ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT BIBLE LEAF, c.1240 - LUKE 17-19

IM-9284: A lovely original leaf from a medieval manuscript pocket Bible. Latin gothic micro-minuscule script, ruled in red ink and hand-written in brown ink on both sides, on animal vellum. Rubricated chapter numbers, TWO multi-lined illuminated Lombard style initials and elegant marginalia in red and blue. 44 lines of text in double columns. The gothic text is written in extremely tiny and very well formed letters, so small that there are twelve lines of text to the inch! This leaf measures 150 x 100 mm (5 7/8 x 4”).

This leaf begins Luke 17:32 – 19:35: “Memores…” (Remember Lot’s wife. Whosoever shall seek to save his life, shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose it, shall preserve it. I say to you: in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left...Suffer children to come to me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God...It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God...The things that are impossible with men, are possible with God...Thy faith hath made thee whole...).

The back (verso) contains two scribal omissions added in the margins – these omissions are surrounded by a red box indicating that the “transcription had been systematically checked for accuracy” (De Hamel, Scribes and Illuminators, p. 43).

This leaf originates from Northern France (Paris), c. 1240-50. This leaf is from a “portable” Bible of the Crusades period and would have been used in abstract study of theology or preaching of the Gospel around medieval countryside. This is an original, not a reproduction, and its condition is excellent as shown in the photos.

The book from which this leaf came was a very high-quality production, scribed in the Johannes Grusch Workshop in Paris. The calligraphy is excellent, and the vellum is of the finest style, extremely thin and very white. Other leaves from this same book were exhibited in the Jeanne Blackburn Collection at the Cleveland Art Museum (pl. 7 and 8).

This leaf comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.

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