Search Results: French Manuscripts from Les Enluminures

ELEGANT MANUSCRIPT CONTAINING TWO WORKS OF SPIRITUAL AND MORAL EDIFICATION IN FRENCH TRANSLATION. Illuminated manuscript on parchment, in French, France, after 1482, c. 1490. Dimensions 274 x 175 mm. 70 folios, written in a Gothic bâtarde bookhand, 18 large initials parti-colored in red and/or blue, inserted leaf in first quire with FULL-PAGE HERALDIC COMPOSITION IN GOLD, SILVER, RED, BLUE AND BLACK. BINDING: Bound in modern nineteenth-century blue velvet over wooden boards, pink paper pastedowns and endleaves, edges gilt. TEXT: Manuscript contains two works that reflect the spirituality of fifteenth-century Carthusians and their quest for the contemplative life. The first text, Sept fruits de la tribulation, is known in only five extant manuscript and is still unedited. A free French version, probably dating from the fifteenth century, of either the longer Latin Tractatus de tribulacione, or an abridged adaptation of the French Livre de tribulacion. The second text, Miroir d'or de l'ame pecheresse,… Read More

ADMINISTRATIVE DOCUMENTS PROVIDING INSIGHTS INTO THE DAILY OPERATIONS OF A CATHEDRAL COMMUNITY IN LATE FIFTEENTH AND EARLY SIXTEENTH CENTURY FRANCE. In Latin, manuscript on paper, France (Arles), late 15th-early 16th century (1476-1503). Dimensions c. 310-315 × 225-230 mm (but ff. 139-248: c. 300 × 215 mm.), 252 folios on paper, a dozen watermarks, missing eleven leaves, written in multiple hands including a Gothic semi-hybrida and several very current Gothic cursiva hands, some with Secretary features, in 48-50 long lines. BINDING: early stiff vellum binding, detached at left board to reveal three bands, with two undyed ties of woven linen ribbon threaded through each board. TEXT: this codex holds records of 'Arrentements,' a form of lease, of the Chapter of the Cathédrale Saint-Trophime d'Arles covering c.1476-c.1503. Providing insights into the daily operations of a cathedral community in late fifteenth and early sixteenth century France, this treasure trove of administrative documents will be… Read More

BOOK DESCRIPTION: A true medieval bestseller AND the most widely copied work of secular literature of the Middle Ages. In Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, Northern France (Anchin Abbey?), dated 1422. Dimensions: 218 x 150 mm., 145 folios on paper, three watermarks, complete, written in brown ink in gothic cursive script, four large initials in red and brown inks and blue paint decorated with dragons, soldiers and flowers. BINDING: contemporary binding of limp vellum reusing an act of the Antipope John XXIII dated 1415 in Constance, overall in good condition. TEXT: copied and almost certainly decorated (in an exuberant fashion) by a young scribe who inserted his name in multiple colophons, Pierre Toullet. The text was an essential schoolbook throughout the Middle Ages and this copy was certainly used for study. It includes an anonymous commentary and interlinear glosses, making its monastic provenance particularly interesting. PROVENANCE: The entire manuscript was copied by Pierre Toullet in… Read More

ILLUMINATED CALENDAR FROM A PARISIAN PRAYER BOOK. In Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, France (likely Paris), c. 1400-1420. Dimensions 155 x 107 mm. 12 folios on parchment, (collation, one quire of twelve leaves), ruled in plummet, written in a gothic quadrata bookhand in black and red ink on 17 long lines, with 12 illuminated initials in burnished goldleaf on grounds of blue and purple with white tracery, with ivy leaf foliate and floral ornament in goldleaf extending into margin in the upper left quadrant of the leaves.
BINDING:Modern binding in quarter black Morocco. TEXT: Calendars from medieval manuscripts are rich sources for anyone who wants to learn about the medieval world. Without today's modern devices, they were how people knew what day it was and calculated the special feast days, such as Easter, that were so important to religious life. Most feasts were written in black (or dark brown) ink, whereas the more important feasts appear in red (hence, our term "red-letter day,"… Read More

MANUSCRIPT FOR CARTHUSIAN MONKS ON HOW TO OBSERVE THE LITURGY. In Latin, decorated manuscript on paper, Southern France (Méounes-les-Montrieux), November 15, 1544.Dimensions 145 x 90 mm. 96 folios on paper, watermark: a cross on a mount (unidentified), complete, written in a gothic cursive bookhand in a single column on 25 lines, red rubrics and initials. BINDING: modern half binding in cream-colored parchment over pasteboards, marbled papers on covers, pastedowns and flyleaves, five raised bands on spine, in excellent condition. TEXT: A handbook for the Carthusian liturgy for new priests. This is a manuscript about the Mass and Divine Office, setting forth the rules that governed the complex liturgical life of a Carthusian monastery. The information it contains is thus very different than the contents of much more common liturgical manuscripts like Missals or Breviaries. How widely this text was disseminated within the Carthusian Order remains a question for further research. PROVENANCE: copied at… Read More

A BEAUTIFUL ILLUMINATED COPY OF THE COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL BY HAIMO OF AUXERRE COMMISSIONED BY Jean II Budé. Illuminated manuscript on parchment, in Latin, France, Paris, c. 1460-1480 and c. 1500. Dimensions 278 x 105 mm. 193 folios, catchwords, guide words, numerous small initial in red and blue, TEN LARGE DECORATED INITIALS in blue or red and gold accented with foliage and flowers, LARGE FRONTISPIECE MINIATURE with acanthus leaf border and bas-de-page the arms of Jean Budé. BINDING: Late eighteenth-century red morocco attributed to Bozerian, with fitted red slipcase. TEXT: This manuscript contains the commentary on the Epistles of Paul by Haimo of Auxerre apart from Romans and 1-2 Corinthians which never intended to be included. Haimo of Auxerre taught at the school of the Benedictine house of Saint-Germain at Auxerre in the ninth-century and is the author of many widely-read commentaries on the Song of Songs, Revelations, and the Minor Prophets, as well as of many sermons. He was best… Read More

BOOK DESCRIPTION: classic example of an illuminated Gothic Psalter from Paris. In Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, France (Paris), c. 1230-1250. Dimensions: 122 x 84 mm., 211 folios, lacking two leaves from the calendar, otherwise apparently complete, written in a good gothic bookhand in eighteen long lines by two scribes. SIXTEEN CALENDAR ROUNDELS depicting zodiac signs and occupations of the months and EIGHT HISTORIATED INITIALS by the Soissons Atelier. BINDING: bound in old red velvet, flat spine, green silk doublures, blue speckled edges. TEXT: this manuscript is an example of an illuminated Gothic Psalter from Paris, from the calendar with vignettes of the Labors of the Month and Zodiac and the historiated initials illustrating the major liturgical divisions of the Psalms, to the exuberant penwork line fillers and playful marginal decoration, replete with fish, dogs, dragons, and birds. PROVENANCE: Although written and illuminated in Paris in the second quarter of the thirteenth… Read More