Rufinus of Aquileia (c.344-411)
A partial bifolium from Historia Monachorum in Aegypto, in Latin, manuscript on vellum [Rhineland, 11th century].
These texts form part of a group known as the Vitae Patrum, a series of hagiographical writings by Rufinus and St Jerome, among others, recounting the lives of the Church Fathers.

c.207×295mm. Preserving 20 lines, written in a rather square Caroline minuscule with wedged ascenders, text comprising the end of Rufinus’s Latin translation of the Historia Monachorum from Book 32 (‘fuisset admissu[m] […] honor [in saecula saeculorum. Amen.]'), followed by a now illegible rubric and part of the prologue to the anonymous Verba seniorum, sometimes attributed to Rufinus ('[Vere] quis dubitet meritis […] neq[ue] sit[iunt]'); see Migne, Patrologia Latina, 73-74 (all margins cropped with text lacking, remains of adhesive, a tear and hole in vellum, text severely faded and in places illegible on one side).

Provenance:
(1) Philip Bliss (1787–1857), Under-Librarian of the Bodleian Library from 1822-1828, Registrar of Oxford University from 1824-1853, Keeper of the University Archives from 1826-1857 and Principal of St Mary Hall from 1848-1857. His collection of leaves was sold at Sotheby’s, 21 August 1858, lots 100 and 119, where acquired by:
(2) Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792–1872), English antiquary and book collector who amassed the largest collection of manuscript material in the 19th century. Bliss’s collection of leaves became at least partially MS 18133 in the Phillipps library. Sold at Sotheby’s, 24 April 1911, lot 390, where acquired by:
(3) Bernard Quaritch, Catalogue 1036: Medieval Manuscript Leaves, Principally from a Collection Formed in the 19th Century: Bookhands of the Middle Ages [I] (London, 1984), no 1.
(4) Colker MS 401; acquired in 1987-88 from Quaritch.

The present fragment refers to a saltwater lake, perhaps the Dead Sea.

This lot is offered without reserve.
This lot has been imported from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.
Please note this lot is the property of a consumer. See H1 of the Conditions of Sale.