1. The Bible

Binding: Barking, Essex, 1988, red morocco gilt folding case by Aquarius.

Context: From the late Medieval binding of the Sacramentary, Reichenau, 9th c., Donaueschingen MS 191. Parts of 45 more ff. of the present MS survive, some only in offset: 2 ff. in Darmstadt, Landes- und Hochschulbibliothek, MSS 895 (offset) and 3140; 16 ff. in Fulda, Landesbibliothek, MSS Aa and 1a; 4 ff. in St. Paul in Carinthia; 20 ff. in Stuttgart, Landesbibliothek.

Provenance: 1. Benedictine Abbey of Reichenau, Konstanz, Germany (ca. 830-late 13th c.); 2. Konstanz Cathedral, Germany (late 13th c.-ca. 1800); 3. Joseph, Freiherr von Lassberg (1770-1855); 4. Prince Karl Egon III, Donaueschingen (1820-1892); 5. Fürstliche Fürstenbergische Hofbibliothek, Donaueschingen, B I, 3 (1892-1982), present owner Prince Joachim Egon Fürstenberg; 7. Sotheby's 21.6.1982:1; 8. Winsor T. Savery, Houston, Texas (Pax ex Innovatione Foundation, Vaduz, Liechtenstein); 9. acquired via Sotheby's/Quaritch.

Commentary: Oldest witness in Latin of Ezekiel 20, oldest European Latin leaf in private hands. "Vetus Latina" is the old Latin translations of the Bible that preceded the Vulgate. No complete MS is preserved. Only scattered fragments have survived, and all except this MS are in public collections. E.A. Lowe: "An expert uncial of the finest and oldest type." CLA VIII:1174.

Published: Ernst Würthwein: The Text of the Old Testament. London 1979/80, pp. 88-89, 200-201. Mentioned in: E.A. Lowe: Codices Latini Antiquiores, vol. VIII. Oxford 1959, p. 43, no. 1174.

Exhibited: NorFa - Nordic network in Qumran studies. Symposium in Oslo 3-5. June 2004.

See also MS 030, Bible: Matthew, Italy, 6th c.

Binding: Italy, 19th c., brown quarter morocco gilt, sewn on 5 cords.

Context: Vols. 1 and 2 of a 4 vols. Bible. Vols. 3 and 4 are lost.

Provenance: 1. Benedictine Abbey of Santa Cecilia, Roma (9th-18th c.); 2. Cardinal Antonio Saverio Gentili, Roma (1681-1753); 3. Principe del Drago, Roma; 4. Marchese Campana (until 1860); 5. Sotheby's 20.6.1860:130; 6. Boone, London (1860-1862); 7. Guglielmo Libri (1803-1869), (1862); 8. Sotheby's 25.7.1862:70; 9. Edwin Tross (1862-); 10. Enoch T. Carson, Cincinnati, Ohio, Cat. 1880:764; 11. Hamilton Cole (until 1890); 12. Bangs & Co, New York 7.4.1890:30; 13. Alfred Tredway White (1890-1919); 14. The Brooklyn Museum, New York (1919-1987); 15. Sotheby's 23.6.1987:72.

Binding: Liesborn, Germany, late 15th c., upper cover of thick oak board with recessed carved relief of the Crucifixion and the 4 Evangelists' symbols, gesso with polychromy and a punch and gilded decoration, lower cover of reddish-brown sheep over thick wooden board, blindtooling to be assigned to the "Hauptwerkstatt" bindery at Liesborn, 5 brass bosses, sewn on 4 thongs.

Provenance: 1. Nunnery of St. Symeon, Liesborn, Germany (10th c.-1131); 2. Benedictine Abbey of SS. Cosmas, Damian and Symeon, Liesborn, Germany (1131-1803); 3. University Library at Münster, Germany (1803-1826); 4. Professor Ludwig Tross, Hamm, Westphalia (1826-1830); 5. Sir Thomas Phillipps, Cheltenham, Ph 4735 (1830-1872); 6. Katharine, John, Thomas & Alan Fenwick, Cheltenham (1872-); 7. Dr. A.S.W. Rosenbach, Philadelphia (1930's- 1950); 8. Countess Estelle Doheny, Camarillo, California (1950-1958); 9. St. John's Seminary, Camarillo, The Archdiocese of Los Angeles (1958-1987); 10. Christie's 2.12.1987:139.

Commentary: A signed Carolingian Gospels with a rather unique dedicatory poem and in a 15th c. binding, carved to substitute the original gold or silver and ivory treasure binding, which probably was lost during war-time. The only MS surviving from the period Liesborn was a Nunnery (ca. 800-1131). It is listed in the library catalogue from 1219, last mentioned in the 1795 catalogue. Further there is a 14th or 15th c. ownership inscription of the Abbey.

Exhibited: 1. Conference of European National Librarians, Oslo. Sept. 1994; 2. Museum Abtei Liesborn, 30. March 11. Mai 2003; 3. Klostersturm und Fürsten Revolution, in Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Dortmund, 24. May - 17. August 2003.

Binding: Augustinian Abbey of St. John the Baptist, Rebdorf, Germany, 15th c., blindtooled pigskin over bevelled wooden boards, sewn on 3 cords, 7 contemporary knotted leather thumb tabs, upper cover lettered "Psalterium" with pressmark "E.1." in two places, top edges lettered "Rebdorf", 2 later brass clasps and catches, front pastedown German 15th c. liturgical MS in a large formal Gothic book script of high grade, rear pastedown German 12th c. MS from a Service-book in Romanesque book script with diastematic (heightened) staffless St. Gallen neumes.

Provenance: 1. Augustinian Abbey of St. John the Baptist, Rebdorf, Germany (1156?-1803); 2. English or French owner (early 19th c.); 3. Edmund Hunt Dring, Surrey (ca. 1920-1928); 4. Edmund Maxwell Dring, Surrey (1928-1990), acquired via Quaritch from his estate according to his wish.

Commentary: An exceptionally early German glossed MS, of an unusual lay-out and quality. The exemplar used lacked a gathering. This early it was not possible to find another one with Anselm of Laon's gloss. The Psalter text was copied, leaving space for the gloss to be added later, which, however, never happened. The Psalms with the Great Gloss of Petrus Lombardus, see MS 258.

Exhibited: Oslo Katedralskole 850 år, Jubileumsutstilling 10. – 14. March 2003.

Binding: England, 1900, red-brown morocco gilt over oak boards, sides blindtooled in interlaced design, sewn on 5 cords, by Douglas Cockerell, silver catches and clasps on plaited leather thongs.

Provenance: 1. Erwin Rosenthal, London (-1942); 2. James P.R. Lyell, MS 49 (1942-1949); 3. Quaritch, London (ca. 1950); 4. Harry Lawrence Bradfer-Lawrence, MS 22 (-1965); 5. Quaritch, London (1965-1983); 6. Lawrence Witten, Connecticut (1983-1989); 7. Sotheby's 5.12.1989:76.

Commentary: The full-page miniature is related both in iconography and in its near unique inclusion in a New Testament, with that of the Astor New Testament in the J. Paul Getty Museum, MS Ludwig I.5.

Exhibited: Oslo Katedralskole 850 år, Jubileumsutstilling 10. - 14. March 2003.

Binding: Vol. 2: England, 1908, dark blue morocco gilt, sewn on 5 cords, by W.H. Smith.

Vol. 3: Geraardsbergen Abbey, Cambrai, Belgium, 15th c. oak boards sewn on 5 thongs, spine covered with tanned blindtooled leather.

Context: Vols. 2 and 3 of a lectern Bible in 3 vols. Vol. 1 is probably lost. Psalms and the Gospels were in separate smaller books, as usual in this period. About 65 leaves containing Acts and the Epistles (but not the Revelation) were bound at the end of vol. 3 in 1985 when they were dismembered and widely scattered among European collections. Of these: The Schøyen Collection MS 6/2, 10 leaves, Roger de Kesel, Deurle, Belgium, 1 leaf.

Provenance: 1. Benedictine Abbey of St. Adrian, Geraardsbergen, Cambrai, Belgium (ca. 1200-1796). Vol. 2: 2. Franz Trau, Wien (-1905); 3. Gilhofer & Ranschburg, Wien 27.10.1905:8; 4. Quaritch, London (1905-1910); 5. C.H. St. John Hornby, London, MS 15 (1910-1946); 6. Major J.R. Abbey, London, J.A. 3175 (1946-1975); 7. Sotheby's 25. 3.1975:2943; 8. British Rail Pension Fund (1975-88); 9. J. Paul Getty Jr., London (1988-89); 10. H. Tenschert cat. XXV(1990):5.

Vol. 3: 2. Private collector, Switzerland (until 1984); 3. Dr. Walter Eichenberger, Beinwil am See, Switzerland (1984-1986); 4. Sotheby's 24.6.1986:78..

Commentary: Colophon at the end of vol. 2 giving the name of Geraardsbergen Abbey: "Liber beati Adriani de Geraldi Monte -". Further two deadly curses, against those who might steal the Bible: "Si quis eum vi vel furto abstulerit aut consenserit averti, anathema sit fiat fiat. Amen" and "Si quis furetur mala morte tunc morietur". Vols. 2 and 3 of this monumental lectern Bible have been separated, probably since the dissolution of the Geraardsbergen Abbey in 1796, and were luckily reunited in The Schøyen Collection on 2 Oct. 1990.

Exhibited: 1. Conference of European National Librarians, Oslo. Sept. 1994. 2. "Preservation for access: Originals and copies". On the occasion of the 1st International Memory of the World Conference, organized by the Norwegian Commission for UNESCO and the National Library of Norway, at the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, 3 June - 14 July 1996.

See also MS 692, The Ellesmere Bible, England, 1220-1240

Provenance: 1. Vich Cathedral, Spain (13th c.); 2. Capuchin Convent, Vich, Spain (16th c.); 3. King Charles IV of Spain (1788-1808); 4. King Joseph Bonaparte (1808-1813); 5. Artur Wellesley, first Duke of Wellington (1813-1852); 6. The Dukes of Wellington, Apsley House and Stratfield Saye (1852-1979); 7. Sotheby's 19.6.1979:41; 8. Sotheby's 7.12.1982:50; 9. Sotheby's 20.6.1989:35.

Commentary: Joseph Bonaparte (1768-1844), brother of Napoleon, King of Spain (1808-1813), acquired this MS together with 9 other MSS, 220 paintings and a Sevres breakfast service from the Spanish Royal collections in the Palacio de Oriente. He was engaged and defeated by the Spanish and English armies under the command of Arthur Wellesley (created first Duke of Wellington in 1814) at the battle of Vitoria on 21 June 1813. In the confusion, two British officers overtook the coach of King Joseph and fired shots through the window. Joseph leapt from the far side of the coach and escaped on horseback leaving his treasure behind. After the war the Duke of Wellington wrote to the Spanish king and asked whether he should return the MSS. The king, however, wrote back and said Wellington should keep them as a symbol of the newly established peaceful relations between Spain and England. With a 16th c. note against stealing the Bible which is described as being of great value, "No se atreva nadie a s... ninguna oja desta Biblia por ser de mucha estimación".

Binding: Probably Belgium, 19th c., dark blue velvet over earlier or possibly medieval wooden boards, sewn on 6 bands.

Provenance: 1. Dominican House of St. Jacques, Paris ; 2. Jean de Meyer (until 1869); 3. Camille Vyt, Ghent 2.11.1869:1; 3. Sotheby's ?.?.?:119; 5. William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor, Cliveden (1848-1919), MS.A.11; 6. 2nd Vicount Astor, Cliveden (1919-1966); 7. The Astor deposit at the Bodleian Library, Oxford (1966-1988); 8. Sotheby's 21.6.1988:50.

Binding: England, early 19th c., blue morocco gilt with light blue silk linings, sewn on 3 cords.

Provenance: 1. Thomas Trussel, Middlesex (1331) and Northamptonsshire (1344); 2. William Lighfield, monk of Benedictine Priory of Christ Church, Canterbury (14th c.); 3. Benedictine Priory of Christ Church, Canterbury (14th c. - ca. 1536); 4. William Cockes (16th c.); 5. Henry Munster; 6. Sotheby´s 12.12.1967:19; 7. Sanders, Oxford; 8. Christie´s 9.12.1981:231; 9. Heribert Tenschert, Rotthalmünster.

MS in Latin on vellum, Pisa, Italy, ca. 1310, 500 ff. (complete), 31x23 cm, 2 columns, (20x15 cm), 44 lines in a round Gothic book script of medium quality, signed by the scribe Phylippus on f. 223, red or blue initials with contrasting penwork flourishing in lilac or red, 95 illuminated initials with bar borders of cusped foliage or ivy-leaf sprays, 8 coats of arms in the Genesis initial, marginal notes in a 14th c. Italian loose cursive script.

Binding: England, early 19th c., blue morocco gilt with light blue silk linings, sewn on 3 cords.

Context: The 8 coats of arms of the initial for Genesis are: 1. the arms of the Church or the Papacy; 2. the arms of the Empire, presumably Emperor Henry VII (1308-1313); 3. the arms of Pope Clement V (1305-1314); 4. arms representing France; 5. the arms of the Putignanesi family in Pisa; 6. The Gaetani arms borne by pope Boniface VIII (1294-1302); 7. arms of the Gaetani family of Pisa; 8. arms of the counts of Spanheim, used by Lenfant de Spanheim. The presence of the arms of both the Empire and the Church may be an optimistic reflection of the declared intention of Henry VII to settle the discord between the Guelph and Ghibelline factions when he entered Italy in the autumn of 1310.

Provenance: 11. Benedetto(?) Gaetani, canon of Pisa (with the arms of Gaetani family and the Papacy) (ca. 1310-); 2. Scholar at the University of Padua (14th c.); 3. Quaritch Rough List 88(1899?):652; 4. Sotheby's 19.5.1936:9; 5. Otto F. Ege, Cleveland, Ohio (-1951); 6. Sotheby's 11.12.1984:41; 7. Dörling, Hamburg, Auktion 133, 29.11.1989:8; 8. Sam Fogg, London.

Commentary: Colophon on f. 223: Finito libro referamus gratias christo. Qui scribsit scribat semper cum domino vivat. Vivat incelis Phylippus nomine felix. During the 13th c. the production of Bibles was so large, that the demand was covered for all of 14th c. and the beginning of 15th c. The making of a major Bible, like the present, in the 14th c. is most unusual. The elegant and unusual illumination has no parallel in other known MSS.

Binding: Probably Belgium, 19th c., dark blue velvet over earlier or possibly medieval wooden boards, sewn on 6 bands.

Provenance: 1. Franciscan Nunnery of the Virgin and St. Francis, without Aldgate, London (ca. 1330- 1539); 2. William Wraye, England (16th c.); 3. Sotheby's 18.6.1991:77.

Commentary: The illumination of the historiated initials with the exaggerated postures of the figures can be compared with those of the Walter of Milemete manuscripts made in London ca. 1326-27, and the borders can be compared with those of the London Liber Custumarum of ca. 1321 (cf. L.M. Sandler. Gothic Manuscripts 1285-1385. 1986, fig. 182 and 221).