IM-13574: A lovely original leaf from a medieval manuscript pocket Bible, written in Paris c. 1240-50. Presented in a leather bound leaf book with a six-page essay by Bruce Ferrini. Limited edition number 103 of 1000; The essay was published in Akron, Ohio, 1994. The modern binding was custom made in full stamped leather in medieval style by Thistle Binders, Chicago , IL.
Leaf size: 140 x 88mm – 5.55 x 3.5 inches – Book size: 230x158mm – 9 x 6.25 inches.
An attractive and historical medieval Bible leaf in very nice condition, handsomely presented. It is from a “portable” Bible during the period of the Crusades, and would have been used in the abstract study of theology or the preaching of the Gospel around the medieval countryside.
This leaf is written in Latin gothic micro-minuscule script (12 lines per inch!), hand-written in brown ink with 46 lines of text in double columns on animal vellum. It is enhanced with rubricated chapter numbers in red and blue and a two-line illuminated initial in red with elaborate blue penwork extending along the margin.
The text is a portion of the Old Testament Book of III Kings. Line two continues III Kings (King James I Kings) 1:33 – 2:26: “Et ducite eum…” (And bring him to Gihon. And let Sadoc the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there King over Israel: and you shall sound the trumpet, and shall say: God save King Solomon. And you shall come up after him and he shall com, and shall sit upon my throne, and he shall reign in my stead: and I will appoint him to be ruler over Israel, and over Judah…And Sadoc the priest took a horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon: and they sounded the trumpet, and all the people said: God save King Solomon…)
