Manuscript Leaf (78 results)

No Binding. Condition: Very Good. A facsimile of an illuminated leaf from a Mediaeval Manuscript. Mounted - matted - and ready to frame. Mount size approx 12 x 10 inches . Very good condition. Circa 1880. Shows - in colour - a leaf from a Mediaeval Manuscript - Portrait of Chaucer and text from Thomas Hoccleve's Poem ' De Regimine Principum@ - - rich colouring - from a MS in the British Museum.

No Binding. Condition: Very Good. A splendid original antique scene Mounted - matted - and ready to frame. Excellent condition . A facsimile leaf from an . illuminated manuscript leaf Shows . a page of illuminated illustration entitled .'Illuminator presenting Manuscript to Patron' the Harleian M.S.7026 British Museum.

No Binding. Condition: Very Good. A facsimile of an illuminated leaf from a Mediaeval Manuscript. Mounted - matted - and ready to frame. Mount size approx 12 x 10 inches . Very good condition. Circa 1880. Shows - in colour - a leaf from Aelfric - 'The Paraphrase of the Pentateuch .

No Binding. Condition: Very Good. A facsimile of an illuminated leaf from a Mediaeval Manuscript. Mounted - matted - and ready to frame. Mount size approx 12 x 10 inches . Very good condition. Circa 1880. Shows - in colour - a leaf from a Mediaeval Manuscript - Lydgate presenting his poem to the King - rich colouring - from the Harleian MS in the British Museum.

No Binding. Condition: Very Good. A facsimile of an illuminated leaf from a Mediaeval Manuscript. Mounted - matted - and ready to frame. Mount size approx 12 x 10 inches . Very good condition. Circa 1880. Shows - in colour - a leaf from a Mediaeval Manuscript - text and fine illustration of Canterbury Pilgrims - - rich colouring - from a MS in the British Museum.

No Binding. Condition: Very Good. A facsimile of an illuminated leaf from a Mediaeval Manuscript. Mounted - matted - and ready to frame. Mount size approx 12 x 10 inches . Very good condition. Circa 1880. Shows - in colour - a leaf from Layamon's Brut. - from the Cotton Ms.

No Binding. Condition: Very Good. A facsimile of an illuminated leaf from a Mediaeval Manuscript. Mounted - matted - and ready to frame. Mount size approx 12 x 10 inches . Very good condition. Circa 1880. Shows - in colour - a leaf from a Mediaeval Manuscript - an illustrations from Mandeville's 'Travels' - - rich colouring - from a MS in the British Museum.

18 loose leaves from a Tibetan leaf manuscript, each 8.2 x 25cm, most with Tibetan script both sides, top edge of several leaves pierced, edgewear and browning, a few leaves wormed, in sound condition. An interesting assemblage from an unidentified Tibetan black ink leaf manuscript. Acquired in Tibet in the 1960s.

Single leaf, vellum, corner cut away, illuminated both sides in colour and gilt. 175 x 130 mm.

Leather bound. Condition: Near fine. The Daniel Boone Edition of The Winning of the West by Theodore Roosevelt, with a manuscript leaf in Roosevelt's hand. (illustrator). Daniel Boone Edition. Octavo, [four volumes], [xxvii], [1], 352pp, [map]; [vii], [3], 427pp, [2pp maps]; [ix], [3], 339pp, [map]; [xi], 363pp, [2pp ads]. Publisher's half green levant morocco, marbled boards, raised bands, title stamped in gilt, "Daniel Boone Edition" in gilt on each spine. Marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, silk bookmark in each volume, detached but present in Volume III. Uncut. Solid text blocks, all appear unread. Free of restoration or archival repairs. Light sunning to the spines, as is typical with this edition. Touch of rubbing along margins of boards. From the library of Charles L. Gilcrest, with his bookplate on the second free endpaper of each volume. Frontispiece portrait with tissue cover in each volume, complete, with captioned tissue guards. Includes five fold-out maps, affixed to rear panel of each volume, printed on Japanese vellum. (Wheelock, 13) (Cole & Vail, A11.1) (Howes R433) From a limited edition of 200 sets, this being number 185, matching limitation in each volume. Includes a manuscript leaf in Roosevelt's hand from Volume IV, page 18, regarding the failed frontier campaigns of Gov. Arthur St. Clair and George Washington's decision to recall Gen. Anthony Wayne to command U.S. forces in the Northwest Indian War. The original manuscript leaf reads as follows: [The newly created Government of the United States]."was very reluctant to make formal war on the northwestern Indians. Not only were President Washington and the National Congress honorably desirous of peace, but they were hampered for funds, and dreaded any extra expense. Nevertheless they were forced into war. Throughout the years 1789 and 1790 an increasing volume of appeals for help came from the frontier countries. The governor of the Northwestern Territory, the brigadier-general of the troops on the Ohio, the members of the Kentucky Convention, and all the county lieutenants of Kentucky, the lieutenants of the frontier counties of Virginia proper, the representatives from the counties, the field officers of the different districts, the General Assembly of Virginia, all sent bitter complaints." [and long catalogues of injuries to the President, the Secretary of War, and the two Houses of Congress; complaints which were redoubled after Harmar's failure. With heavy hearts, the national authorities prepared for war.] This work was issued in full levant for $100 and half levant for $60. The full levant sold quickly, and the price was raised to $200 per set. The handwritten manuscript leaves all came from Volume III and IV, with the manuscript for Volume I now held at the New York Public Library. Signed.

Oblong, 220 x 35 mm. 5 ff. Balinese on palm leaf. Balinese script in inscriped black ink. Illustrated with five hand-inscribed scenes. Wooden boards with delicately carved designs. Five mythological scenes hand-inscribed on the dried leaves of the lontar palm, each with a line on the reverse in Balinese script. Similar palm-leaf manuscripts from Lombok, today part of Indonesia, show scenes from Hindu or Muslim mythologies. These include the Ramayana, Adi Parva from the Mahabharata, the story of the Prophet Yusuf (Joseph), and Bharatayuddha. An illustrated copy of the latter, similar to the present manuscript, is held at the British Library (Or 13379, f. 6r). - The illustrations of this manuscript are clearly meant to be read together, similar to comic strips, with one scene following another to tell a short section of a story. To create this manuscript, a scene was first painstakingly inscribed by hand into the delicate palm leaf, and then ink was rubbed into the scored lines to finish the drawing. Unlike paper, palm leaves are ideal for hot, humid climates like that of Lombok, and have been used in Southeast Asia for thousands of years. - Faintly toned. In very good condition. - Cf. London, British Library, Or 13379, f. 6r.

Calligraphed manuscript in ink, by H. C. Kendall (signed on the verso of the first leaf). Each page written in different calligraphy style. Text in English. With a mounted portrait, transferred on porcelain, of Baron Hirsch on the second leaf (illustrator). Manuscript book. Calligraphed manuscript in ink, by H. C. Kendall (signed on the verso of the first leaf). Each page written in different calligraphy style. Text in English. With a mounted portrait, transferred on porcelain, of Baron Hirsch on the second leaf. Manuscript book. In original black leather by Frank J. Barnard (signed on the recto of the last leaf), with clasp, gilt title on front panel, gilt edges, gilt turn-ins. Pastedowns and flyleaves are covered with white moiré. A memorial album commemorating the death of the greatest Jewish philanthropist of the nineteenth century, Baron Maurice de Hirsch, offered by the Jews of Boston to his widow and family. This delicate memorial album, signed by twenty-two representatives of Jewish associations of Boston, was prepared by the commission of the Boston Jews under the auspices of the American Committee (here Society) for Ameliorating the Condition of Russian Refugees, an umbrella organization of various groups concerned with the welfare of the immigrants (co-founded by the Hirsch Fund), and was offered to the widow and the family of Baron de Hirsch. The album is a piece of very fine craftsmanship, calligraphed by H. C. Kendall an "artist penman" and Principal of the Normal Writing Institute in Boston, and bound by Frank J. Barnard, the industry leader bookbinder in Massachusetts. The text consists of profound quotes about human greatness from William Dean Howells and Julia C. R. Dorr, and the eulogy delivered at Temple Ohabei Shalom. Baron Maurice de Hirsch (1831-1896) was a German Jewish financier and philanthropist, born into a wealthy landowner and banker family in Bavaria. In 1855, Hirsch married Clara Bischoffsheim, daughter of a Belgian banker, and became associated with his father-in-law's banking house. He amassed a large fortune and became one of the top five richest individuals in Europe at the time. Baron de Hirsch set up charitable foundations promoting Jewish education especially in Russia, and after an unsuccessful offer of 50,000,000 francs to the Russian government to be used for purposes of Jewish education, in 1891 he founded the Jewish Colonization Association, the greatest charitable trust in the world, to provide the funds for extensive Jewish immigration to Argentina. In the same year, he established the Hirsch Fund to help the Russian Jewish immigrants in the States and provided the finances for agricultural colonies and trades schools in the US. Through his Galician Foundation, he realized the establishment of primary and technical schools for Jewish pupils in Galicia and the Bukowina. "It is impossible to form an accurate estimate of the amount of money Baron de Hirsch devoted to benevolent purposes. That, including the large legacy (amounting to $45,000,000) left to the Jewish Colonization Association, it exceeded $100,000,000 is an estimate justified by the amounts given by him from time to time to the foundations already referred to. There were, besides, many gifts to individuals of which there is no record." (Jewish Encyclopedia) Baron Maurice de Hirsch died suddenly, presumably of a heart attack at the age of 64, on 21 April 1896, at the country house of a friend near his own recently purchased estate of Ógyalla in Hungary (now part of Slovakia). His widow continued the Baron's charitable work. Clara died in Paris in 1899 and left the remaining family assets to her adopted son, Maurice Arnold de Forest. . Moiré detached from the flyleaves, discolored at the rear. Some of the tracing paper leaves are creased, few with closed tears. Stains to the gutter at the rear, no effect on text. Binding slightly rubbed, with three small, barely visible holes. Overall in very good condition. In original black leather by Frank J. Barnard (signed on the recto of the last leaf), with clasp, gilt title on front panel, gilt edges, gilt turn-ins. Pastedowns and flyleaves are covered with white moiré.

22 x 21.75 cm. Double-columned, double-sided single signature, 32 lines. The leaf features 69 gilt initials with embellished pen-work, 2 of them larger with blue backgrounds and the rest smaller with beige or dark brown (matching text ink) backgrounds, with some additional red lettering and the heading "Psalms." 4 pp. Fine vellum; some initials faintly faded with gilt and colors otherwise bright and text clear. Fine. Although not fully translated, this signature was likely once part of a psalter. It features part of a litany from the Book of Hoursâ"Psalm 70 in its entirety, moving into a call-and-response from with red letters marking the call v. the response, beginning with "V: Salvos fac servos tuos" and cutting off at "R: aeternam dona eis. . ." Due to the structure of books, the page opposite the beginning of this litany is not the page that should numerically follow it were it still bound, and so it is broken early. The leaf also features almost all of Psalm 37," ending with "Qui retribuunt mala pro. . .".

from a treatise on the Old Testament High Priest and Priesthood ('De Pontifice & Sacerdotibus'), here discussing the meaning of the Hebrew 'segen' which the writer takes to be a general word for 'deputy', quoting from the O.T. and from Lardner's 'Credibility of the Gospel History', Selden, Preland, and Maimonides, sides numbered 35 & 36, sections 104-112, English, no place, no date, circa.

44 : 29 cm. One leaf with 11 lines handwritten. um 304 (?) 1 in Köln in Nordrhein-Westfalen. Altar mit vielen Reliquien in der "Goldenen Kammer" in der Ursula-Kirche in Köln. Clementine befand sich unter den Gefährtinnen der Ursula. Die Reliquien von Clementine und die von Gefährtinnen werden in Modena.

Ink, watercolor, and gold, on paper. The image measures about 5 x 8 inches, in a frame with glass measuring 10.5 x 13.5 inches. Calligraphic writing at top and bottom, and on the reverse in 9 rectangular panels. This is a leaf from a manuscript. Finely executed, in very nice condition. (Not examined out of the frame). [This is an oversize item, and normal postage rates do not apply. Large framed artworks are sometimes available for pickup only.].

A single leaf from a French Book of Hours, produced ca.1480-1500. Executed on paper (we believe). Some wrinkling at the edges, fine condition . Leaf size is about 9 x 12 cm., in a frame measuring 22 x 26 cm. Attractively matted and framed in a reversible frame, so that both sides of the leaf are visible. Eighteen lines of Latin text in black & red, with seven illuminated capitals; the verso bears seven lines of text, one initial and a small illuminated panel. This leaf was the end of a section, the verso being only partly lettered. The text is from the Hours of the Cross at Vespers, including the hymn "De cruce deponitur". The Latin text of the hymn begins with the blue initial 'D': "De cruce deponitur hora vespertina. fortitudo latuit in mente divina. Talem mortem subiit vitæ medicina. heu corona gloriæ iacuit supina." An English translation is approximately: "At the hour of eventide Christ from his cross was taken. In whose soul his fortitude did covertly remain. Such a death vouchsafed to take of life the medicine sound. Glory's crown alas the while lay grovelling on the ground.".

250 x 175 mm. (9 7/8 x 6 7/8"). Six extant lines of text and music in a gothic hand. Rubrics and staves in red, one large initial in red, and two large decorative initials in black and red. With the binding's original paper labels on spine, remnants of old paper lining on verso. Somewhat soiled and stained, but a good specimen overall. Recovered from a 17th century binding, this specimen presents an excellent opportunity to examine how Medieval manuscripts were used in the construction of later bindings. The two preserved spine labels tell us that the leaf previously covered a copy of Alphonso Stadlmayer's "Philosophia Tripartita," first published in 1650.

A single leaf from a French Book of Hours, produced ca.1480-1500. Executed on paper (we believe). Some wrinkling at the edges, fine condition . Leaf size is about 9 x 12 cm., in a frame measuring 22 x 26 cm. Attractively matted and framed in a reversible frame, so that both sides of the leaf are visible. Seventeen lines of Latin text in black & red, with eight illuminated capitals on the recto; seven illuminated capitals on the verso. The text on this leaf includes "Quia fecit in magna qui potens est" from the canticle Magnificat, or The Song of Mary, and was set to music by Bach in 1723, his "Magnificat". The Magnificat is usually sung or recited during the main evening prayer service, at Vespers in the Catholic and Lutheran churches, and Evening Prayer (Evensong) in the Anglican Church. In Eastern Christianity, the Magnificat is sung at Matins.

121 x 89 mm. (4 3/4 x 3 1/2"). Single column, 15 lines of text in a very fine gothic book hand. Rubrics in red, with multiple one-line initials and line fillers, all in blue, maroon, and burnished gold, and with two-line initials in the same colors and gold but also enclosing charming flowers on scrolling stems, with marginal extension in the form of gilt ivy leaves on sinuous stems, and WITH A FINE SWIRLING PANEL BORDER ON EACH SIDE featuring flowers, leaves, strawberries, and many burnished gold ivy leaves on hairline stems. IN FINE CONDITION, with the paint and gold bright, fresh, and entirely intact. This is a lovely little leaf from a fragment of a Book of Hours that obviously was produced for a client of considerable means by skilled craftsmen in a Parisian studio probably a little before the middle of the 15th century. This was clearly intended to be put into a book that could be carried easily on one's person, and part of what makes it so charming is this portable size.

132 x 164 mm. (5 1/4 x 6 3/8"). Double column, 12 extant lines in a gothic book hand. Rubrics and four-line staves in red, capitals touched in red, four large initials in red or blue. Spine with two old paper labels, one with ink titling. Vellum a bit soiled, a couple small holes, ink a little faded on verso, paper remnants on verso obscuring a few lines, but still a good specimen demonstrating use and reuse of Medieval manuscripts. From a noted Missal that had outlived its use, this manuscript leaf was later repurposed as a cover for a 17th century printed book. The spine label indicates it was a copy of Jacob Bidermann's "Herodiados libri tres," a lengthy Latin poem relating the story of John the Baptist and Herod, first published in 1622.

239 x 165 mm. (9 3/8 x 6 1/2"). Single column, 15 lines in an elegant gothic book hand. Rubrics in dark pink, line enders in pink and blue with white tracery and gold bezant, several one-line initials and one two-line initial in burnished gold on dark pink and blue ground with white tracery, each side with a panel border composed of hairline vines with gold ivy and bezants, a few colorful flowers, and EACH FEATURING THE FACE OF A MAN EMITTING ACANTHUS LEAVES FROM HIS MOUTH. ?A few tiny marginal spots, one of the faces slightly rubbed, otherwise IN BEAUTIFUL CONDITION. In addition to the floral decoration and vines often found in the borders of Books of Hours, this leaf features a duo of delightful inhabitants in the form of faces emitting colorful acanthus from their mouths. Each figure is individualized, the face on the recto with dark hair, flushed cheeks, and a prominent nose; on the verso is a face with a much paler complexion, a tonsured hairstyle, a large but very short nose, and fine, gray whiskers. This kind of imaginative work, together with luxurious touches such as the many gilt initials, several dozen gilt bezants and ivy leaves in each panel border, and the unusually wide margins, point to this manuscript having been a costly production. For additional leaves from this same manuscript at different price points, please check our website.

165 x 117 mm. (6 1/2 x 4 5/8"). Single column, 18 lines in a gothic book hand. Rubrics in red, line fillers in blue and pink with gold bezant, five one-line initials in burnished gold on pink and blue ground, one two-line initial in blue on gold ground with a flower in the center, one three-line initial in blue filled with ivy on gold ground, recto with panel border of colorful flowers, vase, and acanthus, verso with A LARGE ARCH-TOPPED MINIATURE OF THE ANNUNCIATION TO THE SHEPHERDS, surrounded by A FULL BORDER of acanthus, flowers, and two birds, all on a painted gold ground. Slight soiling to vellum, but a very well-preserved leaf in fine condition. From what was surely a costly Book of Hours, this leaf features a charming and skillfully painted miniature of the Annunciation to the Shepherds, attributable to the workshop of Jean Pichore (fl. ca. 1502-20), a major figure among illuminators of the period and one of the most sought-after artists in France at the turn of the 16th century. Depicting the traditional subject associated with the hour of Terce, our miniature portrays, as usual, an angel appearing to shepherds tending their flock, bringing news of the birth of Christ. Although the biblical narrative suggests that the shepherds were startled by the angel's appearance, the three figures in this miniature appear remarkably unmoved--in fact, only one of them seems to take any notice at all. The first shepherd sits on the ground, looking straight ahead; the second holds his hands in prayer but looks little more than, well, prayerful at the angel in the sky; and a third figure maintains a slightly aloof expression, taking no particular interest in the unfolding miraculous event. What may seem to be indifference can be explained easily enough by the artist's successful portrayal of nighttime cold! All three shepherds are thickly dressed, one with his arms pressed tightly against his chest, another with a hood partly covering his face, and the sheep are tightly huddled together into one woolly white cluster. Another manifestation of the artist's success here is seen in the particularly well done molding of the faces, with subtle shading, attractively rendered features, and clear individuation. Moreover, although the shepherds seem essentially unmoved, their garments are dusted with a glistening gold radiance from above, a further subtle touch revealing a high level of achievement on the part of the painter. Finally, the borders are one last source of delight, with a small bird shown in mid-flight, and a second one investigating a single strawberry that seems to have been placed there just for him. All of these indications of sophistication suggest that the original manuscript must have been commissioned by a patron able to pay a premium for the work of a highly skilled atelier.

264 x 200 mm. (10 3/8 x 7 7/8"). Single column, 41 lines, in a neat humanist hand. With two two-line initials in blue. One corner torn away (not affecting text), a few marginal wormholes, vellum a bit soiled and with a few small stains, but a very good example, the text entirely legible, and overall clean and presentable. Containing text by an author who was much admired during the Renaissance, this leaf is a lovely example of the humanistic script that emerged in Italy during the 15th century. The elegance and legibility of humanistic script derives from Caroline miniscule, the predominant style of writing in Western manuscripts from the ninth through 12th centuries. Both scripts favor clear, rounded letter forms, wider spacing between letters, and few abbreviations, resulting in manuscripts that are extremely attractive and easy to read. The text here comes from a work titled "De Opificio Dei," exploring the handiwork of God, with a concentration on the marvels of the human body and soul. The present leaf includes chapters 8-10, which discuss the human head, including especially the seats of the senses: eyes, ears, nose, and tongue. Our author, Lactantius (ca. 260-340), was a late-in-life Christian who became one of the ablest defenders of the faith in its early centuries. He was held in high esteem by Renaissance intellectuals, and was one of the earliest authors to be printed, first appearing in 1465.

335 x 224 mm. (13 1/4 x 8 7/8"). Double column, 29 lines, in an elegant proto-gothic book hand. Rubrics in red, several two-line initials in red. Recovered from a binding and so the vellum a bit soiled, creased, and wavy, recto with a lighter patch (where a title label was once situated), light stains and glue and paper residue on the verso, but overall the leaf remarkably clean, entirely legible, and surprisingly well preserved. Once serving as a cover for a later book, this leaf comes from a nearly contemporaneous copy of Peter Lombard's "Sentences," considered the most important theological book of the 12th century. Written between 1155 and 1158 and arranged topically, Lombard's "Sententiae" summarize past learning about Christian doctrine by quoting authorities in an attempt to resolve textual disagreement by dialectical analysis. As a source collection that continued to spark discussion, Lombard's great work enjoyed sustained success as a theological textbook until the 17th century and inspired numerous commentaries, including those of Aquinas and Luther. This leaf comes from Book IV, "On the Doctrine of Signs," which is primarily concerned with the seven sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Sacred Orders, and Matrimony. The script is an upright and very legible proto-gothic book hand with a few distinctive letter forms and abbreviations that may help determine a more definitive point of origin (these include a "g" with a downward cross on its tail, and a conjoined "qe" for "que"). It is unusual (and very lucky) that this leaf survives completely intact, as Medieval manuscripts used in later bindings were often cut down in size to make smaller covers or used as waste paper for pastedowns or other binding elements.

180 x 130 mm. (7 x 5 1/8"). Single column, verso with 20 lines in an attractive bâtarde hand. Rubrics in dark pink, four one-line initials in painted gold on blue or dark pink ground, two two-line initials, on in blue on dark pink ground and one in black on blue ground, both with painted gold embellishments, one three-line initial resembling unfurling scrolls, painted in gold on a blue ground with gold pointillation and filled with a large flower, A LARGE MINIATURE OF THE CRUCIFIXION in a plain red frame surrounded by a three-quarter border filled with blue flowers with long protruding pistils, with numerous hairline vines and gilt bezants, and triangular sections painted gold and filled with strawberries and white flowers. Faint foxing and soiling to margins, light chipping to red frame and one initial, minor fading to painted gold in border, negligible imperfections to miniature (one of Christ's arms slightly rubbed, a couple tiny scuffs), but with strong colors and well-preserved details. Opening the Hours of the Cross (a shorter text sometimes accompanying the Hours of the Virgin), this miniature of the Crucifixion is attractively painted and features a touching depiction of Christ's final moments at the same time that it provides exuberance in an elaborately botanic border. Besides the crucified Christ, there are only two other figures in this intimate and lonely--perhaps even bleak--miniature: the Virgin Mary stands at the left of the composition in a blue dress and long pink veil, while St. John stands at the right, dressed in pink and purple and holding a green book. Blood flows freely from Christ's wounds, including small rivulets from his hands that fall on the heads of the Virgin and St. John, as if to anoint them. Although St. John's attention is focused on Christ, the Virgin fixes her gaze not on her son, but at St. John. Perhaps she is taking in Christ's words as recorded in John 19:26-27: "When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son. After that, he saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother." This miniature was probably executed in a provincial atelier, but the work is very competent, and it contains some quietly excellent details: the body of Christ looks natural and well-proportioned, the features of the Virgin and St. John are quite strong, and St. John's hand, raised in the sign of benediction, shows a high level of detail. Despite the somber content of the scene, the artist chose a surprisingly cheerful palette that favors pastel pink, lilac, and light blue. This type of Crucifixion image is quite common iconographically, but the coloring and spirited border give the content freshness that modulates the deep sorrow of the scene, lending it a sense of hope.

144 x 99 mm. (5 5/8 x 3 3/4"). Single column, recto with 14 lines in a gothic book hand. Attractively matted and framed. Rubrics in red, two two-line initials, one painted pink on blue ground with flowers, the other painted blue and inhabited by a rampant lion on pink and gold ground, recto with a panel border featuring long-stemmed flowers and owls on a pink ground, verso WITH A HALF-PAGE ARCH-TOPPED MINIATURE DEPICTING PENTECOST, WITH A FULL BORDER featuring a plethora of different flowers, berries, greenery, songbirds, an owl, and a butterfly, all ON A RICHLY PAINTED GOLD GROUND. Trimmed close on one side (and just grazing a border on the opposite side), very minor chipping to faces, trivial signs of rubbing or wear, otherwise a fine leaf--colorful, bright, and very pleasing to the eye. This leaf contains the customary Pentecost miniature associated with the Hours of the Holy Spirit, but with several attributes that set it apart from other examples we have encountered. The miniature here depicts a densely crowded scene with the Virgin at the center surrounded by the apostles, each of whom wears a burnished gold halo. Packed tightly together, they gaze up at a white dove who emanates small red tongues of fire above their heads. According to biblical tradition, this visitation by the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove enabled Christ's disciples to start preaching, marking the beginning of the Christian Church. The artist favors an unusual pastel palette, choosing pale pink for the walls and eggshell blue for some of the floor tiles, as well as bright yellow, muted lilac, rose, and lime green for the robes of the apostles. Looking more closely at the figures, we see that each face is carefully individualized, each with its own features and expressions. Although most crane their necks to get a view of the miracle unfolding, one of the apostles looks directly out at the viewer, as if surprised by our presence. Moving outside the miniature, we note that the leaf features a particularly exuberant border with tangles of flowers, fruit, acanthus leaves, and several birds, including an owl in one corner. There is additional interest on the verso, with another bright border painted an intense pink and filled with more flowers and owls.

vellum; framed. Condition: Very Good. first edition. ILLUMINATED ANTIPHONAL LEAF WITH EXCEPTIONALLY LARGE HISTORIATED INITIAL OF KING DAVID AS PSALMIST. The recto features a stunning, large (6 1/4 x 7 in.) initial "T" featuring a miniature of David the Psalmist, captured mid-song with instrument in hand as an angel unfurls the opening of the Psalm 110 (Dixit Dominus)a classic image of divine inspiration rendered with rich pigments and a thickly burnished gold initial "T". The "T" frames and divides the image, with King David and the angel occupying the right half. The Psalm's beginning ("DIXIT DOMINUS") is displayed on the angel's banner, emphasizing the divine inspiration for the Psalm. David is pictured with elegant flowing blue robes and, while he's playing a stringed instrument, there is another harp lying beneath his feet. The left side of the "T" (for the opening "Tecum principium") depicts a finely painted landscape, with a winding road, a bridge, and a town in the distance. The verso continues Psalm 110, but then transitions with a large red-and-organge painted "R" into a section of Psalm 111 (Redemptionem misit Dominus populo suo). Leaf size: 13x19.25 inches; archival framed to an overall size of 19x26 in.) Likely Italian, c.1550-1550. Vellum. Some mild toning and creasing to vellum. Some lines of cracking to color on miniature from the creasing. Small closed tear at top margin. Overall, the color (particularly the gilt) is exceptionally bright. A magnificent leaf.

286 x 199 mm. (11 1/4 x 7 3/4"). Double column, containing a mixture of staves and text (approximately 21 lines) in an excellent formal gothic book hand. Attractively matted. Rubrics in red, chant text containing black penwork initials with red and yellow geometric elaboration, BEAUTIFULLY ILLUMINATED with five two-line initials painted blue or pink with white tracery on a ground in the contrasting color, two of the initials filled with grotesques and swirling vines (and two with the filler design traced out but never completed) each initial with blue and pink extensions terminating in orange leaves or spiky shapes; the verso featuring AN IMPRESSIVE SIX-LINE "N" (58 x 50 mm.) in the same style, filled with an intricate knotwork design and orange leaves, with long extensions, including a horizontal extension across the upper margin. Margins with light offsetting of the designs from the facing leaf; remnants of mounting tape on recto corners and bottom edge; verso apparently with a barely visible Medieval "14" in lower margin. An area measuring 5 mm. at edges just faintly yellowed (from mat burn?), but IN FINE CONDITION, the vellum otherwise quite bright, the paint rich, and the gold brightly glittering. This sumptuously decorated leaf--which is beautifully preserved and contains a particularly large and handsome initial--comes from the last volume of a three-volume Missal presented to Beauvais Cathedral by Canon Robert de Hangest (d. 1356). The Missal remained at the cathedral at least through the 17th century, when it is noted in an inventory, but was removed from the church at some point, likely in the aftermath of the French Revolution. The parent volume eventually entered the collection of Henri-Auguste Brölemann (1775-1854) of Lyon, who passed it to his grand-daughter Etienne Mallet, who then sold it at Sotheby's in 1926. It was then acquired for the collection of William Hearst, where it remained for the next 25 years. In 1941 it was again sold at auction, and subsequently dismembered. Though long thought to have been the work of famed biblioclast Otto Ege, recent scholarship suggests that it was actually Phillip Duschnes who was responsible for breaking up the book, keeping some leaves for himself and selling others on to his colleague Ege for inclusion in his portfolios of "Fifty Original Leaves from Medieval Manuscripts." The Beauvais Missal has been a subject of interest for many notable scholars (chief among them being Christopher de Hamel--see: "Otto Ege and the Beauvais Missal" in "Gilding the Lilly: A Hundred Medieval and Illuminated Manuscripts in the Lilly Library"), and it is currently the focus of a major effort to "reconstruct" the manuscript digitally--a project spearheaded by Lisa Fagin Davis. Other leaves from the parent volume are in the collections of the Morgan Library, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Houghton Library at Harvard, among many others. Although there is some dispute among art historians, the illumination has been tentatively attributed to the artist of the Hours of Yolande of Soissons, produced in Amiens ca. 1280 and now held by the Morgan Library (MS M.729). It is worth noting that the town of Hangest, home to the original owner, is only 10 miles from Amiens, and is a likely place of origin for the Missal. The present leaf contains a text for a major feast day, and thus contains a large and extravagantly decorated initial for its opening, "'Nunc scio vere." It is not too much to say that the decoration here is masterful, but, curiously--and of special interest to us from a modern perspective--the illuminators seem to have forgotten to put the finishing touches on the two smaller initials above, which still contain sketches of the preliminary design.

164 x 123 mm. (6 1/2 x 4 7/8"). Single column, 17 lines, in a gothic hand. Capitals touched with red, rubrics in red, one-line initials in red or blue, one two-line initial in blue, A VERY LARGE HISTORIATED INITIAL (approximately 60 mm. square) DEPICTING PENTECOST, the initial painted blue with white tracery on a burnished gold ground, surrounded by A FULL BORDER decorated with colorful acanthus, large flowers, strawberries, insects (including a grasshopper, fly, moth, and mosquito(?)), all on a liquid gold ground. See: Marrow, et al., "The Golden Age of Dutch Manuscript Illumination," nos. 79-81. âMargins just faintly soiled, gold very slightly rubbed, but IN FINE CONDITION, the initial and border beautifully preserved. This is an extraordinarily handsome leaf, featuring an oversized historiated initial depicting Pentecost, attributed to the circle of the Master of the London Jason. Our artist has made remarkable use of space, fitting 13 clearly defined people within an initial opening measuring 45 x 32 mm. The Virgin sits enthroned directly in the center, encircled by the Apostles dressed in blue, violet, green, and orange robes. Our artist cleverly adds a notch at the top of initial--like a cupola inside a chapel--in order to fit an image of a dove inside the scene. The figures show an impressive degree of individualization and emotional response as they witness the descent of the Holy Spirit; a few gesture in surprise, two lower their gaze, and some look up in awe. The work is stylistically like that of the Master of the London Jason, named for his work on the "Historie van Jason" manuscript now housed at the British Library. As Marrow et al. note, the Master's style is characterized by "somewhat short, heavy figures [that] are well formed and have unusual, slightly broad yet expressive faces with deep sunken eyes." Our leaf's enclosing border is of very considerable interest, featuring as it does naturalistic flowers, strawberry plants, insects, and a small, brightly colored bird, all painted in colors that perfectly complement the main scene. A very fine production all around, this distinctive, energetic leaf would make a notable addition to any collection.