BOOK OF · and historiated initials for the virgin Saints Genevieve and Avia before the Hours of the Virgin and the richness of the bor-ders hint that it could have been made to order

BOOK OF HOURS

1. BY ONE OF THE MOST SKILLFUL PAINTERS OF HIS GENERATION

Book of Hours (Use of Paris)

In Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on parchment

France, Paris, c. 1460-1470

15 large miniatures and 6 historiated initials by an artist in the circle of the Coëtivy Master

This is an undoubtedly Parisian Book of Hours, and it is attributed to an artist in the circle of the Coëtivy Master, deemed

“the most important artist practicing in Paris in the third quarter of the century.” The inclusion of French prayers (or poems)

and historiated initials for the virgin Saints Genevieve and Avia before the Hours of the Virgin and the richness of the bor-

ders hint that it could have been made to order as a commission. The borders are richly decorated with sprays and knots of

acanthus and abundant flowers, fruits, and birds, with clusters of strawberries throughout.

BOH 168 • $100,000

2.

PAINTED BY ONE OF THE LEADING RENAISSANCE ARTISTS IN LYONS

Book of Hours (Use of Rome)

In Latin, calendar and some rubrics in French, illuminated manuscript on parchment

France (Lyons), c. 1510

5 large and 5 small miniatures by the workshop of the Master of the Entry of Francis I

A hitherto unknown manuscript by one of the leading Renaissance artists in Lyons in the first third of the sixteenth century.

In fresh, clean condition, with attractive miniatures painted in a soft palette under Renaissance architectural frames, and

housed in a lovely armorial binding, the manuscript is also notable for its eminent provenance, for it belonged to the great

southern French bibliophile, Charles de Baschi, Marquis d’Aubaïs.

BOH 156 • $60,000

3.

EVERYDAY PIETY PRACTICED IN A FLEMISH HOUSEHOLD

Book of Hours (Use of Rome?)

In Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment

Southern Netherlands, Ghent or Bruges, c. 1480

4 full-page miniatures; 8 historiated initials

Homespun realism characterizes this Book of Hours from the southern Netherlands. Painted by three artists, the manu-

script is in fine condition with full-page pictures with generous margins and full-page pictures introducing the main textual

sections. A Dutch-influenced artist painted one miniature and a historiated initial. A Flemish artist contributed the other full-

page pictures. And, the animated and charming historiated initials are by a third hand.

BOH 159 • $80,000

www.lesenluminures.com

5. CLASSIC UNCOLORED PRINTED BOOK OF HOURS BY AN IMPORTANT EARLY PRINTER

Printed Book of Hours (Use of Rome)

In Latin and French, printed on parchment

Paris, Simon Vostre [c. 1515; with an earlier tipped-in almanac of 1507-1527]

21 large metalcuts, 28 small metalcuts and hundreds of border metalcuts, after designs by the Master of the Très

Petites Heures of Anne of Brittany, Jean Pichore, and an anonymous Master working in the style of Dürer

Printed Books of Hours were a mainstay of the Paris book trade in the decades before and after 1500. Choosing from

among the more than 2,000 editions can be bewildering. This edition is by one of the earliest and most important of

Parisian printers, Simon Vostre, whose shop was on the street leading to the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Ensuring his

success, he used woodcuts based on designs by two of the leading illuminators of the period, the Master of the Très

Petites Heures of Anne of Brittany and Jean Pichore. Parisian printers often promoted new border sequences found in

their editions; included here are those from the biblical books of Judith and Tobit.

BOH 75 • $25,000

4. UNRECORDED EDITION BY THE FAMOUS BOOKSELLER AND PUBLISHER, ANTHOINE

VERARD


In Latin and French, imprint on parchment

Paris, Anthoine Verard, August 22,1506

17 large wood- and metalcuts, 2 smaller metalcuts, 28 small wood- and metalcuts within the text, and wood- and

metalcut borders by the Master of the Très Petites Heures of Anne de Bretagne

Extremely rare imprint, known only in this copy, of an unrecorded Book of Hours printed for the famed Parisian

bookseller and publisher, Anthoine Verard. Verard was known for his luxurious illuminated printed volumes, produced

for illustrious patrons including Kings Charles VIII and Louis XII of France, and King Henry VII of England. This

copy is uncolored, allowing the details of the illustrations to be observed.

BOH 152 • $30,000


6. PRINT AND CHANGING TASTE ON THE THRESHOLD OF MODERN FRANCE

Printed Book of Hours (use of Rome)

In Latin and French, printed on paper

Paris, Thielmann Kerver, 1556 (almanac for 1556-1563) 18 large woodcuts and 1 small woodcut

Printing made it easy to duplicate images and pass them down to successive generations. This attractive Horae, printed

more than a century after Gutenberg, offers a fascinating glimpse of commerce in the print industry and the evolution

of artistic taste. Thielman Kerver the Younger inherited his famous father’s material. He also bought the designs (or

woodblocks) from the printer Geoffroy Tory, favored by the royal court. This edition combines old-style Paris taste of

the elder Kerver with Tory’s innovative Italo-Flemish designs, influenced by major French Renaissance painter-

illuminators such as Noël Bellemare and Godefroy le Batave

BOH 68 • $32,000

7. PRIZE-WINNING WOVEN BOOK FEATURED AT THE 1889 PARIS WORLD’S FAIR, PAINTED

INITIALS ‘M’ AND ‘G’

[Horae] Livre de Prières Tissé d’après les enluminures des manuscrits du XIVe au XVIe siècle [Book of Prayers

woven after illuminations in manuscripts of the fourteenth and fifteenth century]

In Latin and French, illustrated book on silk

Lyon, R. P. J. Hervier, designer; J.A. Henry, fabricator, for A. Roux, 1886-1887

This unorthodox Prayer Book is entirely woven from silk. First exhibited at the 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle – the

World's Fair best known for the official unveiling of the Eiffel Tower – the woven Prayer Book was universally hailed as

a marvel and its fabricator J. A. Henry was awarded a grand prize. Bound in maroon levant morocco in the Jansenist

style and signed “Kauffmann-Petit” and “Maillard,” this example of the woven Prayer Book typifies what might be

called the standard presentation, here in extremely good condition. Initials are hand painted on the inside of the front

cover, which also features turquoise silk doublures.

BOH 164 • $55,000

8. PRIZE-WINNING WOVEN BOOK FEATURED AT THE 1889 PARIS WORLD’S FAIR WITH WO-

VEN MONOGRAM ‘MM’

[Horae] Livre de Prières Tissé d’après les enluminures des manuscrits du XIVe au XVIe siècle [Book of Prayers wo-

ven after illuminations in manuscripts of the fourteenth and fifteenth century]



This uncommon example is bound in beautiful and luxurious dark blue gilt morocco with maroon morocco doublures

signed by the well-known Parisian bookbinder Marcelin Lortic (1852–1928). It is further distinguished from others by

its rare woven monogram inside the escutcheon on the first unnumbered pages with the interlaced initials “MM,” cus-

tomized for an unidentified owner.

BOH 165 • $55,000

9. PRIZE-WINNING WOVEN BOOK FEATURED AT THE 1889 PARIS WORLD’S FAIR; BINDING

WITH MONOGRAM ‘HM’





The status of the woven Prayer Book as a luxurious gift object is very clear in this example, which retains its original

presentation box. The front doublure is gilt stamped with initials and date May 1900, but there is no indication that the

silk pages were woven at this relatively late date. The silver-grey hue of the silk more likely indicates that this example

was woven in the late 1880s and was untouched until it was bound and customized later. The white gilt morocco binding

is signed by E. & A. Lesort. This firm advertised their specialization in books for wedding gifts.

BOH 166 • $55,000


10. PRIZE-WINNING WOVEN BOOK FEATURED AT THE 1889 PARIS WORLD’S FAIR WITH DATED

COAT OF ARMS

[Horae] Livre de Prières Tissé d’après les enluminures des manuscrits du XIVe au XVIe siècle[ Book of Prayers woven

after illuminations in manuscripts of the fourteenth and fifteenth century]


Lyon, R. P. J. Hervier, designer; J.A. Henry, fabricator, for A. Roux, 1886-1887, probably 1902

Concealed within what might be called the standard Jansenist-style morocco binding by Kauffmann-Petit, this example of

the woven Prayer Book includes a specially-woven escutcheon with a pair of coats of arms representing the union of the

Maingard and de Langle families of Saint-Malo, Brittany. The yellowish hue of the silk pages further shows that this exam-

ple was woven late in the overall production run.

BOH 154 • $55,000

11. PRIZE-WINNING WOVEN BOOK FEATURED AT THE 1889 PARIS WORLD’S FAIR WITH A

WOVEN BOOK MARK





The reddish hue of the silk pages suggests this example was woven late in the overall production, perhaps around 1900.

The escutcheon is blank but the banderole below does include the initial “H” (probably for Henry). The Art Deco-style

binding shows the evolution of the Jansenist-style binding. Includes a woven silk book mark with Joan of Arc tucked in-

side the front cover.

BOH 167 • $55,000

TEXT MANUSCRIPTS

12. INSIGHT INTO THE VERY EARLY HISTORY OF MONASTICISM

JEROME (Saint), [Vitae Patrum] Vita Pauli primi eremitae; Vita Malchi monachi captivi; Vita Hilarioni

In Latin, manuscript on parchment

Italy, c. 1425

Attractively written manuscript in pocket format and with clean wide margins of Saint Jerome’s lives of Paul, Malchus, and

Hilarion, writings of considerable narrative charm which exercised an enormous impact on later hagiographic literature

and which continued to be widely read throughout the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance.

TM 87 • $20,000


13. UNEDITED AND UNSTUDIED AND POSSIBLY UNIQUE EXPANSION AND TRANSLATION OF

AN ESSENTIAL MEDIEVAL CHRONICLE

Cronica degli pontifici e degli imperatori, an Italian translation and continuation of MARTINUS POLONUS

In Italian, decorated manuscript on paper and parchment.

Northeastern Italy, Veneto (Vicenza), dated 1472

A newly unearthed take on a wildly popular medieval chronicle, this unedited, unstudied, and possibly unique Italian ex-

pansion of the Chronicon of Martinus Polonus is one of only nine known manuscripts preserving Italian translations of the

Chronicon. It stands apart from the others in its Venetian focus and its greater chronological breadth, charting the rise and

early decline of the Venetian Republic. Dated and signed by one of its scribes, perhaps the translator/author himself, the

manuscript has since belonged to important collectors, notably Sir Thomas Phillipps.

TM 117 • $35,000

14. PLUTARCH’S BIOGRAPHY OF THE ROMAN GENERAL, POMPEY THE GREAT, IN A HUMANIST

TRANSLATION

PLUTARCH, Pompei viri illustris vita [Life of Pompey] , Latin translation by Antonius Tudertinus Pacinus [or Jacopo

Angeli da Scarperia]

In Latin, decorated manuscript on paper

Northern Italy, Lombardy, perhaps Ferrara or Mantova?, c. 1470-80

Containing Plutarch’s life of Pompey the Great, the Roman republican hero often hailed as an antagonist of tyranny, this is

one of about 50 recorded Renaissance manuscripts of the Latin translation from the Greek original completed by either

Antonius Tudertinus Pacinus or Jacopo Angeli da Scarperia. The present manuscript provides testimony that the lives

continued to circulate independently in manuscript form, even after their assembly into one common collection.

TM 214 • $26,000

15. ELEGANT REMAINS OF AN ILLUMINATED BREVIARY FROM PARIS

Portable Breviary (Augustinian Use)

In Latin, manuscript on parchment

Northern France, Paris?, c. 1460-80

Only fragments of this Augustinian Breviary are preserved here. Included are parts of the Psalter, Hymns, parts of the

Common of Saints, and the Office of the Dead and Hours of the Virgin. Originally it probably also included a calendar,

and Offices for the Year, arranged according to the Temporale and Sanctorale. The two remaining illuminated initials indi-

cate that this was likely once an illuminated manuscript of considerable elegance.

TM 259 • $22,000

16. COMMENTARY ON THE MOST IMPORTANT TEXTBOOK OF THEOLOGY FROM THE MIDDLE AGES

Commentary on the First Book of the Sentences of Peter Lombard (related

to the abbreviation of John of Ripa’s Commentary by PAUL OF VENICE)

In Latin, decorated manuscript on paper and parchment

Northern Italy, 1479 (?)

This is an important manuscript, one that opens up complex textual issues warranting further study. The manuscript pre-

sents an abbreviated version of the lengthy commentary on the Sentences of Peter the Lombard by the fourteenth-

century Franciscan theologian, Johannes de Ripa. In fact, our text corresponds most closely with the version of Ripa by

Paul of Venice, written shortly before 1402 at Padua and known in a single manuscript, which was the basis of the modern

edition.

TM 339 • $27,500


17. ESSENTIAL READING FOR CISTERCIAN MONKS

BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX, Apologia ad Guillelmum abbatem; monastic texts here attributed to Bernard by

ARNULFUS DE BOERIIS, ALGER OF LIEGE, and unidentified authors; and BASIL OF CAESAREA, Admonitio ad

filium spiritualem

In Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment

Iberian Peninsula, c. 1450-1500

St. Bernard’s impact on the intellectual and monastic life of the Middle Ages calls for further research. Manuscripts such as

this one, which collect a number of texts under the name of Bernard of Clairvaux, offer an important resource for this still-

neglected aspect of Cistercian studies. In addition to Bernard’s Apologia, this manuscript includes three other such texts

related to monastic life. These texts have not been studied by modern scholars. They were probably copied for reading in

a Cistercian monastery as part of the spiritual education of the monks.

TM 419 • $45,000

18. TWO RELIGIOUS WORKS, WITH A LAVISH FRONTISPIECE ADDED BY AN EARLY OWNER, AN

ILLUSTRIOUS COLLECTOR

[ANONYMOUS], Les sept fruits de la tribulation; and [ANONYMOUS], Miroir d’or de l’ame pecheresse, French

translation of JACOBUS DE GRUYTRODE (or JACOBUS DE JÜTERBORG), Speculum aureum animae peccatricis

In French, illuminated manuscript on parchment

France, after 1482, c. 1490

Elegant manuscript containing two works of spiritual and moral edification in French translation. The first text is known in

only five extant manuscript and is still unedited. There is neither a modern critical edition of the second text, nor a com-

plete census of the existing manuscripts; the copy here was apparently made from an incunable edition of c. 1490. This

manuscript begins with a remarkable added full-page illuminated frontispiece with the coat of arms and motto of Louis de

Grolée (fl. late fifteenth-early sixteenth century), the abbot of Bonnevaux and Saint-Pierre de Vienne. Louis was the

proud owner of exceptional books including volumes once owned by King Louis IX and Jean, Duc de Berry; the story of

how he acquired these manuscripts, and his practice of personalizing them with illuminated heraldic compositions, is wait-

ing to be told.

TM 466 • $98,000

19. SPLENDID HUMANIST MANUSCRIPT MADE FOR THE NOTED BIBLIOPHILE AND BISHOP,

FRANCESCO LIGNAMINE

IOHANNES CHRYSOSTOMOS, De laudibus beati Pauli homelia, Latin transl. by ANIANUS CALEDENSIS;

PSEUDO-DIONYSIUS AREOPAGITA, Epistola Dionysii Areopagitae ad Timotheum de morte apostolorum Petri et

Pauli, Latin transl. (Anonymous); GREGORIUS NAZIANZENUS, Orations (2, 17, 26), Latin transl. by RUFINUS

AQUILEIENSIS; PSEUDO-AMBROSIUS or PSEUDO-GERBERTUS REMENSIS [GERBERT D'AURILLAC,

POPE SYLVESTER II], Sermo de informatione episcoporum


Italy, Ferrara, c. 1450-1460

With its white vine illumination and fine humanistic script, this elegant manuscript presents an interesting combination of

texts, mostly Latin translations of the Greek Fathers of the Church. It was written and illuminated for the noted biblio-

phile Francesco de Lignamine, Bishop of Padua, praised by Vespasiano da Bistucci. Francesco’s library of some 212 manu-

scripts bequeathed to the Capitolo del Duomo in Ferrara is well documented. Two other codices in Padua and Ferrara

include the same sequence of texts and merit further study in comparison with the present codex

TM 469 • $70,000


20. BESTELLING GUIDE TO CONFESSION

ANTONINUS FLORENTINUS (ANTONIO PIEROZZI), Confessionale [version: Defecerunt scrutantes scrutinio]

and other texts

In Latin and Italian, decorated manuscript on paper.

Northern Italy (Florence, Milan?), dated 14[6]2

This pocket handbook of confession contains texts to assist the confessor in his practical and daily tasks, notably the pop-

ular manual for confessors named Confessionale-Defecerunt. The additional texts that complete the Confesionale are also of special

interest, including an extract on women’s dress codes and the appended model of confession redacted in the vernacular. If

the date of 1462 given in two colophons is correct, the present manuscript was assembled only a few years after the death

of Antoninus de Florentia, canonized in the sixteenth century.

TM 498 • $21,000

21. A CALLIGRAPHIC MASTERPIECE, THIS COLLECTION OF REFORMATION TEXTS WAS COPIED

BY ANDRE WECHELN, THE FIRST POSTMASTERGENERAL OF SWEDEN

Eygentlicher Bericht vom Ursprung der Strittigkeiten in Religionssachen zwischen den evangelischen Kirchen;

RATRAMNUS OF CORBIE, De corpore et sanguine Domini (in German translation); CHRISTOPH

REICHELDT, Calendarium biblicum perpetuum; et alia

In German, manuscript on parchment

Stockholm, Sweden, dated 1636-37

This manuscript unites four copies of printed, though rare, Protestant texts: a devotional work on the Eucharist with a

Prayerbook, a historical work on the origins of the confessional conflict accompanied by Martin Luther’s sermon for Good

Friday 1522, a German translation of a Eucharistic treatise by the Carolingian theologian Ratramnus of Corbie, and a guide

to reading the Bible during the calendar year. The scribe, Andre Wecheln, was a German in Swedish royal service during the

Thirty Years’s War and the first Postmaster-General of Sweden.

TM 514 • $18,000

22. INFLUENTIAL TEXT, CITED BY CHRISTINE DE PIZAN AND CHAUCER

LOTARIO DEI SEGNI (POPE INNOCENT III), De miseria humanae conditionis [On the Misery of the Human

Condition]


Southern France or Spain, c. 1300-1325

The influence of this text, written by one of the greatest medieval popes while he was still a cardinal, on the thought of

the Middle Ages can hardly be exaggerated. It survives in an exceptionally large number of manuscripts and was found in

most monastic libraries, in the schools, and in princely collections. It was cited often by both Latin and vernacular au-

thors, including such diverse authors as Christine de Pizan, St. Bernadine of Siena, and Chaucer. This copy was once

owned by the noted art historian Comte Paul Durrieu.

TM 557 • $30,000

23. WONDERFUL CONDITION WITH IDIOSYNCRATIC DECORATION

PSEUDO-JEROME, Regula monacharum, ad Eustochium; and De Lapsu Virginis; JEROME, Aduersus Jovini-

anum; and De perpetua Virginitate Beatae Mariae, and other texts


Northern Italy, c. 1450-1500

Remarkably well-preserved religious miscellany from Italy, featuring works by, and attributed to, Jerome. The clear script,

idiosyncratic decoration, and ample margins suggest that it was produced for a wealthy lay-person to serve as an overview

of Jerome’s works. There are numerous Italian compilations of Jerome’s works in institutional collections but few have

been offered for sale in the past decade, and fewer feature the works in the present manuscript; the Schoenberg Database

lists De Lapsu Virginis as a particularly scarce work, with only one other copy available for sale in 1957.

TM 559 • $48,000


24. DATED COPY OF A MEDIEVAL BESTSELLER IN ITS ORIGINAL BINDING

HENRICUS SUSO, Horologium Sapientiae


Germany (Southwestern?) or Switzerland?, 1426

The Horologium sapientiae by the Dominican mystic Henricus Suso was one of the most popular devotional texts of the later

Middle Ages. Its emphasis on the Passion of Christ and its critique of the failings of the contemporary Church explains its

appeal with both clerics and lay men and women associated with the Devotio moderna. Despite the numerous surviving cop-

ies, this text has only rarely been available on the market recently (since 1958, the Schoenberg Database records only this

manuscript and another in French; see also Sotheby’s, 25 November 1969, lot 470).

TM 563 • $49,000

25. THE IMITATION OF CHRIST AND OTHER WORKS OF MEDIEVAL SPIRITUALITY

EKBERT OF SCHÖNAU, Stimulus amoris; THOMAS A KEMPIS, Imitatio Christi; PS.-AUGUSTINE [PATRICK

OF DUBLIN?], De triplici habitaculo


Southern France (?), c. 1440-1480

The Imitation of Christ’s call to follow the life of Christ as told in the Gospels may explain why it is still widely read today;

hundreds of surviving manuscript copies witness its popularity during the later Middle Ages. Here it is accompanied by

two texts that reflect other sides of medieval religious life – the extreme devotion to the Passion and the Cross of Ekbert

of Schönau’s Stimulus amoris, and speculation on heaven, hell, and earth, found in De triplici habitaculo. This manuscript evi-

dences the dissemination of the spirituality of the Modern Devotion into Southern France.

TM 597 • $28,000

26.

OF SPECIAL INTEREST TO LITURGICAL SCHOLARS AND FOR ITS EARLY BINDING

Euchologion [Missal and Ritual of the Orthodox Church]

In Greek, manuscript on paper

Greece, c. 1600-1630 AD

All Greek manuscripts are rare on the market, even liturgical ones. In spite of its relatively late date, the present manu-

script merits further study and may be of interest to liturgical scholars (the text of each Euchologion is diffferent). This

volume is further noteworthy for three reasons: first, its old binding is well preserved; second, in spite of its late date, its

handwriting imitates calligraphic hands of the late Byzantine period; third, it belonged to the little-known but noteworthy

Italian bibliophile Emilio Pittaluga.

TM 616 • $35,000

27.

MEDIEVAL COMPOSITIONS RELATED TO THE CULT OF ST. JEROME

Hagiographical miscellany, including, PSEUDO-EUSEBIUS OF CREMONA, Epistola de morte Hieronymi (Italian

transl.); PSEUDO-AUGUSTINUS, Epistola ad Cyrillum de magnificentiis Hieronymi (Italian transl.); PSEUDO-

CYRILLUS [Cyril of Jerusalem], Epistola de miraculis Hieronymi (Italian transl.); BERNARDINUS SENEN-

SIS, Confessione volgare: BIANCO DA SIENA, Laudi (28 stanzas).

In Italian, decorated manuscript on parchment and paper

Northern Italy, Lombardy? or Veneto?, c. 1460-1475

This codex is a witness to the ever-expanding cult of Saint Jerome in fifteenth-century Italy. Translated into Italian, the

three spurious letters were originally composed in Latin probably in the late thirteenth century by a Dominican in Rome,

and the original letters were sources for a number of fourteenth-century hagiographers. The tradition of vernacular trans-

lation of these letters merits further study to identity other extant codices. Fine calligraphic initials, a minute but very

regular script, and a contemporary binding also grace this manuscript.

TM 605 • $22,000


28. MULTILINGUAL WITH RELIGIOUS TEXTS AND AN ACCOUNT OF A JOURNEY TO THE

HOLY LAND

Miscellany including THOMAS A KEMPIS, Imitatio Christi, book one; MARCUS OF REGENSBURG, Visio

Tnugdali; H[ENRICUS] SALTERIENSIS, Tractatus de Purgatorio de Sancti Patricii; IOHANNES GOBI, Historia

de spiritu Guidonis; Historia Udonis Magdeburgensis episcopi; PS-BEDE, De meditatione passionis Christi; BON-

AVENTURE, Lignum vitae; LUDOLF VON SUDHEIM, Reise ins heilige Land; Visio Philiberti; PS-

ANSELM, Dialogus beatae Mariae et Anselmi de passione domini (Latin and Dutch versions); and other texts

In Latin, Low German, and Dutch, decorated manuscript on paper

Netherlands (Southeastern?) or Western Germany, c. 1460-1480

Ludolf of Sudheim’s Journey to the Holy Land (the only copy of the Low German translation in private hands, and one of

only nine identified copies), and an extensive Meditation on the Life of Christ in Low German (possibly unique) would

be important in any context; here their interest is increased by their inclusion in a carefully thought-out Miscellany

that reflects the spirituality of the Modern Devotion and includes the Imitation of Christ, five visionary texts describing

journeys to Heaven and Hell (one copied twice), and six texts on the Passion of Christ.

TM 625 • $120,000

29. DELUXE COPY ILLUMINATED BY AN IMPORTANT VENETIAN ARTIST

THOMAS AQUINAS, Sententia libri Ethicorum, or Liber super ethicorum aristotelis [Commentary on the Ethics

of Aristotle]


Northeastern Italy (Venice), c. 1470

This is a deluxe, carefully written, large-format manuscript illuminated by Leonardo Bellini, the most important Vene-

tian illuminator c. 1460-80, or a close associate. It survives in pristine condition, with broad margins, clean pages, clear

and bright illuminated initials and elegant penwork decoration at almost every opening. Although the text survives in

125 manuscripts (some fragments), the Schoenberg Database lists no sales since the early nineteenth century, and

there may be no copies in North American libraries.

TM 629 • $225,000

30. TEXTS ON THE LIFE AND DEATH OF ST. JEROME FROM RENAISSANCE ITALY, WITH A

PORTRAIT OF THE SAINT

PSEUDO-EUSEBIUS OF CREMONA, Epistola de morte Hieronymi; PSEUDO-AUGUSTINUS, Epistola ad

Cyrillum de magnificentiis Hieronymi; PSEUDO-CYRILLUS [Cyril of Jerusalem], Epistola de miracu-

lis Hieronymi; PSEUDO-EUSEBIUS OF CREMONA, Vita Sancti Hieronymi; HIERONYMUS, Vita sancti Pauli



The manuscript is a vivid witness to the importance of St. Jerome in fifteenth-century Italy, and includes the founda-

tional texts for his cult. These texts were widely disseminated in both Latin and in vernacular translations and influ-

enced the work of numerous writers and visual artists. Skillful script, handsome pen initials, and classic humanist white

vine initials adorn the text, which begins with an historiated initial depicting an ascetic St. Jerome meditating before

the Crucifixion.

TM 656 • $58,000


31. LIVELY SERMONS KNOWN IN ONLY ONE OTHER MANUSCRIPT COPY

CHERUBINO DA SPOLETO, Sermones quadragesimales

In Latin with occasional Italian, decorated manuscript on paper and parchment

Italy (Florence, Naples or Fabriano?), c. 1475-1525 (probably before c. 1500)

The Lenten sermons of Cherubino da Spoleto, here in a carefully written, very legible copy, cover topics ranging from

the defense of the faith to condemnations of clerical simony to elaborate denunciations of fornication and the “vanities

of women.” This is an important manuscript since it includes almost the complete sermon cycle (these sermons were

previously known in only a single complete copy, manuscripts with excerpts, and a printed edition of 1502 and 1511).

There is no modern critical edition, or modern study of these sermons.

TM 681 • $35,000


32. A BESTSELLER READ BY KINGS AND NOBLES IN FRANCE AND BURGUNDY

JACQUES LEGRAND (JACOBUS MAGNI), Le livre de bonnes meurs [The Book of Good Manners]

In French, manuscript on paper

France (Burgundy), or Switzerland (Basel?), c. 1450

This manuscript represents the opportunity of acquiring a copy of the Livre de bonnes meurs by the French humanist

Jacques Legrand. This text was a bestseller in its day, circulating among the ruling elite at the French and Burgundian

courts in luxurious, illuminated copies. Its text is of interest, since it appears to contain the first version of the text,

written six years before the final edition dedicated to Duke Jean de Berry. It lacks illumination, but is copied in a

very elegant calligraphic bookhand that echoes the script of many of the luxury copies.

TM 722 • $35,000

33. CHARMING MUSIC MANUSCRIPT WITH WHIMSICAL DECORATION

Noted Antiphonal (Franciscan Use)


Southern Europe (Spain or Portugal?), after 1728, before 1854

This modern Antiphonal was carefully copied, and includes the same square notation on four-line staves found in me-

dieval music manuscripts since the thirteenth century. Certain details of the text and decoration suggest it may have

been copied in Spain or Portugal. It includes numerous colorful and charming decorated initials that make it a de-

lightful volume to peruse, and this unusual and attractive artifact would be an interesting item to add to any collec-

tion centering on the history of the book.

TM 751 • $5,500

34. A COLLECTION OF SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT WORKS BY AN EARLY FRANCIS-

CAN WRITER IN ITS FIFTEENTH-CENTURY BINDING

CONRADUS DE SAXONIA [CONRAD HOLTNICKER OF SAXONY], Sermones de sanctis et de communi

sanctorum and Speculum Beatae Virginis Mariae [Mirror of the Blessed Virgin Mary]; with Sermons by ALDO-

BRANDINUS DE CAVALCANTIBUS, ANTONIUS AZARO OF PARMA, MARTINUS POLONUS and uni-

dentified authors


Austria (Vienna?) or Southern Germany, c. 1275-1300

This collection of some of the most important works by the early Franciscan writer, Conrad of Saxony, was copied

not long after their composition. In spite of its wide circulation, there are only four copies of the Speculum beatae Mariae

virginis recorded in the United States and it is rare on the market (only one copy recorded as sold in the last century).

It survives in a handsome fifteenth-century binding in a remarkably fine state of preservation, including a chain at-

tached to its lower board attesting to its use in a late medieval chained reference library.

TM 767 • $125,000

35. THE ELEGANCE OF THE SCRIPT BELIES THIS VOLUME’S SERIOUS CONTENTS

ANONYMOUS, confessional manual; ANTONINUS FLORENTIUS (ANTONINO PIEROZZI), Confessionale,

Book II


Northern France, c. 1450-1500

The text in this manuscript, one of the most important confessional manuals of the Middle Ages, is here condensed into a

convenient and practical guide for the instruction of inexperienced confessors. This is an elegantly copied, large-format

manuscript of this popular text, still preserved in its original blind-stamped binding, setting it apart from numerous copies

that were practical manuals for humble friars. Its French provenance (most surviving copies of Antoninus’s text are Italian

in origin) adds to its interest.

TM 771 • $27,000


36. GREAT ANTIQUITY, ELEGANT SCRIPT, AND EARLY FORMS OF MUSICAL NOTATION

Liturgical Rites and Prayers used by a Bishop


Central France, c. 1040-1075

Twelfth-century manuscripts are now very rare on the market, and manuscripts earlier than that are almost unobtaina-

ble. This manuscript, most likely copied in the Auvergne, today in Central France but then not yet part of the kingdom we

call France, is copied in a beautiful, stately Carolingian minuscule, includes Aquitanian diastematic (staffless) musical nota-

tion, and compelling red initials. Of great significance for its text (Pontificals from the eleventh century are few in number),

this represents an exceptional opportunity to acquire a complete manuscript dating before the twelfth century.

TM 834 • $175,000

37. A MISCELLANY (DOMINICAN?) IN AN UNUSUALLY LARGE FORMAT

Miscellany, including WILLIAM PERALDUS, Summa de virtutibus [Summa of the virtues] and Summa de viti-

is [Summa of the vices]; LOTARIO DEI SEGNI (POPE INNOCENT III), De miseria humanae conditionis [On the

Misery of the Human Condition]; excerpt from PETER COMESTOR, Historia scholastica; excerpt from ROBERT

HOLCOT, Moralitates; excerpt from RAYMOND OF PEÑAFORT, Summa de poenitentia; JACOBUS OF LAU-

SANNE and JACOBUS CAPOCCI OF VITERBO, Commentaries on the Libri Quattuor Sententiarum [Four Books

of Sentences] of Peter Lombard; two Pauline Epistles with prefaces; unidentified texts including sermons

In Latin, manuscript on paper

Eastern France, Southwestern Germany, or Switzerland (Upper Rhine), c. 1400-1440

Although most of the texts in this miscellany are not in themselves rare (excepting the two commentaries on Peter Lom-

bard’s Sentences), the collection itself is interesting, for it includes an intriguing combination of works of central concern to

the Dominican Order. Its large size, atypical of Dominican miscellanies, points to an origin in a Dominican house of stud-

ies, for use by friars in both university and pastoral contexts. William of Peraldus’s popular treatise on the Virtues and

Vices, forming the core of the manuscript, still lacks a modern critical edition.

TM 839 • $32,000

PRISTINE HUMANIST MANUSCRIPT OF ST. JEROME’S LIFE OF ST. PAUL

SAINT JEROME, Vita Sancti Pauli primae eremitae [The Life of St. Paul the First Hermit], Dialogi contra Pelagi-

anos [Dialogues against the Pelagians], and Altercatio Luciferiani et Orthodoxi [Debate between a Luciferian and an

Orthodox]

In Latin, with phrases in Greek, decorated manuscript on parchment


Fifteenth-century humanists saw St. Jerome as the ideal Christian scholar, admired for his asceticism and his learning. The

central text, the life of St. Paul the hermit, was born of Jerome’s own experiences in the desert and became a model for

hagiography. The two dialogues included here are among Jerome’s less widely circulated works and appear to be relatively

uncommon on the market. In pristine condition, this was copied by scribes proficient in writing both Latin and Greek.

TM 841 • $45,000

38.

RARE EXAMPLE OF A THIRTEENTH-CENTURY PORTABLE BIBLE COPIED IN SPAIN WITH

DISTINCTIVE CASTILIAN DECORATION

Vulgate Bible


Spain, Kingdom of Castile (Seville?), c. 1240-1260

This is a rare example of a thirteenth-century portable Bible copied in Spain; its distinctive pen decoration links it to

other Bibles made in Castile, and the medieval binding is probably Spanish. Small Bibles were copied in great numbers

in the thirteenth century in France (in particular in Paris), England, and Italy. Spanish Bibles of this type still await full

scholarly study, but they are significantly less common. Likely made for Franciscan use, it was later used by Dominican

friars. Several writers added marginal notes, including one who was interested in comparing the text to the Hebrew.

TM 844 • $140,000

39.

COLLECTION OF TEXTS IN TWO LANGUAGES TO NOURISH THE RELIGIOUS LIFE

PS.-AUGUSTINE, Sermones ad fratres in eremo (Sermons to the Brothers in the Desert); BONAVEN-

TURE, Soliloquium de quatuor mentalibus exercitiis (Soliloquium on the Four Spiritual Exercises);

[ANONYMOUS], Pianti e le lamentatione della nostra dona (The Tears and Lamentations of Our Lady), in Italian;

PS.-BERNARD of CLAIRVAUX, De contemplatione (On Contemplation); [ANONYMOUS], De religio (On Reli-

gion)

In Latin and Italian, decorated manuscript on parchment

Italy (Northern?), c. 1400-1430

This small-format miscellany contains texts to nourish the religious life, both practically and spiritually. The Sermons to

the Brothers in the Desert (attributed to Augustine, but composed many centuries after his death), and the Soliloquy by

St. Bonaventure were medieval bestsellers. The Italian text on the Sorrows of the Virgin Mary in contrast appears to be

uncommon. This is an excellent manuscript for teaching, both for its interest as physical artifact (for its parchment, sig-

natures, catchwords, and maniculae), and as a macaronic collection illustrating the religious sensibilities of its era.

TM 849 • $40,000

40.

A TREATISE ON THE MASS THAT IS A GREAT EXAMPLE OF AN OWNER PRODUCED BOOK

OF THE LATE MIDDLE AGES

BERNARD DE PARENTIS, Tractatus de officio missae (Treatise on the Office of the Mass)


Southeastern France (Annecy), dated 1447

The liturgical duties and anxieties of medieval priests find clear expression in this popular but unedited treatise on the

Mass. Preserved in a handsome contemporary binding and signed and dated by the scribe, this is an excellent example

of an owner-produced book of the late Middle Ages. A priest copied this text for his own use, with a table of contents

and careful foliation enabling quick reference to different parts of the text. Customized verses, likely chosen by the

priest, add to the book’s interest.

TM 853 • $33,000

41.

EARLY, HANDSOMELY ILLUMINATED COLLECTION OF THE SERMONS OF PREACHER AND

ROYAL ADVISOR NICHOLAS OF GORRAN, POSSIBLY COPIED UNDER HIS SUPERVISION

NICHOLAS OF GORRAN, Sermones de Tempore et de Quadragesima [Sermons for the Temporale and for Lent],

sermons excerpted from the Sermones de Sanctis [Sermons for the Feasts of Saints]


Northern France, Paris?, c. 1275-1300

A very early collection of the still unedited sermons of the influential Dominican preacher and royal advisor Nicholas of

Gorran, this manuscript is an extremely important witness, having been copied during the author’s lifetime, possibly

even with his supervision. Changes to this volume early on may reveal Nicholas’s intentions as he shaped these sermons

at the Dominican convent of Saint-Jacques in Paris. Handsomely decorated, with a charming illuminated initial depicting

the author receiving Christ’s blessing, this was quite possibly made for a recipient of some importance.

TM 868 • $95,000

42.


VERY EARLY EXAMPLE OF A GLOSSED BIBLE (COMBINING THE TEXT OF THE BIBLE AND

COMMENTARIES)

[LATIN VULGATE] JOB with the GLOSSA ORDINARIA



This manuscript from the Cistercian Abbey of Chiaravalle della Colomba is one of the earliest witnesses to the book of

Job with the Ordinary Gloss – particularly important as evidence of the circulation of that text in Italy very soon after it

was written. The script used in the margins for the glosses is remarkable - microscopically minute but with no loss of

legibility. This is a small, light volume, tall and rather narrow, suitable for private reading, in the cloister, or at the road-

side, of the great biblical text promising comfort and constancy in time of trouble

TM 877 • $175,000

43.

PERSONAL PRAYER BOOK FOR A NUN, LIKELY COPIED BY NUNS

Prayer Book including Andächtiges Myrrhenbüschlein (Devout Bundle of Myrrh) and prayers by JOHANNES VON

INDERSDORF and JOHANN VON NEUMARKT

In German, manuscript on paper

Swabia, Germany, c. 1520-c. 1550

This small volume is the personal Prayer Book of an individual nun, a member of a convent in eastern Swabia and shows

evidence of intensive reading by the nun at prayer. The prayers, one large sequence of which focuses on preparation for

eucharistic reception, are accompanied by an extensive narrative of Christ’s Passion (The Devout Bundle of Myrrh) that

awaits scholarly investigation (known in only six other manuscripts).

TM 893 • $28,000

44.

DELUXE MANUSCRIPT COMMISSIONED BY JEAN BUDÉ OF ONE OF THE MOST NOTABLE

BIBLICAL COMMENTARIES BY HAIMO OF AUXERRE, A KEY FIGURE OF THE CAROLINGIAN

RENAISSANCE

HAIMO OF AUXERRE, Expositio in epistolas Pauli


France, Paris, c. 1460-1480 (before 1481) and c. 1500

Still in need of a revised critical edition, this manuscript contains a copy of the most notable of the exegetical commen-

taries by Haimo of Auxerre, a key figure of the Carolingian Renaissance. Beautifully illuminated, the manuscript boasts an

illustrious provenance having belonged to or even originally been commissioned by Jean II Budé, father to the famous

humanist-bibliophile Guillaume Budé. The miniature added at a slightly later date (some 20 or 30 years after) must have

been painted in Troyes, where the Budé family had strong ties.

TM 908 • $125,000

45.

TEXTS ON THE KABBALAH, OWNED AND ANNOTATED BY ONE OF THE LEADING CHRIS-

TIAN HEBRAISTS OF THE RENAISSANCE

Collection of Five Kabbalistic Commentaries on the Ten Sefirot [Stages of Divine Emanation], copied by Shabbetai

ha-Kohen

In Hebrew, manuscript on paper

Italy (northern?), c. 1400-1450

Commentaries on the ten sefirot played an important role in the emergence, dissemination, and study of symbolism in

kabbalistic circles in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The present elegantly-executed and relatively early collec-

tion of five such texts is also significant because of its provenance in the library of Cardinal Egidio da Viterbo (1472-

1532), one of the leading Christian Hebraists of the Renaissance. Preserving extensive marginalia by the Cardinal, this is

quite possibly the only Hebrew manuscript from the Cardinal’s library (dispersed in 1527) still in private hands.

TM 920 • Sold

46.


RARE LITURGICAL VOLUME FROM BORDEAUX

Mass Lectionary with Readings from the Epistles (Epistolarium)


Southwestern France (Bordeaux), c. 1375-1400

Newly identified, this is the missing volume of a two-volume Mass Lectionary made in Bordeaux in the later fourteenth cen-

tury (Bordeaux, Bib. mun., MS 998). The attractive Gothic script – each majuscule embellished and filled with pale yellow –

pen initials of great refinement and delicacy, and relatively early velvet binding, all point to a commission of some im-

portance. Liturgical manuscripts copied for use in Bordeaux are not common, and this represents a new and significant his-

torical source for the history of Southwestern France in the late Middle Ages.

TM 930 • $55,000

47.

ADVICE FOR A KING IN A RARE DUTCH TRANSLATION (ONLY KNOWN COPY IN PRIVATE

HANDS)

JAN VAN BREDERODE, Des Coninx Summe, Dutch translation of LAURENT D’ORLÉANS, La Somme le Roy (The

King’s Summa); Die passy vur ene[n] corte sey[?] and Die heilighe passy zeer cort en[de] goet (Two Texts on the Pas-

sion of Christ); JOHANNES BRUGMAN, XV Goede punten ende leringhe (Fifteen Good and Learned Points); Three

Rhymed Exempla

In Dutch, decorated manuscript on paper

Northern Netherlands (near Utrecht), dated 1487

This is the only known copy in private hands of the Mirror of Prince’s text, La somme le roy, in the Dutch translation by Jan

Van Brederode, the subject of a recent publication by historian, Frits van Oostrom. The text on leading a Christian life, XV

Goede punten ende leringhe, attributed to the Dutch preacher Johannes Brugman, and the three short, rhymed exempla that fol-

low, are known only in this manuscript. Written in 1487 by brother Jan Symoensz at the Carthusian monastery of Nieu-

wlicht in Utrecht, this dated and precisely localized manuscript is in a contemporary (likely original) binding.

TM 933 • $65,000

48.

OWNED BY A FRENCH ARISTOCRATIC WOMAN, FRENCH TRANSLATION OF A LETTER WRIT-

TEN BY JEROME

JEROME, Letter LIV To Furia (To Furia, On the Duty of Remaining a Widow), in the translation by CHARLES BONIN

In French, illuminated manuscript on parchment

France, likely Bourges, c. 1500-1510

In its original purple velvet binding and adorned with a frontispiece painted by the Master of Spencer 6, this deluxe, carefully

fashioned manuscript presents a unique copy of a French translation by a hitherto unknown translator of Saint Jerome’s letter

to the widow Furia. Owned by a woman of the French aristocracy, Anne de Polignac, who was widowed twice, this manu-

script invites us to re-examine her remarkably varied library of some thirty-six manuscripts, most in the vernacular, raising

questions pertaining to female book ownership and literary and artistic patronage in the first decades of the sixteenth centu-

ry, and the nature of the reading experiences of French Renaissance women.

TM 935 • $160,000

49.

REMARKABLY SMALL “POCKET” BIBLE

Vulgate Bible


Northern France (Paris?), c. 1230-1250

77 illuminated foliate initials and 5 historiated initials by a Parisian atelier

This is among the smallest examples known of the Paris “pocket” Bible. One tiny volume contains the entire biblical text,

copied in a minute script on tissue-thin parchment and adorned with small painted initials, including five that are historiat-

ed. Its text belongs to the recension known as the Paris Bible, the direct ancestor of the sixteenth-century Clementine Vul-

gate. Although not in pristine condition, this is nonetheless an excellent example of a type of Bible of great importance both

to the history of the Vulgate and to the history of the book in the Middle Ages.

TM 941 • $95,000

50.


ATTRACTIVE COPY OF A MEDIEVAL BESTSELLER

HUGO DE FOLIETO (Hugh of Fouilloy), De claustro animae (On the Cloister of the Soul)


Northern Italy (Venice?), c. 1230-1240

This stately volume, with large accomplished script and decorated red initials, is an unstudied addition to a group of

North Italian copies of an influential treatise on the monastic life by a twelfth-century author. Still in need of a critical

edition, Hugo’s text was a true “best-seller” in the Middle Ages, and the author’s use of monastic architecture to corre-

late with the cloistered life is innovative and makes for captivating reading. The manuscript was once part of the collec-

tion of the notorious nineteenth-century book thief, Guglielmo Libri.

TM 949 • $65,000

51.

52. TRANSITIONAL BIBLE SIGNIFICANT FOR ITS DATE AND ORIGIN IN ENGLAND

Vulgate Bible


England, c. 1220-1230; c. 1230-1240

This is an unusually large format, impressive Bible of considerable scholarly importance and undoubtedly of English

origin. Bibles from the early thirteenth century are much less common than the well-known examples from after c. 1230,

and examples from this time period from England are less common than those from France. The present codex was ap-

parently assembled at an early date from two Bibles of independent origins; noteworthy textual elements include the pres-

ence of both older and modern chapters, and an extensive cycle of the apocryphal Ezra books.

TM 973 • $160,000

53. A SIGNIFICANT NEW SOURCE FOR THE STUDY OF THE RELIGIOUS LIFE OF WOMEN IN

RENAISSANCE ITALY, WITH AN ILLUMINATED FRONTISPIECE

Rule of the Augustinian Canonesses of Santa Andrea della Porta in Genoa

In Italian (Genoese dialect), illuminated manuscript on parchment

Northwestern Italy (Genoa), 1511

Apparently unpublished and unedited, this Rule for the Augustinian canonesses of Santa Andrea della Porta in Genoa is a

significant new source for the study of the religious life of women in Renaissance Italy. Written in a practiced script by

the confessor of the house, who signs his name, this manuscript marks the adoption of a new way of life by the religious

community, which was formerly Benedictine. An illuminated frontispiece, possibly the work of one of the nuns and por-

traying the sisters, suitably underlines the importance of this manuscript.

TM 975 • $35,000

54. NEITHER WRITTEN NOR PRINTED, BUT RATHER MADE WITH STENCILS

Choir Book with Selected Texts for the Mass and Office

In Latin with some Italian, illuminated stenciled book on paper with musical notation

Italy, c. 1767

Books composed with stencils occupy an interesting, and relatively unstudied, mid-ground between manuscripts and

printing with movable type. This is a curious example, and one that has the added advantage of including richly illuminat-

ed initials. It was certainly made for someone in or close to the rare Piarist Order (the “Order of the Pious Schools”),

likely to celebrate the sanctification of the founder of the order, St. Joseph Calasanctius, who was canonized in

1767. Bound in a gold-tooled armorial binding, this handsome book was surely appropriate for such a special occasion.

TM 994 • $18,000


55. A COLLECTION OF CHORAL PIECES COPIED IN CRETE FROM THE GOLDEN AGE OF

LITURGICAL CHOIR MUSIC

Anthology (ἀνθολογία) of Ecclesiastic Chant, including works by BENEDICT EPISCOPOPULUS and DEMETRI-

US TAMIAS

In Greek, manuscript on paper with musical notation

Crete, c. 1640

The last century of Venetian rule on Crete, before the island fell to the Ottomans in 1669, was a golden age of liturgical

choir music. Fifty-five manuscripts containing work of Cretan church composers from the period are known; only fifteen

among these belong to the same general type as the present (previously unknown) codex, an anthology of choral pieces

for Vespers, Matins, and the three Eucharistic liturgies. This manuscript was produced within the lifetime of Demetrius

Tamias, the author of many of these works.

TM 1010 • $25,000

56. VERY RARE VERNACULAR TRANSLATION OF MEDICAL TEXTS (ONLY FOUR KNOWN

COPIES)

JOHANNITIUS (HUNAYN IBN ISHAQ), Isagoge ad Tegni Galieni; PSEUDO-GALEN (THEOPHILUS PRO-

TOSPATHARIUS?), De urinis, and other selected texts from the Articella (or Ars medicinae), and others in an

anonymous translation with marginal commentary

In Catalan, decorated manuscript on paper

Spain (Catalonia, Barcelona?), c. 1475

Medical manuscripts are rare; those in uncommon vernaculars are even more scarce. The present volume includes a

Catalan translation of selected texts from the Ars Medicinae - including a synthesis of essential works by Galen - used for

the study of medicine in medieval universities. Only four copies of this translation survive, the other three in institu-

tions; this one is unrecorded, and there is no modern edition. In excellent condition and still in its original binding, this

manuscript merits further study for its primary text as well as its unidentified marginal gloss.

TM 1011 • $120,000

57. HISTORY OF FRANCE, VERY RARE AND EXTRAORDINARILY IMPORTANT

GUILLAUME DE NANGIS, Chronique amplifiée des rois de France (Amplified Chronicle of the Kings of France)

In French, manuscript on paper

France, c. 1450-1500

Guillaume de Nangis, Benedictine monk and librarian at the royal Abby of St.-Denis, was the official chronicler of the kings

of France responsible for the “continuations” of the Grandes Chroniques de France. Not only does this volume survive as an un-

recorded witness to his translation into French of one of the most important medieval French chronicles, it is of extraordi-

nary rarity. The last available copy was on the market in 1909, and it is represented in the United States by a single exam-

ple. The large-format manuscript is in its original binding. There is no modern edition.

TM 1014 • $110,000

58. EARLY LITURGICAL VOLUME FOR MEDIEVAL NUNS

Psalter (Premonstratensian use)

In Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, with (added) musical notation

Northwestern Germany (diocese of Cologne), c. 1270-1280

Charming example of an illuminated liturgical Psalter, certainly owned by women in the seventeenth century, and perhaps

made for Premonstratensian nuns. This small volume, still in a fine early binding, includes an initial of David playing his

harp painted in an elegant style close to that of the Cologne illuminator Johannes von Valkenburg, known for two Graduals

completed in 1299. It includes musical notation added in the fourteenth century in the characteristically German

Hufnagelschrift and bears a distinguished modern provenance.

TM 1020 • $48,000


59. HYBRID BOOK COMBINING PRINTED AND HANDWRITTEN TEXTS

[Anonymous], Tabula brevis of the Summa Hostiensis (HENRY SEGUSIO); JOHANNES MOLITOR, Tabula super

Summam theologicam of ANTONIUS OF FLORENCE; [Anonymous], Table of canon law subjects

In Latin, manuscript and imprint on paper

Southern Germany or Switzerland, c. 1475-1500

In impeccable condition, this majestic book on Canon (and some Civil) Law contains an incunable index by a rare Swiss

printer, providing ready reference to a commentary on the Decretals of Gregory IX, sandwiched between two manuscript

indices inspired by the printed text. The fact that all three texts are preserved together in the original binding indicates

that the hybrid book was specially created for its original owner – friars seeking to resolve issues arising from their mission

of pastoral care in religious and secular communities? The manuscript sections are evidently unique.

TM 1022 • $38,000

60. PRACTICAL MANUAL OF VETERINARY MEDICINE FROM A RENAISSANCE COURT

LAURENTIUS RUSIUS, Hippiatria sive Marescalia (Book on the Health of Horses), in the Italian translation of

ANTONIO DAPERA, Liber meneschalcie

In Italian and Latin, illustrated manuscript on paper

Northern Italy (perhaps Ferrara), dated 1434

Rare signed and dated manuscript of the Italian translation of one of the principal treatises on veterinary medicine for

horses, most likely made for the actual use of the ducal farrier at the court of Niccolo III d’Este in Ferrara. Made for

practical use, the manuscript includes notable additions in the original and later hands to a text that was tailored for this

copy. The original wallet-style binding and the charming pen and ink drawings – surely by the scribe – enhance the

manuscript’s interest.

TM 1026 • $125,000

61. A CUSTOMIZED PROCESSIONALFOR DOMINICAN NUNS BY THE MASTER OF THE GRAND

ACARIE

Processional (Dominican use)

In Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on parchment

France (Rouen), c. 1520-1530; c. 1525-1550; 1674

Made for the Dominican nuns of the royal convent of St. Matthew in Rouen, this Processional is a fine example of the skill

of the artists working during the last flowering of medieval manuscript illumination in northern France. Larger and cer-

tainly more lavishly illuminated than most surviving Processionals, it is a valuable witness to the liturgy and music at this

convent. Extensive revisions by the nuns themselves make this a multi-layered artifact that will repay further study.

TM 1031 • $75,000

62. A JEWEL-LIKE PRAYER BOOK FOR YOUR POCKET



Southern Netherlands (most likely Bruges), c. 1450

Six full-page miniatures in the late style of the Masters of the Gold Scrolls with full borders

A jewel-sized Book of Hours small enough to fit in one’s pocket. Six full-page miniatures and abundant borders typify

Bruges book illumination before and around 1450, here by the Masters of the Gold Scrolls. Already the domesticity of

Netherlandish art is clearly apparent, with interiors set in low rooms with tiled floors and silvered lattice windows. At a

dozen removes, this is a miniature version of the world evoked by the Van Eycks and Rogier van der Weyden, in which

sacred history is replayed in the bourgeois setting of the southern Netherlands.

TM 1109 • $35,000


Documents

BOOK OF · and historiated initials for the virgin Saints Genevieve and Avia before the Hours of the Virgin and the richness of the bor-ders hint that it could have been made to order