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Gardens.- [Hill (Thomas)] [The Profitable Art of Gardening], 2 parts in 1, black letter, lacking title, with woodcut initials and illustrations (2 of mazes, one of knot garden), with numerous contemporary ink annotations and folding manuscript list of vegetables bound in, soiled and browned, first leaf frayed at upper outer corner with slight loss, cropped affecting some head-lines and marginalia, old cloth, rubbed and marked, spine faded, [British Bee Books 7; Fussell p.18; Henrey 199; STC 13495], small 4to, [by Henry Bynneman], [1586]. ⁂ The second part is 'A Profitable instruction of the perfite ordering of bees'. ESTC lists only 5 copies in UK including this one, and 4 in America.Provenance: Rothamsted acquisition date not noted.

Bellot (James) The Booke of Thrift, containing a perfite order, and right methode to profite lands, and other things belonging to Husbandry, first edition, collation: A4 B-D8 E4 (complete with blank leaves A4 and E4), largely printed in black letter, woodcut device on title, woodcut initials and decorations, top edge trimmed occasionally slightly affecting headline and pagination, early 20th century polished mottled calf, gilt, g.e., upper cover cleanly detached, [STC 25007.3; Fussell I, p.14], 8vo, Printed by John Wolfe, 1589.⁂ One of only 3 recorded copies, the other two at Glasgow University and Folger. This copy with distinguished provenance, bearing the bookplates of both Donald McDonald and Francis Henry Cripps-Day, and being the copy mentioned at length by Fussell: "James Bellot was a gentleman of Caen who came across an old manuscript of Walter of Henley and of the anonymous thirteenth-century tract Hosebondrie." Only one appearance at auction, in 1983, described as "wormed...much of last leaf lost."Rothamsted acquisition date 1932.

Fitzherbert (John) Fitzharberts Booke of Husbandrie, collation: A4 B-Dd4, (complete with A1, blank except for signature mark), largely printed in black letter, woodcut initials, a couple of illustrations, sig.H3 and H4 with burn-holes causing loss of text on both sides, repaired and text supplied in old manuscript, some ink annotations, sig.Cc4 corner defective and with marginal tear, short tear in final leaf, some light water-staining, early 20th century half calf over marbled boards, cuttings to endpapers, [STC 11004], small 4to, Printed by I.R. for Edward White, and are to be sold at his shoppe, at the little North doore of Paules Church, at the signe of the Gunne, 1598.⁂ Bookplate of Francis Henry Cripps-Day with numerous cuttings and ink annotations relating to early English farming books on endpapers. His small oval embossed stamp to a few leaves.Provenance: Rothamsted acquisition date 1928.

Dubravius (Janus) A New Booke of Good Husbandry, very pleasaunt, and of great Profite both for Gentlemen and Yomen, first edition, black letter, lacking K gathering (4ff.), woodcut device to title, woodcut initials, head- and tail-pieces, shaved at head affecting some running titles and the first line on title page, occasional soiling, ink inscriptions in an early hand including 4 recipes, 20th century half calf, [Fussell p.19; Westwood & Satchell, p.81; Kress 213; STC 7268], small 4to, By William. White, dwelling in Cow-lane, 1599; sold not subject to return.⁂ Rare in any condition, the manuscript recipes include "mending a broken glasse" and "to keepe tame rabbits".Provenance: Rothamsted acquisition date 1918.

Estienne (Charles) and Jean Liébault. Maison Rustique, or the Countrie Farme...also a short collection of the hunting of the Hart, wilde Bore, Hare, Foxe, Gray, Conie; of Birds and Faulconrie..., translated by Richard Surflet, first edition in English, lacking A1 (blank but for signature "A1"), woodcut device on title, ornaments, initials and illustrations, some full-page including 20 of knot gardens, title lightly soiled and with small ink stains, water-staining to some leaves but otherwise a good copy, E2 and O3 with tear to outer margin, contemporary and later ink manuscript notes to endpapers (remedy "to fasten loose teeth", recipe for "a salve" etc.), later panelled calf, rubbed, corners worn, rebacked, [STC 10547; Fussell I p.13], 4to, by Edm. Bollifant for Bonham Norton, 1600.⁂ Provenance: Rothamsted acquisition date 1915.

Gardens.- [Hill (Thomas)], "Dydimus Mountain". The Gardeners Labyrinth. Containing a Discourse of the Gardeners life, in the yearly trauels to be bestowed on his plot of earth, for the vse of a Garden: with instructions for the choice of seeds, apt times for sowing, setting, planting, and watering,..., 2 parts in 1, titles with woodcut vignettes of gardeners at work, with the rare 4 leaves of woodcut knots and mazes usually missing (slightly frayed at edges, one maze faintly traced in pencil), woodcut illustrations, some repeated, some full-page, woodcut initials, some soiling and water-staining, rust-hole to B2 and C2 with loss of a few letters, sight worming to inner margin of B-D signatures, contemporary ink signature of John Baxter to margin of O4v with a few old ink annotations to endpapers, bookplate of John Ludford to rear pastedown, later signature of E.Richmond Swales to front free endpaper, contemporary limp vellum with ties, spine titled in manuscript, rubbed and slightly stained, ties defective, [Henrey 267; Hunt 186; STC 13489], small 4to, by Henry Ballard, 1608.⁂ Provenance: Rothamsted acquisition date 1929.

Palladius (Rutilius Taurus) Opus agriculturae, manuscript on vellum, II + 111 + I leaves (text complete, although manuscript resewn with result that it is impossible to give its original quiring), early inked foliation to upper margin, faded or trimmed at time of rebinding, modern pencilled foliation written every ten leaves in outer upper margin, text block: 120/125 x 80mm., single column, 24-25 lines, text written in brown ink, in a single minuscule chancery hand throughout, rubricated in red, the first capital letter of each chapter set out, a generally well preserved manuscript, browning, staining, and spotting in places owing to different quality of vellum used or recycled (some leaves are palimpsest), some flaws to vellum, a few organic holes, around which the scribe has written text, marginal notes and glosses in two early hands, the earliest in reddish brown ink, vellum pastedowns and endpapers, 19th-century russia, covers within frame of blind and gilt fillets, central gilt arms of Pelham-Clinton family, spine with four raised bands, title and 'MS' lettered in gilt, gilt turn-ins, green silk bookmark, 8vo (156 x 113mm.), Italy (?Tuscany), [early 15th century].⁂ inc. Palladij Rutilij Tauri Emiliani viri Inl[ustris] opus agriculturae incipit feliciter. Titulus libri primi. [text inc. De praeceptis rei rusticae. Pars est prima prudenciae, ipsam cui praeceptur[us] es extimar[e] ...].expl. Palladij Rutilij Tauri Emiliani viri Inl[ustris] opus Agriculture explicit feliciter.A fine manuscript, from the celebrated library of the Dukes of Newcastle in Clumber, of this important 4th-century Roman treatise on agriculture, which enjoyed a wide popularity in the Middle Ages and early Renaissance, owing to its clear arrangement, with the farming and gardening tasks subdivided according to the twelve months of the year. Palladius relied mainly on Columella's De re rustica, but seems however to have had personal experience of farming, mentioning his own farmlands in Italy and Sardinia.The Opus agriculturae (On Agriculture) was originally composed by an introduction and twelve books corresponding to the months of the year; Palladius later added a fourteenth and fifteenth book, entitled De veterinaria medicina (On Veterinary Medicine) and Carmen de insitione (On Fruit Trees) respectively, which generally had a separate manuscript circulation. The work was first printed in Venice in 1472, in the collection dedicated by Nicolas Jenson to the Roman authorities on agriculture (see lot 5). Palladius' manuscript tradition is extremely complex, with the text of the Opus agriculturae represented by over one hundred manuscripts, from the 8th to the 16th century. The earliest surviving manuscripts extant contain, as here, Books 1-13, and derive from one lost copy which was probably produced in north-eastern France in the 8th century. The hand-writing suggests an Italian origin for the Rothamsted Latin Palladius, but it has not been possible to identify with certainty the area of its production, although north or central Italy, possibly Tuscany, would appear most likely. If both the place of production of the manuscript and the marginal glosses which supplement the text deserve further research, the importance of its provenance is by contrast, unquestionable. As the arms stamped in gilt on the binding show, it was once preserved in one of the most refined English libraries, that assembled in Clumber by the Pelham-Clinton family, Dukes of Newcastle under Lyne, and mostly formed by the fourth Duke of Newcastle (1784-1851). The book collection was sold at four Sotheby's sales between 1937 and 1938, offering a fine group of manuscripts, including the famous Hours of Isabel of Brittany, also known as the Lamoignon Hours. The preface to the sale catalogue states, "The books and manuscripts from Clumber [are] the most important to appear at auction in this country since the Holford sales nearly ten years ago".No other Palladius manuscript has appeared on the market in the last fifty years.Provenance: from the library of the Pelham-Clinton family, Dukes of Newcastle under Lyne (armorial binding; see Sotheby's sale The Magnificent Library the Property of the Late Seventh Duke of Newcastle Removed from Clumber, Worksop and Sold by Order of the Rt. Hon. the Earl of Lincoln, London 1937).Rothamsted acquisition date 1937. Literature: N.R. Ker, Medieval Manuscripts in British libraries. V. Indexes and Addenda, edited by I.C. Cunningham and A.G. Watson, Oxford, 2002, p. 13; J. Svennung, Untersuchungen zu Palladius and zur lateinischen Fach- und Volkssprache, Uppsala 1935, esp. pp. 619-629; Palladius, Opus agriculturae. De veterinaria medicina. De insitione. Edidit R.H. Rodgers, Leipzig, B. G. Teubner, 1975; R.H. Rodgers, "Palladius", in Catalogus Translationum Commentariorum III, pp. 195-199.

Grapaldus (Franciscus Marius) De partibus aedium, collation: A-B8 a-s8 t4 (including final blank leaf), woodcut initials, small slip pasted to margin of i2, contemporary note of purchase (dated 1516) at head of title, some light water-staining towards end, endpapers from early manuscript on vellum, contemporary limp vellum, leather cross-stitching to spine, lacking ties, small 4to, Parma, Franciscus Ugoletus, 1506.⁂ Mostly of architectural interest, including sections on the garden, kitchen, library, fishpond, aviary and stables.Rothamsted acquisition date 1928.Literature: Adams G1007; Isaac 13847; EDIT 16 CNCE 21594. Provenance: Nicolaus Laurus de Captarnicis (ink inscription beneath colophon).

Tusser (Thomas) Five Hundred Points of good Husbandry, printed mostly in black letter, title with ornamental border (slight loss to outer margin through paper flaw), soiled and stained, Narcissus Luttrell's copy with his ink inscription "Nar. Luttrell: His Book 1681/0 Ex dono sororis Kath. Sowe" to front free endpaper, contemporary manuscript notes to rear free endpaper, contemporary calf, red morocco label, rubbed, upper joint split, spine ends chipped, [STC 24390], [by Thomas Purfoot] for the Company of Stationers, 1620; and 5 other copies of the same, three 17th century (1610, 1614, 1630), 4to & 8vo (5)⁂ All the 17th century editions are scarce: ESTC lists only 2 UK copies of the 1614 edition (BL and this copy) and 5 UK copies of the others.Narcissus Luttrell (1657-1732), parliamentary historian and diarist, bibliographer of works concerning the Popish plot, and compiler of a large library.Provenance: first mentioned Rothamsted acquisition date 1936.

Barpo (Giovanni Battista) Le Delitie, & i Frutti dell' Agricoltura e della Villa, libri tre, title with large woodcut device, woodcut head-pieces and initials, numerous contemporary manuscript marginalia, final signature from another copy (on different paper and slightly shorter), water-stained, repair to outer margin of E2, modern morocco-backed cloth, Venice, Sarzina, 1634 § Albmair (Teodoro) I Quattro Elementi spiegati in venticinque discorsi, lacking Mm1 from index, stained, upper hinge broken, contemporary limp vellum, rubbed and stained, Florence, 1668, 4to (2)⁂ Provenance: Rothamsted acquisition dates not noted & 1919.

Magazzini (Vitale) Coltivazione Toscana, contemporary ink signatures to inside cover and notes to endpapers (front defective), contemporary limp vellum, "Scrittoio" in manuscript at head of upper cover, soiled and wrinkled, Florence, Landini, 1634 § Clemente (Africo) Della Agricoltura, title with woodcut vignette, contemporary vellum, Treviso, Giovanni Molino, 1696, rubbed; and another, 8vo (3)⁂ Provenance: first mentioned Rothamsted acquisition date 1921.

M[arkham] (G[ervase)] The English Husbandman, Drawne in Two Bookes, and Each Booke into Two Parts, 2 parts in 1, woodcut illustrations in the text, first f. blank, D1 corner torn away not affecting catchword, small hole in H1 and last f. margin torn and repaired, slightly browned, numerous contemporary ink recipes on front and back fly-leaves, new endpapers, bookplate of Douglas Hamilton Madden on front pastedown, 20th century speckled gilt panelled calf, gilt spine, morocco labels on spine, [Poynter 21.2; STC 17357], sm. 4to, for William Sheares, 1635.⁂ Manuscript recipes include: "Tewlips"; "How to sett Sparagras seedes"; "At this End is severall Receipts good for Hors and Man."Dodgson Hamilton Madden (1840-1928), judge and legal writer.Provenance: Rothamsted acquisition date 1931.

The Quartermaster's Map.- Jenner (Thomas) The Kingdome of England & Principality of Wales...Usefull for all Comanders for Quarteringe of Souldiers, first edition, engraved title and 6 large folding maps by Wenceslaus Hollar, contemporary manuscript captions to versos, many tears to folds, generally clean, last map with some tape repairs, title slightly frayed at edges, contemporary calf, upper joint split, rubbed, [Wing H2447; Shirley, British Isles 537], tall 8vo, Sold by Thomas Jenner at the South entrance of ye Exchange, 1644.⁂ A reduced version of Saxton's large wall-map of 1583, this pocket version, known as The Quartermaster's Map, was much used during the Civil War, especially by Parliamentarian commanders.

Tanara (Vincenzo) L'Economia del Cittadino in Villa...libri VII, first edition, engraved title vignette, woodcut initials, colophon leaf with woodcut printer's device at end, a little soiled and browned, remains of wax seal at foot of title, contemporary vellum, rubbed and soiled, Bologna, Giacomo Monti, 1644 § Gallo (Agostino) Le Vinti Giornate dell'Agricoltura..., woodcut printer's device on title and 18 full-page illustrations at end, old ink inscription "Libreria Puinali" at head of title, Venice, Domenico Imberti, 1607 bound with Rosaccio (Gioseppe) Considerationi...nelle quali si tratta brevemente dell'Origine, & Divisione del Tempo, Anno..., woodcut device on title, initials and small illustrations of the signs of the Zodiac and the planets, with c.20pp. of contemporary manuscript notes on astrology and extracts from Crescentiis bound in at end, Verona, Bortolamio Merlo, 1624, together 2 works in 1 vol., water-staining, later half calf, spine gilt § Falcone (Giuseppe) La Nuova Vaga et Dilettevole Villa, woodcut initials, with final blank, title browned and torn with slight loss to imprint (laid down), loose in binding, contemporary limp vellum, stained,spine defective at head, Venice, Lucio Spineda, 1612; and 2 others, v.s. (5)

Husbandry.- Weston (Sir Richard, canal builder and agriculturist, 1591-1652) Sr Rich: Westons improvement of Husbandrie... coppied out by mee Archdale Palmer, manuscript, title and 35pp., inscribed on first f. "Arch: Palmer his Booke...", 19th century ink inscription on verso of first f., first f. outer margin repaired, slightly browned, modern cloth boards, small 4to, 9th - 21st February 1649.⁂ Published as A Discours of Husbandrie used in Brabant and Flanders, 1650 (see lot 274)."Sir Richard's account of Flemish husbandry was written about 1645, and addressed to his sons from abroad. This was circulated in manuscript, and there is no evidence that it was printed before 1650, when an imperfect copy was published by Samuel Hartlib, with a dedication to the council of state. Hartlib did not at this time know who the author was. The account is the first English description of the use of a farming rotation including turnips and clover to obtain maximum output from heathlands formerly considered of little agricultural value. Although it is not known to what extent Sir Richard emulated on his own estates what he saw in Flanders, he described a farming system that was to become the cornerstone of the English 'agricultural revolution' a century later." - Oxford DNB.Probably Archdale Palmer, Sheriff of Leicestershire in 1641.

Hartlib (Samuel) The Reformed Common-Wealth of Bees...with The Reformed Virginian Silk-Worm..., 2 parts in 1 (first part bound after the second), first edition, first part with 2 woodcut illustrations and one engraved, title to the second part with typographical border, worming to lower margin touching a few letters, [British Bee Books 33; Wing H997],for Giles Calvert, 1655 bound with Samuel Hartlib His Legacie: or an Enlargement of the Discourse of Husbandry used in Brabant & Flaunders..., second edition, [Wing H990], by R. & W. Leybourn, for Richard Wodenothe, 1652, together 2 works in 1 vol., the second work bound first, browned, some soiling, old manuscript note in Latin tipped to title of second work (title becoming loose), later calf, rubbed, upper cover detached, small 4to⁂ The Legacie contains two additional parts: 'An Appendix to the Legacie...' and An Interrogatory relating...to...Ireland'.

Palladius (Rutilius Taurus) De re rustica (Italian), manuscript on paper, complete with 46 leaves, four quires, collation: 1/16, 2/16, 3/12, 4/4, blanks: 1/1v, 4/2v, 4/3, 4/4, inked foliation and modern pencilled foliation at outer upper margin of leaves 1-14, text block: two columns (each 214 x 72 mm.), c. 44-45 lines, catchwords written in the middle of verso of last leaf of each quire, text written in brown ink, by a single Italian cursive hand, headings in reddish brown ink, blank spaces for capitals at beginning of each chapter, with guide letters written in blank space between columns, paper watermarked with tulip and scissors (these frequently found in paper from various cities of Central Italy), bound with a leaf from a vellum manuscript, generally in good condition, upper corners of first 20 leaves restored with loss of some words, blank lower corners of first 6 and last 4 leaves restored without any loss, some spots and water-stains, more prominent in some leaves but not affecting legibility of text, disbound but 3 leather thongs preserved, 4to (292 x 216mm.), Central Italy, possibly Tuscany, [early 15th century].⁂ inc. Qui chomincia el libro di palladio rutilio tauro Emiliano homo chiarissimo de ogni lauorio di terra (text inc.: [P]arte di prudentia e di sauere estimare chie la persona di co lui tu parli... )expl. Sparte e quel vime[o] ouero erba si fa[n]no le sporte.Highly interesting 15th-century manuscript containing the complete text of the translation into Italian vernacular of Palladius' Opus agriculturae. The popularity of the treatise is demonstrated not only by the wide manuscript circulation of its Latin text, but also by the translations made in Italy and Spain in the 14th century, and in Middle English in the 15th: Palladius was the only one of the four Roman authorities on agriculture - the other three being Cato the Elder, Columella, and Varro - to be rendered into vernacular languages in the late Middle Ages. The 14th century saw three different anonymous translations of the work produced in Italy, and more particularly in Tuscany, the oldest of which is the MS Ricc. 2238 in Biblioteca Riccardiana in Florence. This version is attributed by some scholars to the Florentine notary Andrea Lancia (c.1280-1360), the well-known author of the so-called Ottimo Commento to Dante's Comedy. It differs from the version in Italian vernacular which first appeared in print in Siena in 1526 (see lot 30), and was published only in 1810, edited by Paolo Zanotti. The Rothamsted Italian Palladius is one of the eleven other surviving manuscripts which belong to this earliest textual tradition (we do not include the manuscript recorded in the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice, the MS Ital.XI.100.6966, an 18th-century copy of the Riccardianus). The reading of the manuscript offerred here is in fact very close to the Riccardianus, with only a few orthographic variants, or changes of word order.A further important point lies in the fact that the anonymous scribe has copied a poetic composition, simply entitled Sonetto, in praise of the Roman writer and his treatise, on the recto of the last leaf, after the explicit of Palladius's text. This sonnet begins with the line Io sono Palladio della agricoltura, and circulated throughout the 16th century under the name of the satirical 15th-century Florentine poet Giovanni di Domenico, better known as Burchiello (1404-1449), although in a version in which the last three verses have been modified. The sonnet was also included in the 18th-century edition of Burchiello's poems, an attribution which is however firmly contradicted by chronological evidence, it having been already included in the 14th-century Riccardianus.Until now, the poem Io sono Palladio della agricoltura was included in only three other Palladius manuscripts: as well as the aforementioned Riccardianus 2238, two other manuscripts in the Biblioteca Laurenziana in Florence (MSS Plut. 43.28 and Segni 12): this feature would strongly suggest that the Rothamsted Italian Palladius manuscript was produced in Tuscany, in or near Florence. Provenance: bought from the booksellers Davis & Orioli, for £20. A page from a sale catalogue loosely inserted, describes the manuscript (lot 33).Rothamsted acquisition date 1937.Literature: N.R. Ker, Medieval Manuscripts in British libraries. V. Indexes and Addenda, edited by I.C. Cunningham and A.G. Watson, Oxford, 2002, p. 13; R.H. Rodgers, "Palladius", in Catalogus Translationum Commentariorum III, pp. 195-199; Volgarizzamento di Palladio. Testo di lingua la prima volta stampato, ed. by P. Zanotti, Verona 1810; M. Barbi, La cultura e l'uso dei fiori in Palladio secondo il volgarizzamento di Andrea Lancia, Firenze 1897; C. Marchesi, "Di alcuni volgarizzamenti toscani in codici fiorentini", Studj Romanzi» 5 (1907), pp. 123-236; M. Morpurgo, Supplemento a Le opere volgari a stampa dei secoli XIII and XIV indicate e descritte da F. Zambrini, Bologna 1929, p. 74; Incipitario unificato della poesia italiana (IUPI), Modena 1988, I, p. 794; G. Frosini, Il cibo e i signori: la mensa dei priori di Firenze nel quinto decennio del sec. XIV, Firenze 1993, pp. 48-49; I sonetti del Burchiello. Edizione critica della vulgata quattrocentesca a cura di M. Zaccarello, Bologna 2000, pp. xxxii-xxxiii, 277; V. Nieri, "Sulla terza versione di Palladio volgare. Il codice Lucca, Biblioteca Statale, 1293", Studi di filologia italiana 71 (2013), pp. 341-346.

Palladius (Rutilius Taurus) Della Agricultura traducto vulgare, first edition in Italian, collation: ✠8 ✠✠4 A-K8 L4, large woodcut printer's device at end, woodcut decorated initials, that on fol. ✠2r over 13 lines, title rather spotted and browned and with old repair to blank inner corner, foxing, some water-stains, a few annotations in two different hands,18th-century vellum, red edges, covers slightly browned and corner of lower cover slightly abraded, 4to (201 x 136mm.), Siena, Simone Nardi, 1526.⁂ Very rare first Italian vernacular edition, issued by the bookseller Nardi in Siena in Tuscany, the Italian region which in the 14th century had produced three different volgarizzamenti of the celebrated Opus agriculturae. Pietro Marino from Foligno was responsible for the translation, which is different from those from the manuscript tradition, and shows his skills in farming and gardening. On the rear pastedown is a note written in Italian which reads 'Procuratomi da Roma nel 1806. Libro raro', i.e. 'Bought in Rome in 1806. A rare book'.Provenance: Leo S. Olschki (ex libris on front pastedown).Rothamsted acquisition date ?1926.Literature: M. Ambrosoli, "L'Opus Agriculturae di Palladio. Volgarizzamenti e identificazione dell'ambiente naturae tra Tre e Cinquecento", Quaderni Storici 18 (1983), pp. 227-254.

Glauber (Johann Rudolf) Opera Chymica, 2 vol. in 1, titles with woodcut device, 7 engraved plates, some folding, some foxing and soiling, ink annotations, especially to front endpapers which have a 28pp. contemporary manuscript index, contemporary vellum, soiled, spine torn, [Ferguson I, 322; Waller II, 11153; Wellcome III, 124], small 4to, Frankfurt am Main, Thomas Matthias Goetz, 1658-59.⁂ Second edition of the works of this great self-taught chemist and alchemist (1604-70). The DSB says "Glauber has justly been called the best practical chemist of his day and the first industrial chemist."

Gardens.- Nylandt (Pieter) and Jan van der Groen. Het Vermakelyck Landt-Leven, 3 vol. in 1 comprising: Nylandt (Pieter) Den Verstandigen Hovenier, engraved additional pictorial title, full-page engraving with 4 images of trees & grafting, full-page woodcut of gardening tools and small illustration of pressing and tasting wine; Groen (Jan van der) Den Nederlandtsen Hovenier, additional engraved pictorial title and 15 full-page illustrations of garden plans, fountains etc., a few woodcut illustrations of tools & equipment; Twee Hondert Modellen voor de Liefhebbers van Hoven en Thuynen, additional engraved pictorial title, 49 woodcut illustrations of flowerbeds, lattices, sundials etc., most full-page; Nylandt (P.) De Ervaten Huys-Houder, engraved title-vignette of a vet examining animals in front of his surgery by G.V.Eeckhout, woodcuts, one full-page; Den Naerstigen Byen-Houder, engraved title-vignette of man with row of skeps and swarm of bees by Eeckhout; De Verstandige Kock, engraved title-vignette of cooks in a kitchen, together 6 parts in 3 vol. bound in 1, first edition, second part of vol.2 ('Twee Hondert...') misbound at end of volume, lacking π1 at beginning (general half-title), also K4 at end of vol.2 part 1 'Nedelandtsten Hovenier' (after "Eynde van't Register") and B4 at end of vol.3 part 2 'Byen-houder' (after "Eynde"), some light foxing, contemporary vellum, yapp edges, spine with title in ink manuscript and number "56" in red, a little soiled and stained, [Hunt 314], 4to, Amsterdam, Marcus Doornick, 1669.⁂ Rare first edition of this collection of Dutch works on gardening, farming, bee-keeping and cooking. Jan van der Groen was gardener to the Prince of Orange and his work includes scenes of the gardens at Ryswick, Honsholredyck and Huys 'ten Bosch prior to alteration in the style of Le Nôtre. Pieter Nylandt was a doctor and horticulturist.Provenance: ?C.W.G. van Nyht (ink signature on first title and engraved bookplate). Rothamsted acquisition date 1935.

Royal arms.- Rapin (Rene) Hortorum libri IV cum Disputatione de Cultura Hortensi, first edition, engraved frontispiece by Poilly after Le Brun, engraved title-vignette, head- and tail-pieces and initials, some light marginal browning towards end, one word inked out and manuscript correction to Q4 verso, contemporary red morocco with arms of Louis XIV, a little rubbed, ink stain to lower cover, 4to, Paris, E Typographia Regia, 1665.⁂ Written in imitation of Virgil's Georgics and divided into four books: on the flower garden, parkland & trees, water, and the orchard. In the final prose piece, a debate between the ancients and moderns on gardening styles, Rapin endorses the modern style.

[?Clerk (Sir John, of Penicuik, first baronet, landowner and coal owner, 1649/50-1722)] Ane Compendious sistem of the noblest pairts of Agriculture... The Discovery of the noblest pairts of Agriculture... Collected off many authors and partly practised by I.C. [?J. Clerk]... Rustick Kalendar, manuscript, 2 titles (second with pen and ink decoration) and c. 280pp. and 5pp. index excluding blanks, 38 (6 folding) pen and ink drawings of gardens, fountains, agricultural practices and implements etc., ruled in red throughout, some offsetting from drawings, a few small stains at tail, slightly browned, old bookseller's description on front free endpaper (with pencil inscription "£10 - 1 00 Thorp"), part engraved title of a 17th century French work on front pastedown and engraved illustration loose, original reversed calf, rubbed, label on spine, head of spine chipped, g.e., 8vo, Newbiging [Newbigging], 26th November 1671.⁂ A very fine manuscript compendium of agricultural practices written by a landowner deeply interested in the exploitation of landed estates. "Clerk was a traditional landowner, but he was also an exponent of new agricultural organization and techniques, notably the consolidation of landholdings, soil improvements, and the commutation of payments in kind to money rents." - Oxford DNB.

Vegetables.- Sharrock (Robert) The History of the Propagation & Improvement of Vegetables by the concurrence of Art and Nature, second edition, engraved plate with explanation f., errata f., lacking 3 final advertisement ff., later ink inscription to verso of title, 19th century half calf, [Henrey 341; Wing S3011], Oxford, by W. Hall, 1672 § Switzer (Stephen) A Compendious Method for the Raising of the Italian Brocoli, Spanish Cardoon, Celeriac, Finochi, and other foreign Kitchen Vegetables, second edition, advertisement f. following title and 2ff. advertisement ff. at end, damp-staining, manuscript index in a contemporary hand tipped in after title, library cloth, original lower cover with a number of manuscript notes bound in, [Henrey 1401], Thomas Astley, 1728, 8vo (2)⁂ Sharrock was an English clergyman, botanist and Fellow of New College, Oxford. He carried out experiments in grafting and other techniques in the Physick Garden of the city. Away from the garden he was a vehement critic of the work of Thomas Hobbes. The second mentioned with only two copies listed on ESTC (Kew Library and the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation in the US).

ƟStudy on fireworks and recent innovations in the field, in Italian, illustrated manuscript on paper [Italy (Castelfiorentino, Tuscany), dated 25 April 1711] 16 leaves arranged in landscape format, complete, single column of approximately 10 long lines in a scrawling hand, with penwork diagrams of various fireworks on 15 pages, titles in larger script, perhaps once part of a much larger work and foliated from ‘60’ onwards, slip of paper with contemporary recipe (perhaps for explosives) stuck to last but one leaf, late nineteenth- or early twentieth-century pencil “5/1” on front cover and first leaf, bound in a single sheet of thick paper recovered from a sixteenth-century document, stained and edges bumped in places, overall fair condition, 112 by 172mm.; in an elaborate pressed leather fitted-case A rare subject in manuscript, but one in which a guide written by an experienced practitioner could prove most useful. The text here discusses a number of types of fireworks, including “Razziera” (rockets), “Soffione” (that explode in a pattern like a dandelion head in full bloom) and “Fontana” (fountains), and lists a great many varieties of these including Catherine Wheels. Ɵ Indicates that the lot is subject to buyer’s premium of 24% exclusive of VAT (0% VAT).  

A Sub-Saharan Qur'an, with original leather wrap-around cover, in Arabic, decorated manuscript on paper [probably Sudan, late eighteenth century] 398 loose leaves, disbound (and always meant to be), textually complete, single column, 15 lines sepia sudani, most diacritics in red, some vocalisation in a later hand, numerous decorative and highly stylised marginal ornaments marking the important sections of the Qur'an throughout, either as angular rectangles or varying forms of circular devices depending on the area of text they mark, a few smudges of ink, leaves a little browned with age, two thick loose book-boards at either end of the text, the first of these being the original ruling frame used in the production of this copy, each leaf 230 by 175mm.; contemporary leather-backed wrap-around covers, tooled and stained with geometric shapes and patterns, lightly rubbed at extremities The present manuscript is notably earlier than any other Sudani Qur'ans to have surfaced in recent years (cf. the nineteenth-century Sudani Qur'ans in Christie's, 29 April 2003, lot 13, and 23 April 2012, lot 397), is complete with its original wrap-around leather boards. Somewhat unusually one of the boards here has been repurposed as the ruling frame for the copying of this manuscript, and then used again as the protective board at the beginning of the volume.

ƟKitab Jash'at al-Muktamal ila Sharh al-Mutul (On the Science of Rhetoric and Religious Practices), copied by Yusif bin Abd'alrahman al-Tadhiffa, in Arabic, decorated manuscript on paper [Saudi Arabia (Mecca, “facing Ka'aba”), dated 880 AH (1475/76 AD)] 82 leaves (plus two endleaves at each end), complete, single column of 21 lines black cursive script, some highlighted words in red, catchwords throughout, a few small repairs to the first few leaves, including the recto of the first leaf around the opening colophon (not affecting text), else clean and crisp condition, 180 by 135mm.; eighteenth century paper-backed boards, rebacked and a little rubbed The colophon in this fifteenth-century codex notes that it was copied by the scribe, Yusif bin Abd'alrahman al-Tadhiffa, for his own use, while in Mecca and “facing Ka'aba” in the year 880 Hijri. Manuscripts that are demonstrably from the Saudi Arabian peninsula are eagerly sought after, but the present item stands above almost all of its peers in recording its creation on the very grounds of the holy Ka'aba. Ɵ Indicates that the lot is subject to buyer’s premium of 24% exclusive of VAT (0% VAT). 

Six leaves from an early Ottoman Qur'an, in Arabic, illuminated manuscript on paper [Anatolia, c. 1500 AD]  Six leaves, containing text from the surah At-Tawbah (IX), broken into four consecutive sections: (1) IX: XXXVII-LVII, (2) IX: LXVII-LXXIV, (3) IX: LXXXIV-CIII, (4) IX: CXIII-CXX, each with single column of ten lines of bold black naskh, some diacritics in red, leaves ruled with a number of colourful bands including orange and green, nine ornamental circular marginal devices marking the important sections of the Qur'an, heightened in gold, small gold roundels with blue, decorations marking the verses throughout, some light staining to inner margins (not affecting text), else bright and clean, each leaf 340 by 230mm. These are leaves from a notably large and opulent Qur'an, distinctive for the striking marginal devices used throughout.

ƟKitab Al-Farayid (Inheritance Laws in accordance with Islamic Fiqh), in Arabic, decorated manuscript on paper [Near East, sixteenth century] Two parts in one volume, together 58 leaves (plus two endleaves), single column, between 10 and 20 lines of cursive black script, some diagrams and charts in red, some light staining to creases, a few scattered smudges, printed label pasted to upper pastedown, 175 by 130mm.; contemporary leather with flap, covers blind-ruled with central medallions in gilt, rebacked, resewn and flap replaced, label pasted to spine, a little rubbed From the Mohamed Makiya collection, their 134/100. An early manual on inheritance laws with charts and diagrams to illustrate lineage, probably from the Ottoman Levant. Ɵ Indicates that the lot is subject to buyer’s premium of 24% exclusive of VAT (0% VAT). 

A monumental illuminated miniature with fine calligraphy, in Arabic, illuminated manuscript on paper [Near East (probably Ottoman Turkey), last quarter of nineteenth century] Single vast sheet, depicting two songbirds perching on a rosebush, two other flower varieties in the foreground, six beautifully illustrated open roses, each with its own thuluth calligraphy over-written in gold and outlined in black for added definition, whole image framed within blue and gold polychrome border, panels above and to each side of the image with “Bism'Allah al-Rahman al'Rahim” in gold, a few faint spots or stains overall in excellent condition, 570 by 390mm.; framed This visually splendid painting names Allah, Prophet Muhammad and each of the four Caliphs (Abu Bakr, Umar, Ali and Uthman) in each of the open roses here. The painting would have been commissioned for a wealthy patron for its talismanic properties (in naming the above) and probably used as a wall hanging in a private residence.

ƟKitab al-Aistaquisa' li'badhabib al-Fiqa' (A Study of the Doctrines of Islamic Fiqh), in Arabic, decorated manuscript on paper [Near East, dated 793 AH (1391 AD)]  96 leaves (plus a single endleaf at each end), part seven only (of 20) from a larger body of work, complete in itself, single column, 21 lines of soft cursive black naskh, chapter headings and key phrases in red, a few small marginal annotations, recto of first leaf repaired with some slight loss to opening colophon, a few early worm-holes also repaired, overall excellent condition, small modern manuscript annotation to upper pastedown, 265 by 180mm.; nineteenth-century quarter morocco, spine and extremities slightly rubbed From the library of a British collector, and there since the 1970s. This is the seventh part of a larger 20-part work by Sheikh al-Ajil al-Alamam Al-Din Abu'Amur Osman ibn Aisi al-Mara'i, covering “Shurut al-Talaq” (conditions of divorce), and a complete text in itself. The parent work, and all its component parts, is extremely rare, and seems to survive nowhere in a single complete series. Three other parts of the same parent work are held in al-Azhar University Library, Cairo, and although little is known about the anonymous author, he is listed in Dar Al-'Ilm Lil-Malayin's Bibliographical Dictionary, Al-Alam (vol. IV, p. 212). One rarely sees entire volumes of Islamic Fiqh dedicated to the rules and regulations of divorce in accordance in Islamic laws, and such legal clauses normally appear as smaller chapters within larger collections of Islamic Jurispudence. Ɵ Indicates that the lot is subject to buyer’s premium of 24% exclusive of VAT (0% VAT). 

ƟGhazaliyaat Kan'at al-Arabi (Divan of Poetry written in Arabic), in Arabic, illuminated manuscript on blue paper speckled with gold [Safavid Persia (probably Isfahan), second quarter of sixteenth century] 164 leaves (plus two endleaves at each end), containing five parts in one volume, single column, predominantly in Arabic with a few verses in Farsi, nine lines in total, comprising two lines of black thuluth outlined in gold at top and bottom, with six lines black naskh separated by a further line of gold thuluth outlined in black, five illuminated polychrome headings opening each new section of poetry, catchwords, leaves ruled in blue and orange, some contemporary annotations to margins in nasta'liq, small scattered early worm-holes, some leaves repaired along outer margins (particularly along lower edge of leaves, not affecting text), a few ex-libris stamps, repaired, 220 by 120mm.; contemporary leather-backed boards, central medallions and corner-pieces laid onto leather, edges painted with orange and yellow floral decorations, rebacked and outer edges repaired, old worm-holes, else good condition Not only is this Persian codex visually stunning, but it is notable that the poetry is in Arabic. There are five different sections in this volume, each being either a divan, mathnavi or ghazal - various poetic forms typically taken from Persian literature and very rarely seen in the Arabic language. Although no exact comparison has been found, the text bears a striking resemblance to sufi poet Al-Busiri's collection of poems dedicated to Prophet Muhammad entitled Qasa'ida al-Burda. Though scarce, this text was popular among sufis and was adapted by other poets. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, have an adapted version of the poem here, first compiled in the thirteenth century (their W.581.25B., dated 1366 AD). The style and layout of these leaves is reminiscent of Qur'ans produced in Shirazi workshops in the mid-sixteenth century (cf. those in Christie's, 26 April 2012, lot 46, and 27 April 2017, lot 96). They have the same larger calligraphic panels of text above, below and in the middle of the central naskh sections, in which the script employs alternating colours, usually in blue and gold. The striking difference, however, is in the present manuscript’s use of unusual blue paper, and this sets this codex apart from its peers. Ɵ Indicates that the lot is subject to buyer’s premium of 24% exclusive of VAT (0% VAT). 

Pliny the Elder, Historia Naturalis, ‘De Metallis’, in Latin, humanist manuscript on paper [Italy, c. 1450] Single leaf, with single column of 20 lines in a fine humanist script, one small correction between lines, catchword on reverse showing this was once the last leaf of a gathering, heading in main hand at top of recto “ex LXX De Metallis” and copied again above it twice in slightly faded inks in near-contemporary hands, these adding author’s name and changing ch. to “xxxiii”, tear to outer lower corner with loss of a few words from last line, spots and stains, else in good and presentable condition, 198 by 137mm.  The Natural History of Pliny the Elder (Gaius Plinius Secundus, 23-79 AD) is one of the largest works to survive from the Roman World. It was composed between 77 AD and soon after 79AD, and was dedicated to the Emperor Titus. It divides the world up along Aristotelian lines, into animal, vegetable and mineral forms, and the leaf here contains book 33, ch. 3, on gold (and Pliny’s condemnation of men’s love for it). The text here cites Homer on the gift-giving customs of Troy which avoided the metal, and continues to discuss the foolishness of wearing gold rings, observing that the statues in the Capitol suggest that early Roman rulers abstained from such vanities.

Ɵ A Fine Qur'an, in Arabic, illuminated manuscript on paper [Qajar Persia, c. 1800 AD]  243 leaves (plus six endleaves), complete, single column, 17 lines of fine black naskh, surah headings in gold riqa against blue or red banners with illuminated polychrome decorations, opening two leaves text elaborately decorated with gold and polychrome decorations forming a border around the text-blocks and then extending outwards into the margins, particularly striking for their use of fuchsia and royal blue, very slightly faded from handling, leaves separated by a single tissue leaf, highly detailed gold and polychrome marginal devices throughout marking important sections of the Qur'an, catchwords throughout, a few leaves repaired at outer edges (not affecting text), 195 by 125mm.; contemporary fine lacquered boards, illuminated with floral motifs, inner covers also illuminated with flowers against a copper background, lower board detached, otherwise excellent condition This is an exquisite example of a Qur'an, executed in an accomplished hand with the highest quality of illumination, produced at the height of artistic production in Qajar Persia and apparently in its original lacquered covers. Ɵ Indicates that the lot is subject to buyer’s premium of 24% exclusive of VAT (0% VAT). 

ƟNizami Gangavi, Makhsan al-Asrar (Treasury of Secrets), in Farsi, illuminated manuscript on polished paper [probably Eastern Persia, c. 1820 AD] 41 leaves (plus three endleaves at front and four at back), complete, double column with ruled margins for additional text, 15 lines of black nasta'liq, headings in blue against gold banners, illuminated head-piece at the front of the text, columns separated by red ribbon decorated with gold, with additional red corner-pieces decorating the margins, catchwords throughout, contemporary manuscript additions of poetry to endleaves, generally clean and bright condition, 195 by 125mm.; contemporary quarter morocco over cloth-backed boards, a little rubbed, manuscript detached from binding This book contains a collection of over 50 philosophical poems that were the earliest of Nizami's works, and which together form one book from his famous Panj Ganj (Five Treasures, or Khamsa), the Makhsan al-Asrar being the only didactic epic in the entire body of work. Ɵ Indicates that the lot is subject to buyer’s premium of 24% exclusive of VAT (0% VAT). 

Prudentius, Psychomachia, in Latin verse, manuscript on parchment [Italy, c. 1300 or fourteenth century] Bifolium, each leaf with single column of 28 lines in a rounded Italian gothic bookhand, initials in main pen beginning each line and touched in red, several near-contemporary interlinear corrections or variant readings in tiny hairline script, some natural flaws in parchment and numerous wormholes in upper part, one blank margin trimmed away, parchment quite yellow but script legible on one side (other side somewhat scuffed), overall 220 by 270mm.  Prudentius (or Aurelius Prudentius Clemens) was born in Tarraconensis (now northern Spain) in 348, and served in the court of Emperor Theodosius I. As an author, he was one of a tiny handful who attempted to synthesise Classical knowledge and culture with the newly emergent Christian religion. This poem is his greatest work, and in accordance with its title: ‘the battle of the souls’, it pits virtue and vice against each other in the first medieval allegorical work. Another leaf from an unrelated parent codex of the same date was sold in our rooms, 6 December 2017, lot 38.

ƟA Central Asian Qur'an, in Arabic with interlinear translation to Farsi, decorated manuscript on paper [probably Northern Afghanistan or Tajikistan, dated Shanbeh 10th Sha'ban 1114 AH (Saturday 10th Sha'ban 1702/03 AD)] 442 leaves (plus three endleaves at front and four at back), complete, single column, ten lines of competent black naskh with interlinear translations to Farsi in red nasta'liq, surah headings also in red, opening two leaves of text with blue and gold decorations around the textblock and extending outwards into the margins, these leaves a little faded and repaired along outer edges, text ruled in red and gold, divisions of the Qur'an marked throughout, gold marginal roundels marking the important sections of the Qur'an, decorated in blue, catchwords (edges trimmed with damage to a few catchwords), a few leaves repaired along outermost extremities, some scattered smudges to ink and occasional browning, else good condition, 240 by 130mm.; modern blind-stamped red morocco binding, spine slightly faded, together with modern Islamic mosaic inlay box, in stained and natural wood, bone and faux mother of pearl, with “Qur'an al-Karim” and other stylised text adorning the top, interior lined with red velvet, excellent condition Ɵ Indicates that the lot is subject to buyer’s premium of 24% exclusive of VAT (0% VAT). 

Fragment from a bifolium and a fragment from the same copy of Nonius Marcellus, De compendiosa doctrina (a dictionary-like encyclopedia quoting numerous otherwise lost Ancient authors), in Latin, humanist manuscript on parchment [Italy, c. 1450] Remains of three leaves, pasted together and reused on a later binding and so with scuffed surfaces, cuts to edges, and small rectangular sections cut away from middle to accommodate thongs on spine of later binding, remains of double column of 20 lines (with entries from the ‘A’ and ‘T’ sections of the text), approximately two thirds of surface damaged and difficult or impossible to read, the remainder with 14 legible lines from each leaf, reverse scrubbed clean and with sixteenth-century title added, small sections of a thirteenth- or fourteenth-century manuscript visible in offset on reverse, the bifolium 258 by 385mm. (the whole 375 by 385mm.); set in glass Nonius Marcellus was an important Roman author, who has been so spectacularly ill served by the passage of time that we know almost nothing about him, and his works are of superlative rarity in manuscript. He was a Roman grammarian who lived sometime between the third and fifth century (these dates established by the last authors he quotes being of the close of the second century, and Priscian quoting him as already dead), and the chance survival of the longer version of the title of his work identifies him as a peripatetic philosopher from Thubursicum in Numidia. His only surviving work is this one - a vast twenty book encyclopedia of Latin literature, which sets out Latin words alongside examples of their use by known authors. It is of enormous importance for these quotations, as among the clutter of common works such as Cicero and Virgil, are witnesses to otherwise lost Latin Classical works, including the poetic tragedies of Accius (170-c. 86 BC.) and Pacuvius (220-c. 130 BC.), the satires of Lucilius (c. 180-103/2 BC., the earliest Roman satirist), and the history of Sisenna (c. 120-67 BC.). The present fragment quotes one of Accius’ works in the easily legible section of the bifolium, as well as another and book xxx of Lucilius’ satires at the foot of the same leaf.

A Fine Calligraphic Prayer Scroll, in Arabic, illuminated manuscript on paper [Northern India (probably Kashmir), mid-nineteenth century] Single scroll formed of two membranes, complete, comprising five calligraphic panels, each using a different form of calligraphy, including thuluth and form of kulfic scripts, with prayers written in gold forming a frame around each of the panels, all decorated in white, red and blue and heightened in gold, some small chips and tears to edges (without loss to text), a few folds and creases causing slight fading to text, overall clean and bright condition, protective leather wrap-around pasted to right-hand edge of scroll, in total 2660 by 150mm.; in contemporary silk covered and linen-lined fitted cylindrical carrying case, that decorated with orange and green fabrics This object would have been used as a talisman, probably during travels, and is complete with its original decorative silk carrying case. A truly beautiful ornamental piece, perfectly demonstrating the beauty in the art of calligraphy and the written word with it's highly decorative and visually appealing qualities. Such an object would have been used for talismanic purposes, probably for use during travels, with it's contemporary carrying-case.

A Collection of Indian Costume Miniatures, painted over leaves from dispersed print and manuscript volumes, illuminated paintings on paper [Northern India (probably Rajasthan), mostly c. 1900 AD]  Ten loose leaves, each with miniature painted in gouache on one side, most illuminated in gold with decorations extending into the borders, many including depictions of exotic creatures such as tigers, elephants and peacocks, most bright and crisp, a few wormholes and extremities on some leaves browned, smallest 220 by 135mm., largest 305 by 210mm. These are probably examples of works created by artistic schools to showcase their talent to prospective patrons, using recycled leaves from dispersed manuscripts and printed volumes to save the workshop the added expense of paper.

Leaf from an early Atlantic Bible (II Samuel 8-11), in Latin, manuscript on parchment [Italy, late eleventh century or perhaps c. 1100]Single monumental leaf, with double column of 48 lines in a fine rounded Romanesque hand, without biting curves and with a number of paleographical features which hark back to Carolingian models (note in particular the capital ‘F’ which sits with its lower horizontal penstroke on the line, recalling insular forms), reused in a later binding and hence with blank margins trimmed away, small rust-spots and holes and some small scuffs and stains, overall in good and presentable condition, 490 by 310mm. What is remarkable here is that despite the skill of the copyist and the high quality of his script, there are a surprisingly high number of corrected textual errors on this leaf. Individual missing words were added, most probably by the main hand or a close associate, interlineally, on ten occasions, while other words have been corrected by adding missing parts of them in the margins. An entire clause is added between lines in one place, and in another a line was erased to make room for two small cramped lines with omitted text. Extraneous words or letters are erased, leaving awkward gaps mid-sentence, others have their grammatically incorrect endings lined through and replaced and another is dotted under and its correct variant written above it. Finally some repetitions of a few words are deleted by lining through. There are so many of these in fact that one can only read a few lines without stumbling across such an error. Unless we are to believe that such an accomplished scribe was capable of making so many mistakes, then we might suppose that as this leaf comes from a parent codex early in the tradition of Atlantic Bibles, it was faithfully copying a notably faulty exemplar. The palaeography might suggest that this exemplar was very early, perhaps even pre-Carolingian.

Two cuttings from an Atlantic Bible leaf (with parts of Nehemias), in Latin, manuscript on parchment [probably France, late eleventh century or early twelfth century] Cuttings from the top half and the bottom half of a single large leaf, bisected laterally (with loss of only a single line at their join), now with double column of 39 lines in a bold and impressive early gothic bookhand without biting curves, capitals in same ink, one medieval marginalia (see below), turned 90 degrees after cutting from parent volume and used as endleaves in a later binding, with some later marks including a doodle of a bearded man’s head and a number of sixteenth-century inscriptions (see below), slightly scuffed on reverses (but quite legible), overall in good condition, together 429 by 319mm. (32mm. of vertical margin folded inwards on itself, presumably to fit later binding); in folded card mount The inscriptions on these cuttings from their time when reused on a later binding are dated 1545 and identify the annotator as “Magister Fredericus Sandholtzer” and the volume concerned as “Th. Fol. r. 391” in his library. By the late sixteenth century, the volume was in the collection of Philippus Arbogastus of Kreuznach (“Crucinacensis”, this in ex libris added to turn-up of first cutting), most probably the noble clergyman of this same rare name who lived in Merseberg in the 1580s. The scribe here seems to have made a significant error, and while most of the text is from Nehemias 10-12, partway through 12:1, he jumps to Nehemias 5:15 and continues, a fact noted by a later reader (perhaps fourteenth century) who adds a marginal note explaining and marks the break with a cross.

Bifolium from a Glossed Gospel of Matthew, in Latin, manuscript on parchment [probably France, first half of twelfth century] Bifolium, each leaf with single column of 20 lines in a rounded early gothic bookhand, numerous short glosses added interlineally, other more substantial glosses in blocks of tiny script in margins, recovered from reuse in a later binding and hence with small holes, cuts, stains and cockling, but quite legible on one side, some scuffing to text on reverse, each leaf approximately 255 by 168mm. From a charming Glossed Biblical codex with its gloss in the earliest and simplest format, as employed from the Carolingian period up to c. 1160. It has been suggested that the format was designed to aid teaching, allowing a master to read the glosses before his lecture, but quote ex tempore from the text itself with ease (see L. Smith, The Glossa Ordinaria, 2009, pp. 104-05).

Leaf from a Glossed Bible, in Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment [northern France, twelfth century] Single leaf, with 6 short quotations from the Bible (Numbers 19:6) set within columns of smaller glossing script either side of the main column (up to 47 lines), with more of same set within main central column above and below Biblical quotation, same red initials, running titles in red and pale blue: “L /NV”, some small marginalia, inner and lower margins trimmed away, small stains else good and presentable condition, 237 by 166mm. The mise-en-page here identifies this as a high-grade manuscript produced after the innovations of gloss layout from c. 1160 onwards, and the probable shift of use of such books from teaching to private contemplation. This format change foregrounded the gloss as part of the main column of text, sandwiched between others also containing glosses, and raised the quality of production of these books to the level where only a professional book workshop could take on their complex planning and execution (see L. Smith, The Glossa Ordinaria, 2009, pp. 105-116).

Bifolium from a monumental Romanesque copy of Gregory the Great, Moralia in Job, in Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment [France, c. 1180] Bifolium, each leaf with double column of 40 lines in an elegant rounded early gothic bookhand, with a few biting curves and written above topline, most capitals in high and ornamental penstrokes and set in margin, three within body of text and touched in red, rubrics in red in margin, running titles at head of page: “Lib. Vicesimus / Septimus” (and thus all readings from book 27 of the work), contemporary or near-contemporary folio no. “XXXVII” at head of recto of second leaf, catchword at foot of verso of last leaf with four finely drawn wheat-stalks emerging from it (see below), a few tiny interlinear corrections by contemporary hand, prickmarks from ruling in inner and outer margins, small losses to lowermost edges of leaves through natural problems with parchment, smalls scuffs, else excellent condition, each leaf 390 by 278mm. From a large and imposing codex, with an enchanting flourish in the penwork wheat-stalks which adorn the catchword at the foot of the verso, and echo the subject of the text here (“De frumento”).

Gregory the Great, Homiliae in Ezechielem, in Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment [probably Germany, mid-twelfth century] Single leaf, with single column of 38 lines in a fine and angular bookhand, written above topline and without biting curves, numerous abbreviations, capitals touched in dark red, prickings for ruling visible in outer margin, contemporary folio no. “lxxii” at head of recto and quire signature “viiii” in main hand at foot of verso, one drypoint gloss in margin on each side, small natural flaw to parchment in upper margin, small areas of discolouration, else excellent condition and on heavy Romanesque parchment, 334 by 240mm. This handsome and near-flawless leaf has been separate from its parent codex since at least the nineteenth century, when a hand of that date added an inscription in purple ink identifying it as “Commentar. in sacr. script.” (apparently following the drypoint gloss on recto).

Leaf from a Missal with large acanthus-leaf encased initial, in Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment [Germany (perhaps Rhineland), early thirteenth century] Single leaf, with single column of 19 lines of high-grade ornamental early gothic bookhand, employing hairline diagonal strokes to decorate some letters, written below top-line and faintly ruled in red-brown ink, red rubric instructing the cantor in the Mass, small red initials (some with baubles mounted in their bodies or penwork flourishes in margins), one large initial ‘Q’ (opening “Quis es iste qui venit de edom …”, Isaias 63:1, an antiphon sung at Easter, Ascension and Pentecost), with its tail formed of disconnected brushstrokes trailing into margin, and the whole encased within and enclosing stylised acanthus leaves in striking blue penwork, some flaking from ink of main text in places and small natural flaw in lower margin, else good condition, 256 by 192mm. While this leaf was certainly written in the early thirteenth century, its scribe was conservative and much of the form of the script and the decoration harks back to the visual elegance of the twelfth century and the heights of Romanesque book decoration.

Leaf from a Missal, in Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment [France, middle third of thirteenth century (after c. 1230)] Single leaf, with double column of 37 lines in two sizes of a precise and professional early gothic bookhand, capitals touched in red, red rubrics, music on a tiny and delicate 4-line red stave (rastrum: 8mm.), large initials in red with blue penwork or blue with red penwork, corners cut away, some darkening and washing out of blue from some initials, and small holes all from reuse on later binding, overall good and presentable condition, 325 by 252mm. From an appealing early codex written by an excellent scribe.

Fragment from a leaf of Florus of Lyon, Commentary on the Pauline Epistles, in Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment [France, late twelfth century (probably c. 1180)] Cutting from the centre of a leaf, with remains of double column of 33 lines in angular bookhand, with a few biting curves and pronounced fishtailing to ascenders, capitals with ornamental penstrokes, red rubrics and marginal references, some stains and small holes, and darkened on reverse, all from reuse on later binding, else good and presentable condition, 195 by 245mm. Florus of Lyon (c. 810-c. 860) was a scholarly virtuoso, even within the intellectually competitive atmosphere of the Carolingian Renaissance. He was widely read in patristic literature and knew some Greek as well as a little Hebrew - a great rarity in the West in the early Middle Ages. He was in charge of the scriptorium of the abbey of Lyon, and to his work there we owe the survival of Irenaeus’ Adversus Haereses and Fulgentius of Ruspe’s Contra Fabianum.

William Peraldus, Tractatus de Charitate, single leaf in situ on binding of a printed book, in Latin, manuscript on parchment [probably France, first half of the thirteenth century] Single large leaf, turned sideways and reused around both boards and spine of a smaller printed book (C.F. Ortrandus, Nachdruck von dem aller notigsten wie man Priester Prediger und Seelforger der Kirchen, Ingolstadt: D. Sartorium, 1575) with edges of leaves folded inward and pasted down to form a limp parchment binding, but with losses only to uppermost lines and outer edges of columns, remains of double column of 45 lines in a large and angular early gothic bookhand that on first impression retains much of the Romanesque, capitals touched with penstrokes and edged in red, remains of a white vine initial in red and iridescent yellow visible inside back board where pastedown is lifted, some spots, stains and small holes at spine, else in solid and presentable condition, the whole leaf 340 by 65+205+65 (the additions here the turned-in sections) This leaf presents a paleographical conundrum. The text is definitively that of William Peraldus’ work on charity, which formed a part of his larger Summa de virtutibus. However, the hand appears on first inspection to be from the very beginning of the thirteenth century, while the author was not born until c. 1190, and died in 1271. The Summa de virtutibus was written before 1249/50, and perhaps as early as the 1230s, and thus it would seem that this witness dates to the earliest wave of copying, and certainly within the life of the author. There is no modern critical edition of the text.

ǂ Account of the flooding of the Nile and the geography of the region around Canopus, in Greek, remains of two columns from a manuscript on papyrus [Egypt (perhaps western bank of the Nile Delta, near Alexandria), second century AD.]  Two large pieces and two small fragments from a papyrus scroll (overall approximately 250 by 110mm.), with almost all of a single column and the edge of its neighbouring column on the right surviving, remains of 35 lines in a fine Greek uncial (column width: 65 mm.), one annotation of a small cross between columns, reverse blank, small losses to edges and holes, the whole set in heavy mid-twentieth-century glass (lateral crack to glass sheet at back) Provenance:1. Georges Anastase Michaelides (1900-1973), Greek-Egyptian collector, who built up a large collection of papyri and related items in the 1930s and 1940s while in Egypt, then exported these to Europe. That here with his collection label “K3011” on reverse, and published while in his possession by Drescher and then Crawford (see below). His collection was widely dispersed in the last decade of his life and the years immediately after his death, with other papyrus fragments and related artefacts now in the British Library (Pap 3084, 3100-3103, 3105-3115), the Brugsch collection of Berlin, Cambridge University Library (Michaelides 858-859, 1085 and 1263, as well as a vast collection of Arabic papyri, all bought from Michaelides’ heirs in 1977), the Los Angeles County Museum (M. 80.202.185 and 187) and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (item 61.102, acquired in 1961) among many others.2. Bruce Ferrini (1950-2010), obtained from a private collector in Frankfurt.3. The Schøyen Collection, Oslo and London, their MS. 2931.Text: In the seventy years since its discovery (known as P. Michael.4), the unique text of this papyrus has defied simple identification. It opens with a reference to a method of calculation involving “the seventh in the system of Egyptian hieroglyphs, which in the local method of calculation marks fourteen cubits” before going on to describe the promontory on which Canopus lies, between the sea and the Nile, and the life-giving properties of the flood, as this “weaves together [the area between Canopus and Thomis] with a piling up of black mud”, bringing nourishment to the dried out land, which produces tender shoots and a sweet odor, that in turn feeds milking cattle. Merkelbach in 1958 identified it as a previously unrecorded section of the geographies of Hecataeus of Miletus (c. 550-c. 476 BC.), the first recorded Greek geographer, but the style of the language and structural complexity suggested to Murray and West that it may be part of an otherwise unknown literary work. Santoni placed it in the allegorising tradition of Stoic philosophy, and the authorship of Chairemon of Alexandria, the Graeco-Roman tutor to Nero. The most recent publication, that of Stephens and Winkler, focusses on the address in the first person to create a narrator, and concludes it might be part of an Ancient Greek novel. They have assigned it the title ‘Inundation’.Published:J. Drescher, ‘Topographical Notes for Alexandria and District’, Bulletin de la Société Royale d’Archéologie d’ Alexandrie, 38 (1949), pp. 13-20 and illustrated (pls. 16-20).D.S. Crawford, Papyri Michaelidae, being a catalogue of the Greek and Latin papyri, tablets and ostraca in the library of Mr. G.A. Michaïlidis of Cairo, 1955, no 4.R. Merkelbach, ‘Geographisches Fragment’, Arkiv für Papyrusforschung, xvi (1958), pp. 112-114.O. Murray, ‘Hectaeus of Abdera and Pharaonic Kingship’, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology lvi (1970), 148, n. 3.A. Bernand, Le Delta Égyptian d’après les textes grecs, 1970, pp. 225-28.S. West, ‘P. Michael.4: Fact of Fiction’, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 10 (1973), pp. 75-77.A. Santoni, ‘Una decrizione di Canopoin P.Michael. 4’, Auctori Vari, Varia Papyrologica, 1991, pp. 101-120.A. Stramaglia, ‘Sul Frammento Di Romanzo () PMichael 4’, in Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 97 (1993), pp. 7-15S.A. Stephens and J.A. Winkler, Ancient Greek Novels, 1995, pp. 453-460.M.P. Lopez Martinez, Fragmentos papiráceos de novela griega 25, 1998.J.R. Morgan, ‘On the Fringes of the Canon: Work on the Fragments of Ancient Greek Fiction 1936-1994’, Aufsteig und Niedergang der römischen Welt, 34.4, 1998, pp. 3378-80.As well as in the online Leuven Database of Ancient Books, as LDAB 4612. ǂ Lots marked with a double dagger (ǂ) (presently a reduced rate of 5%) have been imported from outside the European Union to be sold at auction and therefore the buyer must pay the import VAT at the appropriate rate on the hammer price.

Small slip with the readings for the election of prelates with two delicately drawn pointing fingers, in Latin, decorated manuscript on paper [Germany (probably north) or Low Countries, early fifteenth century] A small strip, perhaps once pasted into a large volume to add a supplementary reading, with 12 lines of text in a late gothic bookhand showing influence of secretarial practices on recto, and 5 lines on verso in same, capitals touched in red, red rubric (“De postulatione prelatorum”) and single large initial, two ‘pointing hand’ symbols in red penwork, each pointing at a red cross which the supplicant presumably had to kiss during the ritual, discoloured down left-hand side (probably from attachment to book here), slight waterdamage with small hole to initial, but rest in good condition, discovered being used as a bookmark in a second-hand book, 76 by 172mm.

Leaves from a German Bible translation, with short openings of readings in Latin, decorated manuscript on paper [Germany, fifteenth century] 12 leaves, each with single column of 43 lines in a professional German vernacular hand, capitals stroked in red, red rubrics, large simple red initials, many leaves marked at their head with original folio nos. in contemporary hand (27, 28-34, 64, 66-69) showing that much of text continuous, spots, stains and areas with scuffs and offset, overall in fair and legible condition, 270 by 210mm. The Middle Ages in Germany had a long tradition of translation of the Bible into the vernacular, which boomed in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. These leaves come from a vernacular lectionary, with readings from the Gospels and the Biblical Epistles, with occasional reference to Ezekiel and related parts of the Old Testament organised according to the liturgical year.

Ɵ Bifolium from a Gratian, Decretum, in Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment, in situ on the binding of an early eighteenth-century account book in French [France, middle third of thirteenth century] Bifolium from a copy of a large legal codex, with double column of 42 lines of main text in an excellent early gothic bookhand, written below topline, small initials in red or blue, larger initials in tall and thin red and blue bands encased within contrasting penwork, the whole main text encased within substantial gloss in smaller script with long leaning ascenders, some small scuffs, and a small tear in blank gutter, but overall in fair and presentable condition, the bifolium folded over the pasteboards of the account book so a few cms of it surviving under pastedowns (the pastedowns lifted in part on one board and revealing manuscript leaf underneath to be in an excellent state of survival), the visible part 340 by 220mm.; the account book paginated 1-182 and densely packed with entries, overall in good and presentable condition The account book here declares itself to be a “Continuation et troisseme papier iournal a commencer le huitiesme jour davril mil cent cept cent un” (8 April 1701) and to record the accounts of “Messire Jacques de la Bouere de cordon chevalier [&] seigneur du Fresne”. The chateau du Fresne lies in Villeconin, to the south west of Paris. This nobleman is recorded elsewhere as living in the last decades of the seventeenth century and the opening years of the eighteenth century. Ɵ Indicates that the lot is subject to buyer’s premium of 24% exclusive of VAT (0% VAT). 

Two leaves from a copy of Gratian, Decretum, in Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment [France (probably south, perhaps Montpellier), early fourteenth century] Two leaves, each with double column of 39 lines in a tall and thin university script, whose letter forms have a rectangular aspect to their bodies, one-line initials and paragraph marks in red, red rubrics, larger initials set in margin and formed of tall and thin blue and red strokes encased within contrasting penwork, one red initial with black penwork added around its edges (probably post-medieval addition), lower corner of one leaf torn away, some scuffs and stains, a post-medieval plummet-drawn addition of a bearded man in margin, overall in good condition with wide and clean margins, each leaf approximately 310 by 215mm.; with a sheet of notes in English, signed by “T.Wells” of “C.Hall & Sons” listing the price as “15/-” (15 shillings)

Leaf from a copy of Guido de Baysius, Rosarium, sive Commentarium in Decretum, in Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment [Italy (perhaps Bologna), fourteenth century] Single leaf, with double column with remains of 73 lines in a rounded Italian gothic bookhand, quotations underlined in red, simple red initials, torn at top with loss of a line or two, outer edge with edges folded in, discoloured and scuffed (affecting areas of text on reverse), overall fair condition, 355 by 265mm.; with small blue paper description in English giving price as “£3/10/-” Guido de Baysius (also Baysio) was a native of Reggio, Calabria, who came to prominence as the archdeacon of Bologna and an authority on Canon Law in the last decades of the thirteenth century. This work was produced around 1300, and is exceptionally rare in manuscript.

Two leaves (one bisected laterally) from a medical treatise on pustules, scaly skin infections, blood-coloured discolourations on the skin and other related complaints, in Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment [Italy, late thirteenth century] A leaf and two fragments uniting to form a second leaf, each with double column of 42 lines in a small bookhand with influence of university script, red rubrics, small initials in red or blue with contrasting penwork, one near-contemporary marginalia adding a medical recipe, each leaf once folded over at its midpoint (hence split) and with scuffs and stains (with some sections of text hard to read), overall fair and with wide and clean margins, each leaf approximately 235 by 170mm. The thirteenth and fourteenth centuries saw great leaps forward in the study of medicine, following the Crusades and the contact it brought with more advanced Islamic medical practises as well as Ancient Greek treatises. Italy, and most notably the south, was perfectly placed to benefit from this new knowledge and the translation campaigns of Sicily and Spain, and a number of important manuscript witnesses from this period have emerged from later Italian bindings (see for example, the thirteenth-century bifolium from the Grabadin, sold in our rooms, 6 December 2017, lot 36).

ƟFragment from the earliest known Malmesbury cartulary, with parts of charters claiming the Anglo-Saxon saint, Aldhelm, as their recipient, in Latin, manuscript on parchment in situ in the binding of a printed book [England (doubtless Malmesbury), middle third of twelfth century] A small cutting, with remains of 16 lines in a good Romanesque English bookhand, with a single biting curve, all from the righthand side of a column, 2 lines of red rubric, one letter added interlineally to a word, an apparent folio no. ‘293’ in sixteenth-century hand at what would have been the head of the front of the original leaf, the whole darkened and discoloured in places with small amounts of paper adhering from reuse in binding of a printed book, but overall in good and legible condition, 153 by 40mm.; mounted upside down at the front of a sixteenth-century English binding on a copy of Cicero, Rhethoricorum ad C. Herennium & De Inventione (Lyon: Seb. Gryphium, 1556), between the endleaves and the front board, another similar sized but apparently blank piece of parchment (probably from border of same parent manuscript) between last endleaves and back board, the later binding covered with dark leather over pasteboards, the thongs and leather attaching the front board to the book block perished and detaching, endleaves of printed book woolly and water damaged, else in fair condition An important witness to the organisation and use of charters by Malmesbury Abbey in the Anglo-Norman period, and perhaps produced for or used by the Anglo-Norman historian William of Malmesbury Provenance:1. Doubtless written at Malmesbury Abbey (founded c. 676) in the southern Cotswolds in Wiltshire, in the twelfth century, and most probably reused locally as binding material after 15 December 1539 when the house was suppressed by order of Henry VIII. The abbey and all its goods, including the library, was sold to one of the royal commissioners responsible for its suppression, William Stumpe (who immediately reverted to his family business of cloth manufacture, and filled the abbey buildings with weaving looms), and thereafter dispersed.2. Numerous ex libri identify sixteenth-century English owners of the book, including “Henry Hall” (on frontispiece and last endleaf multiple times in red and black, the latter with “est meus herus”), “George Watsomn” (twice on first endleaf), “Oswoold Metcalfe” (first endleaf, with George Watson), “John Grudamore” (frontispiece).3. Ampleforth Abbey, their full-page oval inkstamp in purple; recently deaccessioned.Text:This small fragment is part of a cartulary, or very similar document, for the medieval abbey of Malmesbury, and contains a series of charters which purport to be Anglo-Saxon in date, one of which claims to be connected with St. Aldhelm, the founder of the community and a cousin of King Ine of Wessex (in fact, all apart from one twelfth-century forgeries). There is a distinct connection between the parent codex of this small cutting and the work of the celebrated Anglo-Norman historian, William of Malmesbury (c. 1095-c.1143) on the early history of the house, and it may have been produced under his auspices or by an associate as part of the preparatory material for that work.The writings of William of Malmesbury strongly suggest that a cartulary, or at the least a highly organised archive, did exist at Malmesbury in the early twelfth century. His account of the life of St. Aldhelm (c. 639-709; that work later becoming the fifth book of William’s Gesta Pontificum Anglorum), uses charters as the base of its narrative, frequently citing entire texts without their boundary clauses (as here). Surviving cartularies and related material for Malmesbury can be found in Oxford, Bodleian Library, Wood empt. 5, fols. 9-60 (mid-thirteenth century), PRO, E 164/24 (late thirteenth century) and British Library, Lansdowne 417 (c. 1400; this a copy of PRO, E 164/24 with some rearrangement), as well as fragmentary thirteenth-century materials in British Library Add. MSS. 38009 and 15667. However, each of these is different in content, format and organisation from each other, and bears no close relation to our fragment.It is noteworthy that one of the charters quoted here (that of a probably spurious charter purporting to be issued by Cenfrith, nobleman of Mercia to Aldhelm in 680: numbered S.1166 in academic literature following the listing by P. Sawyer, Anglo-Saxon Charters, 1968) is recorded nowhere outside of William of Malmesbury’s writings. It is a forgery manifestly based on charters of the reign of the tenth-century king, Athelstan, and modern scholarship has seen it as an invention of either William or one of his immediate predecessors at Malmesbury, and later set aside by the abbey’s archivists. All of the charters here occur in William’s life of Aldhelm, and it is tempting to speculate that the present fragment comes from a document produced under William’s direction in the early stages of his work, by an associate of his. The hand is distinct from those identified as William’s own and his main associates where they can be identified in the manuscript tradition of his works (see N.R. Ker, ‘The handwriting of William of Malmesbury’, English Historical Review lix, 1944, and R.M. Thomson, ‘The scriptorium of William of Malmesbury’, in Medieval Scribes, Manuscripts and Libraries, essays presented to N.R. Ker, 1978), but the parent codex of this cutting contained documents used by him and was probably in Malmesbury at the same time as him, and thus is unlikely to fallen far outside his circle of influence.The texts cited here are: recto (i) the closing lines of a probably spurious charter, purporting to be a land grant from King Æthelwulf of Wessex to Malmesbury, of estates in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, made at Wilton on 22 April, 854 (S. 305): edited in S.E. Kelly, Charters of Malmesbury Abbey, 2004, no. 19; (ii) three lines of red rubric mentioning “Adelstanus” and thus preceding one of the charters of that king for the abbey (either S. 434, 435 or 436); verso (iii) the purported charter of Cenfrith to Aldhelm in 680 (S. 1166), with parts of “ad ima Cociti … felicitatis illectus” (and stopping just short of Cenfrith’s subscription, but followed by remnants of three further lines: the main charter edited by Kelly, no. 2). Ɵ Indicates that the lot is subject to buyer’s premium of 24% exclusive of VAT (0% VAT). 

Cutting from a Psalter Commentary, in Latin, manuscript in parchment [England, late eleventh century or early twelfth century] Rectangular cutting, with remains of double column with 19 lines in a skilled English Romanesque bookhand, opening of Psalms marked by linedrawn acanthus leaf sprays touched in pale orange, some cockling, one large fold along base (causing splitting along gutter in places), some stains and scuffs from reuse as endleaf in binding of a later book, but overall in solid and legible condition and on good and heavy parchment, 95 by 115mm. From the library of Ampleforth Abbey, and sold by them some years ago.

Bifolium from the Interpretations of the Hebrew Names from a notably large University Bible, in Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment [northern France or perhaps England, thirteenth century] Bifolium, one leaf with a large initial ‘I’ in variegated red and blue encased within scrolling penwork in same and with border of penwork tendrils and jagged leaf shapes filling almost the whole inner border, main text in three columns of up to 54 lines in small and squat university script with numerous abbreviations (entries from ‘h’ and ‘i’), paragraph marks and running titles in red and blue, remnants of leaf signature (formed of four vertical red penstrokes) in lower corner of recto of first leaf, slight cockling and stains to edges, folded horizontally across middle, else in good and presentable condition and on fine and heavy parchment, each leaf 350 by 240mm. The parent manuscript was a large and imposing volume, four times the size of its most common peers, and on a larger scale than the contemporary Northumberland ‘giant’ Bible, sold at Sotheby’s , 8 July 2014, lot 49. Precise localisation of thirteenth-century Bibles to either northern France or England is an imprecise art when one has the whole codex, but the setting out of the text here in three columns opens the possibility that the parent manuscript was English rather than the more common French. (cf. the same part of the text from the ‘Dring Bible’, sold in our rooms, 9 December 2015, lot 110).

Bifolium from the Interpretations of the Hebrew Names from a notably large University Bible, in Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment [France, or perhaps England, thirteenth century] Bifolium, text in three columns of up to 54 lines in small and squat university script with numerous abbreviations (entries from ‘i’ and ‘j’), paragraph marks and running titles in red and blue, catchword in lower corner of verso of last leaf, slight cockling and stains to edges, folded horizontally across middle, else in good and presentable condition and on fine and heavy parchment, each leaf 240 by 350mm. From the same parent manuscript as the previous lot.