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WITH TEXT FROM DEUTERONOMY.
(Italy: late 11th or early 12th century). 485 x 124 mm. (19 1/8 x 12 3/4"). Measured at widest part. Double column, 53 lines, in a rounded proto-gothic hand.
Running titles in red. With contemporary or slightly later marginal notations; later inscriptions from its reuse as binding scrap dated 1557 and 1560, noting the volume "no. 181." Recovered from a binding and thus the vellum somewhat wrinkled, soiled, and with multiple folds, some dark staining affecting legibility of several lines--though sense easily recoverable on one side, and with effort on the other--a few tiny holes and two larger ones (slightly affecting the text). Showing the usual problems associated with re-use, but a grand and greatly appealing leaf nevertheless, with its handsome script and imposing presence readily apparent.
Partly because of its re-use in what obviously would have been a very large binding, and more especially because of its age and early script, this vast Romanesque Bible leaf is of (there is no other way to say it but) immense interest. Measuring nearly 20 inches tall, it is almost large enough to be considered a so-called "Atlantic Bible" leaf, a distinctive (modern) designation reserved for massive Bibles produced in the 11th and 12th centuries. The script here consists of a highly legible proto-gothic book hand with elegant rounded letter forms. Its overall appearance has much in common with Caroline miniscule, including clubbed ascenders, a strong "st" ligature, and an "f" that extends below the baseline. In addition, there are very few abbreviations, and the ampersand symbol is used exclusively (rather than the Tironian "et" favored in later scripts). The text here is from Deuteronomy 20:5-23:24, containing the final laws that Moses gives to the Israelites before entering the Promised Land. These "second laws," as they are often called, include an array of statutes pertaining to sexual relations, marriage, divorce, slavery, warfare, and inheritance, as well as rules for agriculture, clothing, and diet. Our leaf previously belonged to the renowned Schøyen Collection, one of the largest and most distinguished private manuscript collections in the world. Started in the 1920s by Norwegian engineer M. O. Schøyen and expanded by his son Martin, the collection is particularly strong in paleography and biblical texts. Among its many unique and important manuscript pieces are treasures such as the St. Cecilia Bible (the only Carolingian Bible in private hands), and fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls. (ST20967a)
Price: $4,800.00