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

CONTENTS

Manuscripts

  1. Glossed Gospels of St Luke and St John,
    Paris or northern France, c. 1210
  2. Psalter with calendar for the diocese of Trier,
    Germany,Trier, c. 1220-40
  3. Psalter and book of hours for the use of Paris,
    illuminated in the du Prat atelier, France, Paris,
    c. 1250-60
  4. Biblia latina, pocket bible, France, Paris, c. 1250
  5. Antiphonary, sanctoral volume, Italy,
    Emilia-Romagna, c. 1270-75
  6. Psalter for the use of Auxerre, France,
    Burgundy or Paris, c. 1300
  7. Antiphonary for a Franciscan convent,
    illuminated by Neri da Rimini, Italy,
    Emilia-Romagna, dated 1314
  8. Vita Sancti Antonii Eremitae – Inventio et
    Translatio, illuminated by the Maestro del 1328,
    Italy, Bologna, c. 1320
  9. Schönrainer Liederhandschrift. Middle High
    German Minnesang manuscript, Germany,
    Hesse, c. 1330
  10. Missale Romanum, illuminated in the workshop
    of Cristoforo Orimina, Italy, Naples, c. 1355
  11. Boethius, De consolatione philosophiae and
    Jean de Meun, Testament, France, Paris, c. 1400
  12. Guido de Columna, Historia destructionis Troiae
    and Giovanni Boccaccio, Il Filostrato, Italy,
    Naples, dated 1414 and 1413
  13. Book of hours for the use of Paris, illuminated
    by the workshop of the Bedford Master, France,
    Paris, c. 1405-10
  14. Compilation of pastoral and mystical texts
    from the library of the Celestines of Marcoussis,
    illuminated by the Hoo Master, France, Paris,
    c. 1425-35
  15. Book of hours for the use of Toul, illuminated
    by the Master of Pommersfelden 351, France,
    Toul or Metz, c. 1435-40
  16. Dominican hymnal, illuminated by the
    Master of 1446, Italy, Bologna, c. 1450
  17. Nicolaus de Lyra, Postilla litteralis super
    Vetus Testamentum, two volumes, Italy,
    Ferrara?, 1441-46
  18. Compilation of history bible and world chronicle,
    the Antichrist and the XV signs and other texts,
    Austria, c. 1450
  19. Book of hours and psalter in Dutch, illuminated
    by the Master of the Haarlem Bible, Masters of
    Otto von Moerdrecht, Masters of Gijsbrecht
    van Brederode et al., northern Netherlands,
    Haarlem, dated 1453
  20. Book of hours for the use of Rome, with
    calendar of Bruges, illuminated by the Master of
    Buchanan E.5, Flanders, Bruges, c. 1450-60
  21. Chronique anonyme universelle, parchment
    scroll, illuminated by the Master of Étienne
    Sauderat, France, Paris?, c. 1450 with additions
    after 1461 and 1467
  22. Psalter with hymnal, illuminated
    by the workshop of Bartolomeo Varnucci,
    Italy, Florence, c. 1460-70
  23. Martin Le Franc, L’Estrif de Fortune et de Vertu,
    illuminated by the Master of the Échevinage
    de Rouen, France, Rouen, c. 1465-75
  24. Book of hours for the use of Utrecht in the Dutch
    translation of Geert Grote, illuminated by one of
    the Masters of Gijsbrecht van Brederode, northern
    Netherlands, probably Utrecht, c. 1465-70
  25. Missale Fratrum Minorum for the convent
    of S. Francesco di Montone, near Perugia,
    illuminated by Bartelomeo and Giapeco
    Caporali, Italy, Perugia, 1469
  26. Book of hours for the use of Rome with
    adaptations for Poitiers and a calendar for
    Angers, illuminated by Maître François,
    France, Paris, c. 1470
  27. Psalter with hymnal, illuminated by the
    workshop of Mariano del Buono di Jacopo,
    Italy, Florence, c. 1470-75
  28. Book of hours for the use of Rome, illuminated
    by Martino da Modena, Italy, Ferrara, c. 1480-85
  29. Book of hours for Dominican use, illuminated
    by the workshop of Matteo Felice, Italy,
    Naples, c. 1480
  30. Giovanni Boccaccio, Elegia di Madonna
    Fiammetta, illuminated by Attavante degli
    Attavanti, Italy, Florence, c. 1480
  31. Book of hours for the use of Rome, Italy,
    Sicily or Naples, c. 1480-90
  32. Olivier de la Marche, Le chevalier délibéré and
    other texts, Flanders, c. 1484
  33. Prayerbook in German, Germany, Nuremberg,
    c. 1495-1500
  34. Fencing treatise with pen-and-ink drawings,
    southern Germany,Augsburg, c. 1490-1500
  35. Book of hours for the use of Paris in Latin
    and French, illuminated by an artist from the
    circle of Jean Pichore, France, Paris, c. 1500
  36. Passion prayerbook in Latin with a prayer for
    the Church of All Saints in Wittenberg, Flanders,
    Bruges, after 1517
  37. Diploma for Statilio Paolino on his award of a
    doctorate in law from the University of
    Perugia, Italy, Perugia, dated 29 October 1582
  38. Album with Italian, mainly Venetian, costumes and
    characters from the Commedia dell’Arte, Italy,
    Venice?, first quarter of the 17th century

    Miniatures

  39. Funeral mass for a dignitary, miniature from a
    breviary, France,Avignon, c. 1340-45 128
  40. A pope distributing the decretals, miniature from
    a manuscript of canon law, France, Languedoc,
    c. 1320
  41. The Adoration of the Magi, historiated initial ‘D’
    on a leaf from a missal, Italy, Siena, c. 1400-10
  42. Two martyr saints, historiated initial ‘P’ on a leaf
    from a gradual for Lucca Cathedral, illuminated by
    Martino di Bartolomeo. Italy, Lucca, c. 1394-95
  43. Investiture of St Clare on a cutting from a
    Franciscan antiphonary, Italy, Bologna or Veneto,
    c. 1430-40
  44. Trinity, historiated initial ‘G’ on a cutting from
    a choirbook, France, Savoy, c. 1450 138
  45. King David playing the psaltery, historiated
    initial ‘E’ on a leaf from a psalter, illuminated by
    Jacopo da Balsemo, Italy, Bergamo, c. 1450-55
  46. The Creation of Eve, historiated initial ‘I’ on a
    cutting from a choirbook, illuminated by
    Bonifacio Bembo, Italy, Lombardy, c. 1445
  47. Jesaia before the Almighty, historiated initial ‘A’
    on a leaf from an antiphonary, illuminated by
    a follower of the Maestro delle Vitae Imperatorum,
    Italy, Lombardy, c. 1460
  48. Batsheba bathing, miniature from the Hours of
    Guyot II Le Peley, illuminated by Jean Colombe,
    France, Bourges, c. 1480
  49. The miracle of St Michael on Mount Gargano,
    miniature from a choirbook, illuminated by
    Attavante degli Attavanti, Italy, Florence,
    between 1473 and 1502
  50. Christ taking leave of his mother, miniature
    mounted on wood, illuminated by Jacopo del
    Giallo?, Italy, Rome, c. 1540

    Key to bibliographical references

A dated manuscript illuminated by Neri da Rimini: A turning point in his career

7 Antiphonary for a Franciscan convent

Manuscript on vellum, illuminated by Neri da Rimini. Italy, Emilia-Romagna, Rimini?, dated 1314. c. 550 x 385 mm. 78 leaves, old (probably 18th century) foliation in brown on the outer margin, partly erased. – Written space: 410 x 250 mm, 5 tetragrams to the page in red ink with notation in black ink, Gothic Rotunda in black ink with rubrics. Beginnings of verses stroked in yellow. Numerous initials alternately in blue and red with fleuronnée, 6 decorated initials with floral design, 10 historiated initials. Dated by the hand of the scribe in the lower margin of fol. 1. – Vellum occasionally smudged, some leaves trimmed around the edges, delicately restored and rebound. As indicated by the foliation, the manuscript originally comprised at least 170 leaves. – Bound between massive wooden boards (late 15th century) with large metal cornerpieces and later repairs, partly covered with riveted leather. Contemporary vellum leaf from a choirbook added as flyleaf at the beginning. On the inside of back cover offsets from a liturgical manuscript pastedown. In the hinge of the inside of front cover strips of waste paper, armorial bookplate.

PROVENANCE: 1. Made for a Franciscan convent, probably that of Rimini. 2. Collection of Henry Cawood Embleton, Leeds. 3. Sold at Sotheby’s, 7 December 1982, lot 98. 4. Raffaello Amati, London.

TEXT: The manuscript, reconstructed by Raffaello Amati and most recently by Jörn Günther, contains the Proprium de Tempore from the twelfth Sunday after Pentecost to the fourth Sunday in September and the Proprium de Sanctis from the feast of St Peter and Paul (29 June) to the feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin (15 September). It belongs to a multi-volume antiphonary series.

ILLUMINATION: fol. 12: God holding a globe – fol. 42: God appearing to Tobit – fol. 51: Christ and St Peter – fol. 63: Calling of St Peter and Andrew – fol. 93v: St Laurence – fol. 113v: Assumption of the Virgin – fol. 128v: Beheading of St John the Baptist – fol. 140:Virgin Mary – fol. 141v: Nativity of the Virgin – fol. 155:Virgin Mary. Among the anonymous artists of the early Trecento the name Neri da Rimini stands out. His activity is exceptionally well documented. In 1995 a monographic exhibition entitled Neri da Rimini. Il Trecento riminese tra pittura e scrittura paid homage to this central figure of the so-called Riminese School. Among the members of the Riminese School Neri is the only example of an artist who specialized in the field of manuscript illumination, although simultaneous activity as painter is very likely.The fact that he repeatedly signed and also dated his works is a rare windfall enabling us to reconstruct his œuvre between 1300 and 1328. The codex under discussion here is among the most important recent additions to the œuvre of Neri da Rimini. The date 1314 identifies the manuscript as part of a documented antiphonary series.The same date together with the signature of the scribe can be found in another volume in Bologna (Museo Civico Medievale, ms. 540) where, moreover, an anagram of Neri’s name appears in an illustration. Furthermore, the date 1314, partly complemented by the signatures of the scribe and the illuminator, figures in a series of manuscripts and single leaves with identical dimensions and sharing the same general layout of five tetragrams to the page.Thus it is possible largely to reconstruct the series of antiphonaries, which must originally have comprised at least six volumes (exh. cat. Rimini 1995, no. 26, pp. 142-161; Dauner 1998, pp. 97-157): 1. Bologna, Museo Civico Medievale, ms. 540, containing the Proprium de Tempore from the first Sunday in Advent to the Vigil for Epiphany and the Proprium de Sanctis for the time between the feast of St Andrew to St Lucy. 2. Krakow, Muzeum Narodowe, ms. Czart. 3464, containing the Proprium de Tempore from the feast of Epiphany to the Sunday Quinquagesima and the Proprium de Sanctis from the feast of St Agnes to the Cathedra Petri. 3. A dismembered volume of which single leaves survive in: Philadelphia, (Free Library, Lewis collection, mss. 68:7a, 68:7b, 68:8 and 68:9),Toledo/Ohio (The Toledo Museum of Art, Acc. No. 28.183), Rheydt/Mönchengladbach (Museum Schloss Reydt, Inv. Gr 870), Zurich (private collection), Österreich (private collection; Zeileis 2004, no. 23, pp. 76-79). The volume was still almost complete in 1905 (cf. sales cat. Joseph Baer & Co, 1905, no. 8). The present codex, which contains parts of the Proprium de Tempore,would probably have formed part five of the series. Two more volumes must originally have existed. One, of which two leaves survive in Venice (Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Inv. 2211-2212), would have covered Easter and the cycle of Pentecost.The last volume would have closed the gap left between our codex and the beginning of Advent. The ten historiated initials of the manuscript at issue give a fascinating insight into the stylistic idiom of Neri da Rimini. A comparison with his earlier works and with the illumination of the Bologna and Krakow volumes places the present manuscript at a turning point in Neri’s career, at which his style becomes simultaneously more purified and more dynamic and expressive. In contrast to the initials in preceding commissions, Neri has considerably reduced his chromatic palette. The figures are conceived with small heads and comparatively voluminous bodies. The immensely delicate modelling of the faces with minutely applied lights and shades further enhances this impression. A close examination of this splendid volume thus shows the important position the manuscript holds in the œuvre of Neri da Rimini. Illuminated in all probability in the middle of his career, it anticipates certain stylistic properties of his later works and therefore may be considered a central piece in his career.

LITERATURE: Sales cat. Sotheby’s, 7 Dec. 1982, lot 98; Lollini 1994, pp. 109, 111, 131-32; Conti 1995, p. 290, fig. 295; exh. cat. Rimini 1995, no. 28, pp. 164-171; Lollini 1996, pp. 86, 88, 94-95; Dauner 1998, pp. 138-144 and pp. 236-37. Sales cat. Baer 1905, no. 8; Toesca 1930; Dauner 1995, pp. 445-446; Zeileis 2004, no. 23, pp. 76-79.