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

Two famous works dealing with the topic of Troy written in captivity in Naples

12 Guido de Columna, Historia destructionis Troiae, in the Italian translation of Francesco Ceffi and Giovanni Boccaccio, Il Filostrato

Manuscript on paper. Italy, Naples, dated 1414 and 1413.

294 x 220 mm. 177 leaves, foliated from 1-128 in the first part in red ink (127 and 128 blank) and from 2-46 in the second part (first leaf missing), 2 additional blank leaves. I18, II14, III18, IV14,V18,VI14,VII18,VIII14, IX18-1, X10, XI20-2 (2 blank leaves missing). – Written space: 215 x 157 mm, 33-35 lines in the first part. Il Troiano written in a single column, Il Filostrato in double columns.The manuscript is not ruled; only the written space is marked with a frame drawn in pencil on each page.Written space in the second part c. 201 x 188 mm with double columns of 4 stanzas each. Rubrics and five-line initials in red.Watermark: mountain with 3 peaks and cross erected on the top, on 2 additional leaves watermark composed of a sun with 10 rays and the letter B below. One threequarter penwork border in red, one full page pen-and-ink-drawing. – Good condition; first leaves slightly worn. – Red half morocco binding enclosing an older binding: presumably the original limp vellum binding with the inscription Troiano e Filostrato on the front cover; title on spine on a paper label: Il Troiano, shelf mark (57) on the front cover.Worm holes in the wooden boards of the front and back covers.

PROVENANCE: European private collection.

TEXT: On the front pastedown of the vellum binding a poem of 16 lines, below 5 lines with family entries, dating from 1424 back to 1414 – One leaf inserted at the front with a summary of both literary works, the additional poems, and naming the copyist in an 18th-century chancellery script, in Italian. The naming of the scribe Jedice di Guigliadore is accompanied by a handwritten note of a later date Mazzingli – One leaf with a full-page pen-and-ink drawing showing a battle scene in front of a harbour preceding Il Troiano – fol. 1–126: Il Troiano; fol. 127 and 128 blank – New foliation for the Filostrato beginning with 1 again – fol. 2-45v: Il Filostrato (fol. 1 with the title missing) – fol. 45v: A sonata by an unidentified author – fol. 46-47: A poem in terza rima by an unidentified author – fol. 47v-48v blank. Both texts were written by the same hand and close with a detailed colophon. In the Troiano it reads (fol. 126):“Finisce il libro del troiano schritto p(er) me Jedice di Ghuigliadore da Firenze nella prigione della vicheria di Napoli al x° d’aprile 1414. Deo grazias amen.” The colophon at the end of the Filostrato (second foliation fol. 45v) reads: “Finisce I(l) libro del filostrato chopiato p(er) / me Jedice di Ghuigliadore da fi(renz)e / I(n) p(r)igione al xxx di Gienaio 1413 ./. / deo grazias amen ./.” Jedice di Guigliadore has obviously copied the two famous literary works during his time in a Neapolitan prison – an occurrence that is not as rare as one would assume: in a manuscript with Italian poems by Andrea de’ Medici, dated 8 January 1468 (Holkham Hall) an entry is included stating that the manuscript was written in prison (De Ricci 1932, p. 46). The scribe started with the Filostrato, which he finished on 30 January 1413, and he completed the transmission of the history of the destruction of Troy on 10 April 1414. Guigliadore’s handwriting is an easily legible Italic script in brown ink, only occasionally interspersed with abbreviations; the chapter headings and the foliation are rubricated in red. No details about the scribe and his output are known. Guido de Columna a Neapolitan jurist, who spent his life in Messina, wrote his Latin history of the destruction of Troy in the year 1286. Soon translations were edited of this Latin narrative that was widely read at schools due to its easily comprehensible language: in 1324, in the course of the awakening awareness of the power of the vernacular used by Dante, the text was translated into Italian by the Florentine notary Filippo Ceffi. His translation still served as a model in the 15th century, when Guido’s Historia destructionis Troiae was printed for the first time in 1481 in Venice. The works of the Florentine poet Giovanni Boccaccio (1313- 75, cf. also our no. 30) were very popular during his lifetime. In his short epic Filostrato written in 1335-38 the poet adopts one episode from the Trojan saga:Troilus, the son of Priamos, succeeds in winning the love of the widow Cressida, but soon she leaves him in favour of Diomedes. In search of diversion the spurned lover goes to war and is killed on the battlefield. This small episode induces Boccaccio to reflect on the various kinds of love. The Neapolitan codex unites two of the most celebrated 13thand 14th-century literary works dealing with the topic of Troy. The two colophons give a detailed account of the manuscript’s circumstances of production: the scribe Jedice di Guigliadore of Florence was an inmate of the Neapolitan prison when he copied the two books.

ILLUMINATION: It is conceivable that for want of colours whilst in prison Jedice decorated the first page of the Troiano with a three-quarter border of red penwork. An uncoloured full-page pen-and-ink drawing depicting a battle scene precedes the Troiano text. In front of the city wall with fortified towers of the seaport Tenedon – one can make out a lighthouse and three sailboats sailing with the wind – two enemy cavalry regiments have gathered together: to the left Achille with his men, to the right Ettore, in whose entourage Troiolo is killed in the battle with Achilles. The illuminator has created an attractive setting for this scene and skilfully arranged the different components. Ships and buildings form the background for the assembly of the cavalry regiments that have moved into position, in full armour and with closed visors.The first row of warriors with Achilles, Hector and Troilus is rendered in full length in front of a sea of helmets. On stylistic grounds this pen-and-ink drawing can clearly be associated with contemporary Neapolitan painting.

LITERATURE: The manuscript is hitherto unpublished.