AN ILLUMINATED VELLUM MANUSCRIPT LEAF WITH A PLEASING HISTORIATED INITIAL, FROM AN EARLY BIBLE IN LATIN.

TEXT FROM THE BOOK OF SOPHONIAS (i.e., ZEPHANIAH).

(13th century). 216 x 146 mm (8 1/2 x 5 3/4"). Double column, 49 lines of text, in a fine, small gothic book hand.

Capitals struck with red, headings and chapter numbers in red and blue, verso with two two-line initials in red or blue with contrasting penwork extensions, recto with one three-line initial "D" in colors and burnished gold with a center design of white vines and blossoms, one three-line initial "S" in colors and burnished gold with a three-line extension from its lower corner (the bottom compartment of the capital containing the tiny gray and green head of a grotesque), and A FOUR-LINE HISTORIATED INITIAL "U" SHOWING THE PROPHET RECEIVING A MESSAGE ON A SCROLL FROM THE ALMIGHTY, the scene on a burnished gold ground, a two-line extension curving up from its upper left corner. With two brief contemporaneous marginal annotations. Repaired quarter-inch tear to fore edge, fore margin of the recto with one half-inch and one three-inch unusual rope-like early doodle in light brown ink and faint wash, a couple of minor smudges to the very ample margins, but an excellent specimen in all important respects, the initials completely intact and the overall effect quite pleasing.

The text here contains the end of the book of Habakkuk (including its final chapter, begun with the three-line "D") and almost the entirety of the brief book of Sophonias, who came to warn the Jews of the consequences of falling into idolatry. "Sophonias" is the Greek name of the Hebrew prophet Zephaniah, and it is under the latter name that the book appears in Protestant Bibles. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, Sophonias/Zephaniah was "the ninth of the twelve Minor Prophets of the Canon of the Old Testament, [who] preached and wrote in the second half of the seventh century B.C." One of the fiercest of the prophets, Sophonias utters the angry Lord's threats to destroy both Judah and Assyria in order to cleanse the lands of sin. With the long veil of a seer hanging down his back, the prophet here lifts a forefinger in an admonishing gesture. The gold background is limited in the upper right corner by a wavy line, over which a heavenly hand hangs down a long scroll in front of the prophet to inspire his words. (CBM1003)