TEXT FROM A BOOK OF SERMONS.

A MEDIEVAL ILLUMINATED VELLUM MANUSCRIPT LEAF, RECOVERED FROM A BINDING.

(France(?): mid-13th century). 321 x 230 mm. (12 5/8 x 9"). Double column, 39 lines, in a dense gothic hand.

Rubric in red. Recovered from a binding, and so the vellum a bit creased and soiled (though less soiled than is often seen), some tiny remnants of later printed text from reuse, but the text almost entirely legible, and the leaf surprisingly well preserved overall, with its very substantial margins fully intact.

Once serving as a cover for a later book, this leaf seems to come from an unpublished collection of sermons incorporating biblical excerpts such as Revelation 12:1 ("A great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars"). The lack of decoration and simple rubrication suggest that the parent manuscript was made for utilitarian purposes at a time when a need for such books increased, due in part to the rise of mendicant orders like the Franciscans and Dominicans. Members of these orders rejected traditional monastic isolation and instead settled in urban centers to preach and minister to the people. It is unusual (and very lucky) that this leaf survives completely intact, as Medieval manuscripts used in later bindings were often cut down in size to make smaller covers or used as waste paper for pastedowns or other binding elements. Considerable rewarding research remains to be done to identify the content here, along with its various religious and social contexts. (ST20837e)

Price: $950.00