New York International Antiquarian Book Fair 2021 - Les enLuminures - Medieval Text ...

Les Enluminures

New York International
Antiquarian Book Fair
 2021

Full descriptions and images can be found online on our websites.
 
 Videos are available for all items 
 ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT BOOKS OF HOURS

1.
Small-scale Royal Masterpiece made for King Charles VIII of France
The Petites Heures of Charles VIII, King of France (r. 1483-1498) (use of Paris)
In Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment
1 full-page heraldic miniature, 12 full-page, and 10 small miniatures by the Master of the Chronique
scandaleuse
France, Paris, c. 1490-1493 (before 1494)

The Petites Heures of Charles VIII marks the dawn of a renewed trend for minute masterpieces of parchment made
for members of the royal family and court. This manuscript is one of five extant manuscript Books of Hours known
to have been made for the personal use of Charles VIII, King of France (r. 1483-1498) and the sole to remain
in private hands. Unquestionable evidence of his royal patronage lies in the presence of a full-page miniature
with his achievement of arms and of an ex-libris with his name and personal motto, as well as in the textual and
decorative content of a manuscript that is suited only to the needs of a French sovereign. The second tiniest
Book of Hours ever made for King Charles VIII, the Petites Heures of Charles VIII were illuminated in Paris by the
Master of the Chronique scandaleuse, regarded as the most innovative artist active in late fifteenth-century Paris.
The challenging size of the present manuscript demonstrates his utmost mastery of color at a microscopic scale.
Preceding by no less than four years the commission of the famous Très Petites Heures of Anne of Brittany, the Petites
Heures of Charles VIII appears as a hitherto unpublished and probable inspiration for the Queen’s own patronage.

206 folios on parchment, complete, written in a cursive gothic bookhand (justification 41 x 28 mm), 5 large 4- to 5-lines initials with scrolls
extending into the margins, in-filled with flowers, birds, and insects, 10 small miniatures, including seven with three-sided floral border on
gold ground, 1 FULL-PAGE HERALDIC MINIATURE AND 12 FULL-PAGE MINIATURES set within fictive golden frames on
faux-marbled surrounds, occasional tiny chips in paint of the colored background at edges of miniatures frames, very faint offsetting from
fictive golden frames onto facing rectos, otherwise in excellent condition. Bound in a refined 18th-century(?) paneled brown morocco binding.
Dimensions 73 x 49 mm.

Full description, images, and a special “Meet the Expert” video filmed at TEFAF Maastricht 2020, featuring
Sandra Hindman talking about the Petites Heures of Charles VIII, are available online here.

BOH 182 USD $575,000

2.
 Fine Example of Rouen Illumination from the
 Circle of Master of Rouen Echevinage
 Book of Hours (use of Rouen)
 In Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on
 parchment
 8 large miniatures by the circle of the Master of the
 Rouen Echevinage (Jean Coquet?)
 France (Rouen), c. 1470-1480

 This beautiful Book of Hours is a fine example of Rouen
 illumination, decorated within the circle of the Master of
 the Rouen Echevinage, the leading artist in the city in the
 second half of the fifteenth century. The eight miniatures
 of the manuscript are surrounded with rich floral borders,
 with generous sprouts of gold and blue acanthus and
stupendously lifelike depiction of birds. The same artist illuminated another Book of Hours for the use of Rouen
now in the Houghton Library. This Book of Hours was evidently produced for a patron living in Rouen, for the
calendar feasts and the liturgical texts are perfectly suited to the local cults of the city.

BOH 204 USD $100,000

3.
Property of the Mistress of King François I
of France
The Hours of Françoise de Foix (use of Bayeux)
In Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on
parchment
Four full-page miniatures with full borders
Northwestern France, Normandy (Bayeux),
c. 1480-1490

This Book of Hours very likely belonged to
Françoise de Foix, Comtesse de Châteaubriant,
favored mistress of King Francis I of France. It
includes a previously unknown acrostic poem to
the Virgin, most probably composed by Françoise
herself – an amateur poetess. The engaging
miniatures are by an artist who painted another
Book of Hours localizable in Bayeux. The courtly
character of the book is accentuated by a splendid sixteenth-century binding, gold-tooled à la fanfare by the
royal atelier of King Henri III of France.

BOH 179 USD $80,000

4.
Remarkable Example of a Perfectly Preserved Parisian Renaissance Book with Binding, Clasps, and
Pictures All Intact

 Book of Hours (Use of Rome)
 In Latin and French, illuminated
 manuscript, on parchment
 14 large miniatures and 23 small
 miniatures from the workshop of
 Jean Coene IV (=Master of the
 Paris Entries)
 France (Paris), c. 1500
 Few Books of Hours survive in their
 original bindings, because they were
 well-handled, sometimes worn out,
 and often customized by successive
 owners. In its unrepaired blind-
 stamped leather binding with original
 clasps (and remnants of purple
 velvet chemise), this manuscript is
 therefore exceptional. Wide margins,
 rich coloring, and beautiful script all
 signal a luxury production painted by an artist, the Master of the Paris Entries, who
 worked on commission for figures in the court circle.

 BOH 160 USD $145,000

5.
One of Only Three Manuscripts By An
Important Follower of Jean Colombe In
Bourges
Hours of Du Breuil (use of Rome)
In Latin and French, illuminated manuscript
on parchment
4 full-page miniatures by the Master of Jean
de Ferrières
France (Bourges), c. 1490-1500

This fascinating Book of Hours bears witness to
the rise of innovative artists in Bourges in the
wake of Jean Colombe (c. 1430-1493), a few
years after he was entrusted to complete the Très Riches Heures of Jean de Berry. The four full-page miniatures
are by the Master of Jean de Ferrières, a rare artist who enjoyed success at the Bourbon court in Moulins, and
whose career certainly deserves further study.

BOH 193 USD $60,000

TEXT MANUSCRIPTS FROM THE 11TH THROUGH THE 17-TH CENTURIES

 6.
 Earliest Manuscript in Our Inventory/ Likely the Earliest on the Market Today
 Liturgical Rites and Prayers used by a Bishop
 In Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment
 Central France, c. 1040-1075
 Twelfth-century manuscripts are now very rare on the market, and manuscripts earlier than that are almost
 unobtainable. This manuscript, most likely copied in the Auvergne, today in Central France but then not yet
 part of the kingdom we call France, is copied in a beautiful, stately Carolingian minuscule, includes Aquitanian
 diastematic (staffless) musical notation, and compelling red initials. Of great significance for its text (Pontificals
 from the eleventh century are few in number), this represents an exceptional opportunity to acquire a complete
 manuscript dating before the twelfth century.

 TM 834 USD $175,000

7.
Chained Binding (How to Thwart Book-Thieves)
CONRAD HOLTNICKER OF SAXONY, Sermones
and Speculum Beatae Virginis Mariae (Mirror of the Blessed
Virgin Mary); with Sermons by ALDOBRANDINUS DE
CAVALCANTIBUS, ANTONIUS AZARO OF PARMA,
MARTINUS POLONUS and unidentified authors
In Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment
Austria (Vienna?) or Southern Germany, c. 1275-1300
A collection of some of the most important works by the
early Franciscan writer, Conrad of Saxony, copied not long
after their composition. His Mirror of the Blessed Virgin Mary
circulated widely but is rare on the market (only four copies of
recorded in the United States). It survives in a handsome and well-preserved 15th-
century binding with a chain attached to its lower board, attesting to its use in a late
medieval chained reference library, likely that of the Dominicans of St. Maria Rotunda
in Vienna.

TM 767 USD $125,000

8.
Blessed Scribe, “Hic Liber Est Scriptus, Ludolfus Sit
Benedictus” (This Book Is Written, Let Ludolfus Be
Blessed)
JACQUES FOUQUIER, Viridarium Gregorianum sive Biblia
Gregoriana, New Testament (A Garden or Bible of Gregory)
In Latin, decorated Latin manuscript on parchment
Southwest Flanders or Hainaut (Tournai?), c. 1350

Jacobus Folquerius’s Viridarium Gregoriana is mined from many
of Gregory the Great’s works, drawing occasionally on
 Alulfus of Tournai’s Gregorialis. The
 scribe, who identifies himself as
 Ludolfus, produced his rare copy
 around 1350. This biblical commentary is known in only three other manuscripts;
 our copy, which includes the New Testament, was apparently unknown until now,
 and is certainly the only of its kind on the market. As a witness to an unedited, and
 indeed, largely unstudied text used for sermon-writing, this manuscript warrants
 deeper study.

 TM 1054 USD $85,000

 9.
 Text and Commentary in a Unique Presentation
 Latin Vulgate, part (Pauline and Catholic Epistles, Acts, Apocalypse);
 Nicholas of Lyra, Postillae (Commentaries on the Pauline and Catholic
 Epistles, Acts, Apocalypse)
 In Latin, decorated manuscript on paper
 Northeastern Netherlands or Northwestern Germany, c.1450-1475

 This sizeable volume combines a copy of the New Testament, lacking
 only the Gospels, with the Commentaries by Nicholas of Lyra on the
 same books of the New Testament. Although possibly of independent
 origin, these two sections are contemporary and were united very
 soon after they were copied. 15th-century Bibles are uncommon, and
 copies of this 14th-century biblical commentary are always of interest.
 Nicolas’s continuing importance is summed up in the couplet: “If
 Lyra had not played, Luther could not have danced.” This is the only
 manuscript we know of that combines the two within one volume,
 but it is easy to see how readers benefited greatly by having these
 complementary texts together.

 TM 1089 USD $70,000

10.
 By and For Bartholomew in His Everyday
 Script
 PS-AUGUSTINE, Sermones ad fratres in eremo
 (Sermons to the Brothers in the Desert);
 Publius Lentulus, Epistola de forma et statura Jesu
 Christi ad Senatum romanum (Letter on the form
 and stature of Jesus Christ to the Roman
 Senate); sermon by AUGUSTINE
 In Latin, manuscript on paper
 Northern Italy, 1458

 This is an excellent example of a late medieval
 codex copied by an identified scribe for his
 personal use. Its distinctive mercantesca script, lack of decoration, and sturdy
 original binding set it apart from contemporary humanist manuscripts, whether
 owner-produced or made by the commercial book trade. The text, attributed to
 St. Augustine but certainly a later compilation, was a medieval best seller. Here
 we find selections from the pseudo-Augustinian collection combined with other
 texts, perhaps chosen by the scribe, including an apocryphal account of Christ’s
 appearance.

 TM 1013 USD $24,000

11.
Interesting Format (Small for a Missal), Used by Franciscan Nuns
Augustinian Missal (use of Rome)
In Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment
with musical notation
Northern Italy (Lombardy?), c. 1450-1470

Missals are relatively rare survivals, since they
were often used until they fell apart. This is an
excellent example of an important sub-genre,
the portable mendicant Missal. Made for the use
of an Augustinian friar or nun, the manuscript
was used by Franciscan nuns near Milan by the
end of the fifteenth century, demonstrating
how easily an Augustinian liturgical book lent
itself for a new life within the Franciscan order. Carefully copied, this small but substantial volume includes
twenty pages with musical notation, a noteworthy feature.

TM 1101 USD $25,000

12.
“Fake News”: Fictional Letters Reinventing a
Famous Tyrant
Epistolae Phalaridis (The Epistles of Phalaris),
Latin translation by FRANCESCO GRIFFOLINI
In Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment
Italy (Northern?), c. 1460-1480

The Italian humanists were fascinated by this collection
of fictional letters by a yet unknown author. Phalaris
was a monstrous Sicilian tyrant, famous for torturing his
enemies inside a bronze bull and eating human babies. In
keeping with the established tradition in Ancient Greece
of epistolary fiction, these letters reimagine Phalaris and
depict him in a positive light. Still lacking a modern critical
edition of the original Greek, or this Latin translation, this
text is rare on the market (only two copies, including this
one, listed in the Schoenberg Database since 2000).

TM 1081 USD $45,000

 13.
 Prison Literature from Late Antiquity
 ANICIUS MANLIUS SEVERINUS BOETHIUS, Consolatio philosophiae
 (Consolation of Philosophy)
 In Latin, manuscript on paper
 Italy (Venice?), c. 1475-1500

 The most widely copied work of secular literature in the Middle Ages, but
 a text that is relatively rare on the market. Lacking the gloss found in many
 contemporary manuscripts which marks them as schoolbooks, this manuscript
 was perhaps copied for
 the humanist scribe’s
 own. Still in its original
 wooden binding with
 intentionally exposed
boards, it represents an opportunity to acquire a
complete manuscript of one of the most important
intermediaries between ancient philosophy and the
Middle Ages.

TM 1004 USD $45,000

14.
From the Golden Age of Liturgical Choir Music in Crete
Anthology (ἀνθολογία) of Ecclesiastic Chant, including works by BENEDICT EPISCOPOPULUS and
DEMETRIUS TAMIAS
In Greek, manuscript on paper with musical notation
Crete, c. 1640

The last century of Venetian rule on Crete, before the island fell to the Ottomans in 1669, was a golden age of
liturgical choir music. Fifty-five manuscripts containing work of Cretan church composers from the period are
known; only fifteen among these belong to the same general type as the present (previously unknown) codex,
an anthology of choral pieces for Vespers, Matins, and the three Eucharistic liturgies. This manuscript was
produced within the lifetime of Demetrius Tamias, the author of many of these works.

TM 1010 USD $25,000

15.
Rare Dutch Translation of an Essential Text for
the Modern Devotion
Vaderboec (second Dutch translation of the Vitae Patrum)
In Middle Dutch, manuscript on paper. Southern part
of the Northern Netherlands, probably Limbourg, c.
1475-1500

This neatly written codex still in its contemporary
binding includes the second Dutch translation of a
compilation of early Christian hagiographic texts,
presenting the lives of third- and fourth-century
hermits as examples worthy of imitation. Appearing
high on the list of recommended reading for the
Devotio Moderna, the Vaderboec in this particular translation that originated not far from the heartland of the
Modern Devotion is nevertheless very rare.

TM 539 USD $75,000

 PRINTED BOOKS OF HOURS

 16.
 Classic Parisian Book of Hours with Intricate
 Borders
 Book of Hours (Use of Rome)
 In Latin and French, imprint on parchment
 France (Paris), Anthoine Verard, August 22, 1506

 Rare imprint, known only in this copy, of an unrecorded
 Book of Hours printed for the famed Parisian bookseller
 and publisher, Anthoine Verard (fl. 1485-1512). Known
 for his luxurious illuminated printed volumes produced
 for royal patrons, Verard also published many editions
 of printed Books of Hours; his 1485 edition may be the
first illustrated example of this important genre. The language of this copy is predominantly Latin, but the
almanac, anatomical man, verses in the calendar, captions within the “dance of death” border, and some prayers
are in French.

BOH 152/ TM 1080 USD $30,000

17.
Very Small (Miniature) Book of
Hours with Illuminated Metalcuts
In Latin and French, illuminated imprint
on parchment. 15 large metalcuts (one a
replacement), all illuminated most likely
in the Hardouyn Workshop
Paris, Germain Hardouyn, c. 1534
(almanac for 1534-1546)

Small gem of a book, printed on vellum
and carefully illuminated in vibrant colors. Measuring only 3
¼ x 2 inches, this miniature Parisian Book of Hours, survives
as a charming example of one of the most important types of
books printed in sixteenth-century Paris. Its metalcuts show
off the skill of the printer, whose shop was especially known
for illuminated Books of Hours, and the illuminator. This is
a very rare imprint, not listed in any of the standard sources,
and almost certainly a unicum.

BOH 198/ TM 1189 $25,000

 18.
 The Printed Book of Hours For Renaissance
 Tastes
 Printed Book of Hours (use of Rome)
 In Latin and French, imprint on paper
 France (Paris), Thielman Kerver, 1556 [almanac
 for 1556-1563]. 18 large woodcuts and 1 small
 woodcut

 Printing made it easy to duplicate images and
 pass them down to successive generations. This
 attractive Horae, printed more than a century
 after Gutenberg, offers a fascinating glimpse of
commerce in the print industry and the evolution of artistic taste. Thielman Kerver the Younger inherited his
famous father’s material. He also bought the designs (or woodblocks) from the printer Geoffroy Tory, favored
by the royal court. This edition combines old-style Paris taste of the elder Kerver with Tory’s innovative Italo-
Flemish designs.

BOH 68/ TM 1077 USD $32,000

UNUSUAL TECHNOLOGIES

19.
Pictures (and Text) Woven in Silk
Livre de Prières Tissé d’après les enluminures des manuscrits du XIVe au XVIe siècle (Book of Prayers woven after illuminations
in manuscripts of the fourteenth and fifteenth century)
In Latin and French, illustrated book woven on silk
Lyon, R. P. J. Hervier, designer; J.A. Henry, fabricator, for A. Roux, 1886-1887
5 large illustrations, every page with a decorative border

This unorthodox Book of Prayers is entirely machine-woven of gray and black silk. Faced with coming up with
a submission for the world’s fair of 1889, artisans in the textile capital of Lyons programed Jacquard looms
with hundreds of punch-cards. So difficult was the project that this is the only illustrated woven book ever
produced. Competition at the fair was unusually stiff – the main attraction was, after all, the Eiffel Tower! The
woven book nevertheless won a Grand Prize. Its status as a luxurious gift object is very clear in this example,
still in its original presentation box, with a white gilt morocco binding signed by E. & A. Lesort, a firm that
specialized books for wedding gifts.

BOH 166 USD $55,000

20.
Stenciled Book (Elevated with Illuminated Initials)
Choir Book with Selected Texts for the Mass and Office
In Latin with some Italian, illuminated stenciled book on paper with musical notation
Italy, c. 1767

Books made with the aid of stencils occupy an interesting, and relatively unstudied, mid-ground between
manuscripts and printing with movable type. This is an unusually luxurious example that includes richly
illuminated initials, executed by hand. It was certainly made for someone in or close to the Piarist Order (the
“Order of the Pious Schools”), likely to celebrate the sanctification of the founder of the order, St. Joseph
Calasanctius, who was canonized in 1767. Bound in a gold-tooled armorial binding, this handsome book was
surely appropriate for such a special occasion.

TM 994 USD $18,000

 Please view our short videos for all manuscripts in this catalogue 
 Full descriptions and photographs available online

 www.textmanuscripts.com www.lesenluminures.com

 contact: lauralight@lesenluminures.com