R E C E N T   A C Q U I S I T I O N S

BIBLE HISTORIALE, with Life and Passion of Christ, lives of Saints, and Boccaccio’s “Patient Griselda”. France (Paris), c. 1405-1410. Illuminated manuscript on vellum with 78 large miniatures by the Master of the Berry Apocalypse.

A very unusual and extremely beautiful manuscript of vernacular Biblical history and the lives of various saints, but including the literary text of Boccaccio’s “Patient Griselda”. Although collections of religious and devotional literature, often in poetic form, were popular at the court of France in the early fifteenth century, this appears to be the only surviving example to include a purely literary work. The story of Griselda, taken from Boccaccio’s “Decameron”, serves as an edifying example of virtuous conduct of a Christian wife. The manuscript was abundantly illustrated and illuminated in the workshop of the Master of the Berry-Apocalypse, named after his major work now in the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York. His style derives from that of the Boucicaut-Master, but is distinguished by his strikingly delicate palette, with a preference for light green, blue, beige and grey. Written and illuminated in Paris, perhaps for a member of the court of Charles VI, our manuscript has an unbroken provenance since 1650, later it formed part of the library of Sir Thomas Phillipps, the most prestigious collector of manuscripts. A kind of manuscript which is nowadays nearly unobtainable.

JEAN MANSEL. Fleur des Histoires. Flanders (probably Bruges, c. 1475). Illuminated manuscript on vellum with 17 (8 very large) miniatures by the Master of Anton of Burgundy and workshop.

A majestic chronicle of Belgium from the second half of the fifteenth century. This is the only independent copy of the “Chroniques” known in private ownership. Jean Mansel abbreviated the text of Jean Wauquelin’s History of Hainaut (Henegouw) for his „Fleurs des Histoires“ in 1446-1451. Independent copies of this text have previously passed unrecognized. This unique manuscript is illuminated by the Master of Anton of Burgundy, its 17 marvelous miniatures rank among the best achievements of the Master who was active in Bruges in the 1470s and 1480s. His work attracted some of the greatest bibliophiles in the Netherlands among them Louis of Gruuthuse and the “Great” Bâtard de Bourgogne. The sumptuous manuscript was no doubt commissioned by a high ranking noble at the Burgundian Court. From the prestigious collections of Beriah Botfield and the Marquess of Bath. Large manuscript chronicles are very rarely seen on the art market, as almost all surviving copies have found their way to public collections.

GUILLAUME DE DIGULLEVILLE. Pèlerinage de la Vie Humaine et Pèlerinage de l’Ame.
Paris, c. 1440. Illuminated manuscript on vellum with 201 miniatures (!), including frontispieces by the workshop of the Master of the Munich Golden Legend and 196 column-wide miniatures by the Master of Étienne Sauderat.

A spectacular manuscript with a wealth of beautiful illustrations. The “Pèlerinage” of Guillaume de Digulleville (d. 1358) is one of the most influential French vernacular texts of the later Middle Ages. The vast poem was first composed in 1330 and was revised in 1355 when the author added about 5.000 lines. Our manuscript contains the very rare expanded version, and is apparently the only illustrated copy in private hands (of the five copies known four belong to the Bibliothèque nationale in Paris). The volume has the extraordinary total of 201 miniatures, the majority of them by the Master of Estienne Sauderat, the most extensive cycle of illustrations by this prestigious artist.


FRIDOLIN, STEPHAN. Schatzbehalter oder schrein der waren reichtümer des heils und ewyger seligkeit. Nuremberg, Anton Koberger, 8 November 1491. 96 full-page woodcuts by Michael Wolgemut and Wilhelm Pleydenwurff, fully coloured in a contemporary hand presumably in Koberger’s workshop.

The “Schatzbehalter” ranks among the most beautiful German illustrated incunbles. Its 96 full-page woodcuts are the work of Michael Wolgemut and Wilhelm Pleydenwurff, the workshop where Albrecht Dürer served his apprenticeship. This extraordinay copy has all the woodcuts coloured by a contemporary hand in a rich palette of bright colours. The “de luxe”-colouring was done either by the Koberger workshop itself or in an atelier closely related to the famous printer. The book is in excellent condition, in its original blind-tooled pigskin binding over wooden boards. From the collection of Estelle Doheny.