Paris, 3rd quarter 13th century

Hosea and Gomer, historiated initial on a leaf from a Bible, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Paris, 3rd quarter 13th century]

A charming illuminated leaf from a Bible once belonging to the Carthusian monastery of Val de Bénédiction at Villeneuve-lès-Avignon.

211 x 148mm. 50 lines in two columns written in a small gothic bookhand, ruled in plummet, the text with the prologue and opening of Hosea, to chapter IV, verse 5, guide words in plummet visible in upper margin of recto, verse initials touched red, rubrics in red, running headers and chapter numbers in red and blue, text and marginal annotations in a neat contemporary hand, verso with blue initials with red and blue flourished in contrasting colour extending the height of the margin, recto with 6-line initial opening the prologue of dark pink scrolling infill and animal head terminal on a blue ground, and large historiated initial containing two seated figures, the prophet embracing Gomer, against a blue ground within stave of blue with white decoration on a pink and gold ground, both initials with foliate extensions into the margin. Window-mounted.

Provenance:
(1) From a Bible that was at the Carthusian monastery of Val de Bénédiction at Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, just outside Avignon, by the 15th century: it has the punctus flexus punctuation typical of Carthusian manuscripts, and the parent manuscript had a medieval inscription 'Ista biblia est domus cartusiensis in villa nove prope avinonem'. The volume was broken up probably in 1961; fifteen leaves are now in the Bodleian Library (MS. Lat. bib. e. 6) and three in the Senate House Library of the University of London (MSS 546, 576). About 35 leaves, including the present one, are listed in Margaret Manion, et al., Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in New Zealand Collections, 1989, no 68.

(2) The Rendells, The Medieval World, cat.146 (1979), no 28.

(3) Christie's, 4 June 2008, lot 6.