Two bifolia from a Breviary-Antiphoner of Dominican use, decorated manuscript in Latin on parchment [south east France (probably Arles), second quarter of the fourteenth century] Four leaves (2 bifolia), with double column of 15 lines of large and elegant early gothic bookhand, rubrics in red, initials in either red or blue encased in tightly scrolling purple or red penwork ending in long trailing penwork, the versos of each leaf with stylised leaves in alternate red and blue bisected laterally as a text border, modern pencil foliation ‘71-72’ and ‘87-88’, each leaf with rodent damage to outer upright edge, else only small spots, overall in excellent condition, 244 by 178mm. These leaves are part of a dispersed first section of the Breviary-Antiphoner of Dominican use sold in Sotheby’s, 4 December 2007, lot 56 (with the initial leaf of the volume containing a contents list, now in Bristol University Library). The Sotheby’s part was localised to south eastern France and probably Arles on the basis of the inclusion of prayers to St. Trophimus (d. c. 290), which identify him there as a disciple of Christ. Trophimus was claimed by Arles as its first archbishop, and the legend that he was an associate of Christ is entirely local to the town. An eighteenth-century note on one of the endleaves in that section of the original book stated that “ce collectaire a eté ecrit lors de la fondation du couvent”, suggesting that the book came from the medieval library of the Dominican convent of Arles (founded as a house for men outside the walls of the city in 1231, but revived on the banks of the Rhône within the city in the fourteenth century as a house for women). Liturgical manuscripts of southern French origin are far from common.
Two bifolia from a Breviary-Antiphoner of Dominican use, decorated manuscript in Latin on parchment [south east France (probably Arles), second quarter of the fourteenth century] Four leaves (2 bifolia), with double column of 15 lines of large and elegant early gothic bookhand, rubrics in red, initials in either red or blue encased in tightly scrolling purple or red penwork ending in long trailing penwork, the versos of each leaf with stylised leaves in alternate red and blue bisected laterally as a text border, modern pencil foliation ‘71-72’ and ‘87-88’, each leaf with rodent damage to outer upright edge, else only small spots, overall in excellent condition, 244 by 178mm. These leaves are part of a dispersed first section of the Breviary-Antiphoner of Dominican use sold in Sotheby’s, 4 December 2007, lot 56 (with the initial leaf of the volume containing a contents list, now in Bristol University Library). The Sotheby’s part was localised to south eastern France and probably Arles on the basis of the inclusion of prayers to St. Trophimus (d. c. 290), which identify him there as a disciple of Christ. Trophimus was claimed by Arles as its first archbishop, and the legend that he was an associate of Christ is entirely local to the town. An eighteenth-century note on one of the endleaves in that section of the original book stated that “ce collectaire a eté ecrit lors de la fondation du couvent”, suggesting that the book came from the medieval library of the Dominican convent of Arles (founded as a house for men outside the walls of the city in 1231, but revived on the banks of the Rhône within the city in the fourteenth century as a house for women). Liturgical manuscripts of southern French origin are far from common.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
