Seneca (4 BCE - 65 CE)
Leaf from Epistolae Morales in Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Italy, perhaps Rome, second half 15th century, c.1470].
An exceptionally attractive and very unusual example of Humanistic script and decoration.

c.290 × 205mm. 28 lines of extremely elegant and unusual humanistic script, written above top line, the text comprising 116.6–117.7; vertical catchword, illuminated with a fine large gold initial with white-vine decoration on a ground of blue, green, and burgundy (minor crease, generally in very fine condition)

Provenance:
(1) The style of script and decoration are very unusual; the parchment does not appear to have been prepared in the southern manner; the ruling is in plummet rather than blind as would have been expected for an Italian humanistic manuscript; and the leaf illustrated in the 1988 Quaritch catalogue includes acanthus foliage in Germanic style. Christopher de Hamel suggested (Sotheby’s, 2 December 1997, lot 67[a]) that although probably Italian, the manuscript might be from southern Germany or even England, and David Rundle suggested (reported in Christie’s, Schøyen sale, 10 July 2019, lot 457) that it may have been written by one of the many Germanic scribes active in Italy, particularly Rome.
(2) Unidentified 20th-century German(?) owner: inscribed in pencil with a textual identification “116,6–117,7” (recto, top right corner, as on other leaves).
(3) Bernard Quaritch Ltd, who seem to have sold most or all of the known leaves from 1988 onwards; others are at Vassar College, Reading, Yale, and Keio University Libraries, and in private collections (details will be published in the Vassar catalogue, forthcoming in 2023).
(4) Colker MS 370; acquired in 1986 from Quaritch.

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.