Two leaves from a miniature Psalter-Hours, both with illuminated initials

Two leaves from a miniature Psalter-Hours, both with illuminated initials, in Latin, on vellum, [northern France, late thirteenth century], two leaves, each with text in single column of 12 lines in two sizes of an early gothic bookhand, that ornamented with hairline penstrokes, capitals in arching penstrokes and touched in red, red rubrics, one initial in blue or dark pink foliage on coloured and gold grounds on each leaf, these with angular extensions into the margins on three sides, trimmed edges (affecting edges of border decoration), slight flaking in places, overall good condition and on notably thin and fine vellum, each leaf 90 x 70mm.; mounted together in modern card *** These leaves are from a fine late thirteenth-century portable Psalter-Hours, perhaps dispersed as early as 1970 (a leaf sold recently in a European auction was reportedly acquired then in Paris by a previous owner). Other leaves have appeared in the Schuster Gallery of London, their ‘Illuminated Manuscripts’ catalogue for 1987, no. 21 (where Amiens is suggested as a point of origin, and it is stated that the parent book was “thought to be connected with reformist women who lived in communities in North France and Flanders”); Quaritch, cat. 1270, Bookhands of the Middle Ages VI (2000), no. 33; Bloomsbury Auctions, 27 October 2011, lot 4; Pirages Rare Books, cat. 47 (1992), nos. 20 and 49; and in the collection of Roger Martin of Grimsby: his sale at Bloomsbury Auctions, 6 July 2021, lot 61 (part).

Estimate:£400

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