Search Results: Illuminated 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

SUBSTANTIAL BOOK OF HOURS IN GOOD CONDITION WITH MANY LARGE AND SMALL MINIATURES. Illuminated manuscript on parchment, in Latin, Southern Netherlands, Ghent or Bruges, c. 1460-1470. Dimensions 179 x 124 mm., 118 folios, complete, written in brown ink in a textualis formata bookhand on 19 lines, one-line initials, 2- to 3- line champ initials, fourteen 6-line initials, one HISTORIATED INITIAL (5-lines), ELEVEN SMALL MINIATURES (6-lines), FOURTEEN FULL-PAGE MINIATURES, 28 FULL BORDERS. BINDING: nineteenth-century dark brown calf, gold-tooled, contains words in gilt (mostly rubbed out) MARIE (front board) and ROSARIE (back board), gauffered edges. ILLUSTRATION: Painted in the style of the Masters of the Beady Eyes, this Book of Hours is distinguished by its unusual and enigmatic details. The artist is eager to represent architectural and structural details, which sometimes lead to curious spatial arrangements and juxtapositions. PROVENANCE: The painting style situates the production of this book in Ghent… Read More

SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY ILLUMINATED DOCUMENT FOR A SPANISH NOBLE FAMILY. In Spanish, illuminated manuscript on parchment, Spain (Valladolid), May 8, 1622. Dimensions 310 x 220 mm., 87 folios complete, some leaf and quire signatures, prickings visible, written in a humanist bookhand in 28 long lines, headings in gold capitals on grounds of blue and dark red, TWO FULL-PAGE MINIATURES. BINDING: Modern (19-20th century?) reddish purple velvet binding over wooden boards, with a center ornament and border impressed in the velvet, two ornamental silver clasps, housed in a protective box. TEXT: This Carta Executoria, granted on behalf of King Philip IV of Spain (1605-1665), authenticates the nobility of Juan de Nurueña y Alava, thereby granting him exemption from taxes along with other perks. Our document is the formal copy that was commissioned and retained by the family, copied in a beautiful script, and lavishly illuminated. ILLUSTRATION: Two full-page miniatures. f. 2v,Immaculate Conception of Mary with the… Read More

ILLUMINATED MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPT IN LATIN ON PARCHMENT, Northern Italy, c. 1440-1470. 203 x 153 mm. 70 folios, complete (collation, i-vii10), remnants of quire and leaf signatures, flourished vertical catchwords, written in a humanist minuscule on 30 long lines (justification, 147-149 x 95-100 mm), horizontal lines ruled very lightly in ink, single vertical bounding lines ruled in lead, prickings remain in top and bottom margins on some leaves, rubrics and paragraph marks in pale red, two-line red or blue initials with contrasting pen flourishes in violet or red, two five-line blue initials, ff. 29v and 35, infilled and on square grounds of elaborate penwork; f. 64v, seven-line polished GOLD INITIAL with white vinestem decoration extending along twenty lines of text and into the upper margin, infilled and edged in deep red and blue with numerous tiny silver dots; f. 1, five-line polished GOLD HISTORIATED INITIAL of St. Jerome, bearded and dressed in red, standing before a Crucifix, with a hilly… 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: A fascinating example of the "life" of a book. In Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, Southern Netherlands (Bruges?), c. 1430-1450; Spain (Granada?), 1534. Dimensions 125 x 85 mm., iii (modern paper) + 97 + iii (modern paper) folios on parchment (missing an uncertain number of leaves), made in two campaigns: the first, ff. 1-46, copied in seventeen long lines in a formal gothic book hand, the second, ff. 46-97, copied by another scribe in a rounded gothic book hand on sixteen long lines. SIX ILLUMINATED INITIALS WITH FULL BORDERS, FOUR HISTORIATED INITIALS, SEVENTEEN SMALL MINIATURES, and ONE INITIAL WITH BORDER. BINDING: very attractive Spanish modern Morocco binding with binder's stamp of Antolín Palomino, one of the most important bookbinders of the twentieth century, and the founder of a bookbinding school in Madrid. TEXT: A fascinating example of the "life" of a book, this manuscript began as a Prayer Book written and decorated in mid-15th century Bruges. About a… 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