984; Morello/Stockmann 1984; Eleen 1985, pp. 9–21; Eleen 1987, pp. 221–236; Light 1988, no. 5; exh. cat.

Cologne 1992, no. 41; exh. cat. Bassano del Grappa 2001, vol. 1, pp. 67–69, vol. 2, nos. II.4.2–4, 8.1, III.4.2.

We wish to thank Dr. Beate Braun-Niehr for her spontaneous help in localising the manuscript.

cat. 6

cat. 6

cat. 6

cat. 6

cat. 6

A typical early Italian Cistercian manuscript of austere elegance

7

Gospel lectionary of Cistercian use, in Latin Illuminated manuscript on vellum.

North-western Italy, Morimondo Abbey (?), between 1218 and 1228.

281 × 208 mm. 2+162 [of 172?] leaves: I-X8, XI10–3+8 [vi-viii cancelled and replaced by 8 slightly smaller leaves with musical notation probably in the 14th century], XII-XIII8, XIV8–1 [viii lacking or cancelled], XV-XVI8, XVII8+1, XVIII-XIX8, XX 2+1 [lacking all between between the leaves that are now fol.

160 and 161, of which the present fragmentary fol. 162 is presumably one]. A few traces of signatures. – Written space 190 × 132 mm for mostly 19–20 lines, written in dark brown ink in a large handsome round late Romanesque liturgical hand. Text written on the top line, original punctuation including the ‘punctus flexus’, headings in red, further headings added in blue, capitals touched in red. Approximately 190 large painted and flourished initials in red or blue, or more usually both colours, and often with green, the initials very often but not always composed of the letter ‘I’ (for ‘In illo tempore’), with an extension far down the left-hand margin terminating in split petals. – Many marginal notes and rubrics in hands of up to at least the 16 th century (e.g. the fine humanistic cursive on fol. 109v). Last leaf a defective fragment now pasted onto flyleaf. Pages at each end rather battered and slightly wormed, a few extremities of decorative initials fractionally cropped, other signs of use, generally sound. – Modern brown sheepskin over old (presumably medieval) wooden boards sewn on three thongs, medieval vellum flyleaves of which the first is blank and the second is formed of a partial bifolium from a very handsome French (probably Parisian) manuscript of St Luke glossed, c. 1190, paper flyleaves added, boxed.

Provenance: 1. Christie’s, 1 June 1977, lot 171; bought by H.P. Kraus.

There were two Christie’s sales, 17 November 1976, lots 367-82, and 1 June 1977 (as above), lots 158-77, both groups sold as ‘The Property of a Lady’, which were evidently principally or entirely from the Giovio family library of Como, which incorporated groups of theological manuscripts from the ancient monastic libraries of Santa Maria de Columba and Morimondo (see also no. 4). At the time of the sales the books were dusty and gave every impression of having survived together, entirely neglected for generations. Their source aroused much speculation. The lion’s share of the first sale was acquired by the Bodleian Library, and of the second sale by H.P. Kraus.

Some of the books proved to have belonged to Paolo Giovio (1482-1552), humanist and historian, including the Agnese atlas (subsequently re-sold at Sotheby’s, 6 December 1988, lot 38). Giovio himself evidently acquired a good portion of the library of Morimondo Abbey, centuries before the Morimondo collections were finally dispersed in the 19th century. A substantial number of Morimondo manuscripts appeared on the market in Milan in the 1890s: eight, which belonged to Hoepli in 1892, for example, are now in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge; four more are now at Princeton, acquired from Hoepli in 1893. It is just possible that the present book was added to the Giovio library at that time, but it had more probably been there with a number of other Morimondo manuscripts since the Renaissance. Those tantalising sales of 1976-77 represent probably the last time that any substantial runs of books from any Romanesque library will ever appear together on the market.

The old manuscript number ‘146’ inside the cover here points to Morimondo as the source of the present book, as matching numbering can be found in books with explicit Morimondo inscriptions in the Christie’s sales. At the foot of fol. 1 there are traces of a long paper label once attached with sealing wax at each end.

The Morimondo manuscripts frequently have owner62

ship inscriptions on the explicit page (see no. 4), - this is not the case, unfortunately, in this codex.

The Cistercian abbey of Morimondo, situated between Abbiategrasso and Pavia in the diocese of Milan, was founded in 1134, and suppressed in 1799. The late Romanesque library catalogue of Morimondo includes a record, in an early 13th century hand, of a group of liturgical books which notes: ‘item duo evangeliaria’ (“item: two evangeliaries” – Cambridge Mass., Harvard College, Houghton Library, fMS Typ 223, fol.

227v). Ferrari assumed that the Morimondo evangeliary in the Houghton Library (fMS Typ 210) could be one of these, while the other could be the evangeliary housed in the J. Paul Getty Museum, ms. Ludwig IV 2.

2. Collection of N.F. Phillips (638).

3. Sotheby’s, 2 December 1997, lot. 49.

4. Private collection, Switzerland.

Text: fol. 1: Proprium de tempore from the first Sunday in Advent to the 25th Sunday after Pentecost – fol. 126: Sanctoral (Proprium de sanctis) from St Stephen (26 December) to Thomas the Apostle (21 December) – fol.

148v: Commons (Commune sanctorum) from the apostles to the birth of the Virgin – fol. 158v: dedication of a church and for the sick, for the dead, etc.: “In dedicatione ecclesie”.

The manuscript comprises the gospel readings for the church year to be sung by the deacon. The liturgy during the services requires readings from passages of the gospels that follow the ecclesiastical year and the occasion rather than the order of texts in the Bible. Consequently, gospel lectionaries were compiled to follow the individual requests of a church or a monastery. The text is Cistercian and the sanctoral includes St William of Bourges (fol. 127v), St Bernard (fol. 140v) and St Malachy (fol. 146v), all of them Cistercian saints. ­No­teably, it also includes St Ambrose of Milan (fol.129v), the patron of that city. However, entries for St Francis ­ (fol. 145v) and the Cistercian feast of Edmund of ­ Pontigny (fol. 147) are later marginal additions. ­

cat. 7*

As they were canonised in 1228 and 1246 respectively, and St William of Bourges was canonised in 1218, this dates the book to not before 1218, and probably not after 1228, and certainly not after 1246. Other subsequent additions include the feast of the Crown of Thorns (on the slip which is now fol. 139, feast-day introduced in 1248) and Corpus Christi (fol. 109v, introduced in 1264).

The script includes the Cistercian punctus flexus punctuation. Some rubrics mention use by a ‘conventus’.

As in the case of the gospel lectionary kept in the Houghton Library in Harvard (fMS Typ 210 and 223), this manuscript evidently remained in use until the early 16th century. The later annotations, amendments and additions of new feast-days were intended to keep the book liturgically up to date through the centuries.

For example the eight inserted leaves in the eleventh quire contain the unusual Blessing of the Paschal Candle before the gospel lesson for Holy Saturday (“Exultet iam angelica turba …”, fol. 86ff.), a text which is also found in the Harvard gospel lectionary and which is unusual for this type of book (Light 1988, p. 29).

DECORATION: In comparison with the Morimondo Moralia (no. 4), the script in the present manuscript has become considerably more compact. While the earlier codex with Gregory’s text still shows stylistic influence from France, the script here is undoubtedly Italian. The coloured initials have been subdivided into compartments, which are decorated in a contrasting colour; a protrusion extends from the base of each initial, ending in a tripartite drop-shaped form. Both the script and the ornaments point to the 13th century.

Presumably, the present gospel lectionary was made some time between the two other manuscripts noted above from Morimondo Abbey, namely Houghton

64

Library, fMS Typ 210, and The J. Paul Getty Museum, ms. Ludwig IV 2, both of whose dimensions are surprisingly similar (fMS Typ 210: 292 × 200 mm, ms. Ludwig IV 2: 295 × 190 mm). While the script in Typ 210 is comparatively steeper, its decoration is stylistically closer to our manuscript. The Getty gospel lectionary, on the other hand, has a similar script, but different decoration of the initials. In comparison to both of these manuscripts ours gives an overall impression that is somewhat more professional and even.

Cistercian book illumination is decidedly austere; images or illustrations occur only very scarcely, if ever.

The Cistercians demanded aesthetics that were, in general, rather ascetic, and created easily legible books with a very clear mise-en-page; principles that returned much later in early printed books. Moreover, such codices were easier to copy, so that the rapidly growing order could supply a sufficient number of the books required for its monasteries. In addition, the order intended to provide by and large identical, well-edited texts wherever it was based, handing them down from the mother-houses to the newly-founded abbeys – where the monks could not immediately install scriptoria. In organizing their book production in this manner, the Cistercians could ensure their unitas ordinis, as it was stipulated in the bylaws of 1134.

The decoration of the manuscript is a splendid example of Cistercian book production – elegant and graceful, with wide margins and a stately script, but austere and without frivolity or gold.

Literature: Plotzek/von Euw, vol. I, 1979, p.

208.

Light 1988, p. 10, pl. 1, no. 8; Ferrari 1999, p. 46; Eberlein 2005, pp. 103–112.

cat. 7*

A long lost complete Paris Bible from the Bible moralisée atelier

8

Biblia latina Manuscript on vellum, illuminated by the workshop of the Bible moralisée.

France, Paris, c. 1220-30.

292 × 197 mm. 1+385 leaves, complete: I-XXXVIII10, XXXIX6–2+1 (1 added, v-vi, probably blanks, excised; no loss of text); catchwords and contemporary numbering of quires in Roman numerals almost throughout; occasional faint contemporary numbering of leaves within quires visible in upper outer margin; modern pencil foliation in upper outer margin. – Written space 183 × 120 mm, ruled in plummet for two columns of 55 lines. Written in dark brown and black ink in a very clean, regular and small Textualis libraria by more than one hand, versals sometimes touched in red. Running-titles referring to the biblical books in upper margins, in alternating red and blue versals except in last quire and psalms, numbering of chapters throughout in inner and outer margins in red and blue in roman numerals, sometimes with flourishes. Versals in text alternately in red and blue, two- to four-line penwork initials alternately in red and blue with blue and red penwork, 59 delicately decorated initials with floral ornaments and tendrils on burnished gold grounds in varying sizes, 81 historiated initials of varying heights, between 5-37 lines and more, with even longer extensions on burnished gold grounds. – Miniatures occasionally slightly rubbed, some flaking to a few, else in very fine condition. Parchment showing traces of use, slightly darkened, some negligible staining but generally still bright, occasional contemporary sewn repairs of parchment, fol. 249 with a tear in the middle of the text. Prickings in lower, inner and sometimes even outer margins still preserved. Instructions for the rubricator, and sometimes the illuminator, also preserved on lower and inner margins. – Bound in late 13thor early 14th-century pale sheepskin over wooden boards, spine with six raised bands, traces of five metal bosses on both covers, and remains of two clasps.

Binding rubbed and stained, especially on spine, extremities worn, without affecting the text block, joints still intact. Spine with traces of an old shelfmark label between 3rd and 4th raised band. Front pastedown and flyleaf perhaps added slightly later.

Provenance: 1. The manuscript must have belonged to a (monastic?) library by the 15th century, on the evidence of the remains of the shelfmark label on the spine. The label could have been attached to the book at the same time as the index of biblical books was added to the front pastedown and flyleaf by a 15thcentury hand.

2. An illegible entry in light brown crayon on the verso of the front flyleaf (16th or 17th century).

3. Leo S. Olschki, Florence (cf. Eleen 1982, p. 121).

Fourteen photographs from the manuscript, taken in the early 20th century, were in the collection of the Bildarchiv zur Buchmalerei, Saarbrücken, Germany.

4. Institut Italien du Livre. IV Foire Internationale du Livre. Semaine du Livre Ancien et Rare, Florence, Palais Riccardi, Galérie de Lucas Giordano. 4 June 1932, lot 3.

5. Bookplate of Madeleine and René Junod from LaChaud-de-Fonds. An additional label states that the manuscript was exhibited at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lucerne/Switzerland between 9 July and 2 October 1949 as no. 15.

6. Private collection, Switzerland.

Text: Front pastedown and flyleaf: Table of contents, added in the 15th century – fol. 1: Prologue of St Jerome – fol. 2v: Praefatio in Pentateucum ad Desiderium: “Desiderii mei desideratas …” – fol. 3: Genesis – fol. 17v: Exodus – fol. 30: Leviticus – fol. 38v: Numbers – fol. 51: Deuteronomy – fol. 62: Prologue and book of Joshua – fol. 69v: Judges – fol. 77v: Ruth – fol. 78v: Prologue and book of Kings I – fol. 90: Book of Kings II – fol. 99: Book of Kings III – fol. 109v: Book of Kings IV – fol. 118v: Prologue and book of Paralipomenon I (Chronicles I) – fol. 127v: Prologue and book of Paralipomenon II (Chronicles II) – fol.

138v: Prologue and book of Ezrah I – fol. 142: Book of Ezrah II (Nehemias; rubric “Nee”; headlines continue “Esdras I”) – fol. 146v: Book of Ezrah III (rubric: 66

“Incipit liber secundus esdre”; headlines “Esdras II”) – fol. 151: Prologue and book of Tobias – fol. 154: Two prologues and book of Judith – fol. 158v: Prologue and book of Esther – fol. 162v: Prologue of St Jerome and book of Job – fol. 171: Psalms – fol. 189v: Prologue and Proverbs – fol. 196v: Prologue and book of Ecclesiastes – fol. 199: Song of Songs – fol. 200: Sapience – fol. 205: Prologue and book of Ecclesiasticus – fol. 218: Prologue and book of Isaiah – fol. 233: Prologue and book of Jeremiah – fol. 251: Lamentations of Jeremiah – fol. 252v: Prologue and book of Baruch – fol. 254v: Prologue and book of Ezekiel – fol. 271: Prologue and book of Daniel – fol. 278: Prologue to twelve prophets – fol. 278: Prologue and book of Hosea – fol. 280v: Two prologues and book of Joel – fol.

281v: Three prologues and book of Amos – fol. 283v: Prologue and book of Abdias – fol. 284: Prologue and book of Jonah (rubric erroneously indicates the prologue of Abdias again) – fol. 285: Prologue and book of Micah – fol. 286: Prologue and book of Nahum – fol. 287: Prologue and book of Habakkuk – fol. 288: Prologue and book of Sophonias – fol. 289: Prologue and book of Haggai – fol. 289v: Prologue and book of Zechariah – fol. 292v: Prologue and book of Malachi – fol. 293v: Three prologues and book of Maccabees I – fol. 304: Book of Maccabees II – fol. 310v: Two prologues and gospel of St Matthew – fol. 320v: Prologue and gospel of St Mark – fol. 327: Prologue and gospel of St Luke – fol. 338: Prologue and gospel of St John – fol. 346: Pauline epistles: 346: Prologue and letter to Romans; 349v: Corinthians I-II including prologues; 356: Prologue and Galatians; 357: Prologue and Ephesians; 358v: Prologue and Philippians; 359v: Thessalonians I-II, 360v: Prologue and Colossians; 361v: Timothy I-II including prologues; 363v: Prologue and Titus; 364: Prologue and Philemon; 364: Prologue and Hebrews – fol. 367: Prologue and Acts of the Apostoles – fol. 376v: Prologue and epistle of St James – fol. 377v: Epistle of St Peter – fol. 378v: Second epistle

cat. 8*

of St Peter – fol. 379v: Epistle of St John – fol. 380v: Prologue and epistle of Jude – fol. 380v: Apocalypse.

Until the early or mid 13th century, the contents of bibles varied considerably in many different respects, including the choice and order of the biblical books, their prologues, and the way the books were divided into chapters and verses, as well as details of the text itself. During the course of the 13th century, a concerted effort was made to standardize these variant features, largely because of the emergence and rapid growth of the University of Paris, but mainly because of the arrival of Dominicans and Franciscans in Paris, who needed standardized and portable copies to preach the word of God. Paris provided a focus for centralized production in professional workshops led by secular craftsmen, and the university, or rather the theologian masters at the Paris schools, provided the means for regulating and standardizing the text. It is for this reason that the ‘standard’ medieval Vulgate bible is often referred to as the ‘Paris bible’. The Paris bible took its final shape by about 1230, prefigured in a group of bibles copied between 1200 and 1230 (Light 1994). The present bible is apparently one of these late and rare prefiguring copies referred to by Light.

The manuscript contains the Latin Vulgate Bible with the prologues by St Jerome in standard order, (on the order of prologues and bible books, see Branner 1977, pp. 154-155; see also Light 1994, for a discussion of the canonic 64 Prologues found in Paris bibles). Chapter numbers are in the margins, rather than inset into the text, which suggests a date of not later than midcentury. Between roughly 1200-30 a change began in the bibles produced in Paris, and a one-volume format gradually became the norm, and not the exception, for the (nonglossed) Vulgate. The present volume unquestionably came into being when the process of revising and ‘re-editing’ the order of the texts in the Bible was almost complete, but not yet entirely settled. We find all the texts in the order which became ‘canonic’ for the Paris bible, but, notably, a few traces of the painstaking efforts it took scholars and theologians to achieve these changes are still visible in it. It is in one volume, but in size is too large to be one of the true portable bibles which were so frequently made from the middle of the 13th century (see no. 11). It does not contain the Interpretation of Hebrew Names, which was usually added to bible texts (preferably after the Apocalypse) by about 1240-50. It also does not yet contain the prologue to the apocalypse by Gilbert de la Porrée, while the prologue to Maccabees attributed to Hrabanus Maurus does appear. Furthermore, the second book of Ezrah (Nehemiah) became a separate book in the standardization of the Old Testament (de Hamel 2001, p. 120), but we can still see the difficulty the manuscript’s organising hand had in deciding whether to introduce the book of Nehemiah with a proper rubric, and to mention it in the running titles.

68

The division of the psalter is noteworthy too. The psalms 1, 26, 38, 52, 68, 80, 97 and 109 are marked by historiated initials. The eightfold division thus created corresponds to the liturgical use of the psalter in accordance with the eight canonical hours.

Illumination: fol. 1: St Ambrose as a scribe – ­fol. 3: God enthroned, the Six Days of Creation, Fall of Man, Expulsion from Paradise, Adam and Eve labouring – fol. 17v: God handing the Ten Commandments to Moses – fol. 30: The Jews sacrificing a calf(?), birds and wine in front of an altar – fol. 38v: Moses blessing a crowd in the desert – fol. 51: Moses showing the Ten Commandments to his people – fol. 62: God addressing Joshua as a knight and his retinue – fol. 69v: Two parties of the sons of Israel disputing – fol. 77: Scenes from the book of Ruth (Helimelech, Naomi, Booz marrying Ruth) – fol. 79v: Murder of Ophni and Phineas, and the transportation of the arch – fol. 90: David commanding the execution of Amalech – fol. 99: Servants leading Abishag to David – fol. 109v: The messengers of Ochozias arrive in front of Elias, who - with the help of God - killed Ochozias’s soldiers – fol. 119: Adam and his descendants – fol. 127v: Coronation of Solomon – fol.

138v: King Cyrus seated, in front of him a knight, behind him a messenger (?) – fol. 139: Scenes from the first book of Ezrah (Cyrus seated and directing the building of the temple, a priest censing the altar, a mason with a chisel) – fol. 142: Two soldiers building and restoring the gates of Jerusalem – fol. 146v: Consecration of the sanctuary – fol. 151v: Tobit and the sparrow, Tobit blind in a bed, a bird flying away on the right – fol. 154v: Judith decapitating Holofernes – fol. 158v: Esther as a queen – fol. 163: Job, covered with wounds, on the dung heap, his wife standing in front of him and reasoning with him – fol. 171: David playing the psaltery; David and Goliath – fol. 173v: David kneeling in front of the Lord pointing to his eye – fol. 175v: David kneeling in front of an altar pointing to his tongue while the Lord appears above – fol. 177v: David seated, in front of him a fool dressed in rags – fol. 179: David drowning in water, the Lord appearing above – fol. 181: David playing bells – fol. 183: Two monks chanting in front of a lectern – fol. 185v: Trinity – fol. 190: Solomon seated, telling his proverbs to a pupil – fol. 196v: Solomon seated with his hand lifted in a gesture of speech. In front of him a young man standing with a flower, and a decrepit man who has fallen down, eyes closed – fol. 199: The Virgin Mary with Child – fol. 200: A seated king listening to an old man, a prophet, in front of him – fol.

205: A seated king and a young man in dispute – fol.

218: Martyrdom of Isaiah – fol. 233v: The stoning of Jeremiah – fol. 251: Jeremiah sitting in a pose of melancholy in front of the gates of Jerusalem fol. 252v: Baruch seated and holding an empty scroll, lifting his left hand in a gesture of speech – fol. 255: Ezekiel lying in a bed looking upwards to the apparition of an ox, a lion,

cat. 8*

a­ man and an eagle – fol. 271: Daniel in the lions’ den – fol. 278: Hosea embracing Gomer – fol. 280v: Joel preaching in front of a crowd – fol. 282: Amos pointing at the ground, giving his audience warning of an earthquake and further catastrophes – fol. 284: Abdias asleep in a bed, the Lord appearing to him – fol. 284v: Jonah climbing out of the whale’s mouth – fol. 285: Micah seated and preaching to an audience – fol. 286v: Nahum lamenting the fall of Niniveh – fol. 287v: Habakkuk with a scroll in front of the Chaldeans – fol. 288: Sophonias and the Lord gathering the animals from the earth – fol. 289: Zorobabel, governor of Judah, seated, with the prophet Haggai pointing at him – fol. 290: The second vision of Zachariah, a man riding on a horse among the myrtle trees – fol. 292v: Malachi and the angel – fol.

294: Decapitation of an idolatrous Jew – fol. 304: A messenger delivering a letter to a group of Jews – fol.

310: St Matthew and the angel – fol. 311: The tree of Jesse; the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary – fol. 321: St Mark and the lion – fol. 327v: St Luke as a scribe and the ox – fol. 338: St John and the eagle – fol. 346: St Paul carrying a cross, a Jew pointing to the golden calf, Moses pointing to an idol – fol. 349v: The Angel of Satan visits Paul lying on a bed – fol. 353v: St Paul dispensing the holy communion – fol. 356: St Paul speaking to a man, a woman and a child who appear to be turning away from him (Paul expels Hagar) – fol. 357: St Paul seated, in front of him a knight, who is removing his chainmail, and a soldier (Paul describes the Christian soldier) – fol. 358v: St Paul preaching in front of two people who appear to be turning away from him – fol.

359v: St Paul in front of a bishop raising a dead man from his coffin (Paul describes the raising of the dead) – fol. 360: St Paul at prayer, while a bishop is giving Holy Communion to a handicapped man (Paul advocates Christian Charity) – fol. 360v: St Paul, a priest holding a chalice in front of an altar, and Moses breaking the tables of the law – fol. 361v: St Paul ordaining a bishop with a crown (Paul promises the Martyr’s Crown) – fol. 362v: St Paul preaching, next to him a bishop ordaining a priest (Paul describes Ordination) – fol. 363v: St Paul in front of a father who beats a child with a club, while its mother tries to stop her husband (The duties of various ages and classes) – fol. 364a: St Paul in front of Philemon who receives Paul’s son Onesimus offering bread – fol. 364b: St Paul carrying a cross in front of three Jews – fol. 367: The apostles and St Paul seated and disputing – fol. 376v: St James in an architectural frame, borne by a kneeling king below – fol. 377v: St Peter as a priest with two servants preaching and blessing from a pulpit – fol. 378v: St Peter preaching to an audience – fol. 379v: St John seated presenting a book – fol. 380: St John as a scribe in a peculiar architectural setting.

The illumination in this manuscript is of minute elaborateness and is definitely related to one of the most fa70

mous workshops of the early 13th century in Paris, the atelier of the so-called Vienna Bible moralisée (ÖNB, cod. 2554). Each biblical book is introduced by a very fine historiated initial, while the prologues usually begin with one or more ornamental initials. Some of the prologues are even provided with a historiated initial as well. Doubtless more than one hand was involved in the decoration of this manuscript; the difference between their styles, however, is hardly distinguishable. Scholarly discussion regarding the identification of individual artists, teams or workshops involved in the illumination of the Vienna Bible moralisée has been very complex and controversial, culminating in John Lowden’s hypothesis that a number of excellent Paris illuminators from various workshops must have been assembled especially to execute this royal commission under the aegis of one main artist, whom Lowden suggests naming the Master of Vienna 2554 (Lowden 2000, vol. I, p. 40). Those art historians, however, who have dealt with the subject of attributing the painted pages to distinguishable hands, such as Branner (1977), Haussherr (1964 and following), Stork (1992) and Guest (1995), concede, in agreement with Lowden, that some of the painters they have attempted to single out, especially amongst the minor illuminators, are stylistically so close to each other that it would be hard to decide whether any two miniatures were made by two hands, or by the same individual on different days or campaigns.

The makers of the present miniature cycle are probably from amongst the ranks of these ‘minor masters’ responsible for the exuberant illuminations of the Vienna Bible moralisée. Although we do have to concede that the full-page miniatures with illustrated medallions in all the early Bible moralisée manuscripts from Paris (Vienna, ÖNB, 1179 and 2554; Toledo, Cathedral Treasury (3 volumes); Paris, BN, lat. 11560/Oxford, Bodl. Lib., Bodley 270b/London, BL, Harley 1526-1527) offer much more space for refinement and elaborateness than can be expected in minute historiated initials, as in the present bible, we can find some stylistic parallels between them. Together with the evidence of the layout and structure of the text itself, these stylistic parallels allow us to locate and date the illumination. Figures are elongated and elegant in outline, their gestures eloquent, while faces in general remain static. Most characteristic is the design of garments, folds and drapery. Cloaks and tunics have vivid and irregular hemlines, blue and red predominate the palette, while an unusual yellowish green is used for the clothes of minor characters. The outline and design of the folds is representative of the so-called ‘Muldenfaltenstil’, a term denoting “a system of modelling that reveals form through softly clinging drapery arranged in folds with hairpin-like terminations” (Eleen 1982, p. 124), which came into being, flourished and declined in the first half of ­the13th century.

cat. 8*

Typical for our painter(s), furthermore, are wide open eyes with pupils carefully picked out as black dots in all figures, relatively straight eyebrows, the outlines of noses terminating in flourishes, low foreheads, quite uniform facial profiles, and ears almost always hidden, usually under curly grey or light brown hair accentuated with black lines. The small lips with red dots and red cheeks, however, are not peculiar to our painter(s), but characterize all the workshops that were involved in illuminating all the Paris Bibles moralisées.

Comparison of the miniatures in the present manuscript to fol. 8, 35, 57, and some medallions on fol.

56, of Vienna, cod. 2554, suggests that they could be attributed to the artist or group of artists whom Stork names C1 and C2 (Stork 1992, p. 83), the eighth and ninth painters of the Vienna Bible moralisée. If we accept Lowden’s hypothesis that all the artists who were assembled to illuminate this major book, regardless of their original atelier, worked under the aegis of the Master of the Vienna Bible moralisée, we can in contrast conclude that for the illustration of the present bible, these one or two hands – C1 and C2 – worked as their own masters sometimes employing patterns we also find in the Bible moralisée.

There is, moreover, not only stylistic evidence that the present manuscript must be linked to the famous picture bibles of the early 13th century: the iconography of the Pauline epistles in our bible is also chiefly concerned with contrasting the faith of the New Testament with the faith of the Old Testament. Unlike other illustration cycles of mid-13th-century Paris bibles, the Pauline epistles are not simply historiated with an initial containing a seated figure (St Paul), who either receives or sends messages in the form of script rolls, or who preaches to an audience – and neither do they depict scenes or episodes from St Paul’s life. In fact, Luba Eleen, who has classified the iconography of the Pauline epistles, identifies the pictorial cycle in the present manuscript as belonging to the ‘Prologue Cycle’ (Eleen 1982, pp. 118-149). The

72

rather symbolic iconography of this cycle is determined by the prologues to the epistles that are known as the “It I Prologues” (De Bruyne 1920, p. 239-42).

However, these particular prologues have not been included in the text of our bible, as is also the case with most of the other manuscripts containing this cycle. Eleen was able to trace this rare cycle in only 12 manuscripts, the present manuscript among them; the cycle being defective in six. Most obviously, the miniatures in this manuscript are very closely related to what one can reconstruct of the first of the ‘Prologue cycles’, which again refers to the illustration of the Bible moralisée (Eleen 1982, p. 123ff.), and, both stylistically and iconographically, to another bible manuscript kept in Paris (Bibl. Ste Geneviève, ms.

1180), also known as the Maugier Bible. The latter is thought to have been made in the late 20s of the 13th century in Paris.

To conclude, this manuscript contains a most exceptional and complete illustration cycle which can be linked to the famous Paris workshop of the Vienna Bible moralisée. Furthermore, it represents a state of transition in the development of text, text design, illumination and size, of what would become the ‘classic’ Paris bible by 1230.

The manuscript was last seen in public at the Lucerne exhibition in 1949, and Luba Eleen, publishing four photographs of it in her work on the cycle of the Pauline epistles in 1982, did not know of its whereabouts, and had to resort to photographs from the first decade of the 20th century (cf. Eleen 1982, p. 121).

Literature: Exh. cat. Lucerne 1949, no. 15; Eleen 1982, pp. 118-149, no. 12, fig. 278, 289, 306 (as (Ex) Florence, Olschki).

De Bruyne 1920, pp. 239-242; Branner 1977, pp. 2265, 154-155; Stork 1992, pp. 81–112; Light 1994, pp.

155-176; Guest 1995; Lowden 2000, vol. I, p. 40; Rouse and Rouse 2000, esp. vol. I, p. 33-35; De Hamel 2001, p. 120; Haussherr 2009, Hellemans 2010.

cat. 8*

Peter Lombard’s Gloss in a magnificent copy with exceptional margins

9

Petrus Lombardus, Glossatura magna in psalmos Manuscript in Latin on vellum, illuminated by the workshop of the Vie de Saint Denis.

Northern France, Paris, c. 1225-50 and Spain, c. 1460.

442 × 315 mm. 213 leaves including flyleaves, complete: I-XI12 , XII12–1 [a blank leaf excised after fol. 139], XIII-XVII12 , XVIII10 , with horizontal catchwords and ad hoc leaf signatures in plummet, modern pencil foliation (followed here) repeating ‘203’. – Written space 248 × 162 mm, ruled in plummet, double column, the gloss in 57 lines, the psalms in blocks of text aligned to the left of each column and written in every second ruled line (alternate line system), text beginning below top ruled line, written in dark brown ink in two sizes in an early gothic bookhand.

Lemmata in the gloss underlined in red, citations of sources in the margins in red, versal initials in gloss alternately red and blue, versal initials in psalms in red or blue with penwork in the contrasting colour. Approximately 335 large illuminated initials in highly burnished gold on blue and pink-brown grounds with white tracery, 51 pages with full illuminated frame borders in highly burnished gold in bars broken by quatrefoils or quinquefoils and with similar flower heads or flamboyant fleurs-de-lys in each corner (one as a goat’s head on fol. 1, others as dragons on fol.

2), 9 large historiated initials in full colours and highly burnished gold. – Some contemporary sidenotes and other signs of careful use, some negligible rubbing and thumbing, generally in extremely fine condition with vast margins. – Massive medieval binding in white tawed leather, over slightly bevelled wooden boards sewn on 7 double thongs, covers triple-ruled to a frame and saltire pattern, blind-stamped in each lozenge with a fleur-de-lys in a rectangle surrounded by a ring of tiny circular stamps of stars or 6-petalled flower heads. Medieval vellum title label “psalteriu[m] glosatu[m]” in gothic script attached towards top of lower cover with 8 metal pins, 2 clasp straps secured by metal fittings (not matching) on edge of upper cover reaching to corresponding metal pins on lower cover. Old vellum endleaves. Metal catches and all metal bosses on covers removed, binding scuffed and worn, spine repaired.

Provenance: 1. Numerous reader’s notes in the margins cite the opinions of ‘G’, who may be the master whose classes the owner attended, such as Guillaume d’Auvergne (c. 1180-1249), of Paris (alternatively, ‘G’ might simply be the ‘Glossator’). There is a medieval name “Matheus” at the foot of the last page.

2. The library of the marquises of Astorga, in northwest Spain, probably founded by Álvaro Pérez Osorio created first marquès in 1465, died in 1480, buried in Astorga Cathedral; and by descent to the 17th marquès, Vicente Isabel Osorio de Moscoso y Álvarez de Toledo (1777-1837). The library was sold in London in 1826. Some books went to Richard Heber, nearly 4000 printed books went to the National Library of Scotland, and others were dispersed by auction at Evans, 2 March 1826 (Munby 1954, p. 149; Loudon 1971, pp. 89-93).

3. Late 19th-century armorial bookplate of C. L. and E. Knight; perhaps in their sale at Sotheby’s, 6 June 1889.

4. Francis Crawford Burkitt (1864-1935), Professor of Divinity at Cambridge, with his signature; by descent to his son, Miles Crawford Burkitt (1890-1971), F.S.A.; his sale at Sotheby’s, 7 December 1964, lot 154, to Traylen.

5. Collection of Sean Galvin, Ireland.

Text: fol. 1: Prologue “Cum omnes prophetas spiritus sancti” (PL CXCI, 55-1296; Stegmüller 6637) –­ fol. 2: Commentary for Ps 1 (Beatus vir) – fol. 36: Commentary for Ps 26 (Dominus illuminatio mea) –­ fol. 57: Commentary for Ps 38 (Dixi custodiam) – fol.

75: Commentary for Ps 52 (Dixit insipiens) – fol. 95: Commentary for Ps 68 (Salvum me fac) – fol. 119: Commentary for Ps 80 (Exultate) – fol. 139: Commentary for Ps 97 (Cantate) – fol. 142: Commentary for Ps 101 (Domine exaudi) – fol. 159v: Commentary for Ps 109 (Dixit dominus). – fol. 211v: end of text “omnis spiritus laudet dominum”.

74

Although Petrus Lombardus counts among the most important personalities of his time, no records or biography survive to tell us something of his life (see also no.

5). Probably born between 1095-1100 in the region of Novara in Lombardy, he is mentioned only as an adult in a letter from Bernard of Clairvaux, then in Rheims, to Gilduin, abbot of the Augustinians of St Victor in Paris, that dates between 1134 and 1136. Peter had been recommended to Bernard by Humbert, bishop of Lucca, and was obviously in Rheims at that time. Hugo of St Victor was teaching in Paris at this time, and Peter may have attended his lectures. Although he had probably been in Paris since 1136, he started writing and teaching in about 1142, and in 1145 became a renowned canon of Notre Dame. Unlike the other canons of Notre Dame, who all originated from influential families with close connections to the royal court, Peter was alone in having been recruited purely on the basis of his scholarly merits. He advanced his career until be became archdeacon in 1156. He had presumably also accompanied bishop Theobald on his journey to Rome in 1154. Elected bishop of Paris in 1159, he died the following year.

Peter's Commentaria in Psalterium, or Magna Glossatura in Psalmos, was probably begun around 1135, but was not apparently released for copying until about 1155 or even 1158-59, when the author was forced to give up teaching on becoming bishop of Paris. Herbert of Bosham, or one of his students, ultimately revised the text to its final state in the 1170s.

The present manuscript is a luxury copy of a psalter commentary on a vast scale. It is a book of immense technical complexity and innovation, with the psalm texts in short sections clinging to the left of a column while the catena commentary runs continuously beside and around them, like a waterfall tumbling around rocks, without one ever getting out of step with the other.

cat. 9*

This is one of the first texts to use footnotes, or at least a system of citing sources by means of patterns of red dots, which refer to the names of authorities in the upper margins, here mainly Cassiodorus (two vertical dots), Jerome (one dot), Augustine (two diagonal dots) and Remigius (three dots).

The penwork of the fleuronné initials develops in long extensions and tendrils, mostly in chord-like parallel lines ending in spiralled cusps. Stirnemann characterizes these features of fleuronnée as typical for the period between 1230 and 1250 (Stirnemann 1990, no.

25-27).

Illumination: Historiated initials on fol 1: Peter Lombard seated writing on a lectern – fol. 2: David playing the harp – fol. 36: The anointing of David – fol. 57: David pointing to his mouth as Christ blesses him – fol. 75: David watching the fool with a club and a loaf of bread – fol. 95: David in the water calling to God above – fol. 119: David playing the bells – fol. 139: Two priests singing at a lectern – fol.

159v: The Trinity enthroned, with the Holy Dove above the Father and Son. The historiated initials enhance those psalms that are relevant for the liturgy of the hours (Pss 1, 26, 38, 52, 68, 80, 97 (101 is decorated only with an ornamented initial) and 109).

The illuminator painted the faces and hands of his figures with a ground of very pale hues and picked out details in black ink with a pen: distinctive nostrils, straight eyebrows, large eyes and wisps of hair. In contrast, he appears to have preferred a brush for modelling clothing, accentuating the folds in the drapery in darker hues. The nine miniatures are characteristic products of the Vie de Saint Denis Atelier in Paris, one of the most prolific workshops in Paris from about 1230 to 1250, between the early Bible moralisée and

76

mid-century styles. The present manuscript shows all the hallmarks of the workshop, including distinctive colouring and the use of neat curling lines for hair. The choice of subjects for the psalm pictures corresponds exactly to those in Paris, Bibliothèque de Ste-Geneviève, ms. 2690.

The full burnished gold borders are very unusual, applied in facing pairs but seemingly at random. They were certainly added afterwards, as they sometimes overlap the fleuronnée. Many books like this were brought from Paris to cathedrals and the great monastic libraries of Europe, and we know that students from Spain travelled to Parisian universities and brought back books into their country. It is possible that these gold borders are Spanish additions. The manuscript was probably in Spain by the late Middle Ages, and it may have been brought there when new. Although we know of no precise parallels, illuminated bar borders are not unknown in Spain. Unfortunately, it has been impos­ sible so far to compare other manuscripts from the property of the Astorga family. However, we know that a number of the books from the Astorga library now preserved in the National Library of Scotland are in contemporary bindings made especially for the Astorga family. It might be possible therefore, that the present book was newly bound and decorated with burnished gold borders when it was incorporated into the Astorga library.

The manuscript is of extremely high quality, with exceptionally large margins and gold burnished to a mirror finish.

Literature: The manuscript is hitherto unpublished.

Branner, 1977, pp. 87–93, 192 and 224–27; de Hamel 1984, p. 7–9; 22–24; Stirnemann 1990, p. 67; Colish 1994, pp. 15–32, 170–188; de Hamel 2002, p. 109f.

cat. 9*

cat. 9*

cat. 9*

The Bible of Aulne Abbey

10

Biblia latina Illuminated manuscript on vellum.

Northern or North-Eastern France, or Flanders (Hainault?), c. 1240–50.

272 × 180 mm. 381 leaves, complete (one leaf detached but present): I16, II-X12, XI12+4 [fol. 135-8 are 2 bifolia inserted into the gathering], XII-XXVII12, XXVIII10, XXIX10–2 [2 blank leaves missing], XXX-XXXI12, XXXII8–1 [one blank missing], with some signatures in roman numerals at ends of gatherings I, IV, XI-XII, XXI-XXIII, XXV, XXVI, etc., modern pencil quire numbers in outer margin. – Written space: 185-194 × 119 mm, ruled in brown ink for 5258 lines in double column; text begins above top line except in first gathering and in the Interpretations, written by several scribes (and corrected by several more) in brown ink in a small very early gothic bookhand, many early textual corrections either neatly inserted in the text itself or supplied in margins with signes-de-renvoi and the additions in decorative red cartouches (usually circular up to gathering VII and thereafter usually rectangular), some rubrics in red, sometimes at ends of columns in a larger ‘documentary script’ to fill empty lines above, versal initials in the Psalms and the Interpretations alternately red or blue, chapter-numbers and running-titles in alternate red and blue letters with penwork flourishes in both colours, three-line decorated initials throughout, usually one or two to every page, in red or blue with penwork infilling and marginal decoration in the contrasting colour, 60 large illuminated initials, 3- to 39-line in elaborate designs of lush interlaced leafy and plant designs or formed of twisting biting dragons, all on highly burnished raised gold grounds, 87 very fine historiated initials, six-line to full height of page in full colour in leafy and floral designs with miniatures on highly burnished raised gold grounds, often with long marginal extensions, elaborate terminals and other decoration. – 3 initials cut out (in 1787, see below), two of them on fol. 321 and 344 replaced with contemporary initials from other manuscripts, and one on fol. 313 still missing; outer margin cut away from fol. 287, two margins cut away from fol. 380, small piece of lower margin replaced on fol. 260, some slight wear, minimal staining at ends including rust mark on lower edge of last page, probably from the hasp of a chained binding, a few initials including the Genesis initial slightly rubbed, generally in good condition with good margins (some prickings intact). – Bound in brown morocco with a semé of fleurs-de-lys gilt adapted from another binding, old spine title, gilt edges, in a fitted case.

Provenance: 1. The manuscript has a 15th- or 16th-century ownership inscription on fol. 381v, “Liber beate marie Virginis de Alna” and an apparently identical but smudged inscription on the previous page, which is the usual form of ex libris of Aulne Abbey (Zelis 1974, p. 104). The great Cistercian Abbey of Aulne-sur-Sambre, in Hainault in the diocese of Liège, founded in the mid-seventh century, became Cistercian in 1147, was rebuilt in great splendour in the early 18th century, and burnt by the French in 1794 and sold two years later (Canivez 1926, pp. 84-93). There is no medieval catalogue of Aulne Abbey, but the monks systematically built up their library in the 12th and early 13th century. The present book is recorded in the catalogue of March 1632 as the first book on the first shelf in the Bible press, “Biblia integra” (Sander 1644, p.

235). An indignant note on the last page records that two historiated initials towards the end of the book, “G” and “U” (fol. 321b and 344), were cut out within a short period in June 1787. There is an erased circular stamp on the front pastedown (perhaps a standing figure of the Virgin and Child) and a modern number “MM. No. 23B”. The great library at Aulne Abbey was one of the finest in Flanders (Zelis 1969, p.

381). The great majority of the manuscripts – 114 of them – were bought en bloc by Sir Thomas Phillipps in the early 1830s and almost all were purchased from the Phillipps Collection by the Bibliothèque Royale in Brussels in June 1888 (Munby, Phillipps Studies, III, pp.

22–23, V, p. 30). One more, a volume of Herbert of Bosham, reappeared in the Phillipps sale at Sotheby’s, 25 November 1969, lot 449, and is now the Brussels manuscript ms. IV 600. Ten Aulne manuscripts are recorded outside Belgium: three in French public libraries (one lost since 1918), one each in the British Library and the Bodleian, three more and two single leaves in the United States. The present volume is the 80

monastery’s only complete Bible (the foundation text of Cistercian abbeys) and is the only Aulne manuscript in private hands (Van Balberghe/Zelis 1972, p. 352 f.).

2. Hotel Drouot, 18 May 1965, lot 1.

3. The book was recorded in 1972 as in a private collection (Van Balberghe/Zelis 1972, p. 352) and in 1974 (Zelis 1974, p. 109) as untraced.

4. Sotheby’s, 8 December 1981, lot 70.

5. Private Collection, Switzerland. Shelfmark, Ms 1203 ES, on lower spine of cloth box.

Text: fol. 1: Prologue of St Jerome (“Frater Ambrosius”) and Genesis – fol. 20a: Exodus – fol. 31vb: Leviticus – fol. 40b: Numbers – fol. 51va: Deuteronomy – fol. 60vb: Prologue and book Joshua – fol.

67vb: Judges – fol. 74va: Ruth – fol. 75va: Prologue and I Kings – fol. 85b: II Kings – fol. 93a: III Kings – fol. 102a: IV Kings – fol. 110b: Prologue and I Paralipomenon (Chronicles I) – fol. 118va: II Paralipomenon (Chronicles II) – fol. 128b: Prologue and book of Ezra I – fol. 131b: Nehemias – fol. 135a: Book of Ezra II; fol. 139a: last 18 lines of Nehemias again, as remains of a scribal error (s. a.) – fol. 139a: Prologue and book of Tobias ‑ fol. 142a: Prologue and book of Judith – fol. 146a: Prologue and book of Esther – fol.

149vb: Two prologues and book of Job – fol. 157a: Prologue and psalms, including “altera revisionis aggie et zacharie” – fol. 176b: Prologue and book of Isaiah – fol.

190a: Prologue and book of Baruch – fol. 191vb: Book of Jeremiah – fol. 207vb: Lamentations and prayers of Jeremiah – fol. 209b: Prologue and book of Ezekiel (no initial for the prologue; incorrect headline only on fol. 200v, erroneously anticipating Maccabees) – fol.

224a: Two prologues and book of Daniel – fol. 230va: Two prologues to the twelve prophets and book of Hosea – fol. 232vb: Two prologues and book of Joel – fol. 233vb: Three prologues and book of Amos – fol.

cat. 10

235vb: Two prologues and book of Abdias – fol. 236b: Two prologues and book of Jonah – fol. 237va: Two prologues and book of Micah – fol. 238va: Two prologues and book of Nahum – fol. 239va: Prologue and book of Habakkuk – fol. 240va: Two prologues and book of Sophonias – fol. 241va: Two prologues and book of Haggai – fol. 242b: Three prologues and book of Zechariah – fol. 245a: Prologue and book of Malachi – fol. 245vb: Three prologues and Maccabees I – fol. 255a: Maccabees II – fol. 260va: Prologue and proverbs (there is an empty space of 31 lines after the first prologue, perhaps originally intended for a second one) – fol. 266b: Prologue and book of Ecclesiastes – fol. 268va: Song of Songs – fol. 269vb: Prologue and book of Sapience – fol. 274a: Prologue and book of Ecclesiasticus – fol. 285a: Prologue and gospels of Matthew – fol. 293a: Prologue and gospels of Mark – fol. 298a: Two Prologues and gospels of Luke – fol. 306vb: Prologue and gospels of John – fol. 313b: Pauline epistles: fol. 313b: Prologue and letter to the Romans; 316b: Prologue and Corinthians I; 319va: Prologue and Corinthias II; 321vb: Prologue and Galatians; 323a: Prologue and Ephesians; 324a: Prologue and Philippians; 325a: Prologue and Colossians; 325vb: Thessalonians I-II (heading erased on 325v), including prologues; 327a: Timothy I-II, incuding prologues; 328va: Prologue and Titus; 329a: Prologue and Philemon; 329va: Hebrews – fol. 331vb: Two prologues and Acts – fol. 340vb: Prologue and letter of James – fol.

341vb: Letter of Peter – fol. 342va: Second letter of Peter – fol. 343b: Letter of John – fol. 344a: Prologue and Second epistle of John – fol. 344b: Prologue and Third epistle of John – fol. 344va: Prologue and epistle of St Jude – fol. 344vb: Prologue of Apocalypse (c. 13 lines missing as the miniature on the recto has been excised); fol. 345a: blank – fol. 345b: Apocalypse – fol.

349a: Amendments and additions to various books of the Bible; fol. 350: blank – fol. 351: Interpretation of Hebrew Names (“Aad testificans” Stegmüller, RB 7708, 7709) (margins of fol. 380 have been trimmed); fol. 380v-381: blank.

The text itself presents a number of points of interest.

The Books of Solomon occur at the end of the Old Testament rather than after the Psalms. Prologues were gradually introduced into the Bible texts in the very early thirteenth century, and in this bible, various additions to prologues and other texts were added by the corrector on fol. 349-349b. The scribe first omitted all of II Esdras (“a mark of general earliness” – Branner 1977, p. 31) and went on with Tobit, realised the error, erased the end of the text on fol. 139 (the last 18 lines remain, Nehemiah 13:24-31, marked “vacat”) and added II Esdras on two inserted bifolia, fol. 13538. The very few abbreviations in the text as well as several readings in it suggest, that the manuscript contains the monastic version of the text rather than the 82

Paris redaction (cf. in the book of Ruth, where we find “posita revertendi” instead of “revertendi posita”), which implies that it was written for use in a monastery. Moreover, there are only very few barred tironian ‘et’ which would be typical for Paris, and the forms of some of the capital letters (Q, N, E, L) are not typical for Paris either. The forms of the penwork initials, the fleuronnée, and the colours of the initials indicate that the manuscript was probably made in the second quarter of the 13th century (cf. the Parisan examples in Stirnemann 1990). Some of the explicits are written in a kind of a documentary script, occasionally rubricated. The amendments and additions to various books of the Bible (fol. 349), with many ligatures and abbreviations, are written in a smaller script, probably by the same hand that added the comments and notes in the cartouches throughout the manuscript.

When illuminated manuscripts were designed, the head of the workshop would sometimes note in plummet an indication of the subject which the artist was to depict, and occasionally – usually with late medieval manuscripts – these notes survive: a curious echo of one such note appears on fol. 321b. The initial shows the Baptism of St Paul and in the heading just above, the rubricator has somehow mistaken an instruction for a title of the book and neatly written in red “explicit prologus; incipit epistola. hic. baptizat ananias paulum.”

Illumination: Historiated initials: fol. 1: Jerome writing – fol. 3: Genesis initial: Seven Days of Creation, in the spaces between these scenes, Adam and Eve, Adam and Eve eating the fruit, an angel driving them from the Garden, Eve spinning and Adam digging, the Annunciation to the Virgin, the Nativity of Christ and the Annunciation to the Shepherds, and the Presentation in the Temple; at the top are two angels and at the bottom the figures of the Church and the Synagogue – fol. 20: Moses presenting the Ten Commandments – fol. 31v: Offering – fol. 40: Moses preaching – fol. 51v: Moses explaining the Law – fol. 61: Rahab the harlot with the two men sent by the king of Jericho – fol. 67v: The spy showing the entrance of the city of Bethel to the troops of the house of Joseph – fol. 74v: Ruth and her two children – fol. 76: Elcana and Anna in prayer – fol. 85: David supervising the execution of the Amalekite – fol. 93: Two attendants bringing Abishag to David – fol. 102: Ahaziah falling from the tower – fol.

110v: A crowd of Jews – fol. 118v: Solomon enthroned between two attendants – fol. 128v: Cyrus directing the building of the Temple – fol. 131: A prophet and two companions before Artaxerxes – fol. 135: Offering – fol.

139: Tobit and an attendant with the swallow – fol. 142: Judith and Holofernes – fol. 146: Esther and Ahasver; Haman hanging – fol. 150: Job with his friends – fol.

157v: David harping; David and Goliath – fol. 160: A prophet anointing a man’s eyes – fol. 161v: David pointing to his eye and to his tongue – fol. 163v: David with

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the Devil – fol. 163v: David with a fool – fol. 165v: David in the water – fol. 167v: David playing a set of bells – fol. 169v: Two singers at the lectern – fol. 170: David praying – fol. 172: Trinity – fol. 176v: Isaiah sawn – fol. 190: Baruch and a scribe writing – fol. 191v: The lapidation of Jeremiah – fol. 207v: Jeremiah lamenting over Jerusalem – fol. 209v: The vision of Ezekiel – fol.

224v: Daniel in the lions’ den – fol. 230v: Hosea and Gomer – fol. 233: Joel preaching – fol. 234: Amos predicting the destruction of cities – fol. 236: Obadiah watching the building of a castle – fol. 236v: Jonah and the whale – fol. 237: Micah showing a sword to two kings – fol. 238v: The people of Nineveh taken captive – fol. 239v: The Nativity of Christ – fol. 240v: A king sacrificing (?) two naked children on an altar – fol. 241v: Haggai – fol. 242v: Zechariah tempted by the Devil – fol. 245: Jacob and Isaac – fol. 246: Beheading of the idolatrous Jew – fol. 255: Delivery of a letter – fol. 261: Solomon and Rehoboam – fol. 266v: Solomon and two women – fol. 268v: Christ and the Church as lovers – fol. 269v: Solomon with the scales of Justice between two attendants – fol. 274: Solomon teaching – fol. 285: Matthew writing. This miniature adjacent to the next: Jesse tree, with Jesse asleep in a bed – fol. 293: Mark writing – fol. 298: Luke writing – fol. 298v: The angel appearing to Zacharias in the Temple – fol. 306v: John writing – fol. 307: three compartments: Mary and Christ at the marriage at Cana; Christ turning water into wine; the ruler of the feast and his wife being served the miraculous wine – fol. 313: miniature missing – fol.

316v: The Corinthians outside their city – fol. 319v: St Paul healing a sick man – fol. 32lv: A prophet and a woman (cutting from another manuscript) – fol. 321v: Ananias baptising Paul – fol. 323: Paul preaching – fol.

324: An angel lowering Paul in a basket over the city wall – fol. 325: Believers at Colosse protecting Paul – fol. 325v: God staying the hands of a crowd about to stone Paul – fol. 326v: The faithful praying while their city is destroyed – fol. 327: The scourging of two Christians at the direction of the Jewish elders – fol. 328: Soldiers visiting two men in prison – fol. 328v: Paul with an attendant before Caesar – fol. 329: The beheading of Paul – fol. 329v: Paul returns the veil to Plautilla – fol. 332: The Ascension of Christ – fol. 340v: James – fol. 341v: Peter with the keys – fol. 342v: Peter trying to walk on the water – fol. 343: John preaching – fol.

344: John preaching – fol. 344: John preaching – fol.

344v: Jude – fol. 345: John writing.

The number and size of the miniatures and the quality of their painting are altogether exceptional. The manuscript shows the collaboration of two quite distinct artists, both of them notable for their skill and originality. The first painter produced gatherings I-II, XVI-XVIII, XXI and XXIV-end; his style is fully gothic, backgrounds include wide expanses of highly burnished gold and there are some splendid architec84

tural canopies and buildings. The proportions of his figures appear coherent and harmonious. The physiognomies of his figures are characterised by red lips and cheeks, the lines for the mouths often elongated in a half circle towards the chin. Eyebrows tend to be more rounded and noses a bit smaller. Most of his male figures are bearded, and if not, their chins are marked with a peculiar line that makes the chin appear as if it is an independent element attached to the face. He directs the gaze of the eyes carefully, and the colour of the skin is not as pale a shade of white as with the second painter. The second painter produced gatherings III-XIV, XIX-XX, and XXII-XXIII; his figures are wild and vivid, with a characteristic “M”-shaped mouths; the style is startlingly dynamic and still shows the power and savagery of high Romanesque art.

The eyes of his figures are wide open, often staring at the viewer or at other figures. Their jaws are mostly square, sometimes lending a ‘horse-like’ expression to their features. Heads and hands are slightly disproportionate, and the figures overall appear somewhat squat.

This illuminator employs a slightly paler red for garments and drapery than the first painter. On the whole, however, both artists depict drapery and the folds of clothes very similarly, by shading them with darker hues and strong, straight black lines –, an early example of the so-called large-fold style, which is a hallmark of Flemish or South Netherlandish manuscripts, as exemplified by the Old Testament Picture Bible made in Bruges, c. 1250-60 (New York, PML, M. 638). In some miniatures it is even difficult to distinguish the hand of either artist, as the first sometimes uses the ‘Mshaped’ mouth or the ‘attached chin’, and the second sometimes also employs the elongated lip-lines or the soft wavy beards. Both painters also sometimes use a pattern of white dots to enhance clothing. Tunics and blankets have wavy hemlines, and the collars are not just round or square, but exhibit a range of irregular shapes. Their palette is almost identical and is characterized by strong red, mauve and blue tones and also by a preference for various shades of bright tangerine with red, and many shades of green, which would not be usual for Paris at that time. Both artists also employ a similar decorative scheme for the bodies of initials: framed initials on highly burnished gold grounds, often enhanced with long framed extensions and antennae composed of biting and twisted elongated dragons or spiralling tendrils. Some initials have scissor-like bars at the uprights of initials (e.g. ‘U’ on fol. 234rb), and some have a lip of foliage overlapping the horizontals. Both these elements are characteristic of northern French and Flemish illumination. In contrast, there are many decorated initials either with tendrils or, more peculiarly, with octopus foliage (e.g. on fol. 233v), a stylistic borrowing from England, which is no longer found in French manuscripts of the period. These differences and similarities in the styles of both

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illuminators, and the coherent decoration of all the initials, could point to a group of artists who strived to adjust their ‘individual’ styles to a certain workshopstyle. Perhaps one was the apprentice of the other, or, more likely, one of them was originally trained in a different artistic region and joined the other later, either in a professional workshop or in a monastery.

The manuscript’s earliest provenance is a great monastery in southern Flanders; with regard to its origin, it should be noted that the contemporaneous style of the exceptional Psalter of Blanche of Castile (Paris, Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, lat. 1186, made c. 1230), reached Paris from north eastern France, and that other related Bibles were apparently made for south Flemish houses in towns like Lille and Arras (Douai ms. 173 and Boulogne ms. 5; Branner 1977, p. 30). Although the organization of the text in our Bible, with running headlines, chapter-numbers, etc. suggests a Parisian influence, the sheer size of the miniatures in relation to the text columns indicates that Paris could not have been the origin of this manuscript; this is further confirmed by the arrangement of the books, the amendments to the text and, most of all, the very professional and almost contemporary commentaries in the margins, which all point strongly to a monastic origin. The artistic development of book illumination in Hainault or in Brabant in the 13th century remains almost unexplored, so that it is very difficult to find stylistic parallels from the region where the manuscript was kept for so long.

As the style of the illumination in this precious Bible cannot easily be attached to Bruges, Ghent or Liège, it is possible it might have been made somewhere in the vicinity of the abbey, or in one of the neighbouring areas, perhaps in Tournai or in Brabant. These regions to the west of the diocese of Liège, had been influenced by artistic developments from the west, including Paris at an earlier date than the Mosan region, which continued to adhere to older traditions for an extended period. As Judith Oliver states: “The division of Liège from the Rhineland becomes an artistic and political fact in the mid-thirteenth century. The art of the Rhine-Meuse region after this date cannot be seen as a single entity. Only then, as the Mosan region became more closely allied to the west, was its art heavily influenced by French style. Romanesque traditions were very long lived, but illuminators in the Liège diocese painting in French High Gothic styles are finally encountered in the 1260s–1270s” (Oliver 1988, p. 141 f.).

So perhaps our manuscript is a very early witness to this development: the first illuminator, with the comparatively advanced gothic stylistic vocabulary, could have been trained somewhere that was at least influenced by Paris Bible illumination, and could then have cooperated, probably for an extended period, with the second illuminator, who was more deeply rooted in

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the rather archaic style of the Mosan region. However, the extraordinarily refined and unusual expressive style of both painters, as uniquely represented here, surely deserves profound scholarly research. The manuscript also merits a full study of sources and analogies to clari­f y the question of where it could have been made.

The iconography of this Bible demonstrates an important development in biblical illustration: in the 12th century, artists tended to illustrate biblical books with any scene from the text of each book; in the 13th century, in contrast, the illustrations were usually taken from the opening words of each book. The present Bible includes some unusual iconography, such as scenes of Rahab the harlot ( Joshua), the troops of Joseph arriving at Bethel [or could this be the battle of Jericho?] ( Judges) and Zacharias with the Devil (fol. 242v, perhaps an echo of the romanesque practice of showing the Devil with Job). Some of the early iconography survived in Flanders longer than in Paris (Beer 1972, pp. 192-203) and other features, such as Isaiah being sawn in two (fol.

176b) were adopted by the Blanche workshop in Paris (Branner 1977, p. 31). The present manuscript preserves the archaic ten-fold Psalter division with pictures for Psalms 51 and 101 in addition to the more usual eight divisions, and this too (though a German and English feature) was used in the Psalter of Blanche of Castile.

However, compared to Paris Bibles of the same period, this manuscript does differ in various respects. In gene­ ral, our illuminators tend to stress theological aspects.

Further, in addition to the usual author’s portrait, we find narrative depictions accompanying the gospels of St Luke and of St John, the latter of which is enhanced with a charming illustration of the Wedding at Cana, composed of three scenes. The Pauline Epistles have been illustrated with scenes from the saint’s life, rather than with a static figure of St Paul preaching or sending letters, as is frequently seen in Paris illumination cycles of the Bible (cf. however, no. 8). Finally, the illuminators conceived the initials as clearly outlined frames for the images, such that they almost cease to appear as letters.

This is a magnificently illuminated manuscript, and the finest 13th-century Bible to appear on the market for very many years.

Literature: Sander 1643 (or 1644), II, p. 235; Zelis 1969; Van Balberghe/Zelis 1972, p. 352; Zelis 1974, p. 109.

Canivez 1926, pp. 84-93; Haseloff 1938; Beer 1972; Avril 1976, pp. 38-39; Branner 1977; Oliver 1988; exh. cat. Brussels 1990; Stirnemann 1990.

We wish to thank Patricia Stirnemann (IRHT, Paris) for her invaluable assistance in assessing this manuscript.

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A pocket bible in an exceptional Flemish binding from the late Middle Ages

11

Biblia latina. Pocket bible Illuminated manuscript on vellum.

France, Paris, c. 1250.

150 × 100 mm. 692 leaves of very thin vellum, plus 4 medieval flyleaves at end, complete: I-VIII 24, IX 24+2, X-XXI 24, XXII 22, XXIII-XXV24, XXVIXXVIII 20, XXIX 24, XXX8, mostly with signatures and catchwords, some partially erased. – Written space 100-105 × 67-70 mm, ruled in dark red and bright brown ink in double column for 43 lines. Written by more than one scribe in dark brown ink in a very small gothic hand (‘pearlscript’), many textual corrections in red cartouches, some medieval notes and glosses, headings in red, capitals touched in red, initials in the psalms alternately in red and blue, chapter numbers and running titles in alternate red and blue letters, 2-line chapter initials throughout in red or blue with full-length penwork in the opposite colour or in both colours, 113 large decorative initials for the openings of prologues and of books in fine twisting and spiralling leafy designs including dragons and lion heads, all in colours heightened with white and gold, 14 historiated initials from 7 to 24 lines high (mostly 9-line) in similar colours. – Some thumbing, slight wear to the opening and last leaves, generally in very good condition. – Medieval blind-stamped calf over bevelled wooded boards sewn on 7 double cords, triple blind ruled to a panel design, outer frame blind stamped with a repeated square tool of a lion rampant, two horizontal frames with repeated blind stamps of a square tool with a wyvern passant, central panel surrounded with blind stamped inscription, divided into two vertical columns tooled with birds among foliage, remains of 2 clasps on upper cover, corresponding gothic metal catches on lower cover. Binding worn and tooling rather rubbed, upper joint cracked, small repair to foot of spine, generally a very unusual and structurally sound medieval binding.

Provenance: 1. A Dominican priest from an academic milieu. Wealthy Flemish Dominicans studied at the Parisian college of Saint-Jacques.

2. Two 15th-century ownership inscriptions on the rear flyleaves of a Dominican friar at the convent of Dinant, Belgium, “fr.Raphael Pauni conventus dionatensis” and “fr.R.Raphael P’uni me possidet”.

3. Master Guillaume de Messent, “late president of the chamber of accounts in Lille”, with long erased 15thcentury ownership inscription on front pastedown, mostly legible under ultra-violet light, assigning use of the book to his nephew, brother Jean: “De dono magistri guillielmi de messent quondam presidentis camere compotorum in Insulis ad requisitiam nepoti sui fratris Johannis de [? fro... ]”.

4. Henricus Remaniensis, 1573, with his name on fol.

243v, 473v-474 partly in code and in Greek letters.

5. Sotheby’s, 19 June 1990, lot 82.

6. Collection Martin Schøyen, Norway, his bookplate pasted on front pastedown (his ms. 676).

Text: The manuscript begins with the prologue of Jerome (“Frater ambrosius…”), and contains the full text of the Old and New Testament. An inserted quire by a second scribe (fol. 631-640), most probably contemporary, contains a list of readings suitable for sermons following the feast days of the ecclesiastical year, and a list of sermons suitable for particular audiences, like on fol. 637v-638 “ad moniales”, “ad ordinandos” or “ad magistros et scolares” and even “ad pauperes”, followed by a calendar (fol. 638v). The manuscript ends with the Interpretations of the Hebrew names (fol. 641).

The manuscript was undoubtedly written in Paris. The production of small format bibles flourished in Paris in the 13th century. Written on extremely thin parchment in an extraordinarily tiny script, these codices were highly portable. Glosses and commentaries were almost entirely omitted; in our manuscript only an allegorical 94

register, the Interpretationes nominum hebraicorum has been retained at the end of the book. This alphabetical list of names and their meanings in Hebrew appeared in 11801200 and is traditionally ascribed to Stephen Langton.

Members of the Parisian univer­sities and the minor monastic orders would have particularly appreciated these pocket bibles. The present manuscript appears to have been in the possession of a learned cleric, who at an early date added the calendar and biblical readings to the standard text. The emphasis on St Dominic (totum duplex) and his translation, and the Dominican feast of benefactors in the calendar indicate that he was a Dominican. With the detailed additional lists of suitable sermons this Bible is a highly instructive instrument for someone who frequently preaches in front of different audiences. Thus, it is an eloquent witness of the original purpose of a pocket bible in general, and of the ­Dominicans’ mission in particular.

The notes on the rear flyleaves further confirm that the codex remained in the hands of the Dominicans until the 15th century. On the evidence of the copius annotations, the book must have been studied intensively - although the notes do begin to flag towards the end.

One remarkable feature of this codex is that it seems to have been signed by a scribe. Between quires 18 and 19 (between fol. 434v and 435) there is a change of scribe: at the foot of fol. 435, in a tiny hand in plummet, in what seems to be the same contemporary hand as the quire signature, is the name “watevile”. Presumably the blank quires were divided up by a libraire for writing amongst different scribes, and Wateville’s (or Waceville’s) work began here. Almost the entire process of book production was in professional hands at that time in Paris. Scribes and illuminators would settle in the same neighbourhood so as to facilitate the distribution of quires from from workshop to workshop.

Illumination: Historiated initials on fol. 1: St Jerome writing – fol. 5: The Seven Days of Creation – fol. 132: The beheading of the son of Heli? –

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fol. 199: Adam and his descendants – fol. 275: Job and two friends – fol. 288: David playing the harp – fol.

310: Solomon teaching – fol. 357: Isaiah sawn in two ­– fol. 441: Daniel in the lions’ den – fol. 472: The beheading of the idolatrous Jew – fol. 501v: The Tree of ­Jesse – fol. 560v: St Paul – fol. 597v: The Ascension of Christ – fol. 622: St John writing.

This small-scale bible is a typical example of 13th-century French manuscript production in Paris. Eschewing luxury, these manuscripts possessed an advantage that had simply not existed hitherto: they contained all the books of the Bible in a single volume. Due to the small scale of these manuscripts, and the correspondingly short height of the lines, the illuminations in these pocket bibles had to be very small. Together with the prologue of St Jerome (fol. 1), the first book of each group of biblical texts is highlighted with a historiated initial (Genesis, I Kings, I Chronicles, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Daniel, I Maccabees, Matthew, Letters of St Paul, Acts and Apocalypse).

Only a small amount of space was available to the illuminators illustrating the biblical tales, as is seen in the Genesis initial (fol. 5). However the illuminator of this bible makes ingenious use of what space there is, even depicting groups of figures. A sense of harmony is created by the constant use of blue, red and pink with luminous accents of gold. It is difficult to stylistically classify figures of such diminutive size; however, on the basis of the choice of colours, the black outlines, the impressive faces with red lips and light red cheeks, and the V-shaped pleads in the drapery, the so-called Soissons Atelier would seem to have been responsible for illuminations. The iconography of the Genesis initial in the present manuscript is most comparable to the pocket

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bible in Stuttgart (cod. bibl. 8 ° 4 – Sauer/Kuder 1996, no. 69), which is attributed to the same workshop. The present manuscript can safely be dated to the middle of the 13th century.

Binding: Panels with the names of bookbinders, or religious sayings in Latin, in a rectangular frame are known on bindings produced in Flanders dating back to the 14th century. The central panel with the inscription “ + KE CESTE / LIVER LERA PARA / DIS GAIG / NERA AMEN AME” occurs on a number of bindings made in Bruges and French Flanders and another binding from England with two such panels (Fogelmark 1990, p. 220f.). Panels with inscriptions in the vernacular are rather rare. As Fogelmark notes, this inscription has been of particular interest to researchers: in 1944 Hobson considered the possibility that the saying was heretical, while Lindberg regards it as German. Indestege knew of a panel (70 × 47 mm) similar to ours decorating a binding in the city library of Lille (ms. 24), on a book with a colophon date of 1417. s.v. Thus, if the binding of the present manuscript could be linked to Lille too, it was probably Master Guillaume de Messent (see Provenance), who had the codex newly bound for his library. The bible was probably brought from Paris ­by its first owner to the Meuse region. The late medieval binding is testament to the fact that it continued to ­be held in high esteem over the centuries.

Literature: The manuscript is hitherto unpublished.

Indestege 1951, pp. 241-245, esp. p. 242; Branner 1977; Sauer/Kuder 1996, p. 145f.; Fogelmark 1990; de Hamel 2001.

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A perfect example of a high Gothic English bible

12

Biblia latina Manuscript on vellum.

England, Oxford, c. 1250-60.

295 × 206 mm. 1+354+2 leaves, complete without the Interpretation of Hebrew Names: I-XXII16, XXIII 2. One leaf inserted at the beginning with a 14th century index of the manuscript. – Written space 208 × 135 mm, ruled in plummet for two columns of 51 lines, written below first line. In dark and light brown ink in a very clean, regular, and small Textualis libraria by probably more than one hand, versals touched in red. Occasional small sections of text erased and corrected in black ink, probably during the initial process of writing. Running-titles in the upper margins, referring to the biblical books, in alternate red and blue versals, except in lamentations and psalms; numbering of chapters throughout integrated into the text in red and blue Roman numerals.

Instructions for the rubricator on where to insert chapter numbers still visible, mostly in outer margins. Two- to four-line fleuronnée initials alternately in red and blue, with contrasting blue and red penwork, 42 delicately decorated initials with floral ornaments and tendrils on burnished gold grounds in varying sizes, 64 large historiated initials of varying heights with long extensions on burnished gold grounds. – Miniatures in very fine condition. Six historiated initials, previously excised, very expertly substituted with decorated initials by the Franciscan nun Gertrude Cameron from Bocking (Essex) in 1924, as a commission for E.H. Dring: Genesis, Matthew, James, Peter, Letters of John, Jude (fol. 3, 282, 324v, 325v, 327, 328). Parchment shows traces of use, slightly darkened, negligible staining and generally still bright, a few margins restored. – Bound in 19th-century red morocco by Rivière and Son. Front pastedown and additional flyleaves contemporary with the binding.

Provenance: 1. The manuscript must have belonged to a university library in Oxford by the 15th century, on the evidence of the many notes and entries in 14th- and 15th- century hands on the rear flyleaves and in the text.

2. Partially erased entries indicating that the book was left on deposit at “Chycheley Chest” (founded in 1432 by archbishop Henry Chichele) in Oxford in the 15th century.

3. The monogram of the Oxford stationer John Doll, dated 1453.

4. Later in the 15th century the book was sold to a man named Henry, who bought it for 12 shillings: “iste liber est henrici qui duodecim solidos constitut illi”.

5. Another entry on the rear flyleaf states that the book was the property of a John White: “Sum Johan White Liber” and “Sum Johanis White Lyber”. In addition we find in the manuscript some pen trials, musical notes, and examples of liturgical script.

6. Armorial bookplate of E.W.H. Lloyd on the 3rd front flyleaf.

7. E.H. Dring, London, (a Director of Bernard Quaritch), who had the book restored in 1924.

8. Private collection, Switzerland.

tations – fol. 196v: Ezekiel – fol. 211: Prologue and book of Daniel – fol. 217: Prologue and book of Hosea – fol.

219: Prologue and book of Joel – fol. 220: Prologue and book of Amos – fol. 221v: Prologue and book of Abdias – fol. 222: Prologue and book of Jonah – fol. 222v: Prologue and book of Micah – fol. 223v: Prologue and book of Nahum – fol. 224: Prologue and book of Habakkuk – fol. 225: Prologue and book of Sophonias – fol.

225v: Prologue and book of Aggeus – fol. 226: Prologue and book of Zachary – fol. 228v: Prologue and book of Malachias – fol. 229: Prologue and book of Job – fol.

237: Psalms – fol. 255v: Prologue and Parables – fol.

262: Ecclesiastes – fol. 264: Song of Songs – fol. 265v: Sapience – fol. 270: Prologue and Ecclesiasticus – fol.

282: Prologue and gospels of Matthew – fol. 291v: Prologue and gospels of Mark – fol. 297v: Prologue and gospels of Luke – fol. 307: Prologue and gospels of John – fol. 314v: Prologue and Acts – fol. 324v: Canonical letters – fol. 328v: Pauline epistles: 328v Romans; 332 Corinthians I; 335v Corinthians II; 338 Galatians; 339 Ephesians; 340 Phillippians; 341 Colossians; 342 Thessalonians I-II; 343 Timothy I-II; 344v Titus; 345 Philemon; 346 Hebrews – fol. 348: Apocalypse – fol. 353: Baruch.

Text: Early flyleaf: Table of contents, added in the 14th or 15th century – fol. 1: Prologue of St Jerome – fol. 2v: “Desiderii mei desideratas” (Stegmüller, RB, 285) – fol.

3: Genesis – fol. 16v: Exodus – fol. 27v: Leviticus – fol.

35: Numbers – fol. 46v: Deuteronomy – fol. 57: Prologue and book of Joshua – fol. 64: Judges – fol. 71v: Ruth – fol. 72v: Prologue and I Kings – fol. 83: II Kings – fol. 91v: III Kings – fol. 101v: IV Kings – fol. 110v: Prologue and I Paralipomenon (Chronicles I) – fol. 119: Prologue and II Paralipomenon (Chronicles II) – fol.

130: Prologue and book of Ezrah – fol. 133: Nehemiah – fol. 137v: Prologue and book of Esther – fol. 141: Prologue and book of Tobias – fol. 144: Two prologues and book of Judith – fol. 148v: Prologue and I Maccabees – fol. 158: II Maccabees – fol. 164v: Prologue and book of Isaiah – fol. 179: Prologue and book of Jeremy, Lamen-

The text of English bibles was based on the Paris model (see nos. 8 and 11), but differs in some respects. It contains the Latin Vulgate Bible with the prologues by St Jerome, not in the standard order. This bible can however be distinguished from the Paris type by the particular sequence of the texts: all the historical books follow each other, so that Nehemia is followed by Maccabees, and subsequently, the books of the prophets (but without Baruch, which is attached to the end of the manuscript), Job, psalms and the books of wisdom.

The Old Testament ends with Ecclesiasticus. Similarly, the New Testament contains the historical books first, with the four gospels preceding Acts, a sequence not common in England. The book of Baruch, from the Old Testament, was attached to the Apocalypse, apparently in a new quire, as it had previously been ­omitted

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in error, a mistake which was obviously remedied immediately, before the book was bound. A penwork initial was initially drawn at the beginning of the gospel of St John on fol. 327; this was later replaced by a historiated initial. This suggests that it was important to the commissioner that the manuscript had a coherent structure.

The ruling with its wide columns in the outer and lower margins is more appropriate to a manuscript with glosses (cf. nos. 5 and 9). The penwork is executed in two colours, with long curves extending out into the margins. The bubble-like forms containing circles in the opposite colour are a distinctive feature in the decoration of this manuscript. Amongst the larger initials for the psalms, there are also, notably, some puzzle initials. In the second half of the 13th century, penwork initials become more elaborate, and extensions take up more space in the margins. In the book trade, special forms of penwork flourishing became a form of brand, in the same manner as styles of illumination. In this regard, the manner of penwork flourishing in the present bible should be placed in the milieu of Oxford University, comparable bibles in Philadelphia (Free Library, ms. Lewis E 30 and 31), which are just decorated with penwork initials. Cynthia Johnston ascribed them to the Oxford workshop of William de Brailes.

In the group of manuscripts connected with the scribe William of Devon, a bible in Cambridge (Emmanuel Coll., ms. 116 (2.I.6) exhibits the same red and blue meandering penwork. De Hamel has dated this Cambridge bible to 1260-70.

Illumination: fol. 16v: Moses leading the Israel­ ites – fol. 27v: Offering – fol. 35: Moses receiving the Ten Commandments – fol. 46v: Moses presenting the Ten Commandments – fol. 57: Joshua receiving a script roll from God the Father – fol. 64: A judge with a script roll – fol. 71v: Elimelech and Noomi travelling to Moab – fol. 73: Execution of two men with a sword – fol. 83: A king commands the execution of a man – fol. 91v: An attendant bringing Abishag to David – fol. 101v: Ahaziah falling from the tower – fol. 110v: A crowd of Jews – fol. 119: Solomon enthroned – fol. 130: Cyrus directing the building of the Temple – fol. 133: A servant offering a chalice to Artaxerxes – fol. 137v: Esther and Ahasver, Haman hanging – fol. 141: Tobit in bed and the swallow – fol.

144v: Judith and Holofernes – fol. 148v: Beheading of the idolatrous Jew – fol. 158: Delivery of a letter – fol.

165: Isaiah sawn – fol. 179: The stoning of Jeremiah – fol. 196v: The vision of Ezekiel – fol. 211: Daniel in the lions’ den – fol. 217: Hosea and Gomer ‑ fol. 219: Joel preaching – fol. 220: Amos receiving a script roll from God the Father – fol. 221v: Obadiah receiving a vision – fol. 222: Jonah and the whale – fol. 222v: Micah

100

receiving a script roll from God the Father – fol. 223v: Nahum watching the destruction of Niniveh – fol.

224: Habakkuk anointed from above – fol. 225: Sophonias receiving a script roll from God the Father – fol. 226: Zechariah ‑ fol. 228v: Malachias – fol. 229v: Job on the dung-heap – fol. 255v: Solomon and Rehobeam – fol. 262: Solomon and two women – fol. 264: The Virgin and Child – fol. 265v: Solomon as judge in front of a man – fol. 270: Sapience or Ecclesia with a chalice – fol. 291v: St Mark – 297v: St Luke in front of an altar – fol. 307v: St John – fol. 314v: The apostles – fol. 326v: St Peter – fol. 328: St John – fol. 328: St John – fol. 328v: St Paul – fol. 332: St Paul – fol.

335v: St Paul – fol. 338: St Paul – fol. 339: St Paul – fol.

340: St Paul – fol. 341: St Paul – fol. 342: St Paul – fol.

342v: St Paul – fol. 343: St Paul – fol. 344: St Paul – fol.

344v: St Paul – fol. 345: St Paul – fol. 345: St Paul in front of the Hebrews – fol. 348: St John writing – fol.

353: Baruch writing.

The manufacturing process of the manuscript can easily be reconstructed: having finished the penwork initials, the illuminators must have begun work on the historiated initals, as they overlap the penwork flourishes. The historiated initials occur at the beginnings of the books of the bible, and, together with those accompanying the Pauline epistles take their motifs from the text. The limited space available in the initials is also used to show architectural elements, e.g. Ahasver is shown in an aperture in a tower. Faces are characterized by high round eyebrows, and red dots for the mouths and cheeks, which give them a doll-like appearance. The hair and figures are outlined in black with a brush. A second painter also employs the high round eyebrows; his flesh tone however is paler, his figures more slender, and he omits the red cheeks. Taken together, these characteristics indicate that the illumination was done in Oxford in the first decades of the 13th century, in the style exemplified by the Huntingfield Psalter (New York, PML, M. 43). William de Brailes of Oxford was also influenced by the Huntingfield Psalter illuminations. With regard to the penwork and the illumination it seems appropriate to place the present bible in the milieu of the University of Oxford in the years 1250-60. As noted, the connection of the manuscript to the University of Oxford is further proven by some 15th century inscriptions on the flyleaves.

This codex is a perfect example of early English book art, in a remarkably good state of preservation.

Literature: Tenschert 2004, no. 1.

Branner 1977; Eleen 1982; Morgan 1982, no. 30, 70; Light 1994, pp. 155-176; de Hamel 2002; Morgan 2002, pp. 10-13; Johnston 2004; exh. cat Cambridge 2005, no. 30, 31.

cat. 12*

cat. 12*

cat. 12*

Superbly executed miniatures from the Tournai region, and a unique textile book cover: an exceptional book

13

Psalterium non feriatum Illuminated manuscript on vellum.

Flanders, Diocese of Tournai, c. 1270–80.

157 x 105 mm. 220 leaves; restoration carried out in the 19 th (?) century appears to have retained the original quire structure: I4, II10–8 (old quire scheme interrupted by the loss of one quire), III-XI10, XII10+2, XIII-XXII10, numerous catchwords. – Written space: 85 x 60 mm, delicately ruled in brown, the ruling then erased. Single column, 17 lines, textura in dark brown ink, apparently in the hand of two scribes, occasional additions (fol. 63) and corrections, headlines in French added later for the Cantica, probably when the manuscript received the current binding. All pages with decorative subdividing initials in blue and gold and penwork in the contrasting colours, and carefully decorated with drolleries and line fillers in red, blue and gold. 12 near half-page calendar miniatures, 9 historiated initials, seven to nine lines high, and one full-page miniature. – In extremely fine fresh condition throughout, apart from the missing quire with the text of the Pss 1–17, 47a; upper margin insignificantly trimmed. ‑ 15th century French blind-stamped calf with narrowly-set fillets to a panel design; in the inner panel the inscription ROGIERS DE SALE ME FIST. Spine renewed, six raised bands, two clasps. The catalogue of the imperial house library records that there was one clasp, composed of a silk ribbon interwoven with gold threads and a gilt metal fixture with a dog’s head.

– A textile cover of silk and silvergilt embroidery executed in a cross-stitch technique (see below). Some alterations and a few minor defects to the margins and the surrounding plait braid, occasional wax spotting. Overall, the textile cover is in fine condition.

Provenance: 1. Commissioned by an anonymous patron in the diocese of Tournai, on the evidence of the feast of the dedication of the cathedral of St Mary of Tournai.

2. A later, unknown, owner commissioned the textile cover. Given that this cover is a unique survival, it is impossible to establish a precise date or origin for it.

3. Johanna, duchess of Bavaria, countess palatine of the Rhine and of Veldenz (1499-1537), nun of the Augustinian convent of St Agnes in Trier: note on fol. 2 dated 1625.

4. Helena of Bavaria, sixth prioress of the convent (1467-1555; prioress as of 1535), the daughter of Friedrich I, count palatine of Simmern and Zweibrücken.

Her sister Katharina was an abbess in Trier, most probably at St Irminen (see Brower/Masen 1856, vol. 2, p.

253). In the following centuries the psalter remained in the possession of the convent of St Agnes.

5. After the secularisation of the convent in 1802, the nuns retained residential rights at the convent and obviously must have continued to administer their last remaining possessions. The Trier scholar Michael Franz Joseph Müller mentions the present psalter in his book on the history of the monastic institutes of Trier (Müller 1824, p. 22). Where he saw the manuscript is not known. Müller was the brother of the last librarian of the imperial monastery St Maximin, Thomas Sanderad Müller OSB. 6. The last prioress of St Agnes, Elisabetha Adams, presented the manuscript to Joseph von Hommer (17661836) on 25 November 1825, note on fol. 3. Von Hommer, connoisseur of the fine arts, was the first diocesan bishop of Trier after the restoration of the German bishoprics in 1821. Only a few manuscripts from the library of the convent of St Agnes have survived, preserved in Trier and Hamburg (Krämer/Bernhard 1989, II, 760). Bishop Hommer attached a paper slip, dated 18 November 1833, to the first flyleaf, containing his reflections on Johanna of Bavaria (in part incorrect).

7. Crown prince Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia 104

(1795-1861, king 1840-1861), at least until 1914, when the manuscript was exhibited in Leipzig. On the occasion of a visit to Trier, the crown prince received the Psalter from bishop von Hommer as a present. The codex was deposited in the ‘Königliche Hausbibliothek’ in Berlin; stamp on fol. 1v.

8. Private collection.

Textile cover: The manuscript is accompanied by a textile cover of silk and silvergilt embroidery executed in cross-stitch technique over 2 × 2 threads on linen tabby. The cover is pulled over the clasps of the binding, by which it is held in position, and laid across the binding longitudinally. Surrounding plait braid. Basis: natural coloured linen, z-twist, 14-16 F/ cm. Embroidery: silk in beige, ochre, green, dark red, greyish violet, slight s-twist, circa 10-11 stitches per 1 cm. Silvergilt metalstrip. Braid: ochre, originally red (?) silk and silvergilt metalstrip around a pale silk core.

The alignment of the cross stitches changes at the central axis of the cover. The rows of cross stitches are executed in both directions, horizontally and vertically.

The cover is composed of three parts: a large rectangular part for the binding, a strip to the left which covers the edges as well as a small finishing strip to the right.

The strip to the left has presumably been trimmed in the upper margin by a few rows of yellow cross stitches. In the seam connecting the left strip with the main part, two slits were left blank for the clasps.

The embroidery employs various patterns. A dark red border with originally gilt zig-zag line frames a rectangular panel. This inner panel is filled with two rows of alternate octagonal red and green rosettes with heraldic motifs in lozenge fields, and three quatrefoil fields as spandrels in between. While the green rosettes all have a chequered pattern in gold and greyish violet, the yellow rosettes to the left contain lozenges with vertical stripes in yellow, gold/silver and greyish violet placed in a diagonal direction on top of each other. The ones to the right contain lozenges filled with crosses in

cat. 13

gold/silver and greyish violet. The quatrefoil field on grounds of white in between the rosettes employ to the left and to the right hitherto unidentified gilt heraldic motifs and small crosses. In the centre of the cover is a rectangular red heraldic field with a green octagonal star or wheel pattern on a gold ground. The small strip to the left which covers the edges is adorned by rectangular panels with heraldic animals in terraced, radially elongated lozenges; in the upper lozenge a gilt eagle on yellow ground appears, in the lower lozenge a silvergilt crowned lion rampant to the left on a green ground.

The small strip to the right has a geometric pattern, probably with an inscription. Letters seem to be inscribed in the half quatrefoil fields and in the spandrel fields along the red border. We can decipher both to the upper right and the upper left (as a mirror image) a silver E on a green ground.

Although some early textile binding covers are extant, comparable works are hitherto unknown. The heraldic iconography is reminiscent of a group of woven and embroidered pouches from the liturgical sphere which were created at the end of the 13th century in Flanders/ Brabant and the Meuse region (von Wilckens 1986, pp.

467-472, ill. 2-5; exh. cat. Tongeren 1988, pp. 193-199).

They differ from the present cover, however, in their use of wool and flat stitching. In terms of embroidery techniques and material, a group of early 14th century aumonières (collecting bags), similarly strongly defined by heraldic motifs, also recall the present binding cover.

The heraldic motifs of these aumonières allow them to be dated precisely, but their origin remains difficult to establish (von Wilkens 1981, pp. 275-282, ill. 7-9).

As examples which could serve even as rough comparisons are lacking, a definite date and place of production of our textile cover presumably cannot be established until the identification of the coat-of-arms. The book cover testifies to a genre of cultural historical artifacts the existence of which has hitherto been unknown; it must therefore be regarded as a unique object in textile history.

Text: fol. 4-9v: calendar – fol. 10: Psalterium non feriatum: fol. 10v: Ps 1 (‘B’eatus vir), fol. 21v: Ps 26 (‘D’ominus illuminatio mea), fol. 43: Ps 38 (‘D’ixi custodiam), fol. 61v: Ps 51 (‘Q’uid gloriaris), fol.

62v: Ps 52 (‘D’ixit insipiens), fol. 81: Ps 68 (‘S’alvum me fac), fol. 104: Ps 80 (‘E’xultate), fol. 125: Ps 97 (‘C’antate), fol. 128: Ps 101 (‘D’omine exaudi), fol.

149v: Ps 109 (‘D’ixit dominus) – fol. 197: Canticles – fol. 213: Athanasian creed – fol. 215v: Litany – fol.

219: Appendix of prayers.

The codex comprises a calendar with just a few entries, which are opened by monthly verses only for the months of January to May ( January: Jani prima dies et septima fine timetur. February: Post februar quarta est precedit tercia finetur and so forth). It is one of only three 106

known manuscripts from the end of the 13th century to have a calendar with the dedication of Tournai cathedral on 9 May (Tournai, ms. 31b and Paris, BN, fr.

786). The calendar lacks, however, the feast on 20 February of St Eleutherius, the major patron of the city of Tournai; this absence might indicate that this carefully written and preciously illuminated manuscript was not necessarily intended for use in the city of Tournai, but perhaps more broadly in the diocese.

The psalter is a Psalterium non feriatum, containing the 150 psalms in their normal order. The psalms are divided into 10 groups, which is quite common in Flanders, as the regular division is arranged in eight parts for matins of each day of the week and Sunday vespers.

The two initials marking Ps 51 and 101 are a relic of the old division of the Psalter into three sections. In addition, the present psalter contains the standard texts of the Divine Office, here the canticles, the creed and the litany. “In Flanders, psalters were the preferred devotional book of the economically prosperous laity conscientious about their religious obligations and devotional needs in their daily lives” (Benett 2002, p. 175).

Illumination: fol. 4: Man drinking in front of a fire – fol. 4v: Noblewoman holding a candle – fol.

5: Peasant cutting a tree – fol. 5v: Young man holding flowers ‑ fol. 6: Falconer – fol. 6v: Peasant carrying wood – fol. 7: Peasant harvesting hay – fol. 7v: Peasant cutting corn – fol. 8: Vinedresser harvesting grapes – fol. 8v: Man sowing – fol. 9: Man gathering acorns from an oak tree – fol. 9v: Peasant slaughtering a pig – fol. 10v: David playing the harp, David and Goliath – fol. 21v: Christ speaking to David – fol.

43: Christ speaking to David – fol. 61v: David and the devil – fol. 62v: David and a fool – fol. 81: David standing in water, God the Father blessing him – fol. 104: David playing bells – fol. 125: Two clerics singing ‑ fol.

128: David praying – fol. 149v: God the Father and the Son sitting, the dove of the Holy Ghost hovering above them.

The rich illumination of this Psalter is composed of the calendar illustration, with twelve miniatures of the so-called labours of the months, and the actual illumination of the Psalter, with one full-page historiated initial opening Psalm 1, and nine further large historiated initials marking the so-called divisional Psalms.

Apart from the miniature illustrating the month of February, the renderings of the labours of the months correspond to the usual iconographic conventions.

The February miniature – a noblewoman holding a candle – depicts a part of a scene borrowed from the liturgical calendar: Mary in the temple. This scene characteristically shows Mary and a maid, presenting herself with candles and the basket with the two doves. Exactly this scene is included in a Psalter at the Morgan Library (M. 106) dated c. 1250. The layout

cat. 13*

of the miniatures on irregularly shaped panels, which take up more than half the height of a page, is quite unusual and otherwise only comparable with a small group of Flemish/northern French Psalters, which Lilian Randall has introduced (and to which another Psalter in Los Angeles ( J. Paul Getty Museum, ms. 14) should be added). The calendar miniatures are highly unconventional both in their overall shape, and their stylistic features. Regardless of their social status, the robes of all the figures are designed with masterfully applied liquid gold, while the drapery folds are outlined with strong black penstrokes. The faces, very delicately outlined with black lines, are heightened with white; lips and cheeks are embellished with red.

The figures show rather lively and expressive gestures.

Another, slightly earlier, example of such rhomboid framing, and the elegant gilt robes of the figures, is the small Psalter datable to the 1280s (Fogg 1989, no.

7), which is not, however, of similar high quality. In terms of iconographic models, the calendar miniatures also correspond – but only very broadly – to Randall’s group of Flemish Psalters. The Getty Psalter, however, shows a close parallel to the full-page miniature with David playing the harp, and David against Goliath (fol. 10v). Despite these similarities, the manuscripts in Randall’s group were created at least twenty years earlier than our Psalter - from the mid-13th century until circa 1265, and are of clearly inferior quality.

The superb execution of the illustration program, with the full-page miniature, the historiated initials, and finally the highly inventive drolleries and penwork decoration displaying a multitude of forms, at first sight suggest that the Psalter should easily be attributable to an atelier. On closer examination, this turns out not to be the case. If we accept that the Psalter was created in Tournai (on the basis of the entry on the feast of the dedication of St Mary in Tournai), we must then view it in an artistic milieu that was stylistically highly complex, in which French and Flemish influences were mixed together – politically, linguistically, and ecclesiastically.

In summary, all one can say is that the present Psalter was created in the broader region of Tournai-Cambrai-Arras. The Psalter ms. 14 of the Getty Museum, produced for the use of Bruges in the mid-13th century, and the Psalter ms. 36 of the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore, dated to circa 1265, can be identified as the stylistic precursors of our manuscript.

From a purely stylistic point of view, the closest and most interesting parallels to our manuscript can be drawn with the Psalter-Hours cod. 31bis (conservé n° 17) in Tournai, but they do not, however, allow us to conclude that the two works are by the same hand. The face of King David, with his flat hat, consisting of horizontal lines on top of a row of curls, and the delicate

108

pink dots on his cheeks, are common to both codices.

Also comparable is the neatly drawn torso, with ribs suggested by short horizontal lines in the upper part of the abdomen. The drapery shares the same conception: heavy folds breaking at sharp angles, emphasized by black outlines with particular hooked shapes. Similarities in details also include the shape of the nimbuses, and the blue or purple robes with delicate white linings. In contrast to the present manuscript however, the figures in the Tournai Psalter-Hours have, on the whole, rather large and round heads, which give them a thickset appearance. Further, the flesh tints in the Tournai manuscript are rendered in a light rosy colour, whereas they are white in the present Psalter. Secondary decoration also differs between the two manuscripts: the Tournai manuscript lacks the lavish baguettes with dragons, reminiscent of the Epistle and Gospel book made in 1266 for Nicolas de Fontaines, bischop of Cambrai (Cambrai, ms. 189), which are present in the manuscript at hand. Line endings and penwork initials also differ in style. The handwriting is in distinct hands.

Our manuscript has close connections with both the Tournai Psalter-Hours and the group of works identified by Randall. We would propose, therefore, to add it to a broader conglomerate that incorporates the PsalterHours and Randall’s group, rather than associating it with any more specific set of manuscripts. As for origin, Tournai might be a possible candidate, but given the geographical range of this stylistic idiom (Cambrai, Mons, Saint-Omer, Tournai), it seems appropriate to refrain from being too specific.

With regard to the history of Tournai illumination, this Psalter is the third late 13th century manuscript to mention in its calendar the dedication of the cathedral. It is a new and important source of evidence for scholars attempting to disentangle the complex network of collaborative efforts which characterised the art of illumination in northern France and Flanders around 1300.

LITERATURE: Müller 1824, p. 22; exh. cat. Leipzig 1914, no. 99a, with illustration of fol. 5v/6 and fol. 10v/11.

Brower/Masen 1856; King 1963, p. 30, no. 50; Randall 1974, pp. 171-191; von Wilkens 1981, p. 275-282; von Wilckens 1986, pp. 467-472; exh. cat. Leuven 1988, p.

193-199; Fogg 1989, no. 7; Krämer/Bernhard 1989, II, 760; exh. cat. Leuven 1991, pp. 310-324; Brusby et al.

1993; Flament 1993; Bräm 1997; Stones 1997; Vanwijnsberghe 2001, p. 9 f., fig. 14; Benett 2002, pp. 167179, no. 44; exh. cat. Den Haag 2002, no. 11; Büttner 2004.

We are most grateful to Dr. Dominique Vanwijnsberghe for his help in analysing the stylistic origin of the illumination and to Prof. Dr. Annemarie Stauffer for her help in describing and classifying the embroidered textile cover.

cat. 13

cat. 13

cat. 13

cat. 13

cat. 13

cat. 13

cat. 13

An Epistolary for the use of the Royal Chapel in Paris

14

Epistolary Illuminated manuscript on vellum, for the use of the Sainte Chapelle in Paris France, Northern France or Paris, c. 1315.

270 × 200 mm. 197 leaves: I-XVI8, XVII8–1 (lacking fol. cxxxvi), XVIII-XXIV8, XXV6, with catchwords; original foliation in red ink, with mistakes, leaves clxxviii and clxxix accidentally omitted. The scribe noticed his error and added the two folio numbers on fol. clxxvii verso in the upper margin; they have been subsequently erased. ‑ Written space: 170 × 120 mm, ruled in 18 lines for double columns, written in black and red ink in a regular and neat gothic bookhand in the hand of one scribe. Initials touched in red, headings in red, one-line initials in gold with penwork in black, red and purple at the beginning of every lesson, the I-initials run into bar-borders extending the full height of the columns, numerous bar-borders and drolleries, twelve historiated initials and five miniatures, surrounded by a two sided decorative frame with burnished gold ivy leaves and drolleries. – In excellent condition, fol. 78–79 stained, margins of a few other leaves stained. Prickings visible at the outer margins. ‑ An early 15th century French leather binding over thick oak boards, blindtooled with panels of small rolls and stamps: quatrefoils, fleur-de-lys, a lion, a seated ape, small Tudor roses, and stars in circular ornaments. Rebacked. In a leather case.

Provenance: 1. William Beckford (?). Note on the flyleaf “Bought at Fonthill sale at £ 5.17.6”, but not traced in the Fonthill sale of 1823.

2. Frederick Perkins, of Chipstead Place, Kent (bookplate); his sale at Sotheby’s, 10 July 1889, lot 705, bought by the London book dealer Ellis.

3. Reverend E. S. Dewick. There are three letters from Dewick to Sir Sydney Cockerell loose inside the manu­script; these concern the liturgical use of the manuscript. Both writers agree with the conclusion that the manuscript was probably written for the Sainte Chapelle. Dewick sale at Sotheby’s, 17 October 1918, lot 48.

4. Hornby ms. 27.

5. Major John R. Abbey, ms. 3190; his sale at Sotheby’s on 4 June 1974, lot 2918.

6. Private collection, Switzerland.

Text: fol. 1-145: Temporale (Incipiunt epistole totius anni) from the first Sunday in Advent to the 27th Sunday after the octave of Pentecost, lesson for the dedication of a church – fol. 145v-172v: Sanctorale (St Andrew to Geneviève); full lessons for major feasts, for other feasts first words and folio references on repeating texts only – fol. 172v-192v: Commune Sanctorum – fol.

193: Lesson De sanctuariis istius capelle. – fol. 193: Epistole familiares (for the Trinity, Angels, the Holy Cross, the Virgin and various special occasions).

This codex is an epistolary, comprising the complete, unabridged epistle readings for the mass, arranged according to the liturgical year, beginning with the first Sunday in Advent. The epistle readings are generally taken from the New Testament epistles, but are sometimes drawn from other New and Old Testament books.

The manuscript has no original ownership entry. We may therefore assume that the istius capelle referred to in the lesson starting on fol. 193 is to be identified with the Sainte Chapelle on the Île de la Cité in Paris, the royal chapel of the medieval kings of France, founded

by St Louis for the relics of the Crown of Thorns in January 1246. On the whole the liturgical entries of the 116

epistolary stringently substantiate this assumption: for example the characteristic Sainte Chapelle feast of the Translation of the Crown of Thorns on 11 August is here a major feast (fol. 162v, In translatione corone domini), following the feast of St Laurence. However, the feast of Relics, which is here scheduled on 4 December (fol.

146, De suscepcione reliquiarum), is in accordance with the calendar of feasts of the other Parisian churches; in the Sainte Chapelle this feast was usually celebrated on 30 September. It is difficult to be absolutely precise about the dating of the manuscript: the feast of St Louis (canonised in 1298), which was established in 1309, is recorded; the feast of the Translation of the Head of St Louis, founded in 1306, is however missing. Apart from the feast of Relics, and the feast of the Translation of the Head of St Louis, overall the feasts in the Sanctoral agree closely with those in the London epistolary for the Sainte Chapelle (BL, Yates Thompson 34), which was produced thirty years later in the workshop of Jean Le Noir and Jaquet Maci.

The present manuscript obviously related to the array of magnificent liturgical codices which were produced for the Sainte Chapelle in Paris. Manuscripts which can definitely be identified as having been used in the Sainte Chapelle are extremely rare. The Paris exhibition of 2001 dedicated to the treasury of the Sainte Chapelle, explicitly pointed out that the chapel created duplicates based on exemplars in its existing fund of liturgical manuscripts, identical in textual content and layout. As a matter of course, however, the illuminations were executed by different artists, and thus the duplicate manuscripts can be identified by their different illumination. The London manuscript Add. 17341 for instance, which was illuminated by Maître Honoré between 1285 and 1290, and which indisputably belongs to the liturgical equipment of the royal chapel, and is recorded in the inventories, is a most exact copy of the so-called ‘troisième évangéliare de la Sainte Chapelle’ (Paris, BN, lat. 17326), which is dated 1260-70.

The Sainte Chapelle in Paris continued to gain significance not only through the accumulation of a multitude of famous relics, but also through the

cat. 14*

coronation of queens (Marie de Luxembourg 1323, Jeanne d’Evreux 1326, Isabeau de Bavière 1389). In addition to the altar for the passion relics, it also housed a wide variety of altars. In the period 1289-1318 in particular, five altars were sanctified, two of them in the lower chapel to St Louis. The Sainte Chapelle was enormously ‘successful’, and other royal chapels, even the chapels of the royal princes, adopted not only its architecture and relics, but also its liturgy.

Illumination: Miniatures and historiated initials: fol. 1: (Advent) Paul preaching, bas-de-page: a stag, a doe, and two grotesque heads – fol. 10v: (Christmas) Nativity, bas-de-page: children minding sheep, a unicorn and a bird – fol. 12: (Epiphany) Adoration of the magi, bas-de-page: a fish-tailed knight confronting a mermaid – fol. 69v: (Easter) Resurrection, basde-page: a monkey and a duck caught in a cleft stick, a bird and a rabbit – fol. 82v: (Ascension). Ascension, bas-de-page: a monkey, birds and an insect – fol. 90v: (Pentecost) Pentecost, bas-de-page: a mermaid and a dragon-fly – fol. 97v: (Trinity) Two initials: Trinity and Corpus Christ procession, bas-de-page: a bird supporting a monkey on its beak, an insect – fol. 144v: (Dedication of a church) Procession approaching a church, bas-de-page: a monkey turning a somersault – fol. 145v: (Andrew) Crucifixion of Andrew; initial with Andrew, bas-de-page: a fox, a rabbit, a dragon-fly and a lion – fol. 151: (Purification) Presentation in the temple, bas-de-page: a monkey with a walking stick – fol. 156: ( John the Baptist) Birth of John the Baptist, bas-de-page: a monkey shooting another monkey with an arrow – fol. 163v: (Assumption) Coronation of the Virgin, bas-de-page: a peacock – fol. 165: (Nativity of the Virgin) Birth of the Virgin, bas-de-page: a monkey trying to catch an insect – fol. 170v: (All Saints) Saints, in the centre Mary, bas-de-page: a spoonbill and another bird – fol. 172v: (All Souls) A group of saints, bas-de-page: a monkey with a musical instrument.

Although the use clearly indicates that the epistolary was made for the use of a Parisian chapel – at the very least – the style of the miniatures is notably different to that associated with the book production of the

118

city. We do not find the deep pleats in the drapery, the opulent cloth in the robes, and the slightly wild style of painting in the faces. Comparison with another manuscript made for the Sainte Chapelle, the Missal Harley 2891 in London, which was produced in Paris after 1317, shows clear differences in style.

In addition, the present codex is not linked stylistically with the workshop of Maître Honoré, or the Vie de Saint-Denis-atelier. In fact, the present epistolary demonstrates a style evolved by workshops in eastern and northern France, where numerous illuminators originated who later went on to work in the capital. During the reign of Philippe le Bel and his sons, Paris became less important in the arts. Regional centres gained importance, especially in the North (and to a lesser extent, the east) including cities like Arras, Amiens and Cambrai, whose geographical location allowed them to simultaneously absorb artistic influences not only from the capital, but also from the Netherlands, England and the Rhineland. It should be recalled here that the son-in-law of Honoré d’Amiens (Maître Honoré), Richard (recorded 1289-1327), came from the northern city of Verdun, and received payment for four (or three?) large new ­antiphonaries for the Sainte Chapelle together with his partner Jean de la Mare in 1318 or 1319. Also from the north, a certain Gautier de Verdun worked as a scribe around 1320-30, probably still under Richard de Verdun.

When reviewing manuscript production outside Paris in the first decade of the 14th century (or manuscript production in Paris in the same period by masters who were not trained there), one’s attention is drawn to selfsufficient artistic centres such as Arras or Cambrai, which were significant centres of manuscript illumination from the last quarter of the 13th century. Could the artistic origin of this epistolary, which was liturgically for the use of Sainte Chapelle, be found there?

Literature: The manuscript is hitherto unpublished (except sales cat. Sotheby’s).

Lacaze 1979; Rouse/Rouse 2000, vol. II, p. 88, 126; exh. cat. Paris 2001, no. 37, 42, 48, 53; Palazzo 2007, pp. 101-111.

cat. 14*

cat. 14*

cat. 14*

A unique collection of texts, illuminated by one of the Duc de Berry’s book illuminators

15

Guiart des Moulins, Bible historiale: Genesis, Giovanni Boccaccio, Patient Griselda, and other texts Manuscript in French and Latin on vellum, illuminated by the Master of the Berry Apocalypse.

France, Paris, c. 1416.

303 × 236 mm. 210 leaves, including one blank (fol. 125), lacking 2 leaves between fol. 112 and 113, else complete: I4, II-III8, IV6, V-XI8, XII-XIII10, XIVXV8, XVI8–2 [lacking iii and iv], XVII8, XVIII4, XIX 2, XX-XXIX8, with catchwords almost throughout, modern pencil foliation (followed here) at upper outer margin, beginning at 2nd modern flyleaf. – Written space: 197 × 135 mm, ruled in plummet for 32-34 lines, fol. 1-173v and 187-210v double, 174-186v single column. Written in dark brown ink in a lettre bâtarde, with running headlines and chapter numbers in red, biblical lemmata underlined in red, twoline burnished gold initials on pink and blue grounds with white-line tracery throughout, approximately 80 large illuminated initials (2 to 10 lines high) with orange and blue foliage on burnished gold grounds and borders of gold ivy leaves on delicate black hairline stems, one large miniature and 77 column wide miniatures. – Smudging to some miniatures, some slight staining, gently cleaned and conserved to remove wrinkles, a few small flaws restored, minor worming of end leaves, in generally good condition with remarkably wide margins. – Binding of modern red velvet over wooden boards with two clasps, a manuscript vellum label on upper cover, 2 modern flyleaves at front and rear. In a quarter black morocco clamshell case, gilt title.

PROVENANCE: 1. Erased 15th-century inscription on fol. 200v, opening ‘Ce livre appartient a...’

2. Du Pin, prior of the Augustinian priory of St Hilaire de Tours, 1650 (erased inscription on fol. 2). Possibly a member of the du Pin family who lived in BussièrePoitevines or Bussière-Badil, south of Tours, in the mid-17th century (Anselme IV, 1727, p. 687). However, a member of the La Tour Du Pin would also be possible (König 2006, p. 193).

3. Auguste Chardin (c. 1750-1823), the Parisian bookseller and collector who also owned the Psalter of St. Louis; his sale, Paris, 9 February 1824, lot 39.

4. Robert Lang (1750-1828), of Portland Place; his sale, 17 November 1828, lot 1526, ‘a very fine and curious manuscript’, to Payne.

5. Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872), his ms. 3668.

6. H. P. Kraus; his Bibliotheca Phillippica, cat. 153, 1979, no. 53, and Cimelia, cat. 165, 1983, no. 10.

7. Joost R. Ritman, private collection, Amsterdam.

TEXT: fol. 2: Table of content (5v blank) – fol. 6: Genesis – fol. 96: Etablissement de la bible (fol. 125 blank) – fol. 126: The Lives of the Saints in prose (fol.

126: Andrew, fol. 127v: Thomas, fol. 130: John, fol.

132v: Mark, fol. 133v: Philip, fol. 134: James the Less, fol. 135v: Barnabas, fol. 136: Peter, fol. 142v: Marcellus, fol. 144v: Paul, fol. 148v: James, fol. 151v: Bartholomew, fol. 155v: Matthew, fol. 159v: Luke, fol.

160: Simeon and Jude, fol. 165: Patrick, fol. 166v: The Knight Alain’s descent into St Patrick’s Purgatory) – fol. 175: The Lives of three Saints in verse (fol. 175: Christopher, fol. 188: George, fol. 192: Juliana) – fol.

201-211v: Patient Griselda.

This collection of apparently quite different texts is, however, not at random, and, as the table of contents confirms, it is complete. It begins with the preface and Genesis from Guiart des Moulin’s Bible historiale (cf. also no. 20), a French adaptation of Peter Comestor’s Historia scholastica, a type of chronicle summarising the narrative sections of the Bible. Then follows a text by an unknown author, with new chapter numbering. Begin122

ning with a confession to God, it narrates once again the creation of the angels and man, and continues with the Life of Christ. The story commences in Rome with ­St Veronica (fol. 116), continues with Vespasian and ends with the fall of Jerusalem and the execution of the high priest Caiphas (fol. 122v). However, the lives of the saints in prose and verse that follow, and the story of Griselda, fit into an approach that employs religious matter in order to both entertain the secular reader and encourage good conduct. Such compilations were addressed to the young nobility.

Among the 143 textual and pictorial witnesses of the Bible historiale listed by Fournié 2009, this manuscript is the only one that includes the Genesis of the Bible historiale within a collection of texts. Further, as Långfors (1918, p. 255) has noted, there is only one other example of the poem of St Christopher (fol.

175), in a later text manuscript (Paris, BN, fr. 24459).

König (2006, p. 175) stated, moreover, that our second text (fol. 96 ff.) is also included in the same Paris manuscript, introduced by the rubric Establissement de la bible. The Paris manuscript confirms that in the present codex the passage covering Easter and Pentecost is lacking between fol. 113 and 114. Fr. 24459 also contains the legend of St Patrick, in which, as he prayed, a hellmouth appeared, convincing the pagans to convert (fol. 165 in the present manuscript). Then follows the story of the Knight Alain, who passed safely through purgatory to paradise and back to earth, because he prayed continuously. The poem of the steadfast St Juliana, who refused to marry a heathen, completes the series of saints. Astonishingly, the manuscript ends with the story of Patient Griselda, derived originally from Boccaccio’s Decameron (X, 10), and translated into Latin by Petrarch (1373), who interpreted Griselda as the personification of constancy towards God. Petrarch’s friend, Philippe de Mézières, included the story in his Livre sur la vertu du sacrement de mariage (1384-89), thus causing the spread of the story in France, now emphasising Griselda more as a role-model for a good wife.

cat. 15*

One might assume, on the basis of the inclusion of Patient Griselda, that this textually extraordinarily inspiring manuscript was addressed to a woman. However, the overall compilation of texts, from the creation to the salvation, the actions of the saints and the examples of god-fearing humans, are equally appropriate as exciting and educational reading for young noblemen.

ILLUMINATION: fol. 6: Petrus Comestor presents his book to the Archbishop of Sens – fol. 8v: Creation of the earth – fol. 9: Creation of the sky – fol. 10: Creation of the trees and plants – fol. 11: Creation of the sun and the moon – fol. 12v: Creation of the birds and fish – fol.

13: Creation of Eve – fol. 16: God the Father in the garden of Eden – fol. 17: God, Adam and Eve – fol. 22: Cain and Abel offering – fol. 23v: Cain murders Abel – fol. 24v: Descendants of Cain – fol. 26v: Descendants of Adam – fol. 28: Noah and his family in the Ark – fol.

37v: God the Father and Abraham – fol. 39v: Battle scene – fol. 42: Sarah gives Hagar to Abraham – fol. 44v: The apparition at Mamre – fol. 46v: Lot and his family fleeing Sodom’s destruction – fol. 48v: Abraham, Sarah and Abimelech king of Gerar – fol. 49v: Birth of Isaac – fol. 51: Sacrifice of Isaac – fol. 52v: Death of Sarah – fol. 56: Abraham and Ketura – fol. 60: Death of Abraham – fol. 63: Jacob and Rachel – fol. 65v: Jacob and Laban – fol. 67v: Jacob and Laban – fol. 70: Jacob wrest­ ling with the angel – fol. 71v: The rape of Dinah – fol.

73v: Death of Rachel – fol. 74: Death of Isaac – fol. 74v: Joseph is sold by his brothers – fol. 78v: Joseph thrown into the prison – fol. 80: Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dream – fol. 81v: Joseph and his brothers – fol. 85v: Joseph and Benjamin – fol. 86v: Jacob’s dream – fol. 87v: Joseph presents his father and brothers to Pharaoh – fol.

90: Jacob and his sons – fol. 91: Jacob blesses his sons – fol. 93v: Death of Jacob – fol. 95: Joseph forgives his brothers – fol. 96: Trinity – fol. 97v: Creation of the angels ‑ fol. 98: Creation of Adam – fol. 99v: The expulsion from paradise – fol. 102: Nativity of Christ – fol.

103: Massacre of the Innocents – fol. 104v: Christ’s entry into Jerusalem – fol. 110: Flagellation – fol. 111: Crucifixion – fol. 112v: Deposition – fol. 116: Veronica gives Peter the ‘vera icon’ – fol. 117: Vespasian and his army – fol. 120: The Jewish army attempting to break out of Jerusalem – fol. 122v: The punishment of Caiaphas – fol. 126: Martyrdom of Andrew – fol. 127v: Martyrdom of Thomas – fol. 130: Martyrdom of John – fol. 132v: Martyrdom of Mark – fol. 133v: Philip at the temple of Mars – fol. 134: Martyrdom of Jacob the younger – fol. 135v: Martyrdom of Barnabas – fol. 136: Crucifixion of Peter – 142v: Marcellus revives his companion – fol. 144v: Beheading of Paul – fol. 148v: Martyrdom of Jacob the elder – fol. 151v: Bartholomew in front of the temple of Astaroth – fol. 155v: Martyrdom of Matthew – fol. 159v: Lucas writing – fol. 160: Martyrdom of Simon and Jude – fol. 165: St Patrick and the devil – fol. 166v: Descent of the Knight Alain into 124

S­ t Patrick’s hell – fol. 175: Christopher in a landscape – fol. 188: George and the dragon – fol. 192: Martyrdom of Juliana – fol. 201: Patient Griselda.

The manuscript was illuminated in the workshop of the Master of the Berry Apocalypse, named after his major work, New York, PML, M. 133, a manuscript made for the Duke of Berry. Active around 1407-20, he probably specialised in manuscripts with large illustration cycles, as there is no known book of hours by his hand. He is easily distinguished from the other illuminators who worked for the famous bibliophile, with a style that is characterised by a more graphic approach to his figures, with sparing application of colour, giving the impression of a coloured grisaille. This was an approach governed by taste, not by cost, as this manuscript demonstrates, because the diapered background, the frames, the initials and the ivy leaf borders make lavish use of gold.

Meiss identifies a group of twelve manuscripts produced by his workshop (Meiss 1974, pp. 252-24 and 368-70, pls. 782-88, 790). The present manuscript can be added to this group (Voelkle in exh. cat. Paris 2004, p. 289), and in terms of the level of style and furnishing, is most comparable to the Stuttgart Roman de la Rose (Württembergische Landesbibliothek, cod. poet. et phil. fol. 6); dated by Meiss to c. 1416. The workshop of the Master of the Berry Apocalypse illuminated a number of Bibles historiales. For such projects of immensely large picture cycles, the master and his collaborators worked by producing variations based upon an inventory of models. As Meiss has stated, the style of the Apocalypse Master is derived from the Boucicaut-/ Mazarine-workshop. This is evident, for example, in the image of Abraham and the three angels (fol. 43v), as the same model also appears in the Livre des merveilles by that workshop (Paris, BN, fr. 2810, fol. 124), datable c. 1411-12. Another source of influence, the Boethius Master, named after a manuscript of 1414 in Paris (BN, fr. 12459), was a regular collaborator with the Apoca­ lypse Master, and one might therefore assume that these two illuminators also exchanged compositions.

However, although the Boethius manuscript fr. 12459 also contains an anonymous translation of the Griselda story, none of the miniatures in it correspond to those in the manuscript at hand.

The compositions of the present manuscript have as their focus clear narration and the figures themselves, and so never cease to be lively and engaging. The minia­t ures have an aesthetic all of their own, which is still inspiring today.

LITERATURE: Berger 1884, p. 419; Långfors 1918, pp. 86, 255, 370; Komada 2000, p. 378; exh. cat. Paris 2004, S. 289; König 2006; Fournié 2009, Note 27, 94, 130, No. 8.

Meiss 1974, pp. 252-4 and 368-70, pls. 782-788, 790.

cat. 15*

cat. 15*

cat. 15*

cat. 15*

cat. 15*

cat. 15*

cat. 15*

cat. 15*

cat. 15*

A fascinating example of cross-cultural influence in a medieval manuscript

16

Federigo da Venezia, Commentary on the Apocalypse, in Italian Illuminated manuscript on vellum.

Italy, Venice, c. 1420.

272 × 205 mm. 169+2 leaves: I-VIII10, IX8, X10, XI8, XII-XVI10, XVII12, XVIII 2–1 (lacking ii); catchwords in the centre of lower margin of most final versos.

– Written space 177 × 124 mm, two columns of up to 37 lines of very variable script in two sizes, the commentary written in a small semi-cursive bookhand, moving from gothic to humanistic, the sections of the Apocalypse in a script of two-line height, ruled in ink, rubrics and paragraph marks in red. One- to three-line initials alternately in red and blue with flourishing of lilac and red. 52 large illuminated initials of two styles both with staves of pink and infills of blue containing green, red and yellow foliate shapes, all on grounds of burnished gold and with sprays, penwork tendrils and gold disks into the margin.

1 historiated initial accompanied by a three-sided border of similar forms, 1 full-page title miniature in colours and liquid gold and 1 frontispiece miniature in brown ink and yellow wash. – Minor pigment losses to title miniature, a few spots and smudges in margins, dampstain to lower outer corner of final 65 leaves, four wormholes in final leaves. – Brown panelled morocco tooled in blind, signed by J. Leighton. ­A bifolium from a 12th-century Italian manuscript serving as rear endleaves: St Augustine, In Johannis evangelium tractatus, cxxiv (Migne 1844, vol. 35, 1386). – Extremities scuffed.

Provenance: 1. Convent of San Pietro, Padua: a note on fol. 11 dated 1700 by Isabella Papafava, nun of the convent, recording the discovery of the volume in the possession of an “antichissima religiosa”.

2. William Morris (1834–96), Kelmscott House, Hammersmith: his bookplate on front pastedown.

3. Leo S. Olschki, 1937.

4. Collection William Foyle (1885–1963).

Text: fol. 2–168v: Apocalypse and commentary (lacking a final few lines).

Federigo de Rinaldo, usually known as Federigo da Venezia (c. 1350-after 1401), a Dominican who matriculated as a doctor of theology at Bologna c. 1380, was active at Padua and Bologna as prior and professor, and finally was elected ‘Priore della provincia di Lombardia inferiore’ in 1401. In 1393 he delivered the oration at the funeral of Francesco I da Carrara, and his commentary on the Apocalypse was probably completed around this time on the command of Francesco II. Federigo’s commentary is primarily concerned with examining the text and grammar of the Apocalypse – treating it as the only book of the Bible of which Christ was the author, with St John merely acting as the scribe. Written in a literary version of Venetian dialect, this text was “one of the very first biblical commentaries composed directly in an Italian tongue” (Luttrell 1964–65). In some witnesses - both manuscripts and a printed edition (c. 1469) - the text was mistakenly identified as merely a translation of Nicolas de Lyra.

Luttrell identified 16 Italian manuscripts of the text, including this one (‘untraced’) and one destroyed, and Gargan added a further two, again one of them lost (Gargan 1971). Two of the earlier copies are of particular interest in relation to the present manuscript: Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery, W. 335 and Paris, BN, ms. ital. 86. Although neither of these exactly duplicates the text and illustration of our manuscript – the text is closer to ital. 86, which is not illustrated – they do explain its appearance and genesis. Both were copied in Candia, the chief town of the Venetian colony of Crete, W. 335 in 1415 and ital. 86 in 1409. They were clearly not the only examples made on the is134

land; a translation into Greek was also made at around the same time, leading Luttrell to claim: “The work of an obscure friar thus took a minor place among the important series of translations ... through which Byzantine theologians acquired a knowledge of Roman theology. This process helped to produce that measure of understanding which made possible the serious attempt to secure the reunion of the churches which took place at the council of Florence a few decades after Federigo’s death.”

Illumination: fol. 1: St John lying on the ground, seeing Christ standing on a codex between seven candlesticks, holding in his right hand a globe with seven stars, in his left two keys, with a sword next to his head – fol. 1v: The Evangelists’ symbols and two prophets in six medallions – fol. 2: St John the Evangelist in an initial Q. It is clear from a comparison with the illustration on fol. 2v of the Walters manuscript – which shows the Evangelist having fallen to the ground on seeing the Son of Man between seven candlesticks, holding seven stars, with a sword in his mouth – that it was just such an illustration that served as the model for the title miniature of the present manuscript. A model from Crete would also account for the form of the display script on both our titlepage and opening folio.

In contrast, the ink and wash frontispiece on the verso, with roundels containing the symbols of the Evangelists and the heads of two prophets, appears to depend upon an earlier northern European model. The illuminated initials and borders are more straightforwardly Venetian. The decorative vocabulary and technique of the borders up to fol. 36v is that of manuscripts produced in the workshop of Cristoforo Cortese at this date, for example the Promissione of Doge Francesco Foscari of 1422 (exh. cat. Milan). Clearly the manuscript was not completed in a single campaign, and the refined and richly coloured initials from fol. 42 onwards are the work of a north Italian illuminator of around 1470.

Literature: Luttrell 1964, pp. 57–65; Gargan 1971; exh. cat. Milan 1997, p. 239.

cat. 16*

cat. 16*

cat. 16*

A fascinating document of the Hussite wars, signed and dated, in a contemporary binding

17

The Matthias Bible: Biblia latina Manuscript on vellum, written by Matthias of Raudnitz, illuminated in the circle around the Master of the Krumlov Speculum.

Bohemia, probably begun in Prague and completed in Lipnice in May 1421.

305 × 220 mm, 430 leaves (+ a small leaf inserted after fol. 5), complete: I8, II6, III 2+1 (iii a singleton), IV10–1 (i blank, removed), V-XLII10, XLIII 2, XLIVXLVI10, XLVII 2, horizontal catchwords and contemporary quire-signatures. – Written space 220 × 135 mm, double column, fol. 18-393 for 49-51 lines, fol. 399v-400 triple column for 54 lines, in a single small and legible bookhand in black ink. Fol. 1-17 and 420v-430 one to triple column for 40-63 lines, written by various hands in black and red. Capitals touched in red or yellow, punctuation in red, rubrics and marginal references in red, two-line initials, running titles and verse numbers in red and blue, colophon on fol. 393 in brightly burnished gold, and 90 larger initials in blue, pink and green (four- to ten-line), heightened with delicate white penwork and on coloured grounds heightened with liquid gold sprays, with scrolling foliate tendrils extending into margins (those on fol. 1 and from 263-386 in a cruder style), the initial opening Genesis on fol. 20v with God the Father holding the world, picked out in camaieu rouge. – A large number of medieval metal indexing tabs present, scribal error on fol. 317-18 (the copyist must have turned over two pages at once, continuing fol. 317 onto 318v, and then returned to fill in the blank space, drawing the reader’s attention to the correct order with tiny red notes). ­In outstandingly fresh condition. – Contemporary binding of tanned leather over slightly bevelled wooden boards, each cover with elaborate pierced and chased metal corner pieces and central bosses, with 4 clasps secured by similar metal fittings chased with stags and unicorns (22 metal fittings in total, all present). Skilfully rebacked, in a large fitted leather case.

Provenance: 1. Written by the scribe Matthias of Raudnitz (Roudnice nad Labem, 30 miles north of Prague) and finished in 1421; verse colophon in gold at end of fol. 393: “Finitum Anno domini Mo cccco xxio ... Explicit scutem fidei, quo pugnant filii dei oculus iustorum scandalum incredulorum. Mathie de Rudnicze” (Finished in the year of our Lord 1421 ...

Here ends the ‘shield of faith’, By which the sons of God are fighting; An eye for the just, And a stumblingblock for the unbelievers. Matthew of Raudnitz/­ Roudnice).

The ‘increduli’ in the colophon must be the Hussites, following their capture of Prague in 1419-20. These followers of the Czech religious reformer and protoProtestant Jan Hus (c. 136-1415), turned to violent revolt after the murder of their leader in 1415, and in 1419 stormed the capital. Sigismund (1368-1437), Holy Roman Emperor and king of Hungary and Bohemia, led the loyalist resistance, but was defeated in two great battles in July and November 1420. The king and the entire Cathedral Chapter abandoned Prague in the early days of 1421. Prague had become a cultural centre of almost unparalleled importance in the late 14th century, and its neighbours, like Roudnice, followed closely. “As an artistic centre Raudnitz was on a par with Prague, being the country seat of the Prague archbishops” (Harrsen 1958, p. 54). The invasion devastated and scattered the inhabitants of its artistic communities. Most fled to the countryside, as Matthias presumably did, carrying the partly finished gatherings of this book with him, and most probably following the patron for whom it was made. On fol.

420, immediately after the Hebrew Names, he adds a note recording the completion of that section in May 1421 in Lipnice: “Anno domini Mo.cccc.21. In mense mayo. Finitum in Lypnicz” (i.e. the remote rural village of Lipnice nad Sázav, some 65 miles south-east of Prague, on the border with Moravia). Lipnice was dominated by the fortress of the powerful royalist general, courtier and at one-time co-regent of the 138

kingdom, Čenĕk of Wartenberg (1379-after 1423).

He, or perhaps a member of the court who fled to Lipnice under his protection, was probably Matthias’ patron, and the original owner of the volume.

2. C .W. Dyson Perrins (1864-1958); bought privately, perhaps from Georges Hoentschel in Paris, before 1920; his sale at Sotheby’s, 29 November 1960, lot 118, pl. 26-27, to Maggs.

3. Joost R. Ritman, Amsterdam, Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica, ms. 159.

Text: fol. 1: Prologue of Nicholas de Lyra (Stegmüller, IV, 1954, p. 53) – fol. 1v: Ticonius Afer, Epitome Septem Regularum Ticonii (“Prima regula est”; Stegmüller, V, no. 8264) – fol. 2v: Augustine, De trinitate, book IV (“Scienciam terrestrium”) – fol.

3: lists of Psalms for major feasts – fol. 4: 15 Psalms to be used in times of tribulation – fol. 4v: alphabetical list of psalms – fol. 6: tract on the Psalter (“David prophetarum eximus”) – fol. 7: Jerome on the psalms (“Spiritus dei prophetarum ”) – fol. 8v: mnemonic for remembering the books of the Bible – fol. 9: classification of the deadly sins – fol. 10: prayers to use with the psalms – fol. 14v: list of the translators of the Bible and approved commentators – fol. 15: titles and brief summaries of each of the books of the Bible, including some names in Czech – fol. 18: Prologues of Jerome – This is followed by the main text of the Bible, in the usual order, except that Acts follow the Pauline epistles, Nehemiah (II Esdras) is followed by II (here III) Esdras, and the epistle to the Laodiceans is included after Colossians – fol. 393: Calculation of the number of books of the Bible, Colophon of Matthias of Raudnitz – fol. 393v: Prologue to the psalms – fol. 395v: Extracts from the church fathers on points of canon law – fol. 399: Interpretation of Hebrew Names in the version “Aaz apprehendens” (Stegmüller RB Nr. 7709), fol. 420: dating and localisation – fol. 420v: Biblical references – fol. 430v: Note on the translation of the Bible into Greek and Latin.

cat. 17*

The sidenotes in red are contemporary with the copy­ ing of the main body of the volume, and a number were written in before the volume was illuminated (e.g. fol. 34, 35v, 71, 83 and 96v). The approximately twenty pointing hands are in the same ink, and must also be contemporary. Almost all of the pointing hands indicate passages on which the Hussites took heretical stands. The battlecry of the Hussites was the taking of Communion of both kinds in secular settings and independently of the Church, and the first manicula on fol. 75 points to Deuteronomy 12:13, condemning those who make their burnt offerings in any place except that chosen by the Lord. The Hussites rejected state authority, and on fol. 76v (Dt 16:18, how God established man under the authority of his own rulers) and 223 (Ecclesiasticus 15:14, on wickedness of those who trust to their own devices) the contrary is indicated. They also prophesied, and a pointing hand on fol. 248 draws attention to Jeremiah 5:30-31, ‘a wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely’. The book would appear to have been marked up for anti-Hussite reading, and it is interesting to note that Čenĕk of Wartenberg had sympathised with the moderate Hussites up until the first half of 1420, abandoning them for the royalist cause as a result of the atrocities committed in that year. This volume may well have been intended for his own private contemplation, and marked up by a ecclesiastical scribe eager to steer his patron even further away from Hussite ideals.

This is the only recorded manuscript written by Matthias, but it is tempting to identify him with the Matĕj who studied under Master Stephen of Prague in 1403, or the ‘Matthias colorator’ who lived in W Prwni Reznická ulice in the early 15th century (Boehm/Fajt 2005, p. 78). However, the change in the quality of the initials here at fol. 263, presumably following his flight from Prague into the countryside, suggests that his talents lay in writing, and not in decorating the volume.

140

Illumination: From the late 14th century onwards Prague had emerged as the preeminent cultural giant of Central Europe. By 1378, when Wenceslaus came to the throne, only Paris had a larger number of resident illuminators. The workmanship of the majority of the initials here, especially that opening Genesis on fol. 20v, points to the great imperial and cathedral workshops of Prague (cf. the Zamojski Bible, made in Prague c. 1430; Prague, Národní knihova, ms. XVII C 56). The Zamojski Bible, containing only the Old Testament in the Czech translation, was illuminated in the workshop of the Master of the Krumlov Speculum (Prague, Národní Museum, ms. III B 10). Here we find the same elegant acanthus leaves and characteristic dots of highly polished gold; even the acanthus fillings in the initials look alike. The most distinctive aspect of the border decoration in this workshop are the headings with acanthus leaves weaving under the scriptural line. In the present manuscript this element is simply avoided because there are no lines for the chapter headings. Although the Zamojski Bible is illustrated with historiated initials, the more modestly decorated Martinice Bible, made in Prague c. 1430-34 (Prague, Knihova Akademie, ms. 1 TB 3) has only 5 figurative initials, and the acanthus decoration is less frequent and without gold. In that sense, the present Bible, which has nearly the same format as these two comparable bibles, falls in the middle of the range of bible manuscripts of the Hussite era. The use of costly pigments and gold however, suggests a demanding commissioner.

It appears that the workshop of the Master of the Krumlov Speculum remained in Prague, while Mathias of Raudnitz fled the city. In this sense the present Bible is a fascinating witness of the Hussite Revolution.

Literature: Warner 1920, pp. 294-95, no. 125; Bénédictins du Bouveret 1976, IV, 185, no. 13554; Tenschert 2004, no. 5.

Harrsen 1958; Boehm/Fajt 2005, p. 78, nos. 134-135; exh. cat. Prague 2006, no. 204, 226.

cat. 17*

A highly interesting Bible with an extraordinary order of the biblical books, signed and dated

18

The Bible of Wouter Grauwert: Biblia latina Manuscript on vellum, illuminated in the circle of the Master of Catherine of Cleves.

Northern Netherlands, Utrecht, 1443–45.

2 volumes, 294 × 204 mm. 408 and 444 leaves (including 7 blanks), complete: (vol. I) I-LI8; (vol. II) I 2+8, II8, III4, IV-XXVI8, XXVII1+8 (fol. 205 a singleton), XXVIII-LII8, LIII6, LIV-LV8, LVI8–1 (last leaf blank, a further blank removed); with traces of alphabetical leaf signatures in several sequences and of horizontal catchwords, pencil foliation (followed here), omitting ‘289’ in vol. I and ignoring the 2 preliminary leaves (one blank) in vol. II. – Written space c. 204 × 135 mm (with slight variation), double column, 40 lines, written in dark brown ink in a small and regular formal gothic Textura, ruled in pale brown ink. Punctuation includes the monastic ‘punctus flexus’ calligraphic cadels in upper margins, sometimes incorporating human profiles, headings and running titles in bright red, capitals touched in red, two-line chapter initials throughout in red or blue with penwork in purple or red. Approximately 124 large illuminated initials with full-length borders, the initials three to eleven lines high (42 of them nine-line,) in two main styles, (a) in highly burnished gold on blue and red-brown grounds with delicate white tracery, and (b) in colours with delicate tracery on highly burnished gold grounds including coloured flowers, clumps of plants, grotesques, etc., often highly ornamented, all with full-length bar borders sprouting coloured flowers and branching into coloured and burnished gold leaves in the upper and lower margins, sometimes with creatures (e.g., vol. II, fol. 342v). Thirteen large historiated initials, six to fourteen lines high, with full-length borders. – A few signs of use, original correctors’ notes in plummet still unerased on many pages, marginal notes occasionally in Dutch (e.g., vol. II, fol. 173r, “die sone godtes geboren”), occasional slight rubbing and thumbing, negligible stains and creases, two marginal wormholes at end of Volume I, generally in extremely fine and fresh condition with bright and sparkling gold. – 19 th-century brown morocco gilt, by Townsend (Sheffield; signed inside upper covers), gilt edges, paper endleaves. Housed in solander boxes.

Provenance: 1. The manuscript is signed by the scribe, Jacob Teuer, who records that he made it for Wouter Grauwert, Dean of the Chapter of Saint Salvator, Utrecht. The first volume was completed on 20 December 1443 and the second on 3 December 1445.

The colophons are: volume I, fol. 407, “Anno domini M.cccc.xliii, in vigilia beati thome apostoli, Completus fuit iste liber per manus Jacobi Teuer, sumptibus et expensis, venerabilis viri, Magistri Wolteri grawert, Ecclesie sancti salvatoris decani”; and volume II, fol.

440v, “Anno domini M.cccc.xlv. In vigilia barbare, Completus fuit liber per manus Jacobi Teuer, sumptibus et expensis venerabilis viri, Magistri wolteri grauwert, Ecclesie sancti salvatoris decani.”

Sint Salvator, adjacent to the cathedral, was one of four collegiate chapters of Utrecht. Erasmus was a chorister there as a boy. Master Wouter (Wolter) Grauwert was a canon of Sint Salvator and then dean there from 1429 until his death in 1456. He was a member of a no­table family of Utrecht, and was a younger son of Hugo Grauwert and his wife Heilwich van Rossem (De Nederlandsche Leeuw, 1881, p. 56). No other manuscripts by Jacob Teuer are recorded. The two colophons provide valuable evidence of the length of time required for writing a manuscript on this scale. Assuming Teuer began the second volume on completion of volume I, it took him nearly two years to write some 440 leaves, hardly a page a day. He cannot have been occupied full-time (cf. Gumbert 1990, p. 65).

2. William Bragge (1823-84), railway engineer and mayor of Sheffield; his sale at Sotheby’s, 7 June 1876, lot 217 (cutting from catalogue inside upper cover).

3. Bookplate of John William Pease (1836-1901) on front pastedown. He was the founder of the wellknown Wardington Library.

4. Bookplate of Lord Wardington on rear pastedown.

Probably J. W. Pease’s son John William Beaumont Pease (1869-1950), the first Lord Wardington, or his 142

son Christopher Henry Beaumont Pease (1924-2005), the second Lord Wardington.

5. Bookplate of Helen Elizabeth Pease, C.W.B. Pease’s daughter (born 1967), on first flyleaf.

Text: Volume I: fol. 1: General prologue (Stegmüller 284) – fol. 6: Genesis preceded by the prologue to the Pentateuch (Stegmüller 285) – fol. 39v: Exodus – fol. 67v: Leviticus – fol. 87: Numbers – fol. 115: Deuteronomy – fol. 141: Joshua (preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 311) – fol. 158: Judges – fol. 176: Ruth – fol.

180: I Kings, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 323) – fol. 204: II Kings – fol. 223v: III Kings – fol. 247: IV Kings – fol. 269v: I Chronicles, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 328) – fol. 290v: II Chronicles – fol. 316v: I Ezra, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 330) – fol.

323v: Nehemiah – fol. 333v: II Ezra – fol. 346v: Proverbs, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 457) – fol.

361: Ecclesiastes – fol. 366: Song of Songs – fol. 368v: Wisdom, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 468) – fol.

379v: Ecclesiasticus with the biblical preface to Ecclesiasticus (Stegmüller 26) – fol. 407: colophon of 1443.

Volume II: fol. 2: Job, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 344) – fol. 21: Tobit, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 332) – fol. 27v: Judith, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 335) – fol. 37: Esther, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 341) – fol. 46: I Maccabees, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 551) – fol. 68: II Maccabees – fol. 84: Ezekiel, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 492) – fol. 120: Daniel, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 494) – fol. 135: Hosea, preceded by prologue to the Minor Prophets (Stegmüller 500), with marginal note, ”Hic deficit argumentum scilicet Temporibus ozie et ioathe et cetera” (i.e., prologue to Hosea, Stegmüller 507) – fol. 140v: Joel, preceded by two prologues (Stegmüller 510 and 511) – fol. 143: Amos, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 512), with a second

cat. 18*

prologue added (Stegmüller 515) and a marginal note, “Hic deficit tercius prologus Qui incipit sic Hic amos propheta” (i.e., Stegmüller 513) – fol. 147: Obadiah, preceded by three prologues (Stegmüller 519, 517 and 516) – fol. 148v: Jonah, preceded by two prologues (Stegmüller 524 and 522) – fol. 150: Micah, preceded by two prologues (Stegmüller 526 and 525) – fol. 154: Nahum, preceded by two prologues (Stegmüller 528 and 527) – fol. 156: Habakkuk, preceded by two prologues (Stegmüller 530 and 529) and a note that a third “Quatuor prophete” (Stegmüller 531) is found “retro in fine libri” – fol. 158: Zephaniah, preceded by two prologues (Stegmüller 534 and 532), with the missing second part of Stegmüller 534 added below – fol.

160v: Haggai, preceded by two prologues (Stegmüller 538 and 535) – fol. 161v: Zechariah, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 540) and a note that a second prologue “Secundo anno” (Stegmüller 539) is found “retro in fine libri” – fol. 168: Malachi, preceded by two prologues (Stegmüller 545 and 543) – fol. 170: Isaiah, preceded by two prologues (Stegmüller 482 and 480) – fol. 207: Romans, preceded by the prologue to the Pauline Epistles (Stegmüller 670) and the prologue to Romans (Stegmüller 677) – fol. 216v: I Corinthians, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 685) – fol. 231v: Galatians, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 707) – fol. 235: Ephesians, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 715) – fol. 238: Philippians, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 728) – fol. 240v: Colossians, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 736) – fol. 243: I Thessalonians, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 747) – fol. 245v: II Thessalonians, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 752) – fol. 246v: I Timothy, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 765) – fol. 249: II Timothy, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 772) – fol. 251: Titus, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 780) – fol. 252v: Philemon, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 783) – fol. 253: I Hebrews, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 793) – fol.

260: Laodiceans – fol. 263v: Matthew, preceded by the prologue to the Gospels (Stegmüller 595) and the prologue to Matthew (Stegmüller 590) – fol. 285v: Mark, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 607) – fol. 299v: Luke, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 615) – fol.

323v: John, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 624) – fol. 342v: Jeremiah, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 487) and followed by Lamentations on fol. 383 – fol.

386v: Baruch, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 491) and followed by the letter of Jeremiah to the captives on fol. 390 – fol. 392v: Acts, preceded by three prologues (Stegmüller 640, 633 and 631) – fol. 417v: Revelations, preceded by prologue (Stegmüller 835) – fol.

429: James, preceded by the prologue to the canonical epistles (Stegmüller 809) and, added, to James (Stegmüller 806) – fol. 431v: I Peter, preceded by added prologue (Stegmüller 815) – fol. 434v: II Peter, preceded by added prologue (Stegmüller 817) – fol. 436: I John, preceded by added prologue (Stegmüller 822) 144

– fol. 439: II John, preceded by added prologue (variant of Stegmüller 823) – fol. 439v: III John, preceded by added prologue (Stegmüller 824) – fol. 440: Jude, preceded by added prologue (Stegmüller 825), and followed by the further prologues for I Habakkuk and Zechariah (Stegmüller 531 and 539), referred to above on fol. 155v and 161v.

The notable revival of large Latin Vulgate bibles in the northern Netherlands has been little studied as a phenomenon, at least in comparison with the betterknown Dutch vernacular bibles. The luxury Latin bibles, usually in several volumes, were mostly made for use in churches, often on commission from individuals. The fashion began around 1400 and extended eventually into the Rhineland, a market tapped by Gutenberg in the 1450s. Many of the bibles were evidently the work of scribes associated with the orders of Canons Regular and the Brethren of the Common Life, returning to the fundamentals of Christianity.

Examples, among many, include: Brussels, BR mss.

106-7 and 204-5, 4 volumes, c. 1398-1403, made for the Carthusians in Utrecht; Copenhagen, KB, mss.

Thott 2-3 Fol., 2 volumes, dated 1408-10, from Ysselstein; Auckland, City Library, Med. mss. G. 128-31, four volumes, bought for Wijk-bij-Duurstede, 1419; Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum ms. 289, made for a member of the Lochorst family of Utrecht, c. 1420-30, perhaps Herman Lochorst, dean of Utrecht; Vienna, ÖNB cod. 1199-1202, 4 volumes, Utrecht, c. 1430; Utrecht, Catharijneconvent cod. Warmond 92 H 2-3, 2 volumes, bought by the church in Haarlem, 1435; Glasgow UL, ms. Gen. 119, Old Testament, vol. II, dated 1446; London, BL, Royal ms. I.C.V-VI, 2 volumes, written by the Brethren of the Common Life, Zwolle, 1451; Utrecht UB cod. 31, the Zwolle Bible, 6 volumes, made for the dean of the chapter of St Mary, Utrecht, 1462-76; and Rome, Bibl. Casanatense, cod.

4212, 7 volumes, also made for the dean of the chapter of St Mary, Utrecht, perhaps 1470s.

An extraordinary feature of the present volume is the order of the biblical books, which differs radically from any other medieval bible known to us. It follows the conventional 13th-century canonical order from Genesis to II Ezra; then it jumps forward to the books of Solomon, before returning to Job and the Apocrypha; and then it moves forward again to Maccabees, usually found at the end of the Old Testament, and back again to three (only) of the major prophets, not in sequence but here sandwiching the 12 minor prophets. This would be strange enough, but the sequence then becomes even more bizarre, for the epistles of St Paul follow, removed from the middle of the New Testament; then the gospels; and then back into the Old Testament again with Jeremiah, Lamentations and Baruch; followed by Acts, the Apocalypse (usually the last text in a bible); and finally the canonical epistles. It does

cat. 18*

not include the psalms or the interpretation of Hebrew Names. It does, however, include the rare epistle to the Laodiceans. Quire signatures, catchwords, and the beginning of books in mid-page all confirm that the present order of the Grauwert Bible is as it was written.

There may be a theological explanation for this: an attempt at a new grading of scriptural texts which rejected the historically sequential order of 13th-century Paris. Or it may be that, for some reason, the exemplars became available only a few books at a time, perhaps as separate volumes of a glossed bible. Or finally it might be that the scribe had access to an early Christian exemplar, made before the sequence had been fixed at all, which may explain the problems he had in matching the standard medieval prologues to their associated texts. The mixing of Old and New Testaments is quite unexpected at any period of biblical history, and is known to us as occurring only, although differently, in the so-called ‘Biblia Irregularis’ of the early 13th century, now in Dallas, Bridwell Library at Southern Methodist University, MS 35.

Illumination: Volume I: fol. 1: St Ambrose, a half-length bishop with mitre and crozier, holding a book in the folds of his robe – fol. 6: God enthroned on a rainbow holding the sceptre and orb.

Volume II: fol. 206: St Jerome, a half-length cardinal holding a book – fol. 263v: An angel seated on grass, holding a scroll “Sanctus mathe ewang” – fol. 285v: A winged lion standing, holding a scroll “Sanctus Marcus” – fol. 299v: A winged ox standing, holding a scroll “Sanctus lucas n.n” – fol. 323v: An eagle holding a scroll in its beak “Sanctus Iohannes” – fol. 342: Jeremiah standing with a scroll – fol. 417v: St John on Patmos, writing in a book on his lap, his eagle with the pencase, seated on a tiny island in a lake, trees and a distant city behind – fol. 429: St James, half-length, dressed as a pilgrim – fol. 431v: St Peter, half-length, holding a gold key – fol. 436: St John the Evangelist, half-length, blessing the poisoned chalice – fol. 440: St Jude, half-length, holding a staff.

In addition, there are many large initials which show animals and creatures which are not illustrative of the text as such but are certainly pictorial, such as a jester emerging from a flower and playing two pipes (vol. I, fol. 115); a winged dragon with a human head (vol. I, fol. 178v); a young woman with the hindlegs of a dog (vol. I, fol. 223v); a grotesque bird with a hood (vol. I, fol. 361); a grotesque dragon holding ivy leaves in its

146

mouth (vol. I, fol. 366); a grotesque cardinal looking at himself in a mirror (vol. I, fol. 368v); a king, perhaps David, holding bells and emerging from a flower (vol. II, fol. 120); etc. Other initials have pictorial elements, such as realistic flowers, or a series of three showing manna falling from heaven (vol. II, fol. 216, 240v and 243).

With the Hours of Catherine of Cleves, Dutch illumination reached its apogee in Utrecht in the middle third of the 15th century. The Bible of Wouter Grauwert is a manuscript of great artistic refinement and sophistication, of precisely the same period, important not least for being documented and dated. As Professor James Marrow kindly informs us, it is the work of the illuminator of a book of hours in Rostock (UB, cod. theol.

24), and other manuscripts from the same hand or workshop include The Hague, K.B. cod. 69 B 10, a history bible dated 1443 (exh. cat. Utrecht 1989, no. 43); a prayer book in Boston, Public Library ms. Q.med.162; a missal in Toledo, Bibl. Capitular, ms. 52.12; and two Books of Hours in Utrecht, Catharijneconvent, BMH. 165 and ABM. 15 (for the former, cf. Wüstefeld 1993, pl. on p. 140). The whole group is strongly influenced by the Master of Catherine of Cleves, and the border decoration especially of the Hours of Catherine itself may include work by the present illuminator. The halflength miniature of St Ambrose in the present bible, vol.

I, fol. 1, has a good parallel in the miniature of the same saint in the Cleves Hours (New York, Morgan Library, M. 917, p. 244) as does, less closely, St Jerome (vol. II, fol. 206; cf. M. 917, p. 242). The full-face, full-length image of God the Father holding an orb here (vol. I, fol.

6) recurs almost precisely throughout the hours of All Saints in the Hours of Catherine of Cleves (M. 945, fols.

116-122). The same pattern sheets must have been available to the artists of both books. The manuscript is a subtle balance of soft and rather dreamy colours with bright orange and brilliant burnished gold. “These Dutch Bibles were probably all made in the communities of the Devotio moderna ... Therefore it is not surprising that we sense the conviction, the religious emotion, behind many of those miniatures” (Delaissé 1968, p. 34).

Literature: Bradley 1889, p. 294; Bénédictins du Bouvcret 1973, p. 74, no. 8031.

Delaissé 1968, p. 34; exh. cat. Utrecht 1989, pp. 14345, no. 43; Wüstefeld 1993, pl. on p. 140.

cat. 18*

cat. 18*

cat. 18*

A rare manuscript witness of a popular devotional text

19

Seelentrost German manuscript on paper.

Southern Germany, c. 1470.

287 × 206 mm. 235 leaves (2 of which glued together), incomplete, almost uniform quires, modern paper flyleaves: I12-3 (lacks 1-3; blank sides of leaves 9+10 glued together), II-VIII12, IX12-1 (lacks 12, with loss of text), X12-1 (lacks 12, no loss of text), XI-XIV12, XV14, XVI10, XVII14, XVIII10, XIX 2, 8 single leaves in correct order, among them 2 intact bifolia, XX10, XXI8-4 (lacks outer 2 bifolia). (Collation differs slightly from Borchling). Modern pencil foliation in upper outer margin, above a contemporary foliation in Roman numerals. – Watermarks: bull’s head with crown and flower (e.g. fol. 155, 157, almost identical to Piccard no. 68282, dated 1475, from Innsbruck; similar but not identical to Piccard no. 68292, dated 1475, from Innsbruck), bull’s head with cross and star (e.g. fol. 164, 166-175, 185, very similar but not identical to Piccard no. 68852, dated 1475, from Brescia, also similar to Piccard no. 68758, dated 1473, from Innsbruck), bull’s head with baton, flower and additional snake (e.g. fol. 189, 191, 193, 197, 201, 203-211, motif similar but definitely not identical to Piccard no. 66519, dated 1459, from Nördlingen), bull’s head with double staff, crown and flower (e.g. fol. 182, 184, identical with Piccard no.

70809, dated 1475, from Gottorf ), bull’s head with double staff, flower and arrow below (e.g. fol. 214, very similar, but not identical to Piccard no. 70123, dated 1477, from Gaildorf, also similar to Piccard no. 70119, dated 1477, from Rattenberg), bull’s head with double staff and flower (e.g. fol. 223, 224, 226). – Written space: 210 × 145-160 mm, written in a German bastard script (Semihybrida Libraria) in brown ink in two columns of 28-31 lines, generally unruled with blind ruling on some pages. Paragraph marks in red, versals touched in red, rubrics and headlines in red, numerous three-line initials in red.

Ascenders and descenders in top and bottom lines very often extended with decorative flourishes and calligraphic embellishments. – Some thumb marks throughout the manuscript, paper slightly darkened but in fine condition, water-staining in the margins of the last quire, fol. 213-220 leaves mounted singly and inserted in correct order, some of them strengthened and with wrinkels removed. – Late 18th-century half parchment over pasteboard, spine with red label titled in gilt: “Manuscript de 1400”, paper shelfmark label “216” on lower spine. The restoration of fol. 213-220 most likely dates from the time of the binding. Lower cover a bit worn.

Provenance: 1. An 18th-century handwritten note on fol. 1, probably by a librarian, states that the manuscript comes from the Fugger library: “ex Bibliotheca I.P.I(?).I(?). de Fugger B. H. A. A. H.” This hand dated the manuscript “A.D. 1400”.

2. From the library of a European noble family.

Text: The manuscript contains a very unusual version of the Seelentrost (‘Consolation of the Soul’), that was originally written and disseminated in Middle Low German from the second half of the 14th century. The present text, specifically, is a treatise on the Ten Commandments - commandments eight to ten are missing - , which, from fol. 1-220, incorporates numerous exempla from the so-called large Seelentrost. From fol.

221 onwards the treatise includes exempla from the so-called small Seelentrost. While the large Seelentrost dwells on the Ten Commandments in more than two hundred exempla, the small Seelentrost - though considerably longer - comments on the seven sacraments also through employing various exempla, e.g. from the Legenda Aurea of Jacobus de Voragine and from the Speculum historiale by Vincent of Beauvais. The small Seelentrost was composed in a manner of speaking, as a ‘sequel’ to the large Seelentrost, and was written slightly later by another author.

Many different medieval catechistic works, e.g. on the Credo, on the Deadly Sins, on the Ave Maria and so forth, were composed in the form of dialogues between a confessor and his confessant. In the Seelentrost we find “der Jungere” and “der Maister” (the teacher and his student), a model that the anonymous author took from the scholastic tradition of juxtaposing thesis and anti-thesis by means of question and answer. Usually, the teacher introduces many allegories, exempla, reflections and prayers so as to enhance the treatise.

This method of making vivid theological and abstract dogma characterizes the laical and devotional ‘mirror150

literature’, which was increasingly spread in prose and in the vernacular from the late 14th century. A famous example of this genre is the Speculum humanae salvationis.

As announced at the end of his preface to the book, which is not present in our manuscript, the author of the Seelentrost originally intended his work to treat not only the Ten Commandments, but also the Eight Blessings, the Seven Sacraments, the Works of Mercy, the Nine Foreign Sins, the Seven Joys of the Virgin, the Seven Horae of the day, the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit, the Seven Cardinal Sins and Virtues. Apparently, however, he realised in the process of composing the text that this task would provide too much material for one volume, so he restricted his treatise to the Ten Commandments and the Seven Joys of the Virgin and the Seven Horae of the day, which he incorporated into the discussion of the third commandment. The three authors of the later small Seelentrost (cf. Schmitt 1959, p. 138f ) obviously intended to supply parts of the missing chapters the first author had announced in the original preface, but did not entirely succeed either, as the program of the catechism as initially envisaged turned out to be too extensive.

In general, the authors of both the large and small Seelentrost compiled exempla from various sources, such as sermons, legends, for example the Vitas patrum, chronicles or historical literature, as the Gesta Romanorum. By compiling an edifying text that included narratives from legends and chronicles - thus, both from devotional and secular literary sources -, the authors also to some degree created a short compendium of medieval literature, which might explain why it was so tremendously successful, as the 55 surviving manuscripts including the present one (cf. online database Handschriftencensus) and 43 printed editions imply (see no. 27). In fact, one of the main intentions of the author of the large Seelentrost was to distract his

cat. 19*

readers from devoting their time to tales of adventure and other genres of worldly literature as he also explains in the preface.

As Westphalia and the Netherlands were the centres of 14th- and 15th-century manuscript production of the Seelentrost, the present copy is a rare witness of an upper German translation of the text. Some linguistic indicators such as “scholtu”, “gepet”, “kain”, etc. point to Bavaria, whereas other linguistic inconsistencies (fol.

127 “Du solt”, “so soltu”, “Es was”) either derive from an earlier low German model or do in fact indicate that the manuscript was perhaps written in Franconia or northern Bavaria.

Identification and comparison of the watermarks suggests that the manuscript was made after 1470, probably even after 1475. The austere decoration of the script with only a few versals touched in red, red paragraph marks and some three-line red initials is very common in German paper manuscripts from this period. In particular, however, the script, the decorative tendrils in brown ink protruding into the lower margins from some descenders of the lower lines of a number of pages and other calligraphic embellishments occur in a very similar manner in a German copy of Johann Schiltberger’s Reisebuch, made around 1470, now at Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books AG in Switzerland. Although it is quite tempting to iden-

152

tify the same scribe in both manuscripts, 15th-century cursive hands in southern German vernacular manuscripts are often hard to distinguish as they tend to be relatively uniform. However, the palaeographic parallels in these two codices could hardly be called coincidental, so we could suggest that both were made in the same secular workshop that probably specialised in producing edifying and devotional text manuscripts. Moreover, the watermarks in both manuscripts are very similar.

It would certainly be rewarding to compare the text and dialect of the later printed editions of the Seelentrost from southern Germany, e.g. Anton Sorg’s edition of 1483 (see no. 27), to the version of the present manuscript in order to establish whether Sorg had access to a copy of Franconian or Bavarian origin by the end of the 1470ies.

Literature: Handschriftencensus, online-database: www.handschriftencensus.de (last call April 2011), provides a scan of Conrad Borchling’s handwritten description of the manuscript, completed on 2nd May 1909; Reidemeister 1915, esp. p. 19f.; Schmitt 1959, esp. p. 16; N.F. Palmer in Verfasserlexikon VIII, 1992, col. 1030-1037; XI, 2004, col. 1413.

Schnyder 2005.

cat. 19*

The only known Bible historiale in private hands

20

Guiart des Moulins, Bible historiale Illuminated manuscript in French on paper Flanders or northern France (Amiens?), c. 1480-85 382 × 278 mm. 328 leaves, complete: I-XXIX10, XXX8, XXXI-XXXII10, XXXIII10–1 (last blank). Modern foliation in pencil, in upper and lower outer corner. Watermarks: a goblet with quatrefoil on top, close to WLIC, WM I 50032 (Louvain 1488), Briquet 4587 (Darmstadt 1483) and Piccard online, 31184 (Maastricht 1484), 31187 (Cologne 1480), 31188 (Liège 1484); and a small letter p (not recorded). – Written space 250 × 210 mm, ruled for 45 lines in two columns, written in a cursive gothic hand in black and dark brown ink, rubricated in the same ink in display script. Chapter headings touched in red at the left and below, capitals touched in red. More than 60 large initials in gold over coloured grounds with white tracery, one large eight-line initial in colours over gold, the following line in display script. 50 large miniatures in two columns, mostly the whole width of the text, one with a two-sided border of spray with flowers and leaves. – The first leaves slightly water-stained in the margins (with small repair to first leaf ), fol. 121 with repaired tear affecting a miniature, but in general in excellent condition with wide margins. – Contemporary blind-tooled calf over wooden boards, the covers doubleruled for a frame around a central lozenge with flower-tools in the corners, each cover with five round brass bosses, two clasps. Corners and edges restored, spine renewed. In a modern half morocco clamshell box.

Provenance: 1. Erased inscription of the 15th or rather 16th century, perhaps of a monastery library.

2. Arnold Mettler, St. Gall ; his sale at Fredrick Muller, Amsterdam, Catalogue d’une Collection de manuscrits à miniatures des IXe-XVe siècles, 22 November 1929, no.

30.

2. Rauch, Geneva 1952, catalogue 4, no. 94.

3. Private collection, France.

Text: The Bible historiale is one of the principal works of medieval literature. In this French translation it unites all the books of the Old and New Testament. As is mentioned in the present manuscript (fol. 1), Guiart (or Guyart) des Moulins undertook the translation completing a first draft between 1291-95, and a revised version in 1297. Guiart was priest and canon at the church of Saint-Pierre in Aire-sur-la-Lys in the diocese Therouanne in Artois. The basis for his translation, composed in the form of a history book, was Petrus Comestor’s (Pierre le Mangeur, d.c. 1178) Historica scholastica, but he also used significant portions of the Latin Vulgate. The content alone shows that the work is more a sort of a chronicle or a novel, to make the biblical text more suitable for laypersons. Unlike the Latin Bible the Bible historiale was made only for the laity; manuscripts entered monasteries very late, if at all. The original manuscript of the Bible historiale has not come down to us. 144 copies (complete and fragments) have survived; the Bible historiale was by far the most popular French translation of the Bible. However, copies vary tremendously with regard to their texts, as over the centuries, new compilations were composed time after time, each baptized by scholars with different names. The present manuscript belongs to the group of the Bible historiale complétée; it contains the historical books of the Bible du XIIIe siècle, the earliest version of the French translation of the Bible (created 1226-39) and attempts to appear as original in terms of its structure (Fournié 2009, no. 7). For this reason this manuscript, which ranks among the latest examples of its kind, fits into a group of eight other copies that originated in the northern region of France, the 154

Hainault and Flanders, close to Air-sur-la-Lys, where Guiart lived. Those nine manuscripts are very similar – in their content and language – to the original, now lost (Komada 2000, p. 533). Komada suggests that the patrons of these manuscripts, which date from the middle of the 15th century onwards, wanted to break away from the Parisian tradition of the Bible historiale complétée.

The setting of the text is arranged spaciously; between the chapters many lines remain empty. Originally the creators of the manuscript planned to supply the large initials at the beginnings of books in red ink only, but before illuminating the miniatures, it was decided to produce them in gold. Parts of the red initials show through in places. Evidently the commissioner was interested in having a sumptuous codex, as is also demonstrated in the fact that the miniatures are not, as was usual, column wide but extended over the whole width of the written space. The oblong format of the picture space led Eberhard König to suggest that this layout may have something to do with the printed Cologne Bibles of 1478/79. Indeed this comparison makes sense with reference to the layout, if one compares it with the woodcuts of the Ninth German Bible of 1483 (no. 26; these woodcuts were used before for the Cologne Bibles). This does not help, however, in dating or localising the manuscript.

Illumination: fol. 4: Creation of Eve – fol. 16: Noah’s ark – fol. 25: Lot and his family fleeing Sodom’s destruction – fol. 27: Sacrifice of Isaac – fol.

33: Jacob’s dream – fol. 39v: Ruben returns to the cistern, Jacob mourns for Joseph – fol. 49v: Miniature left blank – fol. 63: Dancing around the golden calf; Moses and the burning bush – fol. 96v: Moses, Aaron and Korah in the tabernacle; the punishment of Korah’s congregation – fol. 100: Balaam and his donkey – fol. 121v: God is speaking to Joshua 129v: The men of Judah attack Adoni-Bezek – fol. 131: Two scenes of the book of Judges – fol. 131v: Jael and ­Sisera – fol. 134: Melech kills his brothers; Abemelech is killed by a millstone – fol. 135v: Jephta’s daughter

cat. 20*

–­ fol. 137: Samson and the lion – fol. 138: Samson kills the Philistines – fol. 138v: Samson and Delilah; Samson’s death in the house of the Philistines – fol.

140: A levite and his concubine – fol. 143v: Philistines capturing the Ark of the Covenant; Death of Eli – fol. 151v: David and Goliath – fol. 157v: Death of Saul – fol. 158v: Coronation of David – fol. 167: Death of Absalom – fol. 172: David and Abishag – fol. 175v: Judgement of Solomon – fol 184: Solomon and the queen of Sheba – fol. 192: Jezebel and Ahab at Naboth’s vineyard; Death of Naboth – fol. 194v: Soldiers sent to arrest Elijah are destroyed by fire – fol.

201: Death of Jezebel – fol. 209: The angel of Jehovah kills 185.000 Assyrians; Sennacherib is killed by two of his sons – fol. 211: Manasseh worships all the host of heaven; Death of Isaiah – fol. 218v: Job on the dunghill – fol. 231: Tobias taking leave of his parents; Tobias and the fish – fol. 236v: Death of Gedaliah – fol. 239: Martyrdom of Ezekiel – fol. 240: Nebukadnezzar’s dream – fol. 242: Rape of Nebukadnezzar’s dead body – fol. 247: Susanna and the elders; Stoning of the elders – fol. 249: Daniel in the lions’ den; Angel lifting Habakkuk – fol. 251: Childhood of Cyrus – fol. 252: Death of Cyrus – fol. 253: Holofernes destroys Israel – fol. 257v: Judith and Holofernes – fol. 263v: Esther and Ahasver – fol. 266v: Haman hanged fol. 270v: Alexander at the gates of Jerusalem fol 274v: Battle scene – fol. 300: John at Patmos – fol.

311: John, the woman and the dragon – fol. 317: John and the whore of Babylon – fol. 321: John and the angel with the keys of the bottomless pit; Last Judgement with kneeling souls.

Most Bibles historiales are illustrated; only a few manuscripts without miniatures have come down to us. As the word histoire can also mean picture, the name of the text therefore also describes the fact that it includes miniatures. Whilst illumination in the Latin Bible is confined only to the initials, the Bible historiale, from its first creation, contained images not only at the beginnings of but also within the text of the books. The large number of miniatures made the Bible historiales very expensive to produce. Just as the text varies from copy to copy, the quantity and the position of miniatures in the text differs extensively. The nine Bible historiale manu-

156

scripts from the northern region also have certain icono­ graphic similarities (Fourniè 2009). But the unknown commissioner of the present manuscript must have had specific interests, judging from the allocation of the miniatures. The history of Samson received three miniatures, (fol. 137, 138, 138v), that of Jezebel (fol. 192, 201), Judith (fol. 253, 257v) and of Esther (fol. 263v, 266v) two miniatures each. The Apocalypse has as many as four miniatures (fol. 300, 311, 317, 321), while the remaining books of the New Testament received none at all. The scribe provided spaces for the miniatures to the book of Exodus (fol. 49v) and the other books of the Pentateuch, but these remained without illumination and were filled with rubrics. In accordance with their unusual subjects, the compositions are inventive and do not derive from the usual canon. The wide picture fields allow for the occasional inclusion of two scenes at once.

It has still not been possible to identify the illuminator. He focuses on the design of the figures which are clearly drawn more elaborately than the landscape and architecture. Manuscript illustrations in the form of large penwork drawings from this region still require further investigation. While König alternated in his placement of this genre between Paris and northern France, research has now focussed on the north. This fits with the pen-and-ink technique and the writing material, as, outside Germany and Switzerland, paper manuscripts with pen-and-ink drawings with washes were common in northern France (Smeyers 1999, p.

347). Fournié sees the illuminator stylistically as between the painter of the Livre du Roi Modus (Paris, Arsenal, ms. 3079-80) and the Rambures Master, who worked in Amiens or Hesdin, and dates the present manuscript 1480-85, which corresponds with the watermark.

The vivid illustrations with their unusual themes are not typical for a Bible historiale. They reveal a patron with specific theological interests. This manuscript, with its contemporary binding, is a treasure whose secret is yet to be revealed.

Literature: König 1993/1994, no. 34; Komada 2000, p. 287-307, 379, 646-652; Tenschert 2004, no.

6; Fournié 2009, no. 7.

Gil 1999, p. 520-537.

cat. 20*

cat. 20*

cat. 20*

cat. 20*

cat. 20*

cat. 20*

cat. 20*

A magnificent volume made for Philippine de Gueldre and René II of Lorraine

21

Ludolphus Carthusiensis, Vita Christi, in French, volume II Manuscript on vellum, illuminated by the Master of the Chronique Scandaleuse.

France, Paris, 1506-08.

355 × 250 mm. 333+1 leaves (including original front flyleaf; lacking fol. 69, 142, 201 and 294): I-VIII8, IX8-1, X-XVII8 (fol. 136 blank), XVIII8-1, XIXXXVI8, XXVII8-1, XXVIII-XXXXVI8, XXXXVII8-1, XXXVIII-XLII8; modern pencil foliation in upper outer margin, including the missing leaves, some 19th-century quire signatures in lower outer margin; original catchwords almost throughout. – Written space 245 × 168 mm, ruled in red for 48 lines in 2 columns of 80 mm. Textualis Formata (poem on fol. 336 in Cursiva Formata) in dark brown ink by one scribe, capitals touched in yellow, headlines rubricated in purple, one-line paragraph-marks in gold on alternating red and blue grounds. – Three-line initials in gold on red or blue grounds with white penwork at the beginnings of prayers, four-line initials in grey and a silvery tone of white with floral infill in gold on red or blue grounds at the beginnings of chapters. 2 three-quarter page miniatures, 81 (of 85) column-wide miniatures (115-150 × 80 mm) introducing each chapter. – In very fine condition with wide and very bright margins. Miniatures in excellent, fresh condition, with bright colours, and scarcely any flaking of the crimson. The vellum fair and clear, prickings partly visible, some “nota”-entries (probably 16th century), almost entirely free of any stains, a few leaves very skilfully restored, vertical creases in the inner column between fol. 2-31 and 92-101. – Contemporary blind-stamped dark brown calf over wooden boards, 7 raised bands. Covers decorated with bands of floral and geometrical ornaments, outer frame composed of single rosette stamps, two bands with pictorial stamps: hart leaping to the right, David in penitence (?), divine lamb, (similar to EBDB s029329, but smaller), annunciation to Mary (?), lying dog looking left. Edges gilt, small leather tabs on every leaf with a miniature, later rear flyleaf. – Spine restored, lower cover slightly rubbed with areas of restoration, remains of clasps, else very fine condition; in a modern Solander box.

Companion Volume: Volume I: Lyon, Bibliothèque municipale, ms. 5125, illuminated by the Master of Philippine de Gueldre.

Provenance: 1. Made in two volumes for Philippine de Gueldre, Duchess of Lorraine, and her husband René II of Lorraine between 1506 and 1508, before the death of her husband. Their coats of arms in the border on fol. 1; their initials P and R repeatedly on fol. 1; most probably their portraits within the architectural frame of the miniature on fol. 137. Dedicatory poem for Philippine on fol. 336, her name mentioned in the fourth stanza.

2. Philippine de Gueldre retired to the monastery of Sainte Claire à Pont-à-Mousson after her son was nominated Duke of Lorraine in 1520. She bequeathed these two volumes to the abbey and died in 1547.

3. The two volumes were presumably separated during the French Revolution. (The first volume went – via now unknown channels – to Cardinal Bonald, Archbishop of Lyon, who bequeathed it to the chapter of Saint-Jean-Cathedral in Lyon. It was listed in the inventory of the cathedral’s treasury as early as 1870, and has been preserved in the Bibliothèque municipale of Lyon since 1911.)

4. Élise Gagnier from Charey, department of Meurthe et Moselle, until June 1896.

5. Henry Yates Thompson, no. 39 in his catalogue (cf.

Thompson 1898, no. 39).

6. Sotheby’s London, 3 June 1919, Thompson sale, lot 10.

7. Librairie Théophile Belin Paris, Manuscrit remarquable, Ludolphe. Méditations sur la grant vie de Jesucrist, Paris (1926), no lotnumber.

8. Private collection, Switzerland.

Text: fol. 1-134: Book III of the Life of Christ followed by a chapter-index on fol. 134r+v. Incipit: “Seconde partie des meditacions sur la grant vie de iesu164

crist/ De ce sainct pierre pour luy et po(ur) les apostres confessa iesucrist estre vray filz de dieu/En la premiere partie partie de cestuy liure nulle est faicte mencion de la passion de ...”; Explicit: “Cy finist ceste tierce partie selon le translateur / et est le cinquantiesme chapitre de seconde partie de ce proffitable liure selon lacteur deuot et contemplatif ” – fol. 134v-135v: Index for the Sundays and the ferial days of the gospels in the third part – fol. 136 blank – fol. 137-334: Book IV of the Life of Christ followed by a chapter-index on fol. 335r+v (fol. 334v blank). Incipit: “Comment ce nom pasque est prins entendu en diuerses manieres en le scripture/­ Chapitre Li/ Selon le dit de sainct ierosme mainte­nant arrousons de sang nostre liure”; Explicit: “Euangile commun apres pasques de la vierge marie. Stabat iuxta crucem mater eius en sainct iehan ou xix chapp(it)re et en ceste partie/lxiiii” – fol. 336: Dedicatory poem for Philippine de Gueldre in 18 stanzas of 6 lines. Incipit: “Non sans raison/ont les hystoires/Tant crestiens/sarzins que payens ...”, Explicit: “Par sa grace/ luy doint le possessore/ A tout iamais de son hault heritage” – fol.

336v: Entry of the scribe: “Scriptor qui scripsit cum xpõ viuere posit”.

La seconde partie des meditacions sur la grant vie de iesucrist consists of the books III and IV of the Vita Christi by Ludolphus Carthusiensis in the French translation by Guillaume Lemenand.

The author of the text is known by various surnames, including Alemanus, Cartusianus, Cartusiensis, de Saxonia, and Natione Teutonicus. Ludolph was born in northern Germany in about 1300. He joined the Dominican order relatively young and graduated as Master of Theology during his 25 years with the Dominicans. In 1340 he left for the Carthusians in Strasburg, in 1343 moved to the charterhouse in Koblenz where he became prior, then went to Mainz, and, ­at the end of his life, returned to Strasburg where he died 10 April 1378. Ludolph wrote several theologi-

cat. 21*

cal ­treatises which are, unfortunately, hard to date. He is presumed to have composed his two major works, Enarratio in Psalmos and Vita Christi (literally Vita Iesu Christi e quattuor Evangeliis et scriptoribus orthodoxis concinnata), between 1348 and 1368. The text of his Vita Christi is based chiefly on the gospel harmony by Zacharias Chrysopolitanus including the commentaries, and many early and contemporary patristic treatises.

Another source was the Vita Christi wrongly attributed to Michael de Massa, and the Meditationes by PseudoBonaventura. The text, however, comprises more than the story of Jesus’s life, as it adds christological reflections and prayers to every incident. The ‘Meditationes’ in Ludolph’s version are subdivided into lection and interpretation, penetration and application, and a summarizing prayer. In addition to his monasterial brethren, Ludolph intended to address with his text all those interested in religious questions, even the laity.

The vernacular translations of the text, and the French translation by Guillaume Lemenand in particular, were widely disseminated after their first appearance in the 15th century. By the 16th century the vernacular version of the Vita Christi had probably become the most ‘common’ devotional book, as it was read by all branches of the European reformed monastic movement. Mathias Huss printed Lemenand’s translation as early as 1487 in Lyon, and a second edition followed in 1493/94 (ISTC il00357600 and il00358000, HC 10299), both of which were published in two volumes with numerous woodcuts. Antoine Vérard in Paris published another edition between 1501–03, illustrated with more than one hundred woodcuts compiled from various other existing series (see Fairfax Murray, French, no. 343, pp. 449354). According to the colophon of the 1493 printing

by Mathias Huss, Lemenand had translated the text from the Latin on behalf of the Connétable of France, i.e. Jean II, duc de Bourbon. Since the latter became Connétable only in 1483 and died in 1488, he presumably commissioned the translation between 1483 and 1487, most probably directly for the printing press.

We can thus deduce that the text of the manuscript at hand is based on one of the printed editions. The iconography of the illustration cycle could perhaps also be, at least in part, inspired by the woodcut cycles of the earlier printed editions. To what extent the woodcut cycles could have influenced the illumination of this volume will be discussed below. Guillaume Lemenand, a member of the Franciscan order, was a Master of Theology as well as an esteemed scholar in his time.

The poet of the concluding dedicatory verses in praise of the patroness remains anonymous. The authorial narrative, however, implies that the scribe and poet might be identical. As is quite common with a dedicatory poem, the author emphasises the patroness’ virtues in several stanzas. In the fourth stanza he mentions her name: “Cecy ie dis/ pur tant quen ceste page// Si est subscript le nom et le lignage//de la dame/tresnoble et 166

renommee//Qui ce liure/tant sumptueux (et) large// A fait escripre/ en quoy se mõstre sage// Cest philippe de gueldres surnommee” (see also Thompson 1898, no.

39, p. 223f ).

Illumination: Small miniatures: fol. 4v: Christ prophesies his Passion to the apostles – fol. 8: Transfiguration – fol. 11v: Healing of an epileptic boy – fol.

13v: The apostles ask Jesus which of them he thinks was the greatest – fol. 20v: Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep – fol. 25: A pulpit at centre in which a man in black with white tippet and black cap is preaching to a crowd of seated men; on forgiveness – fol. 28: A bishop with cope, mitre and cross-staff on a throne, several people kneeling in penitence before him; the parable of the two servants – fol. 32: Jesus and the apostles followed by a crowd; on leaving one’s parents – fol. 34: A rich man kneels in front of Jesus and the apostles; on the impossibility of a rich man entering paradise – fol. 36v: God the Father in a gloriole, eleven (or twelve) women with different veils below; on the twelve counsels of the gospel – fol. 39v: Jesus speaking to a boy in front of the seated apostles; inscription on the upper and lower borders of the green tapestry in the background: VIVE LE NOBLE ROY RENE ET NOB(LE) PRINC ESSE – fol. 42: Five men with hatchets laboring, up to their waists, in a vineyard; on clouds above, the Father in a gloriole; parable of the vineyard – fol. 45: A landlord on a throne, a subordinate kneeling in front of him, in the background a crowd; the parable of the talents – fol. 47v: The parable of Dives and Lazarus; Dives burning in hell surrounded by devils; in the upper half Abraham on a throne surrounded by angels, the soul of Lazarus, represented as a child, on his lap – fol. 52: Raising of Lazarus in a paved hall with marble walls; inscription on the lid of the sarcophagus: ET SEPE / SI GiST HONORA(BLE) – fol. 56: Six men dressed in fantastical oriental style in a marble hall; the bishops and the Pharisees plotting against Jesus – fol. 58: Jesus blesses ten kneeling lepers in a landscape – fol. 60v: The Samaritans refuse to admit Jesus inside the city walls – fol. 61v: The request of the sons of Zebedee – fol. 66: The healing of a blind man; the apostles witness the incident – fol.

67v: Zaccheus in a tree watches Christ and the apostles walk into a city gate – fol. 70v: Mary Magdalene wipes Jesus’ feet with her hair – fol. 73: Jesus rides a donkey, accompanied by its colt; the apostles follow him – fol. 75v: A crowd meets Jesus, still riding, at the citygates – fol. 78: Jesus weeps over the city of Jerusalem – fol. 80: Jesus expels the merchants from the temple – fol. 82: Collecting alms in a church-like interior – fol. 86: Jesus and the apostles approach a Jewish temple – fol. 89v: Jesus speaks to some priests about the parable of the two sons – fol. 91v: A similar scene in front of a colonnade; the parable of the wicked farmer; a golden inscription on the seam of the man dressed in blue in

cat. 21*

front of Christ: E MENO N/MENO ­PVNE M.E. – fol. 93v: A royal banquet in a great hall, a ragged man in the foreground is being escorted out; the parable of the supper (De ceulx qui sont inuitez au nopces du roy. Et de celluy qui nauoit pas le vestement nupcial) – fol. 96v: In a churchlike interior with green tapestry Christ speaks to the Pharisees; the tribute to Caesar – fol. 99: A simi­lar scene; the two great commandments – fol. 101: Under a rich canopy a scribe and a Pharisee, before them Christ and a crowd; Jesus with a scroll: FAICTES CE QVILZ DIENT MAIS NE PAS SELON LEVRS OEVVRES – fol. 103: Several priests on a dais; in front of them Jesus with a scroll: MALEDICTION. ETERNELLE. A VOUS . ESCRIbES ET PHARIBSEES – fol. 106v: Christ and the converted in a landscape behind a city; the prophecy of the end – fol. 108: Antichrist in disguise as a rich man enthroned under a tent, in front of him a man and a woman rise from their graves, next to them soldiers and civilians; four black devils float in the air – fol. 110v: A young man kneels next to a devil, an apparition of the trinity in a gloriole above; the young man with a scroll: SI BIEN YA IL VIENT DE TOY BENOSIT TRINITTE. The devil with another scroll: PANCE AU BIEN QUE TV FAIS – fol. 113: An educated cleric in his cell praying to Jesus who appears in a gloriole. He holds a scroll: AD TE LEVAVI ANIMAN (sic). Christ with another scroll: VIGILATE – fol. 116v: Maiestas Domini and raising of the dead – fol. 118: Numerous clerics of all ranks and a king in prayer before God the Father in an angel-gloriole. A script-roll is hovering above the clerics: LAQVEVS: CONSTRITUS : EST: NOVS: LIBERATI: SVM(VS). Another scroll pointing down: LEVATE: CAPITA: VESTRA – fol. 120v: Noah’s Ark; the dove returns with the olive branch – fol. 122: An elderly man guards his house – fol. 124: Several figures, among them various clerics, kneeling below God the Father within a golden gloriole – fol.

125: The parable of the five foolish and the five wise virgins – fol. 127: The parable of the talents: a ruler in turban and rich dress gives money to two bowing men; a third, a bishop, holds money in his open hand – fol. 130: Christ as Pantocrator accompanied by angels, the four winds blowing from the corners – fol. 140: Judas betrays Jesus and sells his life to the priests and scribes – fol. 145: Jesus bent down to wash the apostles’ feet; a golden inscription on the bordure of the green arras: M MATER DEI ORA PRO NOB(IS) – fol. 149v: Christ and the apostles in a colonnade, in the background Judas tries to disappear – fol. 153v: Elevation of the host – fol. 158v: Christ sermonising to his disciples – fol. 166v: On a blue starred ground, the instruments of the passion – fol. 172v: Agony in the garden – fol. 185v: Christ before Annas – fol. 194: Christ before Caiaphas – fol. 215v: Carrying of the cross – fol. 232v: Crucifixion – fol. 239v: Deposition – fol. 242v: Burial – fol. 247v: Man of Sorrows – fol.

168

251v: Mary among the apostles – fol. 254: Resurrection – fol. 257v: Jesus appears to his mother – fol. 260: The three Marys, St Peter and St John find the empty tomb – fol. 265: Noli me tangere – fol. 268v: Jesus appears to the three Marys – fol. 270v: The guards return to their lords and report what they saw – fol. 272v: Christ appears to St Peter – fol. 274: Christ among his disciples on their way to Emmaus – fol. 277v: Jesus appears to the apostles – fol. 283: The incredulity of St Thomas – fol. 285v: Jesus appears to his disciples at the Tiberian Sea – fol. 291v: Christ appears to the apostles and the 500 brethren in Galilee – fol. 296v: Ascension – fol. 304: St John the Evangelist on the island of Patmos – fol. 308v: Pentecost; the dove of the holy spirit descends towards the enthroned Virgin and the apostles – fol. 314v: Death of Adam; a scroll hovering above the seemingly sleeping Adam, whose soul rises from his body: LAUDA DEUM MEUM IN – fol. 317: Ascension of the Virgin – fol. 322v: Last Judgement; St Mary, crowned, enthroned next to Jesus, accompanied by angels, below the mouth of hell with the condemned – fol. 328v: Heavenly paradise and the tortures of hell. The leaves with the miniatures for chapters 24, 53, 62, 81 are missing. They were already mentioned as being lost in the 1898 description of Henry Yates Thompson’s collection.

Large miniatures: fol. 1: full architectural border with the coats of arms and initials of the patrons: Philippine de Gueldre und René de Lorraine. Christ, followed by the apostles, preaches to a group of seated Jews in a paved loggia with marble columns and arches. On a capital of a column are the letters AFEMEME – fol.

137: full-page gold architectural border with portraits in grisaille of the patrons in profile; René on the right, Philippine on the left. The miniature shows the Egyptian army drowning in the Red Sea in the foreground, Moses and the Israelites safe on the shore in the middle, and mount Sinai in the background. Some illegible letters on the flag of one of the soldiers; the letters A × E, P × M × M, EP //EM ER on the caparison of a white horse in the foreground.

The two full-page miniatures introduce the two parts of the volume, while the smaller miniatures, always accompanied by a rubricated headline, introduce each new chapter. The iconographic program for the illustration of the Vita Christi, and of gospel harmonies, already had a certain tradition in French book illumination of the 15th century, as the text has been passed down in several versions, composed either in Latin or in French, by different authors such as Pseudo-Bonaventura, Ludolphus or Pseudo-Bede. The text usually consists of two volumes, as planned by the author, and most of the preserved illustrated manuscripts of the late 15th century are decorated with approximately 150 ­to 200 miniatures. The same applies to the French translation of the text by Guillaume Lemenand, the p­ rinted

cat. 21*

edition of which had already been illustrated with ­numerous woodcuts when it was published at Mathias Huss’ press in 1487. By the time that the two companion manuscripts at hand were produced, the text of the Vie du Christ had already been printed in France three times, always with illustration cycles, the latest of which was published by Antoine Vérard in Paris by 1503. Both Huss and Vérard compiled different woodcut series for their editions and had new woodblocks made at the same time. As the text for our manuscript was most likely copied from a printed edition, we may assume that the illuminator could have been inspired at least by the choice of motifs of the woodcut cycles.

Another source of iconographic inspiration could have been an illustrated manuscript of another version of the text. The same would also apply to the illuminator of the first volume, the Master of Philippine de Gueldre.

In fact, the portrait of the author as a white monk in front of a book desk proves that the illuminator must have known the parallel woodcut (Lyon, Bibliothèque Municipale, ms 5125, fol. 5v), because he portrayed the figure and its habit in a very similar fashion, in a room that is depicted as a scribe’s cell with books on a shelf in the background. Huss used the same woodcut for both of his editions whereas Vérard had a finer copy made of it. The Master of Philippine de Gueldre varied the figure slightly and changed the composition: The white friar does not see a vision of the crucified Christ together with the passion tools in front of a solid wall, but witnesses the ‘ecce homo’ and a furious mob through a large arched opening in his cell. In spite of this compositional difference the rendering of the author as a white monk implies that a copy of Vérard’s printing could have been the illuminator’s model. Our manuscript can be connected to Antoine Vérard, the famous Parisian printer and publisher, even more closely, as Vérard had aready commissioned presentation copies on parchment of the Vita Christi of the 1493/94 edition by Mathias Huss, such as the precious copy preserved in the University Library in Jena (Thüringische Landes- und Universitätsbibliothek Jena, ms. El. f.

83/84). The woodcuts of the Jena copy were coloured, or rather illuminated, by the Master of Jacques de Besançon in Paris, who is known to have worked for Antoine Vérard occasionally, and, what is more, to have collaborated with our illuminator, the Master of the Chronique Scandaleuse, on various other commissions for Vérard (for example a presentation copy of the 1493 French edition of the Legenda aurea for Charles VIII; Paris, BN, Rés. Vélins 689). Another precious edition by Vérard, the Mirouer des pecheurs of 1506 (Paris BN, Rés. Vélins 2229), again for Charles VIII, was illuminated, i.e. coloured, by the Master of Philippine de Gueldre. Moreover, apart from printing luxurious editions of various texts, Vérard commissioned several manuscripts that were illuminated by the same circle of artists, for example a book of hours for Louise of 170

Savoy (Paris, BN, fr 2225). These close personal and textual connections imply – together with the iconographical proximity of the cycle in the printed editions to the Life of Christ for Philippine de Gueldre – that the illuminators knew the printed version by Vérard.

However, not every miniature in the Vita Christi could have had an iconographic model in the printed book, as the second volume of Huss’ edition contained only 45 woodcut illustrations, in contrast to 85 columnwide illuminations in this manuscript. Even those images that have a parallel in the printed version generally display independent composition.

John Plummer, as early as 1982, identified in the miniatures of this codex the hand of the artist whom Nicole Reynard was to name the Master of the Chronique Scandaleuse in 1993 (cf. exh. cat. Paris 1993, p.

278), after his major work (Paris, BN, Clair. 481). This artist had previously been given various names, such as the Master of Morgan 219 (cf. exh. cat. New York 1982, no. 125, 126, and figs. 125, 126a), the Master of Jean de Bilhères and the Master of the coronation of Anne de Bretagne. Today we know of several books of hours he illuminated. Furthermore, he participated in the decorative painting of various presentation copies of printings by Antoine Vérard. As our master collaborated regularly with other Parisian illuminators (s.a.) and with the workshop of Jean Pichore, we may conclude that he was established in Paris, where he must have been active between 1493 and 1510.

Typical of his oeuvre is a preference for strong colours, especially blue, and the use of liquid gold in the depiction of drapery, architectural and scenic elements. The illuminator dispersed interior scenes and landscapes evenly in this cycle, demonstrating mastery in both ‘genres’. With regard to the illustrations of the many parables in the text, he switches between either the narrative itself or the act of narration with no discernable pattern. He usually includes architectural elements in the backgrounds, consisting of elaborate colonnades or palatially-styled walls imitating the stylistic vocabulary of antiquity with pillars, capitals and orange-brown chequered marbled floors.

The colonnades usually allow an uninterrupted view into a landscape, whereas the walls are frequently covered with green tapestry or arrases. The painter varies the settings of the landscapes from rough rocks, to mellow hills with shimmering city silhouettes in the backgrounds, and dramatic celestial apparitions including God the Father or the Trinity. He usually arranges the lighting of the sky in accordance with the dramatic action, as in the Resurrection (fol. 254) or Christ appearing to his disciples. In addition, the Master of the Chronique Scandaleuse seems to have a preference for inventing precious exotic dress and gowns - in particular for the Pharisees and Jews. An extraordinary example of this is demonstrated in the clothing of the personifications of the twelve ­counsels

cat. 21*

of the gospel on fol. 36v: the figure on the left in the foreground seems to personify poverty with his ragged clothes, though the other figures cannot be related to a particular counsel. They do however all share the white veils with bright blue stripes as can be observed in Arab cultures even today. Even the manner in which veils, shawls and other drapery is twisted and intertwined imply that the miniaturist might have studied oriental costume, though probably not at first hand. Throughout the entire cycle of illustration we find elements of exotic orientalism that surely originate in European fantasy, intermingled with elements of extra-European costume and material, for example in the Entombment on fol. 242v, the discovery of the empty tomb on fol. 260, or in Christ appearing to the three Marys on fol. 268v.

The depiction of the human figure in motion is of especially high quality; gestures and sometimes even features are very expressive, as for example on fol.

185v where Jesus lowers his head in fear and devotion, whilst the archpriest agonises with clasped hands and the soldiers look grimly on at their victim. The undulating drapery combined with lavish decoration in liquid gold contributes to this effect, even so the facial expressions of the figures. The extent to which the painter endows his figures with detailed facial features depends on the size of the figure in relation to the image, which becomes quite evident when the two large miniatures are compared: the introductory miniature on fol. 1 shows Jesus and the apostles in front of an audience in relatively close view. In this case, the faces of all figures are depicted very characteristically, and their features differ considerably. Christ’s face shines bright and even, whereas the faces in the audience are painted in darker hues, and are good examples of the painter’s attempt to individualise expressions. Fol. 137 on the other hand depicts a crowd scene with Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt, having just arrived safely on shore, and the army of the Egyptians drowning in the Red Sea. Here, the artist employs bright colours very skilfully and, moreover, displays his impressive ability to draw a vast number of small figures with meticulous precision. Even with these small figures the Master of the Chronique Scandaleuse man-

172

ages to distinguish the differing expressions of the two opposing parties by meticulously depicting the pupils in the eyes of the crowd - precisely directing the gaze of his figures - and shading the areas around the eyes and noses, evoking expressions of panic and despair in the faces of the Egyptians, in contrast to the calm and relieved demeanour of the Israelites in the middleground. The fine grisaille portraits of the two patrons in the frame appear quite statue-like, and are thus stylistically coherent with the architectural structure. The frame itself, however, does not convey absolute spatial consistency, either in respect to proportion or to plasticity, especially where it embraces the written space of the page. A certain irregularity in the quality of some of the compositions and figures within the whole cycle cannot be denied (compare e.g. the relatively simple and plain depiction of the Transfiguration on fol. 8 and the lively portrayal of Jesus and the apostles at the Tiberian Sea on fol. 285v). In the technical microstructure of the miniatures these differences are hardly discernible, so it would be difficult to differentiate either the various hands of the same workshop or the normal range of technical variation of one master. The Master of the Chronique Scandaleuse, however, presumably lead a workshop, as he regularly executed commissions for royal and noble patrons. We may therefore conclude that the painting was in some way based on a division of labour.

As Nicole Reynaud has stated, our illuminator excelled in a precise and meticulous painting technique. He worked quickly and unerringly, which unfortunately has resulted in a bad state of preservation of many of his works today, most regrettably in the case of the book that gave our master his name (cf. Reynaud in exh. cat. 1993, p. 276). It is therefore particularly pleasing to discover that the volume at hand is preserved in almost untouched condition, conveying an unblemished, fresh and immediate impression of the artist’s mastery.

Literature: Thompson 1898, no. 39, pp. 216– 225; Thompson 1907, pl. XLV-XLVIII. Van Praet 1824, vol. I, no. 80, pp. 43–44; Blum 1928; Verfasserlexikon, V, col. 967–977; exh. cat. New York 1982; exh. cat. Paris 1993; Kratzsch 2001; Winn 2007.

cat. 21*

cat. 21*

cat. 21*

cat. 21*

cat. 21*

cat. 21*

cat. 21*

The first dated bible and the first book with a printer’s device

22

Biblia latina Mainz: Johann Fust and Peter Schöffer, 14 August 1462.

The fourth edition of the Vulgate Bible.

Royal-2°. 397 × 295 mm. 2 volumes. 481 (242 + 239) leaves, complete: vol. I [a-h10 ik8 l-z10 AB8]; vol. II [a-n10 o12 p-z10 A6+1]; modern manuscript foliation in black ink in upper outer corner. – Double-column, 48 lines, gothic type 5:118. Incipit, explicit, book incipits and explicits, psalm tituli, many chapter initials (h, p, r, u) and numbers all printed in red. Other chapter numbers and initials printed in blue and some in blind, seven-line colophon and woodcut printer’s device at end of vol. II printed in red. Rubricated throughout: initial-strokes and headlines in red, two-line capitals and chapter numbers in red and occasionally blue, prologue five-line initials and seven-line book initials, some with penwork decoration, supplied in red. Full floral and leafy vine border in penwork incorporating initial to the first leaf, intended for illumination that was never supplied. – Scattered textual emendations supplied by an early hand. A few minute worm holes in vol. I, light marginal soiling, occasional marginal tears expertly restored, final leaf reattached. – Contemporary calf over bevelled wooden boards, presumably executed in Ulm, blindstamped with wide border and intersecting diagonals, tooled to an all-over hatched diaper pattern, single stamps of feathery quatrefoil, “maria”, rosette, fleur-de-lys and stag. Five raised bands, brass corner guards, two brass and leather clasps to each volume. Original paper endleaves of northern Italian paper (vol. II rear flyleaves replaced by old paper), 15th-century vellum pastedowns recording legal transactions at Ulm. – Bindings rebacked and restored, vol. 1 with later clasps. Housed in modern morocco-backed clamshell cases.

Provenance: 1. Gift of the Bishop of Linz, Gregor Thomas Ziegler (1770-1852), to the Stiftsbibliothek in Klosterneuburg, with inked note by its librarian, Dr V. O. Ludwig, dated 1919.

2. Martin Bodmer, shelf-marks and catalogue card.

4. H. P. Kraus, 1988.

3. Joost R. Ritman, Amsterdam, Bibliotheca Philosophia Hermetica, no. 39.

Text: Appearing barely ten years after the invention of printing with movable type, the Bible of 1462 is the fourth edition of the Latin Bible, preceded only by the 42-line Gutenberg Bible, the 36-line Pfister Bible (Bamberg) and the 49-line Mentelin Bible (Strasbourg).

One of Fust and Schöffer’s greatest achievements, it is the first book to bear the names of its printers and the date of its completion. The compositors set their text from a copy of the Gutenberg Bible.

Printing: “The 1462 Bible is one of the few incunables to contain printing in three colors. … The painstaking technique of simultaneous three-color printing was introduced in the Fust-Schoeffer Psalter of 1457 and rarely repeated” (Ford). In each of the four separate composition units of the edition, there are three successive treatments of the chapter initials and numbers: first, unprinted; second, printed in red or in blue; third, printed in red or in blind (with uninked type), the blind initials and numbers serving as guides for the rubricators. Like the Gutenberg Bible, the 1462 bible was printed and issued both on vellum and on paper – but in its case the paper issue was less numerous than the vellum. Printing-house production of the bible was very complex. Six gatherings (volume I in quire k, y, A, and B; volume II, the first 7 pages of quire n and all of A) are found in either of two distinct settings. The present copy, like the majority of paper copies, has setting B of all these pages. This includes the third setting of the colophon on II 239r, that is, the transcription corresponding to GW’s note 2, with-

180

out the one-line explicit to the Apocalypse. The first leaf of volume II also occurs in two settings, of which this copy, like most on paper, has setting B, with the corrected reading “turbarum” instead of “tubarum” at line b36 (cf. Needham 2006 for the resettings).

Printer: The volumes were printed by Peter Schöffer, Gutenberg’s most talented collaborator. After the bankruptcy of Gutenberg’s firm, Schöffer concluded a partnership with Fust, whose financial support paved the way for his career as one of the best and most successful printers of the incunable age. With three different colours and two sizes of types, the bible and the earlier psalters (1457/59) from his press are technical masterpieces. Although Schöffer did not invent the art of printing, he mastered his profession very quickly, improving the lettering both technically and formally.

Apart from producing extraordinary and opulent incunabula comprising important works of canon law, theology and didactic prose, Fust and Schöffer took on jobbing work and printed secular items, such as official gazettes and political pamphlets. Beginning with the present bible, Fust and Schöffer signed their publications with a woodcut device printed in red: two linked shields hanging on a branch. This is the first printer’s mark ever used.

Rarity: Although ISTC lists around hundred copies worldwide, half of these, however, are a single volume only, or imperfect (in large part only fragments or single leaves). While single leaves of the 48-line bible appear quite frequently on the market, complete copies are very rare: ABPC (1975-2010) records only five copies (seven sales), the most recent being the Longleat copy, sold in 2002.

Literature: Ford 1990, no. 39.

Hain/Copinger 1895 *3050; GW 4204; BMC I, p. 22; Goff 1964, B-529; IDL, no. 811; BSB-Ink B-410; Bodinc B-B239; ISTC ib00529000; Needham 2006.

cat. 22*

cat. 22*

cat. 22*

A near-complete coloured blockbook containing a popular picture bible

23

Blockbook – Biblia pauperum [North Netherlands, c. 1466].

Early edition (Schreiber’s edition I).

Chancery 2 °, 277 × 211 mm. 37 leaves (of 40). Printed from double-page woodblocks in grey ink on one side of the sheet only (1v and 2r, the outer side blank), the pages arranged in facing pairs, lettered a-v and .a.-.v. in two sequences; lacking fol. 32 (.m.), 38 (.s.) and 39 (.t.); the final leaf, fol. 40 (.v.), supplied from another edition and printed in brown ink. – Watermarks: Unicorn in fol. 2, 6, 8, 19, 36, not identical to any in Briquet; ‘P’ with quatrefoil in fol. 3, 11, 12, 14, 17, 18, 22, 24, 28, 34, similar to Briquet 8591–8601. – Woodblock print with 37 (of 40) full-page illustrations and Latin text, with early partial colouring in yellow, brown and red washes. – The bifolia divided and all leaves mounted on stubs with occasional slight loss to the inner margin of the blocks, first leaf laid down with some loss at head and foot, other small paper repairs with minimal loss, last leaf laid down and defective (lacking a quarter of the leaf ). Occasional traces of glue suggesting that the blank sides of the leaves were formerly pasted together. – 19 th-century olive morocco, covers with roll-tooled decoration in blind, upper cover lettered in gilt, spine tooled in compartments, gilt edges. Extremities slightly rubbed. In a modern slipcase.

Provenance: 1. William Gott (1797-1863), son of a wealthy wool merchant in Leeds and a rare book collector; his engraved armorial bookplate and motto ‘Nec temere nec timide’ on front pastedown.

2. His son, Dr John Gott (1830-1906), bishop of Truro; sale of his library at Sotheby’s, 20 March 1908, lot 14.

3. Charles William Dyson Perrins (1864-1958), with his bookplate. His sale at Sotheby’s, 9 December 1958, lot 46.

4. The Duke of Northumberland, his sale at Sotheby’s, 26 November 1987, lot 148.

5. Joost R. Ritman, Amsterdam, Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica no. 1, with bookplate, acquired in 1987 from H. Tenschert.

Content: A near-complete blockbook. Blockbooks contain an inseparable combination of text and images that must be read together. Religious subjects, such as the Biblia pauperum, the Canticles, the Ars moriendi, the Speculum humanae salvationis or the Apocalypse, dominate.

The appellation ‘Biblia pauperum’ is in a way misleading, since it was highly unlikely that, as the name suggests, it was used to teach the poor and ignorant the story of the Bible. On the contrary, these picture-text pages with their complex presentation of biblical material were aimed at the literate and devout, who knew their Scripture well enough to follow the narrative content.

“The Biblia pauperum epitomizes the typology of the Middle Ages. The practice of finding parallels between the Old and New Testaments was already widespread, following Christ’s words: ‘all things must needs be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.’ Each of the forty leaves of the Biblia pauperum is strictly arranged into compartments. The center depicts a scene from the life of Christ, summarized in a short verse below it, and is flanked on right and left by two prefigurations from the Old Testament which are explained in text in the upper corners. Above and below these panels are figures of saints and banderoles of text” (Ford 1990, no. 1).

184

The manuscript tradition of this picture text goes back to the 13th century. However, the exact layout of the Netherlandish blockbook tradition is not precisely that of any known manuscript. Schreiber identified a total of ten editions, to which an eleventh has been added more recently, but in fact there are only five distinct sets of woodblocks, typologically identical and closely copied, whose chronological sequence is still unclear.

Any set of the woodblocks could have been printed numerous times over the years, with changing paper stocks (see below). Allan Stevenson has dated some copies of Schreiber edition I to as early as around 1463 on paper evidence. However, “that this ‘edition’ does not represent the first state of the blocks is implied by the considerable corruption of the text, and certain misinterpretations in the drawing or cutting of the pictures” (Avril Henry in exh. cat. Mainz 1991, p. 286, note 23).

PrintING: The production of blockbooks is entirely based on the technique of carving wood: illustrations and text are cut into a wood panel (‘block’), which is then covered with water-based ink (distemper), rather than with printer’s ink and printed onto paper by rubbing the verso of the sheet. In order to make them look like ‘real books’, the blank versos of the leaves were often pasted together, a practice which was obviously applied to our copy in the past. Only the use of a printing press allowed the production of opistographical blockbooks, i.e. books in which the leaves were impressed on both sides. Blockbooks are characterized by a close relationship between images and explanatory texts. This technique was especially used for popular religious literature of an edifying and moralizing kind, such as the Biblia pauperum, the Canticles, the Ars moriendi, the Heilsspiegel (Mirror of Salvation) and the Apocalypse, but also for calendars, books on the planets, chiromancy and pilgrims’ guides to Rome.

Both the richly illustrated content and the technique of production lend a special appeal to blockbooks in general.

The question of when and where blockbooks were invented is still unresolved, although due to their more

cat. 23*

‘archaic’ printing technique, blockbooks were long regarded as the forerunners to Gutenberg’s invention of moveable metal type in the early 1450s. According to Stevenson’s study of watermarks used in blockbooks, however, they flourished in the 1460s, although he established the date for the earliest one, the Netherlandish Apocalypse as c. 1451-52. Later editions can even be dated up to around 1530, and it is now generally accepted that the two methods of printing existed side by side.

One important advantage of blockbooks was the fact that their printing required no special equipment. Unlike printing with movable type, the production of blockbooks was not dependent on a particular shop or printer, and impressions from the same set could be printed in different locations at different times. Whereas the type of a book printed with Gutenberg’s technique had to be broken up after printing in order to be reused, wood blocks could be stored or transported and the popular works mentioned above could be cheaply and simply reprinted on request – comparable to the modern principle of ‘publishing on demand’. The majority of the surviving copies were printed in German, Dutch or Latin. The centres of blockbook production seem to have been in the Netherlands and the south of Germany.

The present copy has grey rather than the typical brown ink, and appears to have been printed under a press, rather than by rubbing, yet must be an early impression. Its paper stocks are a gothic P with quatrefoil and a bob-tailed Unicorn, the latter localizable to Metz and found by Allan Stevenson in Metz documents of 1465-1466 (cf. New Briquet, I, pl. *B no. 5; also similar to Piccard no. 124169, dated 1463-64, cf. permalink: http://www.piccard-online. de/?nr=124169). The Unicorn watermark was recorded by Stevenson in several copies of Biblia pauperum ed. I, including a fragment of three leaves at the British Museum, as well as in copies of the block-

186

books Canticum canticorum (Schreiber ed. I) and Ars moriendi (Schreiber ed. I). The P watermark appears in the Morgan Library’s copy of Biblia pauperum ed. I. The place – or places – of manufacture of the Netherlandish blockbooks is uncertain, but by the 1480s the printer Peter van Os in Zwolle had come into possession of the blocks of both Biblia pauperum ed. I, and the Canticum canticorum. The imperfect final leaf of this copy does not belong to Schreiber edition I, and was apparently supplied at the time of binding in the mid-19th century (a Pickering price code, dated 1849, appears on the rear flyleaf ).

Rarity: Very rare, and extremely rare in commerce. In recent decades only two copies of any xylographic edition of the Biblia Pauperum were sold at auction (1995, ed. III; 2002, ed. VI).

Considering the rather cheap production of blockbooks and their popular contents, it is most likely that a huge quantity of them circulated in the 15th century. However, only a few blockbooks have come down to us, perhaps for the same reasons. Mainly small booklets of a few leaves, they may not have survived intensive use over a long period, unless they were preserved within a library. Even though the Biblia Pauperum is well represented in more than 120 extant copies worldwide, this number includes all different editions or states, and most copies are incomplete and many are only fragments. Complete or near-complete copies of Schreiber’s ed. I are in Brussels, Chantilly, Dresden, London, New York, Paris, Sankt Gallen (?) and Zürich (cf. census in exh. cat. Mainz 1991, pp. 355 ff.). The present copy is the only one remaining in private hands.

Literature: Ford 1990, no. 1.

BMC I, p. 5; Schreiber IV, p. 3f, ed. I; facsimile of ed. I: Aldershot 1987; exh. cat. Mainz 1991, including studies by Allan H. Stevenson, pp. 229-62, Avril Henry, pp. 263-88, and Renate Kroll, pp. 289-310.

cat. 23*

cat. 23*

cat. 23*

cat. 23*

cat. 23*

The first illustrated bible printed with movable type

24

Biblia germanica [Augsburg: Günther Zainer, between 1474 and 1476] Third edition of the Bible in German.

Royal-2 °, c. 470 × 330 mm. 2 volumes. Altogether 533 leaves, including the inserted singleton, lacking the first blank only: ff. [1], 270; 271–421, 110, with printed Roman numbers. Due to the binding technique the quire structure of this copy cannot be reconstructed; according to the Bodleian Library Catalogue, the collation of both volumes is [a10, b8, c8+1, d-s10, t10+1, v-zA-S10, TV8, X-Zaa-hh10]. The inserted leaf after fol. CLXXV is on thinner and slightly smaller paper and contains one column of text. – Gothic type 2:118, printed in two columns of 57–58 lines and headline; chapter headings and three-line initials printed in red. Numerous woodcut Maiblumen initials, occasionally with pink or yellow wash, and 73 large historiated woodcut initials (c.

85–90 × 70–74 mm; a few repeats) with bright original colouring (the first decorated with gold leaf; 15 uncoloured at the end of vol. II). – Numerous small contemporary annotations and ‘nota bene’ marks in ink. Overall a very fine copy, occasional faint damp-staining to outer or upper margins, final leaf slightly foxed. – 19th-century dark brown morocco decorated in blind and gilt, six raised bands, spine with gilt title and floral stamps in compartments, arabesque ornamental stamps on covers. Bindings slightly rubbed.

Provenance: 1. Boies Penrose II (1902-1976), a Pennsylvania senator’s nephew and namesake, two engraved bookplates on front pastedown of each volume.

Penrose had inherited a library from his grandfather to which he added considerably. The greater part of his collection was sold at Sotheby’s in 1971.

2. Sotheby’s, 26 April 1990, lot 145, sold to Tenschert.

3. J. R. Ritman, Amsterdam, Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica, no. 244.

Text: Formerly known as the ‘fourth German bible’, this is more likely to be the third. It was usually dated to 1475/76, as ‘the present edition is not listed in Zainer’s advertisement of the year 1474 (Burger 1907, no. 14), whereas it appears in the advertisement of 1476 (Burger 1907, no. 20)’ (translated from GW). A marginal note in the BMC reprint, however, refers to a copy that Zainer donated to the Carthusian monastery of Buxheim in 1474, although “BSB-Ink regards this report as unverified” (ISTC). Nevertheless, it is very possible that the printing of the present bible was complete in 1474 and many scholars (e.g. Schmid, Eichenberger/Wendland, Reinitzer and others) now regard this edition as appearing shortly before the bible formerly known as the ‘third German bible’ ( Jodocus Pflanzmann, Augsburg, c. 1475-77; Hain 3131).

The first German bible was printed by Johann Mentelin in Strasburg in c. 1466, and his former collaborator Heinrich Eggestein published the second edition before 1470. Compared to these, the text of Zainer’s bible is thoroughly improved, in accordance with the Latin Vulgate and the language edited, in line with the literary language of the imperial office. Luther is said to have used the Zainer Bible for his own translation work.

Illustration: The third German bible is also the first illustrated bible in the history of printing with movable type. Zainer’s edition is carefully composed; 73 large historiated woodcut initials mark the beginning of each biblical book. The majority of the woodcuts depict biblical scenes; in the New Testament,

192

however, author’s portraits and scenes depicting the delivery of epistles are more prevalent. The first two initials depict St Jerome in conversation with St Paul, and God the creator. ‘Most images are characterised by merry naivety and liveliness. Often more than one scene depicted at the same time. … Some series of letters found in the scrolls are hitherto unexplained’ (translated from Eichenberger/Wendland). These letters may perhaps be the monograms of cutters or abbreviations of then well-known sayings or mottoes (cf.

Arnim no. 50, note 5). The illustration is closely related to Zainer’s Belial (1472) and Plenarium (1473), although it probably has to be ascribed to another drawer/cutter (cf. Schmid 1958, p. 40f ).

Almost all the historiated initials are coloured in a contemporary hand in yellow, green, dark red, pale pink and brown, a characteristic combination suggesting an Augsburg workshop.

Printer: Günther Zainer learned printing in Strasbourg, probably in Johann Mentelin’s workshop. At Augsburg he started as a scribe, but in 1468 became the city’s prototypographer and later one of the few very successful printers of the 15th century.

The present German bible is printed with his type 2:118G, a fine Gotico-Antiqua design, which Zainer used from 1471 onwards.

Rarity: This edition is well represented in public libraries throughout Europe and the United States, although numerous copies are imperfect. It is, however, very rare in commerce. ABPC (1975-2010) lists only three copies, the last in 1990 (this copy). The Jahrbuch der Auktionspreise (1990-2009) records one additional copy, which sold in 1996 (Venator).

Literature: Hain 3133*; BMC II, p. 323; Schramm II, p. 19 and 24, fig. 609-661, 663-679; ­ GW 4298 and note; Schreiber no. 3456; Goff 1964, no. B-627; Eichenberger/Wendland 1977, pp. 29-38; Reinitzer 1983, no. 41; Arnim 1984, no. 50; BSB-Ink B-485; Oxford, Bod-inc B-327; ISTC ib00627000.

cat. 24*

cat. 24*

cat. 24*

The prototype of the illustrated editions of Guillelmus’ Postilla

25

Guillelmus Parisiensis (ed.): Johannes Herolt, Postilla super epistolas et evangelia [Lyon: Nicolaus Philippi and Marcus Reinhart], 1482.

First edition with this illustration cycle.

4 °, c. 280 × c. 205 mm. 111 leaves, including 1 (of 2) blanks at the end: a-h8, i6, A-D8, E10–1. – Printed in two columns of 53–56 lines. Four- to six-line initials supplied in red, chapter headings marked in red, no further rubrication. 1 full-page woodcut frontispiece and 54 woodcut illustrations in the text (including a few repeats). A large contemporary coloured pen-and-ink drawing attached to the rear pastedown. – Some marginal notes in Latin, in a contemporary hand, quite extensive in places. A few wormholes throughout, slightly more worming to c. 9 leaves at end, occasional damp-staining, hardly affecting the printed area, old repair of marginal tear to leaf i6, small area excised in upper margin of leaf A8. – Contemporary deer over wooden boards, the lower joint repaired with two strips of vellum from a medieval manuscript. Clasps missing, binding worn and stained, slight damage to corners, joints and ends of spine, boxed.

Text: The Postilla super epistolas (dominicales de tempore et de sanctis) et super evangelia (dominicalia et de sanctis) contains commentaries or sermons on the epistle and gospel readings for the liturgical year. It is traditionally attributed to Guillelmus († about 1485/86), a Dominican doctor of theology from Paris, as he introduces himself in the prologue contained in most early printed editions. He is not the author, however, as he only prepared and edited the Postilla Discipuli, a collection of sermons by the Nuremberg Dominican Johannes Herolt († 1468). Written in about 1437-39, this Postilla was passed down only in manuscripts, many of which identify Herolt, who referred to himself as ‘Discipulus’, the author (see Verfasserlexikon III, col. 1123–27).

It has not been established when Guillelmus prepared Herolt’s Postilla for print – without, incidentally, mentioning the name Herolt or ‘Discipulus’. The first editions appeared around 1473/74 in southern Germany and, in view of their immediate success, must have met an urgent demand. As with the Plenarium, Guillelmus’ Postilla soon became a popular devotional book to be read privately. More than one hundred incunable editions are known, and they generally agree with regard to text, the sequence of the sermons, and the register.

Nicolaus Philippi and Marcus Reinhard published the first Lyon edition in 1481. In the following year they printed the present edition, with a newly arranged text: The Postilla super evangelia is illustrated and set before the Postilla super epistolas. Apparently the printers encountered some difficulties with this change, as the imprint is to be found at the end of the first part (fol. i6a) and the prologue “Vitam bonam ...” is now at the end of the book (fol. E8b). Subsequent editions from the same workshop have these errors corrected.

Illustration: This is the first edition of Guillelmus’ Postilla to contain a large woodcut cycle. The full-page frontispiece with Christ on the cross, accompanied by Mary and John and the symbols of the four Evangelists, introduces the Postilla super evangelia, which also contains all the 54 smaller (short of quarterpage) woodcuts – this may explain the rearrangement

196

of the text. They show scenes of the life of Christ, including numerous miracles and parables, but without the passion. These cuts are almost square in shape, and slightly too wide for the layout, filling the space between the columns. They were thus clearly not made for the present edition. In fact, Philippi and Reinhard acquired the woodcuts from the Strasbourg printer Martin Schott, who had used them for the illustration of his German Plenarium of 1481. The Lyon printers reused these woodcuts almost entirely, albeit in a different order (Schramm XIX, 664-81, 684-86, 689-91, 693, 695-705, 707-09, 711-14, 716, 717), and added some modified copies.

The present edition is the first example of a particular group within the numerous Postilla-editions, with the gospel section appearing before the epistle section, and usually provided with an illustration series based on the Plenarium. Most editions of this group were published in Lyon and Basle and include a similar illustration cycle, although the printers varied the scale, copies and sequence of the woodcuts.

A near full-page pen-and-ink drawing, coloured with washes, is pasted in at the end of this copy; the upper corners of this leaf are rounded. It shows Christ on the cross at calvary, his eyes closed, set against a dark background. The drawing is amateurish and crude, but to some degree rather expressive. Below the image are some notes by the same contemporary writer who has commented on the text in several places in the book – we may therefore assume that the drawing is also contemporary, and was added to the book very early on.

Rarity: The present edition is very rare. ISTC records only 15 copies (6 imperfect) worldwide, with only one in the United States (Washington, LC, Rosenwald collection). The Schäfer copy was sold by Sotheby’s in 1996.

Literature: Hain, 1825, no. 8261; GW 11984; Schreiber no. 4145; Goff, 1959, no. 53; Goff 1964, G-677; Rosenwald 1977, no. 380; Arnim, 1984, no. 147; BSB-Ink H-146; ISTC ig00677000.

cat. 25*

The most famous German bible before Luther – with contemporary luxury colouring

26

Biblia germanica Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 17 February 1483.

Ninth bible printed in High German.

2 °. 403 × 282 mm. 2 volumes, altogether 588 leaves, complete (including 5 blank leaves). Collation: [a 6, b-d8, e 6, f-zA-O8, P6, Q-Zaa-zzAA-CC8, DD-FF6]: ff. [1 blank], 1-4, [1 blank], 5-295, [1 blank]; [1 blank], 296-583, [1 blank], with printed Roman numbers. – Gothic types 10:120G (text) and 11:162G, two columns of 50 lines. The variant with fol. Lr-b, line 37 uncorrected: “eyner” (instead of “seyner”); fol. CLXXXVr-a reset (compare Arnim). – Rubricated throughout; three-line versals alternately in red and blue, larger initials supplied mainly in both red and blue, 4 large illuminated initials on a stamped gold ground within a multi-coloured rectangular frame (fol. Ir, Vr and CCICVIr). With 109 woodcuts drawn by the Master of the Cologne Bibles, all in contemporary colouring, with the large Creation decorated in gilt. – A fine and large copy with clear impressions of the woodcuts and bright original colouring, and, exceptionally, with all blank leaves. Some occasional faint water-staining to lower margins, minor worming to first and last leaves of vol. 2, small owner’s stamps on first 2 leaves of each volume. – Contemporary Nuremberg blind-tooled calf over wooden boards, each volume with 10 brass cornerand centrepieces, and 2 clasps, the upper boards with deeply impressed ‘tendril rhomb’ stamps, the lower boards with more restrained double blind rules in a diamond pattern, and small flower stamps. All tools can be assigned to the workshop “Fünf blättrige Rose I”, that was closely connected to the workshop of the Augustinian monastery in Nuremberg, see Einbanddatenbank (German bindings database online: www.hist-einband.de), workshop number w000356 and tools EBDB p001302, s013897, s013910. A typical feature of Koberger bindings is a title stamped on upper cover. – Extremities expertly restored, one corner piece defective, and one missing.

provenance: An 18th-century engraved bookplate with coat of arms of a German noble family.

Text: The present edition is usually called the ‘ninth German bible’; the ‘eleventh’, however, would be more correct, if one includes the Low German Cologne Bibles (see below) in the chronological sequence of German bibles. Koberger’s edition is regarded as typographically the finest, and is without doubt the best-known and the most influential of the German bibles before Martin Luther. It appeared in an edition of probably 1000-1500 copies, an unusually high print run for the time.

All German bibles before Luther were translations of the Latin Vulgate. Koberger’s text is largely based on the editions of Günther Zainer in Augsburg (c. 1474/75 and 1477), and further improved according to the Vulgate, as Koberger points out in the colophon: “nach rechter gemeyner teutsch, mit hohez und großem vleyß gegen dem lateynischen text gerechtvertigt”.

Illustration: For its 109 woodcuts Koberger had acquired 108 blocks, used before only in the two Low German bibles, printed in Cologne 1478/79 (and presumably co-financed by Koberger, cf. Corsten).

The woodcuts are c. 190 × 120 mm. For the most part they are heavy in outline, and characterized by hard and angular lines; shading is in straight parallels, and a series of short parallel strokes is often used to pick out the ground, as in Dutch woodcuts of the period. Three or four cutters executed the blocks after the designs of the Master of the Cologne Bibles, whose compositions are in turn based on a series of pen-drawings in a Lower Rhenish manuscript history bible (Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, ms. germ. fol. 516; exh. cat. Berlin 1975, no.

110) of about 1450/60, executed by an artist from (or trained in) the Netherlands (cf. Reitz). The woodcuts based on this bible are all narrative and form the majority of the illustrations. Other woodcuts introduce biblical authors, such as King David or the ­Evangelists, 198

in common with Zainer’s edition of c. eight years earlier. The ‘portraits’, and the illustrations of the Apocalypse, are considered to be new creations by the Cologne master. 25 of the blocks have been reduced in order to fit exactly into Koberger’s layout, with the left and/or right outer frame lines cut away.

The woodcuts of the Cologne Bibles became known internationally only through the present Nuremberg edition (Kunze). Koberger’s Bible influenced the illustration of the Malermi (Venice 1490), Lübeck (1494), and Strasbourg (1485) Bibles, and the woodcuts were regarded as viable well into the 16th century, as they were used again for the Halberstadt Bible of 1522. The illustrations of the Apocalypse even inspired Dürer’s famous series of 1498.

Koberger had a proportion of his edition coloured before he sold the books. According to Wendland, different grades of colouring are to be found in the surviving copies. He distinguishes the rather basic colouring of green, ochre, purple and carmine from the luxury colouring, which makes use of blue, black, violet, brown and sometimes gold leaf. Techniques of shading and glazing colours were used in order to create the impression of manuscript illumination (cf.

Wendland 1984). With the woodcut of the creation in gilt, the illuminated initials and the rich palette of the illustrations, the volumes at hand represent an example of one of the rare luxury copies of Koberger’s German Bible.

Literature: Hain no. 3137*; Fairfax Murray, German, no. 63 and p. 813; BMC II, 424; GW no.

4303; Schreiber no. 3461; Schramm xvii, pp. 3 and 8, figs. in vol. VIII: 358-472; Goff 1964, B-632; Geldner 1968, p. 162; Kunze 1975, I, pp. 307-19; Eichenberger/ Wendland 1977, pp. 91-96 with fig. 138-42; Reinitzer 1983, no. 42; Arnim 1984, no. 52; Wendland 1984; BSB-Ink B-490; ISTC ib00632000.

Corsten and Reitz in Die Kölner Bibel 1478/1479 1979; Herz in Dürer Forschungen 2009, p. 40-65.

cat. 26*

cat. 26*

cat. 26*

cat. 26*

cat. 26*

The rare 1483 edition: Sorg’s master at his best

27

Seelentrost: Das ist der sele trost genannt Augsburg: Anton Sorg, 14 March 1483.

Second illustrated edition (repeating the woodcuts of the first).

2 °. 293 × 205 mm. 175 leaves, complete (including the first blank leaf, lacking only the final blank): ff. [6], CLXIX. Collation: [*6, a-l10, m-n6, o-r10, s8-1]. – 34 lines, type 2. With 11 Maiblumen initials and 10 full-page woodcuts by the ‘Sorg-master’; all with contemporary colouring. – A large and fresh copy.

Repaired marginal tears in leaves cxxvi and cxxxvii. Insignificant worming to lower and outer margins of final leaves, some old pen trials on first blank leaf.

– Contemporary blind-stamped calf over wooden boards, one central clasp. Upper cover with two early manuscript title labels. – Leather of spine brittle, some restoration to joints and lower cover. Preserved in a modern leather-backed brown cloth Solander box.

Provenance: 1. Karl & Faber, Munich, auction no. 47, 1954, lot 64.

2. Nicolas Rauch, Geneva, cat. no. 5, 1956, lot 27.

3. Bookplate EM, i.e. Edmée Maus (1905-71), Geneva, a collector of fine early printing.

4. Private collection, Germany.

Text: The (large) Seelentrost (‘Consolation of the Soul’) is a collection of more than two hundred exempla on the Ten Commandments, written in the form of concise dialogues between a confessor and his confessant. A dialogue is a traditional didactic form, the book was thus meant to contribute to the religious education of the laity. The unknown 14th-century author was doubtless a cleric, presumably a Dominican friar. In his introduction he presents the book as an anthology taken from the standard Latin literature of the Middle Ages, but from the sources quoted, he apparently only used the Legenda aurea of Jacobus de Voragine and the Speculum historiale by Vincent of Beauvais.

The frame text deals with the guiding rules of Christian conduct in life, and with casuistic matter of potential importance for the laity: the paternoster in the vernacular, problems in business, behaviour towards pagans and Jews, etc. The exempla feature stories from scripture, legends, anecdotes from history (including a complete story of Alexander the Great), visions, miracles, novella-like matter and narratives of all kinds. The biblical accounts and the Alexander story must have been taken from a now lost Dutch (or perhaps Low German) history bible (cf. Palmer, col. 1033). Further sources of the exempla were Petrus Alfonsi’s Disciplina clericalis and Caesarius of Heisterbach’s Dialogus miraculorum, amongst others. The ‘large’ Seelentrost is sometimes supplemented by the ‘small’ Seelentrost (cf. no. 19) containing exampla on the seven sacraments and other religious writings; it is, however, an independent work, and is not included in the present edition.

The author’s wish that the reading public would be so occupied with the Seelentrost that they would be distracted from reading secular books like Parzival, Tristan and Dietrich von Bern, appears to have been fulfilled: as many as 55 (at least 34 complete) manuscripts of the large Seelentrost alone survive, and 43 printed editions from 1474 to 1800.

204

The Seelentrost was originally written in the vernacular, and originates from the Low German language area; most of the incunable editions are thus in Middle Low German or Dutch. In the 15th century, the only two south German editions, both printed by Anton Sorg, were also the only two in Middle High German; the first completed on 20 November 1478 (H 14582), the second being the present edition.

Illustration: Sorg’s first edition of the ­Seelentrost was also the earliest illustrated edition. Its 10 magnificent full-page woodcuts (c. 180 × 115 mm) all reappear in Sorg’s present 1483 reprint. Each woodcut accurately describes one of the Ten Commandments, and includes a related xylographic text line at the top. The figures are dressed in elegant contemporary costume and the action takes place both in closed interiors and in open landscapes. Some scenes include a small devil or demon flying above the heads of the human figures, inciting them to sin. These cuts, forming one of the finest woodcut series of the incunable period, are closely related to a manuscript written and illustrated around 1450 in Augsburg by Georg and Hektor Mülich (now preserved in Gießen, University Library, Hs 813) – particularly in the case of the depictions of the 1st, 5th, 8th and 9th Commandments (cf. Schmid and Lehmann-Haupt).

As there is only modest shadowing of the figures, the woodcuts were probably intended to be coloured, as is the case in our copy: green, yellow, dark (brown) red, brown and vermillion (the latter also used for the frames), a typical Augsburg palette.

Rarity: Rarissimum: only 12 copies are listed by ISTC, five of which are imperfect or fragments. Only one copy in the United States. We can trace only two copies on the market: Graupe, 57 (1925), lot 156 (now the Brussels copy) and our Karl & Faber/Rauch copy.

Literature: Hain 1826, no. 14583*; BMC II, p. 350; Schramm IV, pp. 31 and 51, figs. 389-398; Schreiber no. 5226; Schmid 1958, p. 77; Schmitt 1959, p. 32*; Goff 1964, no. S-359; BSB-Ink S-247; GW M41134; ISTC is00359000.

Lehmann-Haupt 1929, 139; N. F. Palmer in Verfasserlexikon, VIII, cols. 1030ff.

cat. 27*

cat. 27*

cat. 27*

Two hitherto unknown and probably unique metalcuts in an incunable

28

Bruno, bishop of Würzburg (ed.), Psalterium latinum [Würzburg: Georg Reyser, c. 1488-89.]

First edition of this psalter commentary. Including two additional single-leaf prints.

2 °, 284 × 228 mm. 279 leaves, complete, lacking only the blank leaf K5: [a-c8, d-z 6.8, A-H6.8, I6, K8-1, L 8, M-P6.8, Q10]. – Printed in two columns of different type size: 25 lines for the psalms, with 50 lines of interpretation. Psalter text printed in red and black, one seven-line and several four-line initials supplied by hand in red or black with penwork decoration in the opposite colour, commentary text including printed versals in red. – Two metalcuts coloured by a contemporary hand in red, green, yellow and a little brown, pasted onto the inner covers (255 × 180 and 254 × 177 mm). – Almost complete set of leather index tabs. Occasional early manuscript annotations, including a contemporary recipe for making ink on verso of the final flyleaf. Occasional slight foxing, small dampstains to upper margin, a marginal tear to final leaf. The metalcuts very well preserved; the Adoration of the Magi with owner’s inscription and shelfmark in blank margin, the Martyrdom of St Ursula with manuscript monogram “AH” (?) within the cut, a small trace of worming to lower blank margin. – Contemporary blind-stamped quarter pigskin over wooden boards, one central clasp. The stamps are recorded in the Einbanddatenbank (German bindings database): a double-headed eagle with crown (EBDB s027908) and a small rose (EBDB s027911). They are documented on bindings of books printed in southern Germany around 1481-85, suggesting a date for our binding close to the time of printing. Later manuscipt title on upper board, dated 1588; 18th-century manuscript paper label on spine. Clasp restored.

Provenance: 1. Manuscript owner’s inscription of Johann Baptist Riedner from Heidingsfeld (today a part of Würzburg), dated 1568, on front pastedown below the metalcut; another entry on fol. a1.

2. For several generations (presumably since the 18th century) in the possession of a German noble family.

Text: First edition of this beautifully printed interpretation of the psalms, ascribed to Bruno of Carinthia, prince-bishop of Würzburg (c. 1004-45). Bruno, ‘one of the few bishops that was actively writing at the time, provided a large commentary on the psalms; his introduction, as well as the commentary itself, was compiled from the writings of the church fathers’ (translated from NDB II, p. 673). Several biblical hymns with explanations are included at the end of the text, e.g. the Cantica, the Paternoster, the Tedeum and others.

The present edition is the only one printed by Georg Reyser, the first printer in Würzburg. In the 15th century, Bruno’s work was further published twice by Anton Koberger in Nuremberg (in 1494 and 1497).

Illustration: Two large single-leaf prints are glued in as pastedowns on the insides of the wooden boards. Upper board: The Adoration of the Magi – lower board: The Martyrdom of St Ursula. They are metalcuts also known as dotted prints.

Half a century before Gutenberg invented printing with moveable type, people had already started to reproduce images, mostly religious, using woodcut blocks. Copper engravings were introduced later, and, by the middle of the 15th century, metalcuts. Printing offered many people the opportunity to have affordable devotional images in the home for the first time.

Additionally, these images served as a kind of souvenir for pilgrims and were sold in huge quantities at all places of pilgrimage. They usually suffered a degree of wear and tear, as their owners would travel with them, send them to relatives or friends, or pin them to walls. Most of the woodcut and metalcut single sheets we know today have therefore only survived because 208

they were inserted into manuscript or printed books, mostly in monastic libraries. Some of the leaves were loosely placed in books, others were fixed, and some were glued to the outsides or insides of the covers, like our two metalcuts.

In the Adoration of the Magi, the Virgin is depicted sitting in front of the stable wall below a thatched roof, with Joseph standing to the left, a rosary in his hand.

Mary holds the baby Jesus on her lap, who reaches out for the casket of gold presented to him by the oldest, kneeling king. In the middle stands the second king, holding a thurible in one arm, whilst pointing upwards to the shining star in the sky. The young king to the right is fashionably dressed in a short gown with slashed sleeves and a chaperon on his head; he holds a sceptre in one hand, and in the other a type of monstrance, to which a horn is attached. The background is a mountain scene with bushes and trees. The relevant text from Matthew 2,11 is given in the lower margin: “Et procidentes adoraverum eum” (‘and fell down and worshipped him’).

The metalcut of the Martyrdom of St Ursula depicts the Breton Princess and her companions on their return to Cologne from their pilgrimage to Rome. Huns were besieging Cologne at that time, and all pilgrims were killed. In the foreground are the river Rhine and a ship with a billowing sail; the town and the attackers are shown in the background in the upper half of the picture. Ursula sits in the middle of the ship, an arrow in her chest. Next to her is a cardinal holding a large processional cross and an open book; they are both surrounded by the virgins of Ursula’s entourage.

At the bow of the ship sits the pope with a tiara on his head and an oar in his hands; at the stern, a bishop holds an oar. Some virgins, already struck by arrows, lie in the water in front of the ship, while the pilgrims are attacked with spears and arrows from the banks outside the town wall. A crane on an unfinished tower, and three crowns above an archway, clearly identify the town as Cologne; this is confirmed by a scroll in the sky: “Sanc[ta] ursula colonia”. Two angels hover

cat. 28*

above the scene holding cloths filled with balls in front of themselves. A comparison to the same scene in the Ursula cycle of the Cologne Master of 1465 (Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum) suggests that these balls are meant to represent the souls of the murdered virgins ascending to heaven.

The present metalcut single sheets both originate from the same workshop. This is evident from their nearly identical size, and the simple black frame line common to both, and, above all, by the same treatment of surfaces, for example the dotted landscape brightened at its fringes and with tufts of grass and flowers, the cross-hatching of garments, sometimes combined with dotting, the fine wave-like structure of the ground and water, and in particular, a specific patterning of the sky using small curves set closely one upon the other, inspiring Schreiber to name the artist the Maître au fond maillé (‘master of the stitched background’).

Although Schreiber had no knowledge of our two images, they can clearly be attributed to that master because of the particular structure of the sky and other characteristic features. Schreiber records at least twelve single-leaf prints by him, dating them to the final quarter of the 15th century, in some cases even after 1500 (some reproduced in British Museum, collection database online, Schr. no. 2457, 2589 and 2717). Two of these prints contain German text in Upper Rhenish (2457 and 2761), and one secular image shows figures dressed in contemporary Strasburg costume (2761) – which is why Schreiber locates the workshop of this master in Strasburg. He also considers the tufts of grass and plants on the ground to be an Upper Rhenish feature. Nevertheless, there is another print (2736) containing text in Franconian, and the composition of 2457 is probably based on a Lower Rhenish model. Given their subjects, it is very likely that the models for the present prints were also Lower Rhenish. As a pair, both leaves are closely related to Cologne: the Three Magi and St Ursula are the most important patron saints of that city, their symbols even constituting the Cologne city coat of arms.

After 1440 the production of single-leaf prints increased immensely; whether woodcut, engraving or metalcut, images were constantly replicated and were thus widely disseminated. As a result, establishing precise dates and origins for such leaves by means of stylistic analysis remains difficult or even impossible.

Schreiber’s woodcut no. 1710 could possibly have been a direct model for our Martyrdom of St Ursula (British Museum; Bartsch 16601.1710). The depiction is approximately the same size, but reversed, and the composition corresponds in most details, except for one of the virgins: struck by an arrow in the head, in the woodcut she is bent head-first over the ship’s side and is about to fall, whereas in the metalcut, rather unconvincingly, she holds on to the ship’s side as if trying

210

to climb up again. Schreiber locates the woodcut to Cologne, however according to Dodgson (II, no. 222), the style is rather south German and dates from around 1480-90. Still, the woodcut is certainly based on models from Cologne, as is evident from the motif of the angels carrying the souls of the deceased virgins.

It is even more difficult to establish the origin of an illustration as prevalent as the Adoration of the Magi.

The composition, at least, and the headgear of the Virgin Mary and the youngest king, is rather reminiscent of the art of the north. The Adoration scene in the book of hours of Catherine of Cleves, for example, shows a comparable composition, including the prominent pointing gesture of the king standing in the middle. However, by the end of the 15th century, there is much influence from Dutch art to be found in south Germany. Amongst various routes, this influence arrived via Cologne and the river Rhine either through itinerant artists, or in the form of single-leaf prints and engravings. A famous example is the engraver Master E.S. (fl. c. 1440-68), who was active in the Upper Rhine region, although his art is clearly influenced by Netherlandish artists such as Rogier van der Weyden.

One of the compositions of the Adoration of the Magi by the Master E.S. (preserved only in a few reliefs and a drawn copy after his engraving; compare Höfler, p. 58 and fig. 69-71) resembles that of our Adoration quite closely, and may well have been one of the sources for the metalcut.

The date of the woodcut model, the relatively late activity of the Maître au fond maillé and the date of our incunable, suggest that the present metalcuts were produced in about 1490.

Rarity: This edition of the Würzburg Psalter is well represented in public libraries.

The two metalcuts, on the contrary, are apparently unique. We can trace no other copies of either image.

Single-sheet images of the 15th century are extremely rare today. Metalcuts of this large size, moreover, are even rarer than smaller ones. Schreiber recorded more than 4700 different wood- and metalcuts, of which only 7 % are preserved in more than one copy (cf. Field in: exh. cat. Washington and Nuremberg 2005, p. 19).

Literature: Psalter: Hain/Copinger 1895, no.

4011*; BMC II, p. 571; GW M36219; Ohly 1956; Goff 1964, P-1046; Geldner 1968, p. 230; Wendehorst 1978, p. 45; BSB-Ink P-832; Bod-inc P-510; ISTC ip01046000.

The metalcuts are hitherto unpublished.

Schreiber, vol. V; Schreiber 1926, pl. V; Schmidt 2000; exh. cat. Washington and Nuremberg 2005; Höfler 2007, p. 58 and fig. 69-71; Bartsch (Suppl.), vol. 166, no. 16601.1710; British Museum, collection database, online: www.britishmuseum.org.

cat. 28*

cat. 28*

cat. 28*

Great woodcut art from the time of Dürer: a collection of two splendid illustrated books and a historical work

29

I. Ulrich Pinder, Speculum passionis domini nostri Ihesu Christi Nuremberg: [Friedrich Peypus at the author’s press], 30 August 1507.

II. Johannes Geiler von Kaysersberg, Passionis Christi unum ex quattuor evangelistis textum (edited by Philesius Ringmann). Strasburg: Johann Knobloch, [1506].

III. Marcus Antonius Coccius Sabellicus, Historia Hebreorum ex Enneadibus excerpta (edited by Johannes Kusswerth). Basel: Adam Petri for Ludwig Hornken, 1515.

First editions.

2 °, 310 × 210 mm. – Light damp-staining to upper margins, a very few leaves slightly browned, minor worming. I: Negligible traces of an erasure on title, two leaves misbound (XIX and XXI). A well-preserved copy with fine and dark impressions of the woodcuts. – Blind-stamped contemporary quarter pigskin over wooden boards, remains of two clasps. Some rubbing and staining, lower joint restored, a few wormholes. In a modern cloth slipcase.

I. Ulrich Pinder, Speculum passionis domini nostri Ihesu Christi. 92 leaves, complete including the final blank, ff.

[1], XC, [1]. – With 77 (39 full-page, 5 repeats) woodcuts by Hans Schäufelein, Hans Baldung Grien, and Hans Süß von Kulmbach.

Text: First edition of the “Mirror of the Passion of Our Lord” by Ulrich Pinder, town physician of Nördlingen from 1484 until 1489, subsequently personal physician to the Elector Frederick of Saxony (14891493) and Nuremberg’s town physician until his death (1519). Pinder’s Speculum passionis, compiled from the New Testament and the Early Fathers, is in the tradition of the passion tracts of the late Middle Ages and follows Bonaventura’s order of contemplatio, imitatio, admiratio, exultatio, resolutio, and quies.

Illustration: Pinder had many of his books illustrated by the workshop of Albrecht Dürer. He had most probably ordered the woodcuts for the Speculum by the end of 1505. As the Master, from the summer of 1505 until the spring of 1507, was on his second visit to Italy, the cuts for the Speculum passionis were created by three of Dürer’s employees. The end result is one of the finest German illustrated books of the 16th century.

With the 77 woodcuts, 39 of which are full-page, Pinder and the artists created a new type of devotional book in which the illustration is of equal status with the text.

This monumental series can only be compared to Dürer’s Apocalypse of 1498, and the success of Pinder’s ‘picture book’ probably prompted Dürer to publish his three large woodcut series – The Large Passion, The Life of the Virgin, and The Apocalypse – in book form in 1511.

Of the large cuts 30 are by Hans Schäufelein (c. 1480/85c. 1539), favoured by Pinder, and form the artist’s first large series. The final cuts, The Pentecost and The Last Judgement, demonstrate a shift towards a clear disposition of space and figures – a reflection of Dürer’s ideas – and later furnished the inspiration for some of the scenes in Dürer’s Small Passion of 1509-1511. Two of the large cuts (leaves 51v and 54r) are by Hans Baldung Grien (c. 1484/85-1545); and the one on leaf 21v is by 214

Hans Süß von Kulmbach (c. 1480-1522). Most of the smaller cuts, and a very few of the larger ones, had been used before in Pinder’s Beschlossen Gart des Rosenkrantz Mariae (1505).

Printer: Pinder set up his private press in 1505, and produced eleven books, in large part of devotional character, written or compiled by Pinder himself. The press was run by Friedrich Peypus (1485-1534), and when Peypus in 1512 married Pinder’s daughter Martha, Pinder gave the shop to his son-in-law.

Literature: Fairfax Murray, German, no. 333; Winkler 1941; Proctor 1954, no. 11031; Hollstein II, 84, 15-49; exh. cat. Nuremberg 1961, no. 27; Oldenbourg, Baldung, L7 (woodcuts 197-208); Oldenbourg, Schäufelein, L-4 (woodcuts 153 and 167-195); Adams 1967, P-1243; Mende 1978, figs. 286-297; VD16 P 2807; Dreißiger 1986; Löcher 1986; exh. cat. Nuremberg 1987, no. 63.

II. Johannes Geiler von Kaysersberg, Passionis Christi unum ex quattuor evangelistis textum (edited by Philesius Ringmann). 26 leaves, complete, collation A-C6, D8, contemporary manuscript foliation in ink. – With 26 full-page woodcuts by Urs Graf (1 repeat).

Text: First edition, published shortly before the first German edition (dated 1506). – Johann Geiler (14451510) was a native of Schaff hausen, brought up in Kaysersberg (Alsace), and educated at the newly founded universities of Freiburg and Basel. He became a doctor of theology in 1475 and from 1478 lived in Strasburg as a preacher at the cathedral. Later called the ‘German Savonarola,’ he was one of the most effective and forceful advocates of church reform at the end of the 15th century.

Geiler himself published only a few texts, while most of his sermons were written down by his audience or were transcribed posthumously from his notes. The Latin text on the Passion is one of the rare writings published during his lifetime. It is a response to the French

cat. 29*

t­heologian Jean Gerson compiled from the four gospels and Gerson’s gospel harmony Monotessaron.

On the title is a dedicatory poem, “Ringmannus Philesius ad lec.” The humanist Matthias Ringmann, named Philesius (1482-1511), who worked as a corrector with, amongst others, Grüninger and Knobloch, edited the Latin text and also translated it into German; thus the work is frequently called the ‘Ringmann-passion.’ Both the Latin and the German editions were a great success.

The first editions were followed by at least four more in each language until 1513, all of which were printed in Knobloch’s press.

Illustration: This is the first major work of book illustration in large format by Urs Graf (14851527/28), containing a cycle of unconventional, highly vigorous illustrations of the Passion of Christ.

The son of a goldsmith in Solothurn, Urs Graf practiced the arts of drawing, painting and cutting medals. Besides his artistic activity he repeatedly enrolled as a mercenary soldier. After a rather itinerant life with stays in Strasburg, Basle and Zurich, he eventually settled in Basle in 1509.

His first commission for the printing business was a world map for Gregor Reich’s Margarita Philosophica of 1503; the woodcuts of the Passion of Christ are his first major contribution to book illustration. Work on this cycle seems to have extended over a long period. The scene of Jude Returning the Money after the Betrayal bears the date 1503 inscribed upside down on a scroll.

All the woodcuts, with the exception of Christ at the house of Martha and Maria and The Last Supper, are signed “VG”, while the Raising of Lazarus is signed “V” only. In this woodcut Graf used a composition which an anonymous master had created for Grüninger’s Heiligenleben of 1502.

The woodcuts fill the entire page, with the text usually juxtaposed on the opposite page, although there are some exceptions. The woodcut of The Penitent Jude with the date 1503 (fol. C3v) is the only one with a frame, consisting of columns and an arch composed of branchwork, which is set in front of the scene itself. The leaf of Jude Receiving the Money (fol. B3v) in part recalls the layout typical of miniatures, with an arch forming an inner frame. The most unusual scenes are those set in interiors, in which Urs Graf completely renounces all accessory elements that would fulfil a mediating function for the eye of the beholder, e.g. in Christ Before Hannas (fol. C1v) or, even more radically, The Last Supper (fol. B4v). In these examples Graf reveals his experimentalist inclinations. Yet he was also ready to fall back on the ideas of a mentor (perhaps Matthias Ringmann?), as is shown by the inclusion of Hebrew and Greek quotations in the woodcuts.

Initially the cycle seems to have been planned with the 25 leaves by Graf only. The text, however, required 26

216

cuts, which resulted in the double use of the pre-penultimate woodcut depicting The Three Marys at the Se­ pulchre (fol. D7) in the present first edition. As this was regarded as awkward in such an extremely lavishly illustrated book, a woodcut of the Resurrection from Johannes Wechtlin was used in subsequent editions.

Printer: The arms of the printer Schott next to the arms of Strasburg on the leaf of Christ before Pilate have led to the supposition that it was Schott who had originally commissioned the woodcuts, and that he had then handed them over to Knobloch, possibly forced by a rather tight financial situation (Hieronymus no. 29).

Johann Knobloch the Elder († 1528) became a citizen of Strasburg in 1501. A prolific printer, he worked in his own press, “Zur Turteltaube”, in the Halbmondgasse, as well as in those of his colleagues Johann Prüß, Johann Schott, his stepson Martin Flach the Younger, Konrad Kerner and Heinrich Gran (Hagenau). In addition to Urs Graf he also employed Wechtlin and Baldung Grien as illustrators.

Rarity: Extremely rare: only two copies on the German and international market since 1975.

Literature: Worringer 1923; Oldenbourg 1964, no. 2; Hollstein XI, no. 4-28; Verfasserlexikon II, cols.

1141-52; VD16 B 4690; Hieronymus II, no. 29; Benzing/Muller 1981, II, p. 116, no. 19; compare Adams 1967, J-171 and exh. cat. Trier 1995, no. 12 (German edition).

III. Marcus Antonius Coccius Sabellicus, Historia Hebreorum ex Enneadibus excerpta (edited by Johannes Kusswerth). 114 leaves, complete (including the final blank), ff. [4], CIX, [1]. – Title printed in red and black, with full woodcut border by Urs Graf and woodcut publisher’s device.

Only edition. – Marco Antonio Sabellico (1436-1506), an Italian humanist and historian from Venice, was a member of the circle of Aldus Manutius. His comprehensive history of the world in 92 books, Enneades sive rapsodiae historiarum (1504), is considered the first humanistic work of its kind. The present history of the Jews is an excerpt of that chronicle, edited by Johannes Kusswerth (or Kusthuert), who dedicated the work to the duke of Saxony, Frederick the Wise.

The publisher and bookseller Ludwig Hornken († 1521) is recorded in Leipzig, Paris and Cologne, where he had shops, at times in partnership with the better known Cologne publisher Goddert Hittorp. Hornken also had business connections with Basle and had some of his books printed there by Adam Petri and others.

Adams 1967, S-13; Hieronymus II, no. 131 note; ­V D 16 S 8.

cat. 29*

Dürer’s complete ‘Engraved Passion’ bound into a book

30

Albrecht Dürer, ‘The Passion’ [Nuremberg:] 1508–13.

Complete series of 16 engravings, all signed and dated.

8 °. Book 212 × 155 mm, plates c. 118 × 75 mm. 16 plates, the complete collection, compiled from various provenances as usual (see below). Plate 2, Agony in the Garden, with ‘bull’s head’ watermark. – Good and excellent impressions. All trimmed close to image, tipped on verso at upper edge onto card supports, and in fawn window mounts. – Bound in blind-tooled maroon morocco by Georges Cretté (Paris, 1893-1968), ornamental stamps in period style, edges gilt.

Binding in very good condition, preserved in a slip case.

Provenance: 1. Hermann Weber (1817-54), a book and print dealer from Bonn; small stamp “HW” on verso of plate 3 and 16 (Lugt 1921, no. 1383).

2. H. Freiherr von und zu Aufsess (1801-72); small armorial stamp on verso of plate 10. He was one of the founders of the Germanisches Museum in Nuremberg.

Some duplicates from the museum were sold in Berlin in 1913 (Lugt 1921, no. 2749).

3. Plates 11 and 12 bear the stamps “Kunsthalle Bremen” and “Doublette”. Sales of duplicates took place in 1860 and 1903-05 (Lugt 1921, no. 292, 293).

4. Plate 12 with another stamp, an oval with intertwined monogram HST (? not in Lugt).

5. Ernst Ruge (1878-1953); his stamp on verso of all engravings apart from plate 15. His collection was sold in 1952-54 by Gerd Rosen, Berlin (Lugt 1921, suppl., no. 2158a).

6. The collection of Georges Wendling (as a complete book), his bookplate and collector’s stamp on flyleaves.

Artist: Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) is considered the greatest and most influential Renaissance artist of northern Europe. Born in Nuremberg, he was the son of a goldsmith; his godfather was Anton Koberger, the leading German publisher and printer of his day (see no. 26).

After initially training in his father’s workshop, an apprenticeship to the painter and woodcut illustrator Michael Wolgemut, and his journeyman’s itinerary to Colmar, Basel and Strasbourg, Dürer went on a journey to Italy, which was of inestimable importance to his future artistic development. In 1495 he settled permanently in Nuremberg and opened his own prolific workshop, producing paintings, drawings, engravings and woodcuts with equal facility and technical brilliance. When he visited Italy again, in 1505-07, he arrived as a wellknown artist with a reputation chiefly based on his woodcuts and engravings; his prints were even being copied.

Engravings: The complete series of the ‘Engraved Passion’, the order of the plates following the sequence of events: 1. The Man of Sorrows Standing by the Column; 1509 – 2. The Agony in the Garden; 1508 – 3.

The Betrayal of Christ; 1508 – 4. Christ before Caiaphas; 1512 – 5. Christ before Pilate; 1512 – 6. The Flagellation; 1512 – 7. Christ Crowned with Thorns; 1512 – 8.

218

Ecce Homo; 1512 – 9. Pilate Washing his Hands; 1512 – 10. Christ Carrying the Cross; 1512 – 11. Crucifixion; 1511 – 12. The Lamentation; 1507 – 13. The Entombment; 1512 – 14. Christ Enters Limbo; 1512 – 15. The Resurrection; 1512 – 16. St Peter and John Healing the Lame Man; 1513.

Dürer executed the images of the Engraved Passion from 1507 to 1513 and sold many of the prints individually. “No textual interpretation was deemed necessary, for the engraved series was not conceived as an edifying book but rather as a ‘collector’s item,’ to be relished by the art lover instead of by the devout. (…) The program of the Engraved Passion is thus less comprehensive than that of the Small. But in spite of its brevity the engraved series has something sumptuous about it. Every scene is carefully worked out with architecture and furnishings, bizarre physiognomies, picturesque costumes and fanciful armor, and emphasis is placed on the refinements of lighting and surface texture. The Engraved Passion stresses spiritual suffering rather than physical torture and never loses sight of the preterhuman dignity of Christ” (Panofsky, I, p. 140f ).

According to Panofsky, the last engraving of St Peter and John, “has been left out of most of the old bound copies preserved” (Panofsky, II, no. 125). In fact, this scene is part of the Acts of the Apostles, rather than the Passion. The Passion typically consists of fourteen incidents, beginning with The Agony in the Garden and ending with The Resurrection; in the present copy it is preceded additionally by a frontispiece depicting The Man of Sorrows. Dürer’s intention regarding the final engraving remains obscure, and whether it belongs to this series is still arguable – although in form and style it is clearly related.

In the present copper engravings, Dürer interpreted the gospel in a new, human, and accessible language, and at the same time convincingly blended northern realism with the ideal beauty of Italy.

Literature: Fairfax Murray, German, no. 142; Meder 1932, no. 3-18; Bartsch no. 3-18; Panofsky 1948, I, p. 139-142 and II, no. 110-125; Hollstein no.

3-18; exh. cat. Nuremberg 1971, no. 604; Schneider 1995, no. 22-36; Schoch/Mende/Scherbaum 2001, I, p. 125-29 and no. 45-60.

cat. 30

cat. 30

cat. 30

Key to bibliographical references Adams 1967 · Herbert M. Adams, Catalogue of Books printed on the Continent of Europe, 1501–1600, in Cambridge Libraries, 2 vols., Cambridge 1967.

Aland · Kurt Aland, Kurzgefasste Liste der griechischen Handschriften des Neuen Testaments, Berlin 21994.

Anselme 1727 · Père Anselme, Histoire généalogique et chronologique de la Maison Royale de France, Paris 1726-33.

Arnim 1984 · Manfred von Arnim, Katalog der Bibliothek Otto Schäfer, Teil I: Drucke, Manuskripte und Einbände des 15. Jahrhunderts, 2 vols., Stuttgart 1984.

Avril 1976 · François Avril, ‘A quand remontent les premiers ateliers d’enlumineurs laics à Paris?’, in Les Dossiers de l’Archeologie XVI (1976), pp. 36-44.

Avril/Gousset 1984 · François Avril and Marie-Thérèse Gousset, Manuscrits enluminés d’origine italienne, 2, XIIIe siècle, Paris 1984.

Aynes 1982 · Larry M. Aynes, ‘Parisian Bibles in the Berlin Staatsbibliothek’, in Pantheon 40 (1982), pp.

5-13.

Bartsch (Dürer) · John T. Spike (ed.), The Illustrated Bartsch, Sixteenth Century German Artists, Albrecht Dürer, vol. 10, 1-2, New York 1980-81.

Bartsch (Suppl.) · Richard S. Field (ed.), The Illustrated Bartsch (Supplement), German Single Leaf Woodcuts before 1500, vol. 161-66, New York 1987-2008.

Beer 1972 · Ellen. J. Beer, ‘Liller Bibelcodices, Tournai und die Scriptorien der Stadt Arras’, in Aachener Kunstblätter 43 (1972), pp. 190-226.

Bénédictins du Bouveret · Bénédictins du Bouveret, Colophons de manuscrits occidentaux des origines au XVIe siècle, 6 vols., Fribourg/Switzerland 1965-82.

Benett 2002 · Adelaide Benett, ‘Continuity and Change in the Religious Book Culture of the Lowlands in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries’, in Medieval Mastery. Book Illumination from Charlemagne to Charles the Bold, Stedelijk Museum Vander Kelen-Mertens, Leuven 2002, pp. 167-179.

222

Benzing/Muller 1981 · Josef Benzing (I) and Jean Muller (II-III), Bibliographie Strasbourgeoise. Bibliographie des ouvrages imprimés à Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin) au XVIe siècle, 3 vols., Baden-Baden 1981-86.

Berger 1884 · Samuel Berger, La Bible française au Moyen Âge – Étude sur les plus anciennes versions de la Bible écrite en prose de langue d’oïl, Paris 1884.

Bishop 1971 · T. A. M. Bishop, English Caroline Minuscule, Oxford 1971.

Blum 1928 · André Blum, Les Origines du Livre a Gravures en France. Les Incunables Typographiques, Paris and Brussels 1928.

BMC · Catalogue of Books printed in the XVth Century, now in the British Museum, 10 vols., London 19081971, reprint of 1-8: 1963.

Bod-inc. · A Catalogue of Books Printed in the Fifteenth Century now in the Bodleian Library, 6 vols., Oxford 2005.

Boehm/Fajt 2005 · Barbara Drake Boehm and Jiří Fajt, Prague: the Crown of Bohemia, 1347-1437, exh. cat.

New York 2005.

Bradley 1889 · John W. Bradley, A Dictionary of Miniaturists, Illuminators, Calligraphers, and Copyists, III, ­London 1889.

Bräm 1997 · Andreas Bräm, Das Andachtsbuch der Marie de Gavre. Buchmalerei in der Diözese Cambrai im letzten Viertel des 13. Jahrhunderts, Wiesbaden 1997.

Branner 1977 · Robert Branner, Manuscript Painting in Paris during the Reign of Saint Louis, Berkeley 1977.

Briquet online · BO - Briquet Online [based on Les Filigranes, 1907], http://www.ksbm.oeaw.ac.at/_ scripts/php/BR.php?lang=fr (last call: September 2011) Brower/Masen 1856 · Christoph Brower and Jakob Masen: Metropolis ecclesiae Trevericae, Leuven 1856.

BSB-Ink · Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Inkunabelkatalog: BSB-Ink, 5 vols. Wiesbaden 1988-2000.

Buchthal 1964 · Hugo Buchthal, ‘An unknown Byzantine Manuscript of the Thirteenth Century’, in Connoisseur 155 (1964), p. 217 ff.

Darrouzès 1957 · Jean Darrouzès, ‘Autres manuscript originaires de Chypre’, in Revue des études byzantines 15 (1957), p. 131-168.

Burger 1907 · Konrad Burger, Buchhändleranzeigen des 15. Jahrhunderts. In getreuer Nachbildung, Leipzig 1907.

De Bruyne 1920 · Donatien De Bruyne, Préfaces de la Bible Latine, Namur 1920.

Busby et al. 1993 · Keith Busby et al. (ed.), Les manuscrits de Chrétien de Troyes, 2 vols., Amsterdam 1993.

Büttner 2004 · Frank Olaf Büttner (ed.), The Illuminated Psalter. Studies in Content, Purpose and Placement of his Images, Turnhout 2004.

Cahn 1972 · Walter Cahn, ‘St Albans and the Channel Style in England’, in The Year 1200, Metropolitan Museum, New York 1972, pp. 187-211.

Canart 1981 · Paul Canart, ‘Les écritures livresques chypriotes du milieu du XIe siècle au milieu du XIIIe et le style palestino-chypriote ‘epsilon’’, in Scrittura e civiltà 5 (1981), pp. 17-76.

Canivez 1926 · Joseph-Marie Canivez, L’Ordre de Cîteaux en Belgique, Forges Lez-Chimay 1926.

Chédeville 1987 · André Chédeville, ‘Bretagne. Historique et société’, in Xavier Barral Y Altet (ed.), Le paysage monumental de la France autour de l’an mil, Paris 1987, pp. 225-227.

Colish 1994 · Marcia L. Colish, Peter Lombard, Leiden/ New York/Cologne 1994.

Constantinides/Browning 1993 · Costas N. Constantinides and Robert Browning (eds.), Dated Greek Manuscripts from Cyprus to the Year 1570, Washington 1993.

Cutler 1979 · Anthony Cutler, ‘A Psalter from Mâr Saba and the Evolution of the David Cycle’, in Journal of Jewish Art 6 (1979), pp. 39-63.

Cutler and Carr 1976 · Anthony Cutler and Annemarie Weyl Carr, ‘The Psalter Benaki 34.3. An unpublished Illuminated Manuscript from the Family 2400’, in Revue des études byzantines 34 (1976), pp.

281-323.

De Hamel 1984 · Christopher F. R. de Hamel, Glossed Books of the Bible and the Origins of the Paris Booktrade, Woodbridge 1984.

De Hamel 2001 · Christopher F. R. de Hamel, The Book. A History of the Bible, London 2001.

De Hamel 2002 · Christopher F. R. de Hamel, Eine Geschichte der Bibel, Berlin 2002.

Delaissé 1968 · Léon M.J. Delaissé, A Century of Dutch Manuscript Illumination, 1968.

Die Kölner Bibel 1478/1479 1979 · R. Kautzsch, S. Corsten, H. Reitz and H. Kunze, Die Kölner Bibel 1478/1479, facsimile edition, Hamburg 1979-1981.

Dodgson 1934 · Campbell Dodgson. Woodcuts of the XV Century in the Department of Prints and Drawings, British Museum, 2 vols., London, 1934-35.

Dodwell 1954 · C. R. Dodwell, The Canterbury School of Illumination. 1066–1200, Cambridge 1954.

Dreißiger 1986 · Christa Maria Dreißiger, ‘Der Bildschmuck des „Speculum passionis nostri Ihesu christi“ von 1507 in Helmar Junghans and C. M. Dreissiger (eds.), Speculum Passionis. Das ist: Spiegel deß bitteren Leydens unnd Sterbens Jesu Christi,..., facsimile of the edition Salzburg 1663, Wiesbaden 1986.

Dumville 1993 · David N. Dumville, ‘The English Element in Tenth-Century Breton Book-Production’ in Britons and Anglo-Saxons in the Early Middle Ages, Aldershot 1993, pp. 1-14.

Dürer Forschungen 2009 · Dürer Forschungen vol. 2, Nuremberg 2009.

223

Eberlein 2005 · Johann Konrad Eberlein, ‘Zisterziensische Buchkunst’, in Hans Zeller (ed.), Zisterziensisches Schreiben im Mittelalter – Das Skriptorium der Reiner Mönche, Bern 2005.

Eichenberger/Wendland 1977 · Eichenberger/Wendland, Deutsche Bibeln vor Luther, Hamburg 1977.

Einbanddatenbank · Einbanddatenbank, bindings database online, http://www.hist-einband.de/index. shtml (last call: September 2011).

Eleen 1982 · Luba Eleen, The Illustration of the Pauline Epistles in French and English Bibles of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries, Oxford 1982.

Eleen 1985 · Luba Eleen, ‘A Thirteeth-Century Workshop of Miniature Painters in the Veneto’, in Arte Veneta 39 (1985), pp. 9-21.

Eleen 1987 · Luba Eleen, ‘New Testament Manuscripts and their Lay Owners in Verona in the Thirteenth Century’, in Scriptorium 41 (1987), pp. 221-236.

Exh. cat. Bassano del Grappa 2001 · Ezzelini. Signori della Marca nel cuore dell’Impero di Federico II, 2 vols., Palazzo Bonaguro, Bassano del Grappa 2001.

Exh. cat. Berlin 1975 · Zimelien, Abendländische Handschriften des Mittelalters, Berlin 1975.

Exh. cat. Brussels 1990 · Thérèse Glorieux-De Gand, Manuscrits cisterciens de la Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, Bibliothèque royale Albert Ier, Brussels 1990.

Exh. cat. Cambridge (Mass.) 1988 · Laura Light, The Bible in the Twelfth Century, Houghton Library, Cambridge (Mass.) 1988.

Exh. cat. Cambridge 2005 · Paul Binski and Stella Panayotova (ed.), The Cambridge Illuminations. Ten Centuries of Book Production in the Medieval West, University Library, Cambridge 2005.

Exh. cat. Cologne 1972 · Rhein und Ruhr, Kunst und Kultur 800–1400, Cologne 1972.

224

Exh. cat. Cologne 1992 · Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana.

Liturgie und Andacht im Mittelalter, Erzbischöfliches Diözesanmuseum, Cologne 1992.

Exh. cat. Cologne 1998 · Glaube und Wissen im Mittelalter, Die Kölner Dombibliothek, Erzbischöfliches Diözesanmuseum, Cologne 1998.

Exh. cat. Den Haag 2002 · Anne S. Korteweg, Praal, ernst & emotie. De wereld van het Franse middeleuwse handschrift, Museo Meermanno-Westreenianum, Den Haag 2002.

Exh. cat. Leuven 1988 · Textiel van de vroege middeleeuwen tot het Concilie van Trente, Leuven 1988.

Exh. cat. Leuven 1991 · Stof uit de Kist, Leuven 1991.

Exh. cat. Lucerne 1949 · Dix siècles de livres Français.

Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lucerne 1949.

Exh. cat. Mainz 1991 · Sabine Mertens et al. (ed.).

Blockbücher des Mittelalters. Bilderfolgen als Lektüre, Gutenbergmuseum, Mainz 1991.

Exh. cat. Milan 1997 · Miniature a Brera 1100–1422, Manoscritti dalla Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense e da Collezioni private, Milan 1997.

Exh. cat. New York 1982 · John Plummer, The Last Flowering. French Painting in Manuscripts 1420–1530 from American Collections, The Pierpont Morgan Library, New York 1982.

Exh. cat. Nuremberg 1961 · Meister um Albrecht Dürer, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg 1961.

Exh. cat. Nuremberg 1971 · 1471 Albrecht Dürer 1971, Nuremberg 1971.

Exh. cat. Nuremberg 1987 · Eduard Isphording and Manfred von Arnim (ed.), Fünf Jahrhunderte Buchillustration. Meisterwerke der Buchgraphik aus der Bibliothek Otto Schäfer, Nuremberg 1987.

Exh. cat. Paris 1993 · François Avril and Nicole Reynaud, Les Manuscrits à Peintures en France 1440–1520.

Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris 1993.

Exh. cat. Paris 1998 · L’Art au temps des rois maudits.

Philipppe le Bel et ses fils, Galeries nationals du Grand Palais, Paris 1998.

Exh. cat. Paris 2001 · Le trésor de la Sainte Chapelle, Paris 2001.

Ferrari 1999 · Mirella Ferrari, ‘Sui ‘Salmi’ et sui ‘Profeti’: dal primo catalogo di Morimondo alla Biblioteca Braidense’, in Marco Rossi and Alessandro Rovetta (ed.), Studi di Storia dell’arte in onore di Maria Luisa Gatti Perer, Milan 1999, pp. 33-46.

Exh. cat. Paris 2004 · Paris 1400. Les arts sous Charles VI, Musée du Louvre, Paris 2004.

Flament 1993 · Gérard Flament, Table onomastique des «Notices généalogiques tournaisiennes de P.A. du Chastel de la Howarderie», Brussels 1993.

Exh. cat. Paris 2005 · La France romane au temps des premiers Capétiens (987-1152), Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris 2005.

Fogelmark 1990 · Staffan Fogelmark, Flemish and Related Panel-stamped Bindings. Evidence and Principles.

New York 1990.

Exh. cat. Prague 2006 · Karl IV. Kaiser von Gottes Gnaden. Kunst und Repräsentation des Hauses Luxembourg 1310-1437, Prague 2006.

Fogg 1989 · Sam Fogg, Medieval Manuscripts. Catalogue 12, London 1989.

Exh. cat. Trier 1995 · Kostbare illustrierte Bücher des sechzehnten Jahrhunderts in der Stadtbibliothek Trier, Wiesbaden 1995.

Exh. cat. Utrecht 1989 · The Golden Age of Dutch Manuscript Painting, Utrecht 1989.

Exh. cat. Washington and Nuremberg 2005 · Origins of European Printmaking, Fifteenth Century Woodcuts and their Public, Washington and Nuremberg 2005.

Fairfax Murray, French · Hugh W. Davies, Catalogue of a Collection of Early French Books in the Library of Charles Fairfax Murray, 2 vols., London 1910, reprint 1961.

Fairfax Murray, German · Hugh W. Davies, Catalogue of a Collection of Early German Books in the Library of Charles Fairfax Murray, 2 vols., London 1913, reprint 1962.

Ferrari 1993 · Mirella Ferrari, ‘Dopo Bernardo: biblioteche e ‘scriptoria’ cisterciensi dell’Italia settentrionale nel xii secolo’, in Pietro Zerbi (ed.), San Bernardo e l’Italia: atti del covegno di studi, Milano 24-26 maggio 1990, Biblioteca erudita, 8. Milan 1993, pp. 253-306.

Ford 1990 · Margaret Lane Ford, Christ, Plato, Hermes Trismegistus. The dawn of printing, Catalogue of incunabula in the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica, 2 vols., Amsterdam 1990.

Fournié 2009 · Élénore Fournié, ‘Les manuscrits de la Bible historiale. Présentation et catalogue raisonné d’une œuvre médievale’, in L’Atelier du Centre de recherches historiques, 03.2 | 2009. URL : http.//acrh. revues.org/index1408.html.

Gamillscheg 1987 · Ernst Gamillscheg, ‚Fragen zur Lokalisierung der Handschriften der Gruppe 2400’, in Jahrbuch der österreichischen Byzantinistik 37 (1987), pp. 313-321.

Gargan 1971 · Luciano Gargan, Lo studio teologico e la biblioteca dei Domenicani a Padova nel tre e quattrocento, Padua 1971.

Geldner 1968 · Ferdinand Geldner, Die deutschen Inkunabeldrucker, ein Handbuch der deutschen Buchdrucker des XV. Jahrhunderts, 2 vols., Stuttgart 1968-70.

Gil 1999 · Marc Gil, Du Maître du Mansel au Maître de Rambures; le Milieu des peintres et des enlumineurs de Piccardie, ca. 1400-1480 (Diss. Université de Paris-IV 1999), microfiche.

225

Goff 1959 · Frederick R. Goff, ‘The Postilla of Guillermus Parisiensis’ in Gutenberg Jahrbuch 1959, pp.

73-78.

Hellemans 2010 · Babette Hellemans, La Bible moralisée: une œuvre à part entière, création, semiotique et temporalité au XIIIe siècle, Turnhout 2010.

Goff 1964 · Frederick R. Goff, Incunabula in American Libraries. A Third Census of fifteenth century books recorded in North American Collections. New York 1964, reprint 1973.

Hieronymus · Frank Hieronymus, Oberrheinische Buch­ illustration, vol. I: Inkunalbelholzschnitte, vol. II: Basler Buchillustration 1500-1545, Basel 1972 (reprint 19831984).

Goodspeed, Riddle and Willoughby 1932 · Edgar J. Goodspeed, Donald W. Riddle and Harold R. Willoughby, The Rockefeller McCormick New Testament, 3 vols., Chicago 1932.

Hind 1935 · Arthur M. Hind, An Introduction to a History of Woodcut, 2 vols., London 1935.

Gumbert 1990 · J.P. Gumbert, The Dutch and their Books in the Manuscript Age, London 1990.

GW · Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke, vols. I-XI (AHord, Jobst). Leipzig (vol. VIII ff. Stuttgart/Berlin and others) 1925-2008 (continued). Complete database online, hosted by the Staatsbibliothek Berlin: http://www.gesamtkatalogderwiegendrucke.de/.

Hain 1826 · Ludwig Hain, Repertorium bibliographicum in quo libri omnes ab arte typographica inventa usque ad annum M.D., 2 vols., Stuttgart/Paris 1826-38, reprint 1966.

Hain/Copinger 1895 · Walter Arthur Copinger, Supplement to Hain’s Repertorium bibliographicum … in two parts. The first containing nearly 7000 corrections … The second, a list … of nearly 6000 volumes …, not referred to by Hain, 2 vols., London 1895-1902, reprint 1992.

Harrsen 1958 · Meta Harrsen, Central European Manuscripts in the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York 1958.

Haseloff 1938 · Günther Haseloff, Die Psalterillustration im 13. Jahrhundert. Studien zur Geschichte der Buchmalerei in England, Frankreich und den Niederlanden, Berlin 1938.

Haussherr 2009 · Eberhard König, Tico Seifert and Guido Siebert (ed.), Bible Moralisée. Prachthandschriften des Hohen Mittelalters. Gesammelte Schriften von Reiner Haussherr, Petersberg 2009 (Including his writings from 1964, 1968, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1981, 1982, 1988).

226

Höfler 2007 · Janez Höfler, Der Meister E. S. Ein Kapitel europäischer Kunst des 15. Jahrhunderts, Regensburg 2007.

Hollstein · F. W. H. Hollstein, German engravings, etchings and woodcuts. ca. 1400-1700, Amsterdam 1954ff.

IDL · Gerard van Thienen (ed.), Incunabula in Dutch libraries. A census of fifteenth-century printed books in Dutch public collections, 2 vols., Nieuwkoop 1983.

Indestege 1951 · Luc Indestege, ‘Middeleeuwse bandstempels met tekst in de volkstaal’, in Album Dr Jan Lindemans, Brussels 1951, pp. 233-263.

ISTC · The Incunabula Short Title Catalogue. Online database of the British Library: http://www.bl.uk/ catalogues/istc/index.html.

Ker 1960 · Neil Ripley Ker, English Manuscripts in the Century after the Norman Conquest, Oxford 1960.

King 1963 · Donald King, Opus Anglicarum: English Medieval Embroidery, London 1963.

Komada 2000 · Akiko Komada, Les illustrations de la Bible historiale. Les manuscrits realisés dans le Nord, 4 vols., Université de Paris-IV 2000 (unpubl.).

König 1993/94 · Eberhard König, 44 Manuskripte vom 14. bis zum 17. Jahrhundert aus Frankreich, Flandern, England, Spanien, den Niederlanden und Deutschland, Leuchtendes Mittelalter VI, Rotthalmünster 1993/94.

König 2006 · Eberhard König, Vom Schöpfer zum Autor. Genesis, Heilsgeschichte, Boccaccio. Eine Bilderhandschrift mit 78 Miniaturen vom Meister der Apokalypse des Herzogs von Berry, Ramsen and Rotthalmünster 2006.

Light 1994 · Laura Light, ‘French Bibles c. 1200-1230: A New Look at the Origin of the Paris Bible’, in Richard Gameson (ed.), The Early Medieval Bible, its Production, Decoration and Use, Cambridge 1994, pp.

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Pagina Sacra Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books AG, Stalden 2011