Paradise and the Peri
by Thomas Moore
Illuminated Manuscripts
by Beth Carswell
The word manuscript comes from the Latin manu scriptum, which translates literally to "written with hands". It typically refers to any document produced manually, through handwriting, chiseling or other method, without the use of machines.
An illuminated manuscript is any manuscript whose text is accompanied by decoration. It originally referred only to silver or gilt adornments, but came to be acceptable terminology for any manuscript with drawings, paintings or decorations such as ornate initials, borders, floral accoutrements and the like. Often the illuminations would depict a historical or rural/pastoral scene.
The earliest confirmed example of illuminated manuscripts in existence today originated some 2000+ years ago. While some of the oldest instances were on papyrus, a thick, papery substance produced from the pulped flesh of the Egyptian papyrus plant, most were made of parchment, a thin writing material made from the skin of an animal, usually calf, goat or sheep. The highest quality parchment, very smooth and fine, was called vellum.
Some of the best examples of illuminated manuscripts surviving today come in the form of Books of Hours, rich and ornate devotional books containing collections or hymns, psalms, and prayers. The term Books of Hours is derived from their attention to the hourly prayers that devout Catholics were expected to stop and observe multiple times daily.
With the increasing availability of paper in the late Middle Ages, and the advent of printing, manuscripts went from being heavily scrolled and decorated to having only borders, only initials or other sparse embellishment, and eventually the production of illuminated manuscripts became very rare.
Contemporarily, as books are more and more often mass-produced reading copies, the existence and availability of genuine, original illuminated manuscripts becomes increasingly scarce. There are countless facsimiles and reproductions, which are painstakingly created to be as beautiful as the originals.They vary in price, but many are quite affordable. Illuminated pages removed from manuscripts are often sold separately, as stand-alone art, as well.
The luxury of illuminations present in a book creates another level of enjoyment; not only the information, entertainment and fascination in reading, but also the pure pleasure of beauty, art and attention to detail. *Please note: prices are approximate to within a small margin, as currencies fluctuate. Copies on display may sell quickly.
Carta Executoria de Hidalguia in favor of Juan Francisco Rodriguez
1586 - In Spanish. Illuminated manuscript. 48 Vellum leaves., One beautiful full page illumination incorporating the grantee’s arms, 36 lines written in black ink, multiple ruled red ink border, 12 headlines in blue and red lettered in liquid gold.
$7,500
Illuminated Manuscript Leaf from a Book of Hours
1460 - Full-page miniature depicting the Nativity recto, with the opening of the hour of Prime verso. Verso is a floral, berry, and acanthus-leaf border to the left of the text, which has one large and several smaller illuminated capitals. Miniature depicts Mary, Joseph, three angels, and the shepherds surrounding the infant Christ.
$6,000
Use of Rome
In Latin and French
1460 - A fine, especially substantial Book of Hours with lively borders. Very attractive 17th century French mottled calf, neatly rebacked reusing the original spine, raised bands, backstrip in six compartments with elaborate floral gilt decoration. In a fine fleece-lined brown morocco box with raised bands and gilt titling.
$81,000
Pieta - Lamentation (Descent from the Cross)
1480 - Fine Medieval miniature on vellum from a Northern French Book of Hours highlighted in gold. Upper compartment of the recto has the Pieta & Cross; it shows the cross with two men on ladders with torture instruments (one ascending and one descending the cross).
$5,000
Qur'an - Western Iran or Ottoman Turkey
1600 - The large blue and gold hasps projecting into the margins from the center of the smooth border are reminiscent of Herati and Bukharan work of the 16th century. The style of illumination, decoration and calligraphy demonstrates the frequent movement of artists between artistic centers in Persia and the Ottoman Empire.
$43,398
Grant of Arms to Gregorio de Castro by Emperor Charles V
1536 - Early and handsome example of early 16th century Spanish illumination and grant of arms; signed by the Emperor and including two large miniatures. Text is surrounded by a wide border to top and lateral margins, embodying interlacing designs, flora and fauna, with a golden background. The border and heraldic decoration are splendid examples of the Hispano-Flemish school of miniature painting.
$11,250
Illuminated Manuscript Leaf from a Book of Hours
1430 - An Illuminated manuscript leaf depicting The Massacre of the Innocents. One leaf with Latin text written on vellum on recto and verso. Verso contains a single column with 16 lines of text. One two-line initial and six one-line initials, each initial is gilt, over a blue and pink background. A narrow gilt floral panel border along the left margin.
$4,500
Flemish Flower Manuscript
1630 - These manuscripts form one of the earliest known collections of images of a significant number of different varieties of tulips: at least 20 are pictured, and although they are not identified they form a rare and valuable record of the cultivars of the period. In addition to tulips, the images also include pinks, narcissi, irises, martagon lilies, roses and asters.
$85,000
Declaration of Independence
Arthur Szyk
1950 - Original colotype lithograph with the complete text of the Declaration of Independence mounted on heavy card stock. Text within decorative border in rich, vibrant colors of Szyk's illustrations from his George Washington series of 1930, flags of all the states and territories, including Panama, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, vignettes from the American Revolution, the Liberty Bell, detailed floral illuminations.
$3,500
Bible in English - New Testament
1400 - Copied by a single scribe (except Ten Commandments) in red and brown ink in a highly legible and skilled textualis (textura) hand: a professional scribe. Catchwords regularly boxed in red. Unflourished paraph marks throughout text in blue; line fillers in blue and red; unflourished smaller initials throughout in blue; large pen-flourished initials throughout in blue and red; with pen-flourished sprays and bar decoration to form borders.
$2,000,000
Text from the Opening of Gospel Lessons
No date - A very fine illuminated vellum manuscript leaf with an especially beautiful miniature of Saint John on Patmos, from a book of hours in Latin and French.Featuring a superb miniature and a sumptuous border, the present John on Patmos leaf is nothing short of exquisite, and although the nine leaves from the same manuscript are all fine in their own way, this first one is the best.
$10,260
Evangeline
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
1903 - Stunning Cosway binding with inlaid portrait miniatures on both front and back covers.Richly illuminated throughout by John H. Tearle, with beautiful foliated initials in colors and burnished gold, most of them having leafy extensions, elaborate head- and tailpieces, and with a manuscript title page featuring a three-quarter border of acanthus leaves, flowers, and berries.
$91,800
Vigil of Ascension
1700 - A glittering monumental baroque consumption o trees, cattle, and sheep. Title page plus 112 leaves. Five staves of music and text per page, in an extremely pleasing, regular, and uncluttered rounded hand. Impressive contemporary diced calf over very thick wooden boards, covers with multiple blind rules forming a frame and central lozenge.
$59,400
Text from the Opening of the Office of the Dead
1460 - Apart from those relatively few copies with illustrated calendars, the miniatures found in Books of Hours are almost entirely devoted to retrospective Bible scenes that are obviously outside the experience of the illuminator; it is only in the present kind of funeral scene at the beginning of the Office of the Dead that we can see a contemporaneous rendering of a scene from the daily life of the Middle Ages.
$7,020
All the Works of John Taylor
1630 - Six volumes bound in half leather with marble paper covered boards. Exquisitely illustrated with woodcut engravings, head and tail pieces and illuminated letters. Very scarce. These volumes contain no title page and have been bound out of sequence.
$3,178
French Miniatures From Illuminated Manuscripts
Jean Porcher
1960 - General survey of French illuminated manuscripts of the 10th to 15th centuries. Includes 90 tipped-in color plates, 90 black and white illustrations in text and an additional 4 tipped-in color plates in text. Scholarly text with gorgeous, gorgeous illustrations.
The Art of Illuminated Manuscripts
J.O. Westwood
1988 - a series of illustrations of the ancient versions of the bible, copied from illuminated manuscripts, between the fourth and 16th centuries. Originally published under the title 'Palaeographia Sacra Pictoria' by William Smith, Fleet St., London, 1843-5.
A History of Illuminated Manuscripts
Christopher De Hamel
1997 - From the earliest monastic Gospel Books to textbooks, secular romances, Books of Hours and classical texts. Fundamental questions discussed - who wrote the books, text they contained, who read them, how they were made, what purposes they served.
Later Gothic Manuscripts 1390-1490
Kathleen L. Scott
1996 - A survey of manuscripts illuminated in the British Isles, complete in two volumes. This publication covers the very large body of material that survives from the Romanesque period, a time of intense creativity. Clothbound. A fine bright copy with 760 illustrations.
Gothic Illuminated Manuscripts
Emma Pirani
1970 - A wonderful treatment of Europe's beautiful Gothic manuscripts, this first edition, first printing is a fine, clean and tight copy, profusely illustrated throughout with 69 full-color reproductions.Binding is gray boards, with bright gilt lettering to the spine.
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