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The Annunciation to the Shepherds, - large miniature from an illuminated Book of Hours, in Latin large miniature from an illuminated Book of Hours, in Latin, on parchment [southern Netherlands, c .1460-80] Leaf with full-page miniature with composite border, the miniature a large arch-topped miniature containing a finely executed image of the Angel descending on a sheep covered hillside to a group of amazed shepherds, who gaze upwards or fall to their knees in prayer, all before a finely painted rocky landscape with medieval town in background, borders of realistic flower studies on pale mustard-yellow grounds enclosing an urn, snails, flies, butterflies, a running hound and a lion who irreverently walks away, casting a look at the miniature while waving aside his tail to expose his bottom to the viewer, the border evidently trimmed as in previous lot and so skilfully repaired with a cutting from another leaf, thus reverse mostly blank, but with remains of text and initials on one side, with nineteenth-century red cloth mount, holes punctured at regular intervals around frame of miniature and edge of border (perhaps from reuse as a free-standing devotional image, see Kren in Illuminating the Renaissance, 2003, pp.480-1), some spots and small scuffs, else good and presentable, 193mm. by 155mm. From the same parent manuscript as the previous lot. The scene here is well executed and the disdainful lion in the border adds great charm.

A warrior with a sword and buckler, - on a cutting most probably from a legal manuscript on parchment... on a cutting most probably from a legal manuscript on parchment [northern Italy (probably Bologna), late thirteenth or early fourteenth century] A cutting, with a standing figure of a naked warrior, wearing only a blue cloak lined with white trim, one arm raised with a scimitar-like sword above his head, the other holding a buckler before him, skintones in pale green-blue, heightened with orange hairline strokes, all on a brightly burnished gold ground, small chip from brow of figure's nose and flaking from gold at lowermost part of cutting, 52mm. by 15mm., laid down in a card mount Similar tiny figures set within initials or in the margins can be found in copies of Justinian produced in Bologna in the last quarter of the thirteenth and the first quarter of the fourteenth century (see Illuminating the Law , 2001, pl.12e, showing a knight with a sword; and Avril and Gousset, Manuscrits Enluminés d Origine Italienne II, 1984, no.141).

Leaf from the Llangattock Breviary, also - known as the Breviary of Leonello d’Este, in Latin known as the Breviary of Leonello d Este, in Latin, exquisitely illuminated manuscript on parchment [north east Italy (Ferrara ), c .1441-48] Single leaf, with double column, 30 lines in an excellent late Gothic bookhand, capitals and prominent letters touched in yellow, rubrics in red, small initial in burnished gold on blue or burgundy grounds with white penwork tracery, both sides of leaf with full-length text borders on lefthand side of each column (three gold and coloured bars with coloured ornamental knots mounted within their bodies, the fourth instead in delicate scrolling foliage with coloured flowers and foliage terminating in bezants, similar sprays of foliage atop and at base of each decorative bar, one with a skilfully executed drollery with a human head with a furrowed brow and haggard cheeks, and a beard touched with gold hairline strokes, slight cockling, else in excellent condition, approximately 270mm. by 200mm., framed in glass so as visible on both sides From an opulent manuscript produced as the sister-codex of the missal from the private chapel of Borso d Este, marquis and then duke of Ferrara (Modena, Biblioteca Estense, MS. OE W.5.2, Lat.239), or his successor, Leonello d'Este, the grand bibliophile and one of the most prominent art patrons of Renaissance Italy. It has been identified, probably rightly, as the breviary recorded in the Este accounts as produced between 1441 and 1448 for Leonello by Giorgio d'Alemagna, Bartolomeo di Beninca, Guglielmo Giraldi and Matteo de Pasti (see F. Toniolo, La miniatura a Ferrara dal tempo di Cosmè Tura all'eredità di Ercole de' Roberti, 1998, pp.19-20 and 76-7). The book re-emerged lacking many of its miniatures in the library of John Allan Rolls, 2nd Baron Llangattock (and one half of the founders of Rolls-Royce), and was sold by his heirs in Christie's, 8 December 1958, lot 190, to a Boston bookshop and dispersed. The largest surviving part is at Harvard, with individual leaves now scattered worldwide across an array of institutional and private collections (see Les Enluminures du Louvre: Moyen Âge et Renaissance , 2011, pp.84-88, for recent discussion and full page reproductions of their leaves).

Fragment from the earliest copy of St. Augustine, - In Johannis evangelium tractatus , in Latin uncials In Johannis evangelium tractatus , in Latin uncials, manuscript on parchment [Italy, sixth or seventh century] Rectangular fragment from the middle upper section of a leaf, remains of 11 lines in a balanced and rounded uncial hand with a rounded 'M' which bends down at the tip of each ascender, an 'S' with a weak understroke, a 'd' with a very short ascender which extends no more than 1 mm. or so beyond its bowl, both open and closed 'E' and occasional word separation, the uncial letters here of notably tiny dimensions (in accordance with the copying of non-Biblical texts in this period, presumably to save parchment), 8 lines in same on reverse (with spaces left for title of work), parts of tractates 88 (end, on obverse) and the 89 (opening, on reverse), both sides preserving 17mm. of upper margin of original leaf, torn at other sides, overall sound and legible condition, 80mm. by 52mm. Provenance: Written in an Italian scribal centre in the 500s or 600s AD. Approximately 20 fragments from four other leaves from the parent manuscript of this cutting are recorded in Engelberg, Stiftsbibliothek and Carlsruhe, Landesbibliothek. They were initially published by A. Bruckner Scriptoria Medii Aevi Helvetica , 8 (1950), p.15, as early eighth century, but this was corrected by Lowe to sixth or seventh century (CLA. no. 883; see also David F. Wright, The Manuscripts of St Augustine's Tractatus in Evangelium Iohannis : A Preliminary Survey and Check-List , Recherches Augustiniennes 8, 1972, pp.55-143, at p.115, and 16, 1981, pp.59-100). The parent codex was cut up in the fifteenth century and used on bindings, most probably at Ettenheim Munster, dioc. Strasbourg (the fragments survive either on an incunable from that house, or on books most probably bought from nearby Offenburg in 1879). Ettenheim Munster was founded c . 728 by Bishop Widegern of Strasbourg, and thus, the parent volume was perhaps part of the foundation gift of the library there. Text: As Wright notes, these fragments are the oldest exemplar of any part of the Tractatus . The parent codex was written about two centuries after the death of the author. Its scribe worked just within living-memory of the collapse of the Roman Empire and at the same time as Pope Gregory I launched the mission of St. Augustine of Canterbury to convert the pagan English. Its short quotations from John (opening of 15:19 and 15:20-21) are among the earliest to survive in Latin and predate those of the Codex Amiatinus by at least a century. Augustine of Hippo (354-430) was one of a tiny handful of early Christian authors whose works can be said to have truly shaped the face of Western Christianity and the embryonic beginnings of the Middle Ages. The present text was composed between 408 and 420, as a collection of Augustine s public and private sermons, and survives due to the discovery of a single copy in the library at Hippo after his death. The sixth century was the lowest point of the Dark Ages in Europe, when the final collapse of Roman authority was confirmed by the rule of Italy by the Ostrogoths, Spain and southwest France by the Visigoths, and France between the Merovingians and the Burgundians. Centres of learning and literature dwindled and books and scribes to produce them became exceptionally valuable commodities. This century, as well as the one that followed, would see the foundation of the Merovingian state and the earliest conversions of those leaders as well as those of the English, but it was a far cry from the resurgence of state interest in Christianity and scholarship which arrived in the last decades of the eighth century and the opening of the ninth with the reign of Charlemagne. The parent volume of this fragment was of the utmost importance for the survival of the text, and was written at a time when it and its peers were far rarer than they had been before or ever would be again. No uncial codex in Latin from the Dark Ages has been offered in public sale in a number of centuries, and even small fragments from them are of extreme rarity on the market. The last were two large strips from a sixth-century Gospel Book, sold in the Schøyen sale at Sotheby's, 10 July 2012, lot 14, for £265,250; a complete bifolium in uncial from Leo IV, Acts of the Synod of Rome (but since re-dated to the mid-ninth century), sold at Christie s, 16 November 2005, lot 1, for £64,000 hammer; and a bifolium from John with another leaf from a liturgical manuscript, sold in Zisska & Schauer, 5 November 2008, lot 1, for € 170,000.

Two finely illuminated initials, - on parchment [north east Italy , last quarter of the fifteenth... on parchment [north east Italy (Ferrara), last quarter of the fifteenth century] Two large initials ('O' and 'I') on cuttings, in green, blue and pink acanthus leaf scrolls all heightened with white penwork tracery, on burnished gold grounds, traces of text and music on a black stave at edges and on reverses, some chipping and flaking to gold (notably to 'O' from slight folding), else good and presentable condition, both approximately 75mm. by 75mm. Palladino identified fragments from the same parent manuscript (a lavishly illuminated antiphoner surviving in two miniatures and seven initials in Yale University Art Museum, acc. 1954.7.6a-f: Treasures of a Lost Art , 2003, pp.97-9), and attributed them to the prominent lay Ferrarese artist Jacopo Filippo Medici d Argenta (fl. 1478-1501), who with his associate, the Franciscan, Fra' Evangelista da Reggio (documented between 1477 and 1490; see Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani 43, 1993), worked for the Este court from a workshop in the episcopal palace in rooms next to the bishop's own quarters.

Vast initial 'I' on a leaf from an illuminated - Gradual , in Latin, on parchment [northern Italy , c Gradual , in Latin, on parchment [northern Italy (perhaps Florence or Siena), c.1500] Single leaf, with an initial 'I' (170mm. by 80mm.; opening Intret inconspectu tuo the introit for the Feast of Many Martyrs) in rotund pink and yellow strokes heightened with ornate foliate penwork and shaded to give impression of fish scales, all on burnished gold ground and within yellow scrolling foliate border on black grounds and blue and pink frame, terminating in richly coloured acanthus leaves, enclosing a hairy blue dragon with gold bezants down his back, other foliage (including thistles), gold triangles, fruit and a gold geometric sun pattern extending along two entire borders, red rubrics in ornate calligraphic hand (some touched in yellow), capitals decorated with penwork, 4 lines in a fine late Gothic bookhand with music on a 4-line red stave (rastrum 36mm.), reverse with one red initial with blue penwork, 5 lines with music as before, folio no. CXX in red and blue in mid-margin, slight folds and smudges in places, repair at base of leaf to a circular hole (perhaps once containing further illumination) and base of leaf with a leaf from a sixteenth-century document, overall good and presentable, 535mm. by 378mm. A series of leaves from this strange and fascinating manuscript have recently appeared on the market, perhaps all from a dispersed Scandinavian collection. Another with an historiated initial enclosing St. Benedict (original folio XXVI ) was offered in Sotheby's, 2 December 2014, lot 21, and comparison of that with other leaves in private collections shows that the parent manuscript contained a startling mix of a notably fine calligraphic hand with colourful and eclectic illumination with numerous animals and fish. The artist seems to have known Florentine models (see Sotheby s leaf and compare the beast here with those on Florentine productions such as that on a leaf by Mariano del Buono, illustrated in Choirs of Angels , 2008, fig.55), however, he was clearly not part of the mainstream of that tradition, and further study might well place these in an as yet unidentified centre in the hinterland of that city.

St. Peter bound in prison, - historiated initial most probably from an Antiphoner historiated initial most probably from an Antiphoner, illuminated manuscript on parchment [Lombardy, c .1480] Large initial S (probably opening Symon Petre antequam de navi … the first responsory of the first nocturne of matins for the Feast of SS. Peter and Paul, 29 June) in vivid pink with scrolling white penwork, the letter twisting around a tall soft purple stone tower with a green roof and a large arch-topped barred window, through which the saint can be seen as a half-length figure with hands bound together and leaning his head to peer at the viewer through the bars, all on burnished gold ground, cut to shape, in excellent condition, 60mm. by 75mm., framed From the collection of F.G. Zeileis ( Più ridon le carte , 2004, no.111). Attributed in his catalogue to the Master of the Breviary of Daniele di Birago, who worked in Milan around 1480, and identified (probably correctly) as from the sale of the grand miniature collector, William Young Ottley (12 May 1838, lot 142, alongside two other cuttings catalogued with the present one in 2004), thence to John Rushout (1759-1859), 2nd Lord Northwick, for £1,7sh., and his sale, 16 November 1925, lot 106, and from there to C.L. Ricketts (1859-1941) of Chicago.

Large initial 'S' formed of two fish, - on a very large leaf from a manuscript Gradual on parchment [Italy on a very large leaf from a manuscript Gradual on parchment [Italy (perhaps Florence), c .1500] Single leaf, with a large initial 'S' (opening Scio cui credidi , the introit for the Feast of St. Paul) formed of two soft pink fish with blue fins, white penwork decorating the underside of their bodies, their bodies curled towards each other so that their mouths meet at the midpoint of the initial, green bosses at head and foot of initial, orange acanthus sprays on top of the heads of the fish ending in finely drawn stylised flowers on vivid blue grounds, the ends of the initial formed of tightly turned back blue acanthus leaves, all on brightly burnished gold grounds, following letter in ornamental penstrokes, one variegated blue initial with red penwork, 5 lines of text in fine late Gothic bookscript, with music on a 4-line red stave (rastrum 50mm.), fol. no. xliiij' in red in centre of margin, slight cracking to gold, old damage from ink burning hole in a few notes in topmost line, laid down on card, else in fresh and crisp condition with vivid colours and wide and clean margins, approximately 710mm. by 500mm., gilt frame

The Canonical Epistles, - in Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment [Italy in Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment [Italy, thirteenth century] 10 leaves, a single gathering, perhaps from the end of a Bible, and with the Epistle of James: fol.1r, the first and second Epistles of Peter: fols.3r and 5r, the first, second and third Epistles of John: fol.6v, 9r and 9v, and the Epistle of Jude: fol.9v, single column, 34 lines in a tiny rounded script, capitals touched in red, rubrics and large simple initials in margin in red, initials with some brown penwork, further contemporary notes on space left at end of gathering, a few pages with ink flaking away, outer border of third leaf cut away, else good, stitched into card binding, 125mm. by 95mm.

Pocket gradual, - in Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment in Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment, in a contemporary limp binding [France (perhaps the north east) or Low Countries, soon after 1232] 75 leaves, complete as in thirteenth century when the book was adapted by the addition of clutches of leaves at its front and back, collation: i12, ii8, iii-v12, vi19 (with 11 leaves added in latter part of gathering, stub after first leaf written over and thus certainly contemporary with added leaves; another stub after 17th leaf perhaps also part of this rearrangement as no apparent text loss), main text block with single column, 20 lines of a small number of good early Gothic bookhands, mostly with few biting curves and below topline, capitals touched in red, rubrics in red, music in neumes arranged around red and green staff lines, initials in red or blue, the larger with contrasting penwork and occasional areas of blank parchment left within their bodies, additional leaves at each end more conspicuously thirteenth century (below topline, in a more angular script with numerous ligatures), some natural flaws in parchment (many with contemporary repairs) and some erasures and adaptations, first leaf rubbed and mostly illegible, stained in places with cockled areas of parchment, folded corners at back of book and small tears at edges of leaves throughout, overall good and presentable condition, contemporary binding of limp sheepskin , arranged hairside outwards (with downy hair still visible on back cover), and stitched at spine through two horn plates, front cover extended to form a triangular flap terminating in a horn button and long thong which reaches around the codex to wind around the button to fasten the book shut (back cover slightly shrunk at outer edge and lower corner, small piece lost from edge of front cover, archival pencil marks and nineteenth-century 'N2' on front cover in ink, overall in good state of preservation Text: This delicate pocket volume presents a number of palaeographical challenges. Its main hands appear French, perhaps even northern French, but there are occasional spellings of words with 'w' (such as sci ewangeli in the rubric on fol. 38r, and likewise ewg. Matheum on fol. 58r) which might indicate a Low Countries origin. Much of the script appears twelfth century, and this is supported by many of the initials, and yet on fol.29v there is the office for St. Anthony de ordine fratrem minorem , who died in 1231 and was rapidly canonised the year after, and the book must post-date that. The office for St. Francis follows on fol. 43r, and the main core of the book was clearly made for an early Franciscan friar, perhaps by a scribe and artist who were elderly and following models of some decades before. Binding: This is the earliest recorded example of this form of binding. Surviving limp vellum bindings are recorded from the ninth or tenth century onwards, and in a monastic setting tend to indicate personal ownership. However, the form here (sewn through rigid backplates, named Langstichheftung by H. Loubier, Der Bucheinband , 1926) is much understudied, even by Szirmai who bases his brief comments on it on the incomplete surveys of other scholars ( Archaeology of Medieval Bookbinding , 1999, pp. 297-304, with illustration of notably similar example on p. 302). His overview records approximately 140 extant bindings of this type, but his earliest example dates from c .1375 - over a century after the present example. Future study may turn up others, but at the moment, the present manuscript would appear to be in the earliest recorded binding of this type, and it is of course the only known one in private hands.  Please note that the volume is missing a single leaf from its end, which once contained the last fourteen words of a prayer to the Virgin.    

The Mckell Medical Almanack, - in German, illuminated manuscript on parchment [Alsace, c in German, illuminated manuscript on parchment [Alsace, c .1445] 12 leaves, single gathering, set out as medical-astronomical prognostications followed or proceeded by calendar for each month, most probably wanting a last leaf with the prognostications for December, else complete, double column of 32 lines in a fine prickly German vernacular bookhand, with capitals touched in red, 2-line initials in alternate red and muted turquoise-blue, rubrics and major feasts in red, each column of prognostications headed by an elaborate crocketed golden arch containing the sun or the moon (as a man's face wearing a cowl peeking out from a golden crescent) above a half-page depiction of an astronomer looking skyward or seated reading (11 in total), each calendar leaf with the occupation of the month within a large gold-edged roundel (approximately 50mm. in diameter), above a similarly sized portrait of the zodiac symbol for the month (often partly illuminated), slightly trimmed at outer edges (with small loss to edge of three illustrations), small spots and cockling in places, erased inscription (perhaps Early Modern ex libris) on last leaf, else very good condition, 205mm. by 105mm., eighteenth- or nineteenth-century binding of white vellum over stiff pasteboards, with single gilt-fillet and small ducal coronet in centre of front board, rebacked, fitted gilt-tooled leather case This is the long-lost Mckell Medical Almanack from the workshop of the celebrated artist Dietbold Lauber, last recorded and seen exactly sixty years ago, and previously available to scholarship only in black-and-white facsimile Provenance: (1) Commissioned c .1445 by a patron in the diocese of Strasbourg (the Calendar leaves having the local saints, Erhard, Gangolf, Udalric and Lendelinus amongst others), from the workshop of the artist Dietbold Lauber in Alsace. (2) Col. David McCandless Mckell (1881-1962) of Cillicothe, Ohio, fellow of the Morgan Library and an American friend of the Bodleian, who collected medieval manuscripts and children's books. This volume was exhibited in the library of the University of Kentucky in March 1958, accompanied by a published study by Rosy Schilling and a separate black-and-white facsimile. The manuscript itself has not been seen since then. Saurma-Jeltsch published her study in 2001 and likewise Mackert in 2012 without seeing it, and both list it as 'untraced'. Text and Illumination: Variants of the text here enjoyed great popularity in Germany in the fifteenth century both as part of larger works, or as a work in itself (as here) similar to the later so-called shepherd's calendars. In some manuscripts it is followed by short treatises on the planets, human temperaments and other medical matters, but as Schilling observed in 1958 the individual layout here suggests that this text always stood alone. It opens with predictions on what will happen in the year depending on which day of the week the first day of January falls on (if Monday the weather will be extreme and there will be little honey and much manslaughter ; if a Thursday the weather will be fine, but there will be little wine ; if a Friday many will have sore eyes ), and includes entries for January advising against bleeding but advising for drinking strong wine with ginger, for February advising bleeding only through the thumb and to eat hot food and drink also warm wine , for March advising to eat roast meat and often bathe, this is healthy and to be bled and cupped often, with further months receiving instructions to consume certain medicinal herbs, eat no meat from the feet of animals, abstain from all smoked meats, not go often to women , as well as offer predictions about thunder, weather changes or meteorites bringing war and death in their wake. It was clearly a prestigious commission for a wealthy patron, and Schilling identified the artist as a member of the workshop of the artist and publisher Diebold Lauber in Hagenau, Alsace. As she notes, the same artist also worked on a Legenda Aurea (now in Berlin, Staatsliche Bibl., Germ. Fol.495), and a Book of Chess (now British Library, Addit. MS.21458). Lauber administered a substantial workshop, which produced over 50 surviving illustrated manuscripts in the German language, dating from between c .1427 and 1470, with a combined total of more than 6000 miniatures. They have been comprehensively surveyed by Saurma-Jeltsch (including the present manuscript, see above). They represent a crucial point in the development of illustrated German literature, and stand at the intersection, not only of art and economic history, but also of religious, linguistic, and literary history. Written in the vernacular and endowed with ambitious programmes of pictorial decoration, the books signal a 'coming of age' of vernacular literature (J.F. Hamburger in Medium Aevum , LXXII, 2003, p. 362). The significant illuminations are: (1) fol.1v, enthroned astronomer with golden crown and ermine cloak, gazing at a golden star above; (2) fol.2r, a three-faced king at table and the water-carrier with a golden ewer; (3) fol.2v, a man warming his hands and feet by a fire over which sausages are smoking, and two pale brown fish; (4) fol.3r, a finely detailed portrait of the astronomer with a turban-like headdress with a two flowing tails, again pointing at a golden star; (5) fol.3v, the astronomer again in the same position wearing a red and blue pointed hat; (6) fol.4r, a man pruning vines and a ram with golden horns straining its neck and poking out its tongue to reach leaves of a bush it stands against; (7) fol.4v, a maiden with flowers and a docile-looking red-brown bull; (8) fol.5r, the astronomer pointing to a star; (9) fol.5v, the astronomer in a blue robe seated and reading a book at a desk, with an angular banderole inscribed Es wert ein Zeichen geschehen ; (10) fol.6r, a nobleman with hawk and horse, and the twins naked with a golden harp; (11) fol.6v, a man mowing grass and a bright red lobster; (12) fol.7r, the astronomer crowned and enthroned, holding a book; (13) fol.7v, the same as a robed figure with tight-fitting hat with a tassel on top; (14) fol.8r, a man harvesting corn and a large yellow lion poking his tongue out at the scene above; (15) fol.8v, a man threshing and the Virgin with gold wings pointing at a tree; (16) fol.9r, the astronomer before a book on a lectern; (17) fol.9v, the same seated with a book under his elbow; (18) fol.10r, a man sowing and a pair of gold scales; (19) fol.10v, pressing grapes and a green and brown scorpion; (20) fol.11r, the astronomer with a flowing headdress; (21), fol.11v, the same clean-shaven, seated and reading; (22) fol.12r, the knocking down of the acorns to feed hogs, and a centaur with bow and arrow looking at a magpie in a tree; (23) fol.12v, killing the hog and a seated ram with golden horns, poking his tongue out. Publications: Rosy Schilling, 'A facsimile of an Astronomical medical calendar in German (Studio of Diebolt Lauber at Hagenau, about 1430-1450): from the Library of Colonel David McC. McKell', University of Kentucky Libraries Bulletin 18, 1958; Rosy Schilling, 'Astronomical medical calendar: German, studio of Diebolt Lauber at Hagenau, 15th century, c. 1430-50', University of Kentucky Libraries Bulletin 18, Occ. Contribution 97, 1958; L.E. Saurma-Jeltsch, Spätformen mittelalterlicher Buchherstellung. Bilderhandschriften aus der Werkstatt Diebold Laubers in Hagenau , Bd. 2, 2001, p. 17; C. Mackert, 'Ein typisches Produkt aus der Spätzeit der Lauber-Werkstatt? Zur Handschrift der 'Leipziger Margarethe'', in Aus der Werkstatt Diebold Laubers, 2012, pp. 299-326; and listed on the online Handschriftencensus : Eine Bestandsaufnahme der handschriftlichen Überlieferung deutschsprachiger Texte des Mittelalters , as no.14903

Psalter for Dominican Use, - in Latin and German, illuminated manuscript on parchment [south... in Latin and German, illuminated manuscript on parchment [south Germany (probably Nuremberg), dated 1473] 202 leaves (including front endleaf), complete, collation i8, ii-iii10, iv10, v9 (ii a singleton to complete text), vi-xix10, xx9 (vi a singleton to complete text), xxi3 (last a cancelled blank), single column, 18 lines in a square and angular German late Gothic script with some ornamental cadels forming sprays of delicate flowers in lower margin, and others forming geometric border decoration filling the entire bas-de-page and touched in colour wash where the interacting penstrokes form shapes, two cadels on fol. 80r encircled by angular banderoles in yellow green and red (with AE/EO/TIT/SC and 2-letter faux-Hebrew inscriptions), occasional music in square notation on a 4-line red stave, rubrics in red ornamental capitals, opening words of fol. 65r Miserere in pink, red, blue, green and gold capitals, the colophon on fol. 197r in 3 lines of same with each word in a new colour, a PS abbreviation for Psalm on fol.82r in silver and gold on pink grounds (silver now oxidised), one-line initials in alternate blue and red, larger initials in broken penstrokes touched in red and green, often containing foliage or geometric patterns, these initials with a staggering number of penwork and coloured dragons, drollery creatures, birds and human faces, often with open mouths spitting out foliage like long winding tongues, eight large initials in colours enclosing scrolling gold penwork and all set on burnished gold grounds on coloured frames, with near-full borders of bezants, bars and acanthus leaves enclosing flowers and realistic birds with gold infill of some areas (fols.12r, 37r, 53v, 68r, 82r, 99r, 115r, 131r), frontispiece with blue and red initial enclosing a dragon and a drollery in blank parchment, with ornate purple penwork filling three borders, another similar initial on fol.32r with green penwork filling border and enclosing a banderole and a yellow-gold owl, metallic page markers folded over edges of relevant leaves, some original flaws in parchment (with repairs), later floral flourishes in lower borders sketched in red ink, small spots and slight cockling, trimmed by a few mm. at edges with occasional slight losses to border decoration, else good condition, 164mm. by 125mm., sixteenth-century binding of blind-tooled leather over bevelled wooden boards, profusely stamped with Biblical scenes and inscriptions in frames around central floral motifs, cracking at spine and repairs in places, two original metal clasps with leaf and flower engraving (one with modern replacement body, both held in place by modern replacement straps), fitted suede-lined red-cloth slipcase, with gilt-tooled red leather box Provenance: (1) Most probably written for Brigitta Stromerin, a Dominican nun of St. Katharina, Nuremberg (diocese of Bamburg): the book is dated 1473 in a multi-coloured colophon on fol.197r and was certainly written for a Dominican in the diocese of Bamburg (with SS. Thomas Aquinas: 7 March with octave and translation on 28 January, Vincent Ferrer: 5 April, canonised in 1455, benefactors of the Order: 5 September, brothers of the Order: 10 October, and with rare local SS. Cunegund of Bamberg twice: 3 March and 9 September, and Otto of Bamberg: 30 September), she names herself as the owner of the book in a long German inscription on fol.199v dated 1483. She also owned a theological miscellany from c .1441 written by a Johannes Schyller, now in Berlin, Preussische Staatsbibliothek, Germ.8º467 (see also A. Willing, Die Bibliothek des Kloster St. Katharina in Nurnberg , 2012, p.xvii). She may have left it to the library there, and by the sixteenth century it had passed to Maria Rosalia Chweiggartin: her ex libris inside front board, and perhaps in her binding. Evidence of female ownership and use of books in the Middle Ages is far from common. (2) In English-speaking trade in nineteenth century: sale ticket pasted on inside front board. (3) John Whitling and Helen Otillie Friel of Ohio: their twentieth-century printed bookplate in same place. Text: The volume comprises a Calendar (fol.2r) followed by two short prayers in German (fol.8r); the Pater Noster and other prayers (fol.9r); a Ferial Psalter (fol.11r) interspersed with antiphons with music, and followed by canticles, hymns and a litany, ending with near-contemporary prayers in Latin and German (fol.197r), presumably partly in the hand of Brigitta Stromerin.

Sermon collection, - in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment [northern France , c in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment [northern France (Paris), c .1400] 220 leaves (plus modern parchment pastedown and endleaf at front), complete, collation: i-xviii12, xix4 (including pastedown), contemporary foliation for first 100 leaves and catchwords throughout (frequently with charming pen-drawn human faces: see in particular the melancholic man on fol. 24v, the staring and perturbed men on fols. 37v and 87v, and the smiling woman in a wimple with a big nose on fol. 121v), some original quire signatures, double column, 45-49 lines in an accomplished hands with influence of secretarial script and cadels in margin, each new section opening with initials in red or blue with contrasting penwork ending in foliage or curlicues, index with similar smaller initials for each item, frontispiece with one large initial in split blue and burnished gold with red and blue penwork forming a mass of scrolling foliate tendrils around central coloured dots, extending into full border and text frame between columns of thin gold bars edged on one side with blue and gold half fleur-de-lys, penwork at corners, slight thumbing at edges and tiny scuffs to large initial, sixth gathering becoming loose, slightly trimmed at base, else fine and presentable condition with wide and clean margins on good parchment, 288mm. by 196mm., contemporary blindstamped calf over bevelled wooden boards (small holes, wormed and cracked at corners, small sections at head and foot of spine missing, partially repaired), later metal clasps and catches, but solid in binding The gold and blue initial and repeated half fleur-de-lys device is near-identical to those in manuscripts made for Charles V, the Duc de Berry and other members of the French royal family (see the contemporary Vincent of Beauvais, Speculum Historiale , sold by Sotheby s, 7 December 1982, lot 53, later Schoenberg collection, see Transformation of Knowledge , 2006, IX:11, p.137; the Grandes Chroniques probably made for Jean, Duc de Berry, sold Sotheby s, 8 December 1981, lot 94; and among others, the Histoire Ancienne , now British Library, Egerton MS.912) and suggests a shared provenance. In the royal French inventories the style is listed as enluminé tout au long des colombes de fleur de lis d or et d assur (Delisle, Cabinet des MSS , III, p.139).

Pocket prayerbook, - decorated manuscript in German and Latin on paper [Germany, c decorated manuscript in German and Latin on paper [Germany, c.1456] 124 leaves, wanting first three gatherings and another at back, collation: i12, ii10 (wanting i-ii), iii10 (wanting i-ii), iv11 (vi wanting), v10, vi12, vii11 (wanting first leaf), viii7 (last leaf wanting, second cut down to a stub), ix10 (wanting vii and x), x11 (wanting ii-iii), xi12, xii8 (last 4 cut away), single column, c.15 lines in a legible late Gothic bookhand, capitals touched in red, rubrics and small initials in red, with remains of a short monastic hours in Latin, followed by prayers in German for the Feast of the Holy Cross (fol.24v), St.Bernard (fol.28r), and for specific occasions during Mass, such as after Communion (fol.63v) and after the priest says the Sacrament (fol.66r), dated in long German inscription on fol.12r, some leaves discoloured and bumped at edges, a few leaves with cuts and splits, pastedown with ink smudges a few other leaves with red crayon marks perhaps deleting some readings and underlining others, 110mm. by 75mm., contemporary rustic binding of parchment over pasteboards made up from other manuscript leaves (visible where corners have split apart and lifted), spine exposed (perhaps always so), with sewing structures firmly in place (but with splits to two thongs, and backboard detached from 3 of 4 thongs), remnants of contemporary button and loop clasp.

Substantial fragment of a bifolium - of St. Augustine on John, in Latin, manuscript on parchment... of St. Augustine on John, in Latin, manuscript on parchment [northern Europe, ninth century (probably second half)] A bifolium, trimmed at top and on one side from reuse in a binding, with remains of single column, 20 lines in a thin Carolingian minuscule, using ' & ' as integral component within words, simple capitals in same pen, number 'VIIII' at foot of one page, the same with a catchword sacrati in a pen semicircle, offset of a sixteenth-century document on obverse, small pieces of paper still adhering, reverse quite discoloured with later pen additions (but quite legible), overall fair to good condition, 225mm. by 355mm. From an early copy of St. Augustine's tractates on the Gospel of John, here with parts of tractates 25 and 27. For text see previous lot.

Pocket monastic Antiphoner, - in Latin, decorated manuscript on paper [Germany or Low Countries in Latin, decorated manuscript on paper [Germany or Low Countries, late fifteenth or early sixteenth century] 57 leaves, complete, collation: i-vi8, vii9 (last an added singleton to complete text), single column, 6 lines of text in angular late medieval bookhand with music in square notation on a 4-line brown stave, paragraph marks, rubrics and instructions to members of community during Masses in red, some ornamental initials in split penstrokes touched in red, others in simple red with baubles enclosed in their bodies and scrolls of blank paper left within their ascenders, one large initial L (opening Lumen ad revelationem … the antiphon for the Feast of the Presentation) in penwork with pale yellow wash on frontispiece, first leaf with some tears at edges (especially inner edge where first leaf is partially detached), small spots and stains, else good to fair condition, 180mm. by 142mm., seventeenth- or eighteenth-century binding of dark leather over bevelled wooden boards with simple double fillet, spine rebacked in eighteenth century, and now cracking again with back board loose and front board detached, remains of parchment label on spine with inscription apparently in English, remains of two clasps (one wanting), remnants of contemporary fore-edge painting From the collection of Merseyside book collector John T. Beer (c. 1826-1903) of Rock Ferry, near Birkenhead, who in retirement painted the fore-edges of books (see L. Jeff Weber, The Fore-edge Paintings of John T. Beer , 2005, with 190 listed there). Written for use in a Franciscan community (with St. Francis in Litany), perhaps dedicated to St. Augustine (that saint in red in Litany), with instructions throughout to the choir, cantor and all members of the house. The text comprises the antiphons for the feasts of the Presentation (2 February) to that of St. Augustine (28 August), followed by those for the general mass for the dedication of a church and a Litany.

Clement Ramult de Radymno, Sermones de Tempore, - in Latin, manuscript on paper [south east Poland in Latin, manuscript on paper [south east Poland (Tarnów, east of Krakow), dated 1541 and 1548] 362 leaves, bound too tightly to collate but apparently complete (a single blank cancelled after fol.57 with no loss of text), c. 40 lines in black ink in a cursive hand, paragraph marks and rubrics in border in red, titles touched in red, edges slightly trimmed, some small stains throughout, else good condition, title on lower edge: de tempore sermones A , 162mm. by 105mm., contemporary or near-contemporary Polish aristocratic binding of blindtooled morocco over bevelled wooden boards, with compartments enclosing busts of Greek mythological figures holding musical instruments, above their names, and the title SERMONES DEI , all enclosing central panels (front board with the Crucifixion in gilt above the legend [N]OS NON COMINU: EXEO ; back board with further busts of the Biblical figures Peter, Paul and David), small scuffs to each board, split along edges of spine and some wear to head and foot, but solid in binding, remains of two metal clasps Provenance: (1) Written in Tarnów, Poland, in the mid-sixteenth century (inscriptions 1541 at foot of fol. 188v and in loco Tharnowiensis anno d. 1548 in red in gutter of fol.358v), doubtless for an itinerant preacher, and perhaps for the author himself; (2) Mojmir Filip Alois Helcelet (1879-1959) of Brno in the Czech Republic: his armorial labels on back pastedown with acquisition date, 1 June 1937; (3) Eivind Hassler (1939-2009) of Uppsala, Sweden; perhaps acquired in 1950: erased pencil marks on front pastedown. Text: This is an important medieval Polish book. Any manuscript containing the works of a Polish author is of great rarity, and the present manuscript is both dated and placed, and may have been copied for or by the author himself. It contains sermons from the first Sunday in Advent (fol.1r) to the 25th after Pentecost (fol.347r), followed by another for the dedication of a church. Another manuscript is recorded in Krakow, Biblioteka Prowincji, Ojców Bernardynów, MS.10/R. The author was a prominent ecclesiastical translator and preacher, who in 1512 entered the monastery of the Franciscan fathers of St. Bernadine in Przeworsk, some 50 miles to the west of Tarnów. He died in 1562, and thus this manuscript dates to within his lifetime, and was written in a town neighbouring that in which he lived. He may well have been responsible for its copying, and it is entirely possible that the present witness is in his hand or was made for his own use. Binding: While individual elements of the binding appear German, very close parallels can be found on sixteenth-century printed books from the Polish royal court (a Novum Testamentum Graece et Latine , ed. Erasmus of Rotterdam, Basel, 1527, in the armorial named binding of Bishop Jan Dantyszek, d.1548, an attendant on King Sigismund II Augustus, the book now Warsaw, Biblioteka Narodowa, XVI. F. 2339: illustrated in More Precious than Gold: Treasures of the Polish National Library , 2000, no.34; and a series of volumes bound in Krakow in 1549 for King Sigismund himself, ibid. no.37). All share the same monumental capitals of the title at the head of each front board, close enough that they may be from the same tools, and the arrangement of concentric bands of compartments with bust-portraits around a central panel.

Carthusian Breviary, - in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment [south east France in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment [south east France (Chartreuse), dated 1670] 76 leaves (including an endleaf at back, plus a pastedown at each end), complete, collation: i5 (first leaf a singleton with frontispiece), ii-ii2, iv-xviii4, xix5 (iv a singleton), xx2, contemporary pagination, single column, 17 lines in a fine and rounded late humanistic hand, with pronounced st- and ct-ligatures and a g whose bowl is separated from the tail, all set within two red boundary lines around entire text frame, red rubrics and penwork line fillers to match, simple initials in red pen within rectangular black penwork boxes, larger initials in burnished gold on panels of coloured foliate designs, single printed paper leaf: In Solemnitate Sacratissimi Cordis Jesu bound in at back, significant sections opening with a decorated panel in gold and colours, frontispiece with large acanthus leaf design in red, blue and green around two cabochons with inscriptions in red capitals and minuscule script (see below), initial on p.1 smudged, small spots and stains, else good condition, 210mm. by 15mm., contemporary binding of brown leather over wooden boards with metalwork bosses and cornerpieces (one on back missing), some cracking at spine, small holes and losses at head and foot of spine, some gatherings loose, else good From the library of the Charterhouse of Montrieux, on the Chartreuse near Grenoble: their ex libris Pro Cartusia Domus Beatae Mariae de monte Riuio , small green ownership stamp and scrawled note Mont rieu on frontispiece. It was established in 1137 as the 8th house of the order, and in the fourteenth century was the home of Gherardo Petrarca, the brother of the celebrated Francesco Petrarch, but was abandoned at the Revolution. The book appears to have left the community then, and acquired the inscription Louis François Bourgogne … L[ ]an 1815 on the verso of the frontispiece. The house was re-established in 1843, but faltered again, and was closed in 1904/5 (here recorded on the pastedown, and its closure ascribed to Le ministere Combes en 1904 ). This volume then entered the trade, acquiring the pencil marks 5/12/46 , TW 1947 and the UK pricecode B/-/- on its last pastedown and inside back board. This is a splendid example of seventeenth-century manuscript production, which frequently harks back to medieval and sixteenth-century models.

95 The Hours of the Cross, Use of Metz, - in Latin, opulently illuminated manuscript on parchment [north... in Latin, opulently illuminated manuscript on parchment [north east France (probably Metz), first half of fourteenth century (probably c.1340)] 24 leaves (including two blank original endleaves, and plus 7 modern paper endleaves at each end), collation: i-ii8 (central bifolium made up from two cut leaves), iii8 (reinforced at gutter with strips of other parchment, the first leaf of this bifolium from another place in book), each leaf with sparkling illumination and riotous activity , 17 lines in two sizes of a fine early Gothic bookhand, rubrics in liquid gold, one-line initials in gold on blue and burgundy grounds touched in white penwork, 2-line initials in same colours on gold grounds mostly containing sprays of foliage, drollery animals, an owl and human figures or heads (16 with the latter), twenty-four pages with simple illuminated borders of gold and coloured bars terminating in foliage and often bezants, seven historiated initials in blue or pink on brightly burnished gold grounds and with wider and more complex text borders set on angular grounds, the borders filled with numerous people and drolleries, whooping monkeys, dogs, hunting scenes with hares, stags, wild boar and birds, a hedgehog, fighting men, a fox, a squirrel, a lion, an owl, a performer with a dog holding a bowl in its mouth, bears, two goats, and a cat dressed as a scholar reading from a book , slight scuffs in places, and small amount of cockling, remnants of paper with nineteenth-century hand on last leaf, other marks showing this leaf once the pastedown, early twentieth-century pink ink foliation (superseding earlier pencil foliations, with erased $' on last leaf above #24;0 ff', doubtless the original number of leaves of this volume in the nineteenth or early twentieth century, else in good and bright condition, 138mm. by 101mm., nineteenth- or early twentieth-century binding of crushed red velvet over pasteboards (rubbed on boards and cracking at spine), fitted brown cloth slipcase This is a hitherto untraced section of an early and important Book of Hours, and the sister of those exhibited in Cologne in 1997 (private German collection: see Plotzek Andachtsbucher des Mittelalters aus privatbesitz, no. 11) and sold in the first Ritman sale at Sotheby's, 6 July 2000, lot 8 Provenance: (1) As Plotzek noted, the inclusion of a kneeling nun adoring the Virgin and Child on fol.20r of the part of the book catalogued by him, as well as the forms there of ancilla and peccatrix suggest that the original book was made for a female Benedictine. Its lavish opulence suggest her importance, perhaps as the abbess to her community or a wealthy benefactor who retired within its walls. Another nun peeps down at the text from the initial on fol. 13v here, and this may also be a portrait of the original owner. (2) By the seventeenth century the book appears to have been bound in at least two volumes (with the Ritman section surviving in a binding of that date), and at that time the volume containing this part appears to have contained 180 leaves. It was subdivided again in the nineteenth or early twentieth century, when it and the private German section were put into identical red velvet bindings and refoliated in pink ink by the same hand. Single leaves missing from the Ritman section appeared in Ferrini, cat.2 (1989), nos.10-11 and BEL, Illuminations, cat.1, no. 22. (3) This part from an American collection. Text: The text here is the Hours of the Cross, with Matins (fol. 1r), Lauds (fol.6v), Prime (fol.9v), Terce (fol.11r), Nones (fol.15r), Vespers (fol.17v) and Compline (fol.20r). It presumably sat at the end of the original codex, after the Hours of the Virgin, Penitential Psalms, Litany and prayers in French (as in the Ritman section) and the Hours of the Holy Spirit, the Psalter of the Virgin with prayers, and the Gospel Sequence from John (as in the privately owned German section). The complete book may also have included a Calendar or even a full Psalter at its beginning. Illumination: Sandra Hindman definitively identified the artist as the Master of Boethius of Montpellier (named after Montpellier, Bib. De la Faculté de Médecine, MS. 43; see F. Avril, Les Fastes du Gothique, 1981, no. 256). He was a gifted artist based in Metz c.1340-50, who was influenced by the great Parisian artists Jean Pucelle and Jean le Noir, and executed commissions for the aristocracy and growing bourgeoisie there. This is the earliest period of Metz illumination, and the book was one of a handful of closely related codices, including two contemporary Books of Hours (Paris, Bibl. De Arsenal, MS.570; and Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum, MS.9-1951), a Missal of Metz use (Trier, Bistumarchiv cod.407) and two compendia of devotional texts (BnF. MSS.17115 and lat.2568); see also Collin-Roset in Tresors des bibliotheques de Lorraine, 1998. The artist's handing of the larger historiated initials is refined and skilled, with soft green-grey fleshtones used on the faces of the finest examples to lift emotion from the passivity of their expressions, but his real talent is in his inventive and whimsical borders. In these men loll and relax, a kitten in scholar's robes pensively studies a book, animals scamper and whooping monkeys swing out from the foliage and brandish clubs and bucklers. The book delights the eye, and a new animal or drollery seems to be found tucked away in a corner or peeping out from behind foliage every time the pages are turned. The significant illuminations are: (1) fol.1r, 7-line initial with the Kiss of Judas, a rabbit, a bird, a green dog, two battling warriors and a wild boar guzzling red bezants in the full border; (2) fol.2v, human-headed dragon in green and brown with a hairy back, in decorated border; (3) fol.3v, 2-line initial with tiny white biting animal, a rabbit in the border; (4) fol.4r, 2-line initial with smiling man, an owl and a monkey eating a bezant in lower border; (5) fol.4v, 3-line initial with Christ as Man of Sorrows, small hairy drollery in corner; (6). fol.5r, 2-line initial with man's face, a grumpy looking bird and a stag leaping in the border; (7) fol.6r, rabbit running away from a red dog in lower border; (8) fol.6v, 4-line initial with Christ bound before Pilate, a knight peeping around at the scene from behind the initial, a seated stag, a hedgehog with fruit stuck on its spines, a shaggy-maned dragon-like creature and a small bird in the rich three-quarter borders; (9) fol.7r, a comic drollery with a long red striped tail, wrapped in a blue cloak and poking its tongue out at the reader; (10) fol.7v, 2-line initial with orange drollery and a hare in border; (11) fol.8r, a realistic hound chasing a leaping stag in the lower border; (12) fol.9r, a 2-line initial with a singing head, and a human-headed drollery with a long flowing cloak in border; (13) fol.9v, a 7-line initial showing the stripping of Christ, with him seated passively with bound hands before a tesselated ground as three men hold him, the lowermost clasping his cloak, a 2-line initial with a bearded face, a stern looking bishop, sprawled human with outstretched arms and a hare in rich near-full border; (14) fol.10r, 2-line initial with singing head and a red fox gnawing at the lower border; (15) fol.10v, 2-line initial with green drollery and a whooping monkey in border; (16) fol.11r, 6-line initial with the Scourging of Christ, tied to a pole between two attackers, a squirrel, a bird and a reclining man in the near-complete borders; (17) fol.11v, 2-line initial with human head wearing conical hat, a man spearing a bird in lower border; (18) fol.12r, 2-line initial with dragon-like drollery; (19) fol.13r, bearded cloak-wearing drollery in lower border; (20) fol.13v, nun's head in 2-line initial; (21) fol.14r, 2-line initial with human face and an owl in border; (22) .............

Book of Hours, - Use of Paris, in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on... Use of Paris, in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on parchment [northern France (Paris), late fifteenth century] 184 leaves (plus an original endleaf at each end), too tightly bound to collate, but clearly missing single leaves after fols.11, 12, 14, 20, 27, 68, 75, 78, 82, 85, 88, 111 and 159 (mostly with miniatures or decoration), a few other leaves with initials cut out or borders trimmed away, some now just stubs of text (see fols.1 and 124-5 for examples), double column, 13 lines in an elegant and thin lettre bâtarde with long ornamental cadels at top and bottom of text column (these often extending into amusing and skilled caricatures of human faces with individual examples or clutches of these every few pages), rubrics in vivid blue ink, Calendar entries in red, blue and liquid gold, one-line initials in gold on pink and blue grounds with white penwork, with line fillers of bars of flower heads in same, larger initials in blue or pink on gold enclosing foliage or coloured balls on gold grounds, some with decorated borders of hairline foliage with coloured and gold flowers and fruit, one 4-line initial in scalloped pink enclosing the Virgin and St. Anne on gold grounds, with a three-quarter decorated border, small spots and scuffs and some leaves slightly cockled, overall fair condition, 110mm. by 75mm., in sixteenth-century elaborately gilt-tooled arabesque binding over pasteboards (#21;42' on last main text leaf perhaps indicating the precise date of this), small marks to areas at edge of boards where clasps once attached, wear to edges and cracking where front board meets book block, but solid in binding The volume comprises: a Calendar; Gospel Readings followed by prayers; the Hours of the Virgin; the Penitential Psalms, followed by prayers and a Litany; the Hours of the Cross; the Office of the Dead; the Suffrages to the Saints, followed by a single prayer which a blue rubric announces is good contre la pestilence .

Book of Hours, - in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on parchment [northern... in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on parchment [northern France (probably Paris), c.1485] 132 leaves (plus 2 modern paper endleaves at front and back), wanting single leaves after fols.12, 46 (probably with miniatures) and a gathering at end, collation: i12, ii6, iii8, iv7 (probably wanting last leaf), v7 (vii wanting), v6, vi8, vii7 (last a singleton with a miniature), viii7 (last wanting), ix6 (vi-vii wanting), x6 (probably wanting first 2 leaves), xi8, xii7 (wants vii), xiii-xvi8, xvii5 (wanting 3 leaves), single column, 19 lines in a fine angular late Gothic bookhand, purple-red rubrics (some in ornate calligraphic script), small initials in liquid gold containing flowers and floral sprays on blue and burgundy grounds, linefillers to match, Calendar in gold, red and blue, four small miniatures (Luke drawing the Virgin and Child, Matthew with an angel writing his Gospel, Mark with his lion writing, Virgin and Child) with decorated borders of flowers and fruit on gold and blank grounds divided into triangles and hearts, three large arch-topped miniatures by a follower of the Master of Jacques de Besancon (fl. c.1480-98; Adoration of the Magi: 49v, Flight into Egypt: 55v, Coronation of Virgin: 61v) with fine borders of flowers on gold and blank grounds, that on fol.61v with grounds divided up into lattice of same with many realistic flowers and birds, some small chips and wear to 2 miniatures, end leaves discoloured and darkened, some thumbing, trimmed, overall fair and presentable condition, 152mm. by 11mm., modern parchment covered pasteboards with single gold fillet (front board bowed) The volume comprises a Calendar (fol.1r), Gospel Readings (fol.13r), the Obsecro te (fol.17r), the Hours of the Virgin (fol.20r), the Hours of the Cross (fol.69r), the Penitential Psalms (fol.74r) followed by a Litany; the Office of the Dead (fol.86r), followed by prayers to various saints.

Book of Hours, - Use of Rome, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment [French... Use of Rome, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment [French Flanders (perhaps Liege or Mauberge), c. 1460] 83 leaves (including a blank leaf at end; plus one modern paper and one early parchment endleaf at front and two of each at back, the early ones recovered from legal documents of perhaps sixteenth century), complete, i6, ii8 (with a bifolium cut away with stubs after iii and v, but no text loss, perhaps due to a planning error by original scribe), iii-viii8, ix8, xi6, xii7 (last probably a cancelled blank), single column, 18 lines in a professional late Gothic bookhand, capitals formed of unconnected penstrokes joined by yellow wash, red rubrics, gold and blue line fillers in Litany, one-line initials in gold or blue with contrasting penwork, 2-line linitials in gold on pink and blue grounds heightened with white penwork, these with sprays of coloured and gold foliage in the margins, fourteen large initials in pink or blue with fine penwork enclosing scrolling foliage on gold infill, all on coloured grounds and within thin gold and coloured frames, these frames extending around the text on three sides, full border of acanthus leaves and other foliage enclosing a peacock on the first such page, fols.18v, 34v and 51v once with miniatures from another Book of Hours pasted to them (note offset of other side of leaf and small miniature on fol.51v), these now removed, numerous marks on last endleaves from attachment of pilgrim badges there, small areas of rubbing and discolouration, leaves slightly cockled, some small wormholes, slight water damage to inner edge affecting Calendar leaves, edges trimmed with loss to edges of a few decorated borders, else in good condition and on thick parchment with wide and clean margins, nineteenth-century French note inside front board explaining the sixteenth-century additions at end (see below), 180mm. by 125mm., nineteenth-century parchment binding over pasteboards (front now bowed), stamped at top of front pastedown in purple ink A. Clavaux (presumably the binder), spotting to paper endleaves Provenance: Written and illuminated for a patron in French Flanders, perhaps Liege or Mauberge: the decoration suggests the influence of Bruges and Flanders, and the Calendar includes SS. Hubert of Liege (December), and Lambert of Liege, his predecessor (17 September), to whom the Cathedral in the town is dedicated; Amalberga of Mauberge appears in the Litany. In the hands of members of the de Blois family by the mid-sixteenth century, and perhaps originally commissioned for one of them: the ex libris of a L de Blois on the last leaf, with other inscriptions dated 1549 and 1550 suggesting that this is Loys de Blois, who married Helene Tatin and had two children named Laurens and Margaritte, he was most probably a member of the family of the seigneurs de Jumigny, who also included the Flemish mystical writer, Louis de Blois (1506-66, also known as Blosius) who was born at the château of Donstienne, near Liège, was educated at the court of the Netherlands with the future emperor Charles V, his lifelong friend, and became the abbot of Liessies Abbey in Hainaut. Text: The volume comprises: a Calendar (fol.1r); the Hours of the Cross (fol.7r); the Hours of the Holy Spirit (fol.10r); the Mass of the Virgin (fol.13r); the Hours of the Virgin (fol.21r), with Lauds (fol.29r), Prime (fol.37r), Terce (fol.40r), Sext (fol.43r), Nones (fol.45r), Vespers (fol.48r) and Compline (fol.52r); the Seven Penitential Psalms (fol.55r) followed by a Litany; the Office of the Dead (fol.67r); the Obsecro te and O intemerata (fol.78r).

Book of Hours, - Use of Rome, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment... Use of Rome, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment [Southern Netherlands (probably Bruges), c.1460] 98 leaves (plus a modern parchment endleaf at front and back), wanting a number of single leaves (after fol.14, 17 and 73), some groups of leaves (3 after fol. 11; 4 after fol. 17; 2 leaves after 77), and last few leaves, other leaves with holes where small miniatures have been cut away (fols. 8, 14, 81 and 84), single column, 21 lines in a fine late Gothic bookhand, capitals touched in yellow, red rubrics, small initials in gold on blue and pink grounds heightened with white penwork, linefillers in same with small compartments of gold, coloured and gold text bars ending in tri-lobed red and blue flowers on one side of text and decorative border panels of foliage and fruit on other on every text page, thirteen larger initials in pink and blue enclosing foliage sprays, all on burnished gold grounds, with full foliate borders, four historiated initials in same (Scourging of Christ, Crucifixion, Descent from the Cross, Holy Spirit descending as a dove), five small arch-topped miniatures (SS. Michael the archangel trampling a hairy devil underfoot, Andrew and his Cross, Stephen holding a handful of rocks, Mary Magdalene and her jar of ointment, Catherine and her wheel), two full-page miniatures from another Flemish manuscript of perhaps a decade or so earlier mounted on modern parchment leaves, with the miniatures set in wide rectangular frames with gold quadrilobed flowers at their corners and full decorated borders (fol. 7: Dormition of the Virgin, and 49v: Pentecost; both trimmed to edges with losses to outermost borders, the second with smudge affecting a few figures on lefthand side), spots, small smudges, stains and losses to top inner part of last few leaves (now restored), but overall in appealing condition with wide and clean margins, 220mm. by 150mm., nineteenth-century gilt-tooled leather over pasteboards, marbled endleaves This volume comprises: a Calendar (fol. 1r); the Hours of the Cross (fol.8r); the Hours of the Holy Spirit (fol. 12r, wanting opening); the Mass of the Virgin (fol. 13r); Suffrages to the Saints (fol. 15r); Hours of the Virgin (fol. 18r), with Lauds (fol. 26r), Prime (fol. 37r), Terce (fol. 40r), Sext (fol. 43r), Nones (fol. 46r), Vespers (fol. 50r), Compline (fol. 55r); readings for office of Virgin for whole year (fol. 58r); Seven Penitential Psalms (fol. 64r) followed by a Litany; Office of the Dead (fol. 77r, ending imperfectly).

English School (19th Century) - View of the Thames, traditionally understood to show London Bridge with New Parliament beyond Oil on canvas Bears indistinct pen and black ink manuscript label on reverse that reads: Done while living at [?] Chambers Adelphi, and Studying Parliament House 1848 25 x 36 cm. (9 3/4 x 14 1/8 in)

Myles Birket Foster (1825-1899) - The Christmas Holly Cart Watercolour and gouache, over pencil, heightened with white 13 x 16.5 cm. (5 1/8 x 6 1/2 in) Provenance: Frost & Reed (registered no. D 917) Illustrated: The Illustrated London News, December 1848. The present watercolour was painted while Birket Foster was living with his parents in Maida Vale; it is probably one of his earliest watercolours. A manuscript note attached to the reverse of the frame is inscirbed in pen and ink: "Looking out of the window one morning his attention was attracted by their servant purchasing some holly from a cart drawn by a donkey. The subject pleased him, and he made a hasty skecth, which he afterwards drew upon a woodblock. His sister admiring the sketch, Birket Foster worked upon it with watercolours, and presented it to her at Christmas."

Manner of Guillim Scrots - Portrait of a unknown lady, three-quarter-length, with closed bible to her left Oil on panel Bears manuscript pen and ink label on reverse inscribed Anne Boleyn, (after) Holbein 64 x 48 cm. (25 1/4 x 19 in) Provenance: Private collection, Scotland. Giullim Scrot's portrait of a Young Elizabeth I (Windsor Castle, The Royal Collection) would appear to be a direct influence on the present work, with noticeable similarites in both composition and the sitters clothing. Similarly, the placement and composition of the hands in the portrait of Catherine Parr in the Melton Constable Portrait (formerly mistaken as Jane Grey), seem to have also been utilised in reverse.

Circle of François Clouet (1522-1572) - Portrait of a lady, traditionally identified as Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1587) Portrait of a lady, traditionally identified as Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1587), bust length, in a black dress and white ruff with a gold necklace Oil on panel Bears manuscript pen and ink label on reverse inscribed Mary Queen of Scots by Mark Garrard [Marcus Gheeraerts] 47 x 35 cm. (18 1/2 x 13 3/4 in) Provenance: Private collection, Scotland

La Derniere Guerre des Betes. Fable pour Servir a l' Histoire du XVIII Siecle. Par l'Auteur d' Abassai. 1st Ed. Scarce. 8vo. Half title, errata leaf at end (some light staining). Contemporary red morocco-backed marbled boards (rubbed and scuffed). Provenance: Robert Rutherford, armorial bookplate; Roger Senhouse, [19]43 (signature on front pastedown). On one of the rear endpapers, Roger Senhouse (1899-1970) provides a brief manuscript biography of the author and a "key" to this elaborate allegory: (ie. Lion = The French. Leopard = The English.etc. [1].

Unusual pietra dura panel, with an inlaid manuscript showing a lady seated by a tree near a building, 24cm x 24cm

Rede Leman Thomas: York Castle in the Nineteenth Century 1831, Atkinson Rev J C: Memorials of Old Whitby, 1894 and Elgee Frank: Early Man in North East Yorkshire, 1930, with a manuscript letter signed by the author (3)

1854. BELIZE to KINGSTON (JAMAICA). Red postmark PAID /AT / BELIZE and manuscript "Prepaid" and "Pr Pkt", on reverse double arch date stamp BELIZE and arrival. VERY FINE AND SCARCE COVER. Cert R.P.S.L. (SGcc1 4000£)

1868. BUENOS AIRES to VALLADOLID. British Postal Agency c.d.s. BUENOS AIRES / PAID, red and double handstruck, one manuscript. VERY FINE AND RARE

1865. BAEPENDI to RIO DE JANEIRO. On reverse postmark (ink) BAEPENDY and manuscript "Pg 60 reis". VERY FINE.

1841. OURO PRETO to RIO DE JANEIRO. Straight line postmark I.C.DOOURO P. (Ink) and manuscript "50" (reis). VERY FINE.

1842. OURO PRETO to RIO DE JANEIRO. Straight line postmark I.C.DOOURO P. (Ink) and manuscript "100" (reis). VERY FINE.

1842. OURO PRETO to RIO DE JANEIRO. C.d.s. I.C. DOOURO PRETO / CORREIO GERAL DE MINAS and manuscript "100" (reis). VERY FINE.

1832. OURO PRETO to RIO DE JANEIRO. Straight line postmark I.C.DOOURO P. and manuscript handstruck "50" (reis). VERY FINE.

1834. LORENA to SAO PAULO. Boxed straight line postmark LORENA and manuscript "50" (reis). VERY FINE.

1843. RIO DE JANEIRO to TRES PONTAS. C.d.s. CORREIO GERAL DA CORTE and manuscript "40" (reis) corrected to "60". VERY FINE.

1835. SANTOS to SAO PAULO. Straight line postmark SANTOS and manuscript "20" (reis). VERY FINE AND RARE.

1834. SAN JOAO to RIO DE JANEIRO. Straight line postmark. S.JOAO DEL REI and manuscript "40" (reis). VERY FINE.

1825. SAN JOAO to RIO DE JANEIRO. Straight line postmark S.PAULO and manuscript "100" (reis). VERY FINE.

1827. SAO PAULO to RIO DE JANEIRO (lightly tropicalized). Rectagular postmark SAO PAULO and manuscript "100" (reis). VERY FINE.

1839. ATIBAIA to RIO DE JANEIRO. Circular postmark SAO/PAULO and manuscript "70" (reis). VERY FINE.

1832. SOROCABA to SAO PAULO (lightly tropicalized). Red boxed postmark SOROCABA, and manuscript "20" (reis). VERY FINE.

1876. 100 reis green. RIO DE JANEIRO to BUENOS AIRES. Fancy cancel, on front manuscript "P.Elbe", of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. VERY FINE. (Scott 65)

1879. 200 reis black and 700 reis red chestnut. RIO DE JANEIRO to ESCOUT (FRANCE). Fancy eight arms cancel and on front manuscript "Vapeur Equateur" and c.d.s. RIO-JANEIRO / PAQ. FR. J . Nº2. VERY FINE AND UNUSUAL FRANKING COMBINATION. (Scott 66, 76)

1885. 300 reis bistre brown and 1000 reis grey purple. Value declared from SAN ANTONIO DE PADUA to RIO DE JANEIRO. C.d.s. S.A. DE PADUA, on front manuscript "Rs 50$000 y 1330". VERY FINE AND SUPERB FRANKING. (Scott 75, 77)

(1880ca). 700 red chestnut, pair. Value declared from SAO PAULO to CANANEA. Fancy four arms cancel on front and c.d.s. REGISTRADO / SAO PAULO and on reverse manuscript "46$700", amount of the double rate declared value with 1000 extra reis (corresponding to the 2% of 50$000). VERY FINE AND VERY RARE, UNDOUBTEDLY ONE OF THE BEST COVERS FRANKED WITH 700 REIS. Ex-Santos and Ex-Pracchia. (Scott 76)

1926. 50 cts olive, eight stamps. RENAIX (BELGIUM) to CASABLANCA. On front manuscript "Par Avion Toulouse-Casablanca", on reverse arrival mark. FINE.

1861. SAINT THOMAS to FAJARDO (PUERTO RICO). Red mark PAID / AT / ST. THOMAS and british manuscript tax and 1/2 (real) on arrival. VERY FINE AND RARE. (SG CC1 500 £)

1872. 12 ctvos blue and 25 ctvos red. MEXICO to MADRID. MEXICO c.d.s., on front manuscript "Por el paquete ingl©s" and handstruck "8R" (reales), applied on arrival. VERY FINE

1866. 40 cts orange, two blocks (franked on reverse). SAN JUAN (PUERTO-RICO) to CADIZ. On front blue octogonal date stamp ST.JEAN DE-PORTO-RICO (Salles 1368), manuscript handstruck "4" and spanish due "16 R" (reales), on reverse c.d.s. LIGNE-B. / PAQ.FR.Nº4 (Salles 1431/4) and postmark LISTA, from Cadiz applied in arrival. VERY NICE AND EXTRAORDINARY FRANKING OF QUADRUPLE RATE. ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT OF THE FRENCH POST OFFICE IN PUERTO RICO.

1875. 5 cts green, pair, 15 cts bistre brown, pair and 80 cts pink, pair. LA GUAYRA to MALAGA (SPAIN). Lozenge anchor cancel, on front manuscript "Via francesa" and spanish handstruck "8Rs" (reales), on reverse c.d.s. LIGNE A / PAQ.FR.Nº1. SUPERB AND SPECTACULAR TRICOLOR FRANKING.

1846. CARACAS to SAINT THOMAS (DANISH WEST INDIES). Double circle datestamp LA-GUAYRA and mark PAID / AT / LA-GUAYRA, both red and manuscript tax "1/-" (shilling). VERY RARE AND SCARCE. (SGcc1 3000£). Cert. B.P.A.

1870. 5 cts blue and French 80 cts pink stamp (folded). MONTEVIDEO to BARCELONA. Lozenge Anchor cancel on the French stamp and on front octogonal date stamp. MONTEVIDEO (date stamp inverted) and manuscript "Via Lisboa", carried by the steamboat "Amazone". VERY NICE AND RARE MIXED FRANKING, SPECIALLY WITH THE URUGUAY 1866 IMPERFORATED EMISSION.

1836. LIMA (PERU) to ROUEN. Lineal postmark PAYS D'OUTREMER (no city indication) applied on arrival in Bordeaux, NAVIRE / BONNE CLEMENCE and manuscript "10". VERY FINE AND RARE.

1857. 10 cts bistre brown, three pairs (one with short margin, another with small crease). LAGUIOLE to SAINT GENIES. Lozenge small number "1617" cancel, on front manuscript "25 g timbres insuf" and "6". VERY FINE AND RARE FRANKING.

(1856ca). 20 cts dark blue and 40 cts orange (1849 special rate for trade offices in French seaports). Front cover from PARIS to LA OROTAVA (CANARY ISLANDS). C.d.s. "POINTILLE", on front manuscript "Por Vapor France Comtois". VERY FINE AND RARE DESTINATION.

1863. 40 cts orange. SAINT MALO to MEXICO (addressed to a Expeditionary French Army Doctor in Mexico). On front postmark AFFRANCHISSEMENT INSUFFISANT and manuscript "Por St. Nazaire". VERY FINE AND RARE DESTINATION.