IM-9696: (405x270mm – 16 x 10 ¾’’) Original leaf from an exceptionally large folio size medieval manuscript Bible. Two columns of fifty lines, written in attractive gothic book hand. Rubricated chapter numbers, initials & marginalia in red & blue. Five three-line initials in pink or blue with white tracery on a pink or blue ground with a floral interior of pink, orange, blue & burnished gold - extending the length of the margins in blue, orange, gold, pink & white & terminating in ivy leaves. One whimsical creature on each side adorns the top of a bar extending from initials. One hand drawn in the margin notes a particularly significant part of the text (at Isaiah 14:13).
France (Paris), c. 1275-1300 - Dominican ownership. Ex Otto Ege Collection (purchased Parke-Bernet 1948). Sister leaves are #14 in Ege Portfolio of 50 Medieval Manuscripts. Currently over 200 leaves from this Bible are in the Schoyen Collection. (For sister leaves see Maggs 1990 Bulletin 15, #62 and Pirages Catalog 54, #6).
The first illuminated “E” begins Isaiah 12:1 – 16:8 “Et dices…” (And thou shalt say in that day: I will give thanks to thee, O Lord, for thou wast angry with me: thy wrath is turned away, & thou hast comforted me. Behold, God is my savior, I will deal confidently, & will not fear: because the Lord is my strength, & my praise, & he is become my salvation. You shall draw waters with joy out of the savior’s fountains: And you shall say in that day: Praise ye the Lord, & call upon his name: make his works known among the people: remember that his name is high. Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath done great things: show this forth in all the earth...). |