Dr. Jörn Günther • Antiquariat
www.guenther-rarebooks.com

CONTENTS

Illuminated manuscripts

  1. Canones conciliorum, written by an insular scribe,
    Northern Italy, c. 775
  2. Psalter, so-called Bernwardpsalter,
    Germany, Hildesheim, c. 1020
  3. Gospel Lectionary, Byzantium,
    Constantinople,c. 1100
  4. St Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos, Upper
    Austria, Lambach Abbey, second half 12th century
  5. Vita Christi, Life of Christ and of the Virgin,
    Northern England,York, c.1190-1200,
    and East Anglia, Norfolk, c.1480-90
  6. Antiphonary, illuminated choirbook, Italy,Venice
    (San Marco), c. 1250 (between 1238 and 1264)
  7. Psalter and biblia latina with the interpretation
    of the Hebrew names, France, Lorraine, Metz, c. 1250
  8. Psalter for the use of Brussels, Northern France,
    Paris, c. 1260
  9. Biblia latina with the interpretations of
    the Hebrew names, Southern France,Toulouse,
    last quarter of the 13th century
  10. Psalter, illuminiated for Gui de Dampierre,
    Southern Netherlands, Bruges, c. 1280
  11. Speculum humanae salvationis, illuminated
    with pen-and-ink drawings by Magister Konrad,
    Austria, before 1386
  12. Book of hours, use of Chartres, illuminated by
    the Bedford workshop, France, Paris, c. 1400-10
  13. Psalter, Spain, Barcelona, shortly after 1400
    and c. 1440-50
  14. Book of hours, use of Rome, illuminated by
    Pseudo-Jacquemart, France, Paris, c. 1410
  15. The so-called Wardington Hours, hours of
    the Passion, illuminated by the Bedford workshop,
    France, Paris, c. 1410 and 1430
  16. Wirnt von Grafenberg, Wigalois (manuscript k),
    illustrated by the circle of the Workshop of 1418
    and of Diebold Lauber,Alsace, c. 1420-30
  17. I.Thomas de Chobham, Summa de poenitentia,
    dat. 1422; II. Stephan Palecz, Utilia contra errantes;
    III. Johannes Andreae, Processus iudicalis – et al.;
    Austria, Seitenstetten, c. 1422
  18. Joachim di Fiore Vaticinia sive Prophetiae
    et Imagines Summorum Pontificum,
    illustrated by the workshop of Lorenzo
    di Pietro ‘Il Vecchietta’, Benvenuto di Giovanni,
    Italy, Siena, c. 1450 and c. 1464
  19. Bruder Philipp, Marienleben
    and other texts, Upper Rhine, c. 1450
  20. German prayerbook with metalcuts, Germany,
    Cologne and Tyrol, Diocese of Brixen,
    dated 1458
  21. Book of hours, use of Paris, illuminated by
    the Master of Jacques de Luxembourg, France,
    Paris, c. 1460-70
  22. Book of hours, use of Rome, illuminated by the
    Master of Marguerite de Liederkerke, Flanders,
    Hainault, Mons or Valenciennes, c. 1500
  23. Croy-Arenberg Book of Hours, use of Sarum,
    with miniatures by the Master of Sir George
    Talbot, the Master of the First Prayer Book of
    Maximilian and the Master of the David Scenes
    in the Grimani Breviary, Flanders, Ghent,
    1505 and c. 1510-20
  24. Berault Stuart (Bernard Stewart),
    Traité sur l’art de la guerre, Northern France, Paris,
    second quarter 16th century
  25. Battista Agnese, Portolan Atlas, Italy,Venice,
    signed and dated 5 February 1544


    26. Early Prints

  26. Nativity, Single-leaf print, Southern Germany,
    c. 1440
  27. The Good Sheperd – ihesus xpristus,
    Single-leaf print, Southern Germany,
    West-Swabian, c. 1460-70
  28. Block-book – Ars Memorandi per figuras
    Evangelistarum, first print of first edition,
    Southern Germany, Nuremberg, c. 1470
  29. Block-book – Der Antichrist und die fünfzehn Zeichen
    Germany, Nuremberg: Hans Briefmaler 1472,
    second edition, i.e. Hans Sporer, 1470
  30. Celestial vision at Constantinople. Kunt und
    wissennt sey allermeniglich das ein sölich geschicht
    unnd erschreckliches erschein gesehen ist worden hinter
    Canstantinopel ..., Single leaf print, Southern
    Germany, Nuremberg c. 1491
  31. Biblia Latina – A single leaf,Mainz: Johann
    Gutenberg and Johann Fust,‘c. 1454/55’; rather 1452-1454
  32. Psalterium Benedictum Congregationis Bursfeldensis
    – A single leaf, Mainz: Johann Fust
    and Peter Schöffer, 29 August 1459
  33. I.Thomas de Aquino. Summa de articulis fidei,
    Mainz: Printer of the Catholicon before 1460
    or Peter Schöffer c. 1469
    II. Matthaeus de Cracovia. Dialogus rationis
    et conscientiae de frequenti usu Communionis,
    Mainz: see above, c. 1469;
    III.Antoninus Florentinus. Confessionale:
    Defecerunt.With: Johannes Chrysostomus. Sermo
    de poenitentia, Cologne: Ulrich Zell, c. 1470
  34. Johannes Balbus, Catholicon, Mainz: printer of
    the Catholicon, probably Gutenberg workshop
    1460, c. 1472, or 1469
  35. Rudimentum Novitiorum, Lubeck: Lucas Brandis,
    5 August 1475
  36. Speculum humanae salvationis, German:
    ein spiegel der menschlichen behaltnisze,
    Basel: Bernhard Richel, 31 August 1476
  37. Conrad von Megenberg, Das buch der Natur,
    Augsburg: Johann Bämler, 20 August 1481
  38. Auslegung – Messe singen oder lesen wer
    das thun sol, wenn, wie oder wo, Nuremberg:
    Friedrich Creussner, not after 1482
  39. Jacobus de Theramo, Belial. Cy commence le proces
    de Belial a l’encontre de Ihesus. Lyon, Mathias Huss:
    19 May 1486
  40. Compilation of ten French
    literary incunabula, Paris, 1488-c. 95, among them Olivier
    de la Marche, Le Chevalier Délibéré. Paris: Guy Marchand
    or Antoine Caillaut for Antoine Vérard,
    8 August 1488
  41. Olivier de la Marche. Le Chevalier Délibéré,
    Gouda, printer of the Chevalier délibéré,
    Collaciebroeders, after 31 October 1489
  42. Petrus de Crescentiis, Ruralia commoda.
    In commodum ruralium cum figuris libri duodecim,
    Speyer: Peter Drach, not before 1493
  43. Alanus de Rupe, Von dem psalter unnd Rosen
    krancz unser lieben frauen.Wie man den beten sol,
    Augsburg: Anton Sorg, 1492
  44. Der Doten dantz mit figuren. Clage und
    Antwort schon von allen staten der welt,
    Mainz: Jacob Meydenbach, c. 1492
  45. Fiore di virtů. Questa sie una utilissima operetta
    acada uno fidel christiano chiamata fior de virtu,Venice:
    Matteo Capcasa di Codeca, 15 January 1493
  46. Christophorus Columbus, De insulis nuper
    in mari Indico inventis, and Carolus Verardus,
    Historia Baetica. In laudem Serenissimi
    Ferdinandi Hispaniarum regis Bethicae & regni
    Granatae obsidio, victoria & triumphus,
    Basel: Johann Bergmann von Olpe, 1494
  47. Scriptores Astronomici veteres: Julius Firmicus
    Maternus, Mathesis and other Greek and Roman
    astronomical texts,Venice:Aldus Manutius, 1499
  48. a: La dance macabre des hommes, Paris,
    widow of Jehan Treperel and Jehan Jehannot,
    c. 1512-22 234

     b: La dance macabre des femmes toutes
    hystories & augmentee de nouveau, Paris,
    Jehan Treperel (II), c. 1525-32
  49. Martin Luther, Das newe testament deutzsch,
    Wittenberg: Melchior Lotter, 1524
  50. Aurelius Theodosius Macrobius, In somnium
    Scipionis libri II. Saturnaliorum libri VII.
    Basel: Johannes Herwagen the Elder, 1535

    Key to bibliographical references

A magnificent miniature gothic illuminated psalter

10 Psalter

Illuminiated manuscript on vellum. Southern Netherlands (Bruges?), c. 1280.

89 x 62 mm. 267 leaves: I4+2, II3+2+3, III-IV12,V6+6+1,VI12,VII6+1+6,VIII12, IX6+1+6,X6+6+1,XI12, XII10, XIII2+1+6+6, XIV6+6+1,XV-XXII12+1, XXIII6 (miniatures on inserted leaves). Before fol. 189 lacking a full-page miniature facing the opening of Ps 109.Traces of numerical quire signatures and two sequences of leaf signatures beginning again on quire XV. – Written space 57 x 32 mm, 19 lines of text.Written in a small gothic bookhand in dark brown ink, ruled in plummet, no rubrics, some calendar entries in red. Laid out in verse format, with a vertical column up to the left-hand edge of the text block enclosing for each verse initials in burnished gold with contrasting infill of blue and pink, beginning from three-line initials with three-sided border consisting of penwork in red and blue, dragons and/or coloured faces on burnished gold, line fillers of the same design. 13 full-page miniatures, 8 large historiated initials, 12 calendar miniatures, 31 small historiated initials, over 100 marginal and bas-de-page scenes and vignettes. – Some wear, some early additions and corrections to the text, leaves at ends thumbed with rubbing and flaking of illumination, upper extremities of marginal extensions sometimes fractionally cropped, a few margins slightly defective, some stains and other signs of use, generally sound with illumination mostly fresh and bright. – Late 16th- or early 17th-century dark brown calf over pasteboards, gilt frame borders, small central oval placques of the Crucifixion gilt, paper endleaves, decorated metal clasps and catches. Binding worn, rebacked. In a 19th-century card slipcase.

PROVENANCE:1. On fol. 15 the arms of Gui de Dampierre (1225-1305), count of Flanders from 1278. On fol. 41 the arms of his son Robert de Béthune (1247-1322). The manuscript must therefore have been illuminated for Gui de Dampierre or his wife, Isabelle de Luxembourg (1244- 1298), or for a member of their family or immediate circle. 2. Medieval inscriptions inside the covers. A 19th-century note in French on the flyleaf suggests that the book belonged to the children of Jean sans Peur in the 15th century. It was, however, then still in Flanders. 3. 19th-century note on the box “Caroline Comtesse de Stolberg Stolberg recu de Mon oncle le Comte T. Bte. De Robiano”. Caroline (1826-1882), countess of Robiano married in 1851 Joseph Theodore, Graf zu Stolberg-Stolberg. 4. Now: Private collection, Europe.

TEXT:fol. 1-6v: Calendar, for the diocese of Tournai – fol. 7-8: blank – fol. 8v-13v: full-page miniatures – fol. 14v-240v: Psalter – fol. 240-261: Canticles and Athanasian Creed – fol. 261v-264v: Litany – fol. 264v-266v: prayers – fol. 267 blank.


ILLUMINATION: Calendar miniatures: fol. 1: Nobleman feasting – fol. 1v: Candlemass – fol. 2: Pruning trees – fol. 2v: Two lovers – fol. 3: Lovers hunting – fol. 3v: Peasant carrying staves – fol. 4: Mowing grass – fol. 4v: Harvesting – fol. 5: Sowing – fol. 5v:Wine harvest – fol. 6: Swineherds – fol. 6v: Butcher killing an ox.
Full-page miniatures: fol. 8v: Annunciation and Visitation – fol. 9v Nativity and Annunciation to the Shepherds – fol. 10v: Adoration of the Magi and Massacre of the Innocents – fol. 11v: Flight into Egypt and Presentation – fol. 12v:Washing of the Disciple’s Feet and Bribing of Judas – fol. 13v: Last Supper and Betrayal – fol. 14: (historiated initial ‘B’) David playing the viol and David beheading Goliath – fol. 47: Christ before Pilate and Scourging – fol. 69v: Christ carrying the Cross and Crucifixion – fol. 91v: Deposition and Entombment – fol. 113v: Harrowing of Hell and Resurrection – fol. 139v: Noli me tangere and Doubting St Thomas – fol. 163v: Ascension and Pentecost. Historiated initials: fol. 46v: Beheading of a saint – fol. 69v: Beheading of St John the Baptist – fol. 90: Martyrdom of St Lawrence – fol. 92: Martyrdom of St John the Evangelist – fol. 114: St Margaret – fol. 140: St Nicholas giving doweries to three maidens, as their father sleeps in bed – fol. 164: Flaying of St Bartholomew – fol. 189: St Stephen. The earliest books attributable to Bruges are a group of psalters with miniatures of the apostles at each of the Psalm divisions (cf. Haseloff 1936, pp. 65-7, 120-21; Randall 1974, pp. 171-91; Randall 1997, no. 217). These date from about 1265-70 and are all relatively austere and probably monastic in origin but suddenly, around 1275, the production of psalters in Bruges is transformed, leading to a highpoint of splendour. This is probably due to the patronage of the family of Gui de Dampierre, count of Flanders, likely patron of the present manuscript. A second manuscript, extremely close to this psalter and perhaps by the same artist, is the so-called Psalter of Gui de Dampierre which may have been made either in St-Omer or Bruges (Brussels, BR, ms. 10607, cf. Gaspar/Lyna 1947, pp. 219-28, pl. XLV; Stijns 1953, pp. 85-94; exh. cat. Brussels 1981, pp. 144-58; Smeyers 1998, pp. 136-45; exh. cat. Leuven 2002, no. 37). Around these two books is a further clutch of richly illuminated Psalters, including Dublin, Chester Beatty Library, ms. 61; London, BL, Burney 345; Oxford, Bodl. Lib., Auct. D.4.2; and New York, ML, M 72 (cf. Oliver 1988, passim), all probably attributable to Bruges. There are close stylistic links too with the Bible of Ter Doest (Bruges, Groot Seminaire, 4/1 and 5/191). The style of the psalters includes the use of elaborate architectural settings, brilliant colours and highly burnished gold, and borders filled with whimsical creatures and grotesques. Many of the group possess almost exact parallels with our psalter, including, for example, the Harrowing of Hell (fol. 113v) in the Oxford manuscript (cf. Pächt/Alexander 1966, pl. XXI, no. 285); and the Noli me tangere and Incredulity of St Thomas (fol. 139v) in the Psalter of Gui de Dampierre (Gaspar/Lyna 1947, pl. XLV). Similar iconography occurs too in the choice of scenes from the lives of saints in the historiated initials. Where the psalter at hand is exceptional, however, is in the complexity of its miniatures. Uniquely in this group, its full-page miniatures are on two tiers, doubling the cycle of scenes.When this lavishness of full-page illustration encounters the infinitely varied repertoire of small illumination imported from western Flanders, the result is a psalter of unique complexity and unparalleled richness.

LITERATURE:The manuscript is hitherto unpublished. Haseloff 1936; Gaspar/Lyna 1947; Stijns 1953, pp. 85-94; Pächt/Alexander 1966, pl. XXI, no. 285; Randall 1974, p. 171-191; exh. cat. Brussels 1981, pp. 144-58; Oliver 1988; Randall 1997, no. 217; Smeyers 1998, pp. 136-45; exh. cat. Leuven 2002, no. 37.