Search Results: Illuminated Manuscripts from The Manhattan Rare Book Company

Tours, France: np, 1500. first edition. nb. Very Good. EXTRAORDINARY ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT LEAF FEATURING A MINIATURE OF THE ENTOMBMENT BY A FOLLOWER OF JEAN BOURDICHON AND JEAN POYER. C.1500. A stunning leaf from a Book of Hours by an illuminator working in Tours, France, c.1500, in the style of master illuminators Jean Poyer (fl. 1483-1503) and Jean Bourdichon (c.1459-1521) of the celebrated "School of Tours". The Entombment, shown in a periscopic view, features figures rendered with a remarkable level of detail and superb artistic quality. The scene is shown at night, with a dark background providing a striking contrast highlighting the colorful fabrics and gold highlights of the subjects. The magnificent border features instruments of the Passion - cross, crown of thorns, dice, etc. - painted in gold on a rich burgundy background. The text is that of the opening compline of the Long Hours of the Cross (Hours of the Passion). Introduced with a highly decorated "C", it begins with "Converte… Read More

France: np, 1480. First edition. Framed. Very Good. STUNNING FULL-PAGE MINIATURE OF SAINT BARNABAS FROM A 15TH-CENTURY BOOK OF HOURS. The full-page miniature on vellum, with fine detail and rich color, depicts the prophet dressed in a blue robe with a gold cape, (presumably) in the act of preaching with (as he is usually shown) a book cradled in his left hand. He stands before columns and arches revealing a mountainous landscape and blue sky in the distance. The image is framed by gold pillars and with “Sancte Barnaba” written in gold on a blue background in the base. Saint Barnabas, “son of consolation... stands first on the list of prophets and teachers of the church at Antioch” (Easton’s Bible Dictionary). The reverse, with one large two-line decorated initial, contains the end of the text dedicated to Saint Matthias, with the heading for Saint Barnabas. Judging from the style, the leaf appears to be from a French Book of Hours,… Read More

France, 1500. First edition. Custom presentation folder. Very Good. MANUSCRIPT LEAF (FRANCE, C.1500) DEPICTING BOTH ST JOHN THE BAPTIST AND ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST. From the Suffrages to Saints section of a circa fifteenth-century French Book of Hours, these consecutive appeals to St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist capture a moment of personal devotion to two foremost figures in Western European medieval artistry. The two miniatures depict their respective saints in natural settings with halos, and both figures are edged in gold. John the Baptist, bearded, is seen in his cilice and draped in a burgundy robe-holding his traditional attribute of a lamb and flag. On the reverse, John the Evangelist stands with a chalice from which emerges winged dragon. A substantial three-quarter border of liquid gold on each side of the folio contains multitudes of foliage among acanthus leaves; with the recto displaying a winged drollery sticking out its tongue. Both miniatures are framed by realistic… Read More

Paris: np. 1st Edition. No Binding. Fine. Striking vellum leaf with large, colorful miniature of the classic scene of Job on the dunghill. On recto: Two-part miniature featuring Job. In the center of the top image is Job, wearing only a loincloth, on a dunghill, with three men dressed in lavish robes on his left. In the background is a castle surrounded by greenery; in the distance, there are buildings on a hill, painted in shades of blue. The bottom image features the Devil pursuing Job. Golden ornate pillars border the two scenes. Top image measures 95 x 60 mm (approx. 3.7 x 2.4 inches); bottom image measures 20 x 60 mm (approx. 0.8 x 2.4 inches). Miniature (including border) measures 135 x 95 mm (approx. 5.3 x 2.4 inches) in its entirety. One illuminated three-line foliate initial (the letter "D") in burnished gold, blue, and green. The text is from Psalm 114. On verso: 22 lines of text written in Latin gothic script with brown ink on vellum. 9 single-line illuminated initials… Read More

Germany: np, 1491. First edition. Framed. Very Good. LARGE HISTORIATED INITIAL DEPICTING A POPE, FINELY ILLUMINATED IN GOLD AND RICH COLOUR. Reading from a lectern, the Pope is depicted in full regalia, wearing the distinctive triple crown, or triregnum, and holding the crucifix-topped crosier. His robe is a deep blue and likely pigmented by lapis lazuli-a mineral so valuable in Medieval Europe that is typically reserved for the Virgin Mary and occasionally referred to as blue gold. A vista of green hillsides and blue mountains is seen from a window within the miniature. Noteworthy are the multiple textiles displayed in the room, including mauve drapery as well as the lectern cloth whose embroidered design is emulated here in gold filagree. Highly intricate, monochromatic green acanthine detail adorns the body of the initial. If such handiwork does not alone merit admiration, the gilding of the initial's field as well as that of the Pope's halo showcase excellent tooling-the use of metal stamps to… Read More

c.s.xv(ex)/s.xvi(in). Very Good. VIVID DEPICTION OF ICONIC SCENE FROM THE LIFE OF GREGORY THE GREAT. This richly-illustrated manuscript leaf from a late medieval book of hours depicts the miraculous Mass of St Gregory, during which Christ appeared to the congregation during a Mass of which Gregory the Great was the celebrant. The folio begins with the conclusion of the Collect for St. Nicholas, with the bottom of the page announcing the following section "De sancto gregorio" [On Saint Gregory]. The petition to Gregory that follows on the verso is accompanied by a magnificent miniature of one of the most esteemed subjects in late medieval art: the Mass of St Gregory. Manifested in a number of varying accounts, the legend maintains that, upon a congregant doubting the presence of Christ during the preparing of Communion (sometimes identified as an elderly parishioner and sometimes as the "doubting deacon" to Gregory's side), Christ appeared at the altar in the form of the Man of Sorrows - thus… Read More