c 1250 Bible Leaf - Matthew - Heaven & earth shall pass away..

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Original leaf from a medieval manuscript pocket Bible. Latin rotunda gothic script, ruled in red & written in brown ink in two columns of 50 lines on animal vellum. (197 x 130 mm - 7.9 x 5.2") .

Rubricated chapter numbers, three multi-lined illuminated Lombard style initials and elegant marginalia in red and blue. The gothic text is written in extremely tiny & very well formed letters – so small that there are ten lines of text to the inch!                                               

 Italy (probably Bologna), c. 1250.

Text is Matthew 22:42 - 25:17: ''Quid vobis...'' (What think you of Christ? Whose son is he?  They say to him: David's...Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled: and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted...Many will come in my name saying I am Christ:  and they will seduce many...Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be pestilences, and famines, and earthquakes in places...There shall arise false Christs and false prophets...They shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty.  And he shall send his angels with a trumpet, and a great voice...Heaven and earth shall pass, but my words shall not pass...Then two shall be in the field:  one shall be taken, and one shall be left...).

Provenance: Ex-collection Otto Ege (1888-1951). Dean of the Cleveland Institute of Art and Lecturer on History of the Book  at Western Reserve University and Northwestern University. Ege increased awareness of the history of the book through the dissemination of individual pages to schools, libraries, calligraphers and printers. Sister leaves are # 11 in the Portfolio of Fifty Original Leaves (Gwara HL11) - see Cary Collection  - Rochester Institute (online example) and other museums.

Shipped in archival 14x11'' mat.

  • Inventory# IM-10846
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