Bifolium from a large Ottonian Gospel Lectionary, with a finely illuminated

Bifolium from a large Ottonian Gospel Lectionary, with a finely illuminated initial, in Latin, manuscript on vellum, [Germany, early eleventh century], two conjoined leaves, each with 23 lines in an elegant and tall Romanesque German bookhand, with a ct-ligature and using a tall final ‘S’ and an unusually high ‘z’ that resembles a ‘L’ with an undulating stroke attached to its highest tip, rubrics in ornamental black capitals (the larger touched in pale blue wash), one-line initials in red (many touched in same pale blue wash), one large 5-line initial ‘D’ (opening “Dicebat IHC [for ‘Ihesus’] turbis …”, John 8:46) in bands of silver foliage, these bound together with metallic blue straps in Germanic style (one of these probably with small studs picked out in penwork), enclosing a scrolling silver foliate tendril terminating in metallic blue leaves (one of which curls behind and between the two outermost bands of the righthand side of the initial) on vivid blue and green grounds, the initial in outstanding condition with little oxidisation, some small losses to illumination, recovered from reuse in a binding and with folds and clipped away corners (these restored with modern vellum), large section at head lost to water-damage when reused on binding (affecting parts of uppermost 4 lines of text), spots and stains, else good and robust condition, total: 275 x 465mm.; in plastic envelope and card folder *** Another bifolium from this once magnificent Ottonian codex was offered in Maggs, European Bulletin, 23, Cat. 1366 (2005), no. 73 (and illustrated there inside the front cover), for £7500. In their description, Maggs drew attention to the closeness of the script with that in the ‘Sacramentary of Henry II’ (Munich, Clm. 4456; see B. Bischoff, Kalligraphie in Bayern, 1981, no. 22 for a reproduction), made in Regensburg between 1002 and 1014. We concur, and also note the similar dimensions of that book (each leaf 300 x 240mm.) to the parent-codex of these present leaves. In addition, the initial here bears close resemblance to those in a Gospel Book from Tegernsee, made in the mid-eleventh century (now Clm 18005; see Bischoff, no. 26, and note especially the use of metallic foliage fronds within the initials).

Estimate:£3,000

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