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WITH TEXT FROM EXODUS.
(Italy: second half of 11th, or opening of 12th century). 497 x 294 mm. (19 5/8 x 11 5/8"). Double column, 58 lines in a late Caroline hand.
Running titles in red, three two-line initials in red. Recovered from a binding, and thus with some general soiling and staining to vellum, recto illegible except for part of the headline, modern reinforcement to the gutter and margins (affecting a couple of letters at the end of a number of lines), but the verso quite legible in most places and easily recoverable in the few places where it's not.
This impressive leaf was once part of an immense lectern Bible that would have been prominently displayed at a church or monastery ca. 1075-1100. Measuring just under 500 mm. tall, its dimensions are almost big enough to be considered an "Atlantic Bible," a distinctive (modern) designation reserved for massive Bibles produced in the 11th and 12th centuries. Despite the loss of legibility on one side due to the leaf's reuse as binding material, the other side displays a lovely rounded Caroline hand with few abbreviations. The text comes from Exodus 23:11-24:18, expounding parts of civil law and Moses' journey to Mount Sinai. Our leaf was most recently part of 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. (ST20968-01)
Price: $4,500.00