Original leaf from a medieval manuscript Bible. Written in formal gothic textura minuscule in two columns of forty-six lines per page on animal vellum. (293 x 200mm – 11 ½ x 7 7/8’’)
Paris, c. 1320-40.
From a Bible once owned by St. Albans - England’s greatest Royal Abbey in the Middle Ages!
One six-line illuminated initial in blue with delicate white penwork and having a floral interior in blue, orange and burnished gold all on a pink ground with delicate white penwork. Surrounding the initial is a burnished gold frame with nearly full-length illuminated marginal stems with tendrils & leaves painted in burnished gold, white blue and pink. One two-line illuminated initial in pink with floral interior on a burnished gold ground with full-length illuminated marginal stems with tendrils & leaves painted in burnished gold, white, blue, and pink.
The illuminated two-line “V” begins Nahum 3: 1-19: “Ve civitas…” (Woe to thee, O city of blood, all full of lies and violence: rapine shall not depart from thee…).
The large elaborate illuminated “O” begins the Prologue to the Book of Habacuc (King James Habakkuk).
This attractive and historic leaf with an elaborate six line initial has a distinguished provenance. Though scribed in Paris, the parent manuscript is known to have been owned by England's St. Albans Abbey. The leaf show devotional use, and is somewhat rippled. There are vestiges of previous mounting on the verso, and a tiny natural hole in the outer blank margin.
Presented in an archival 16 x 12'' mat
