MANUSCRIPTS (by location)
[Augsburg, Universitätsbibliothek, 1.3.2º3]
Ulrich Boner. Der Edelstein / Des Teufels Netz / Sibyllenweissagung. Mikrofiche-Edition der Handschrift Augsburg, Universitätsbibliothek, Cod. I.3.2°3. Kodikologische und kunsthistorische Beschreibung von Ulrike Bodemann.
Codices Illuminati Medii Aevi, 7. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 1987. 17 x 25 cm, 19 pp, 7 fiches (4 monochrome).

Paper MS of 274 fols., dated 1449, from East Swabia in bastarda script. The fables of Ulrich Boner are illustrated with 100 watercolor drawings. The unknown artist shows great skill in composing lively scenes with human figures and animals. The two other texts are without illustrations. They are metric versions of moral didactic narratives from the middle of the 14th c. to early 15th c. Formerly from the library of Graf Wihelm von Oettingen. Linen. [3-89219-007-0]  (more info... )

[Basel, Öffentliche Bibliothek der Universität, AN III 17]
Ulrich Boner. Der Edelstein. Farbmikrofiche-Edition der Handschrift Basel, Öffentliche Bibliothek der Universität Basel, Hs. A N III 17. Einführung in das Werk von Klaus Grubmüller. Kodikologische und kunsthistorische Beschreibung von Ulrike Bodemann.
Codices Illuminati Medii Aevi, 4. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 1987. 17 x 25 cm, 27 pp, 3 color fiches.

Early 15th c. vellum MS from the Upper Rhine (Basel?) with calligraphic cursive handwriting. Decorated with 68 (originally 98?) paintings and fine ornamented initials combined with decorative borders of foliage and flowers influenced by the Burgundian style. The codex is believed to have belonged to a patrician family at Bern. Boner’s collection of 100 fables in the tradition of AESOP is of special importance in medieval German literature because of its self-contained narrative form. Linen. €185 [3-89219-004-6]  (more info... )

[Berlin, Staatsbibliothek (Deutsche), Phill. 1926]
Les six triumphes et les six visions Messire Francoys Petrarque / Die sechs Triumphe und die sechs Visionen des Herrn Francesco Petrarca. Das Manuskript Ms. Phill. 1926 aus dem Bestand der Deutschen Staatsbibliothek Berlin.
Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 1988. 20 x 13 cm, 54, 70 pp.

This vellum MS dates from the first half of the 16th c. and contains 18 aquarelle-miniatures, illustrations to the Petrarca text. Commentary and translation in Ger/Fr by Anne-Marie Lecoq, Ursula Winter & Horst Heintze.  

[Berlin (formerly), Staatsbibliothek Preuß. Kulturbesitz, germ.oct.109]
Wernher. Driu liet von der maget. Farbmikrofiche-Edition der Handschrift Berlin, Ehem. Preussische Staatsbibliothek, Ms. germ. oct. 109 (z. Zt. Kraków, Biblioteka Jagiellońska, Depositum). Beschreibung der Handschrift und kommentierter Bildkatalog von Elisabeth Radaj.
Codices Illuminati Medii Aevi, 62. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 2001. 17 x 25 cm, 102 pp, 4 fiches.

Vellum MS with 102 pp, c.1220, Regensburg (Scheyern Abbey?), in early gothic script. The work of Wernher, written in verse, was composed about 1172 and is the earliest surviving “Life of Mary” in German, and the only one illustrated; its main source is the apocryphal Ps.-Matthew gospel. The 85 framed pen drawings executed in brown and red ink are on an admiringly high artistic level. The work is divided into three parts, each having at its beginning a larger decorated initial: Life of Anna and Joachim, parents of Mary, between the announcement of Mary's birth and her visit to the temple (15 illustrations); Mary's life in the temple, her marriage to Joseph, and the annunciation and visitation (19 illustrations); and the events before and after the birth of Christ until the family's return from Egypt (49 illustrations). The picture cycle starts with two full-page illustrations of the genealogy of Christ and the Judgement of Solomon. Linen. €290 [3-89219-062-3]  (more info... )

[Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Preuß. Kulturbesitz, germ.fol. 1]
Konrad von Würzburg. Trojanerkrieg. Farbmikrofiche-Edition der Handschrift Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Ms.germ.fol.1. Einführung in das Werk und Beschreibung der Handschrift von Elisabeth Lienert.
Codices Illuminati Medii Aevi, 15. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 1989. 17 x 25 cm, 30 pp, 10 fiches.

Paper MS with 460 fols., created in the workshop of Diebold Lauber in Hagenau c.1440-1445. Contains 97 colored pen & ink drawings. 96 of the 223 headings are illustrated. The story of the Trojan war, created between 1281 and 1287, despite more than 40,000 verses, remains unfinished. The MS is one of the main sources for the prose treatment of the Trojan material in the 14th and 15th c. Konrad used as his source the “Roman de Troie” of Benoît de Sainte-Maure. Linen. [3-89219-015-1]  (more info... )

[Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Preuß. Kulturbesitz, Hamilt. 675]
Thomasin von Zerklaere. Der Welsche Gast. Farbmikrofiche-Edition der Handschrift Ms. Hamilt. 675 der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preussischer Kulturbesitz. Einführung von Horst Wenzel.
Codices Illuminati Medii Aevi, 51. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 1998. 17 x 25 cm, 45 pp, 4 fiches.

Burgundy(?), c.1477(?); vellum MS of 120 fols. Thomasin, living for some time at the court of the archbishop at Aquileia, composed this type of a speculum principum about 1215/16. The educational program spreads from macrocosm to microcosm, and teaching of courtly virtues and knowledge of the artes liberalis are regarded as equally essential. The picture cycle of this MS is made up of 114 framed miniatures mostly presenting personifications of virtues and vices opposite to typical human figures like "the man", "the wife", "the judge", "the knight", "the people", etc., in systematically structured groups according to the text. But there are also scenes illustrating legendary or historical events like the murder of Julius Cesar or Hector's death. The MS came to Berlin in 1882 as part of the magnificent Hamilton Collection. Linen. €290 [3-89219-051-0]  (more info... )

[Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Preuß. Kulturbesitz, lat. 4º 335]
Apologia poetarum. Faksimile der Schwenter-Handschrift, Ms. lat. fol. 335 der Staatsbibliothek Preußischer Kulturbesitz zu Berlin mit den Illustrationen Peter Vischers des Jüngeren.
Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 1987. 21 x 33 cm, 20, 276 pp.

One of the most beautiful books from the German humanistic period. The illustrations are by Peter Vischer the Younger (1487-1528). €450  [3-88226-375-X] 

[Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Preuß. Kulturbesitz, lat. 4˚ 416; Vatican, Bibl. Apost., lat. 3256]
Vergilius Augusteus (Staatsbibliothek Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin, Codex lat. fol. 416 et Codex Vaticanus lat. 3256).
Codices Selecti, LVI. Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1976. 34.5 x 42 cm, xxxii, 28 pp.

The codex dates from the second half of the 4th century. Complete color facsimile edition of 3 folios from the Staatsbibliothek Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin and 4 folios from the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana. 14 ornamental letters, text in capitalis quadrata. Commentary in Ger-Eng by C. Nordenfalk. €290 [3-201-00969-5] 

[Bogotá, Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia, ms. 291 (Palomino 807)]
El carnero. Conquista y descubrimiento del nuevo reino de granada.
Colección Thesaurus Americae, 2. Madrid: Testimonio, 1994. 21 x 31 cm, 180 pp + commentary.

El Carnero is not only a historical chronicle and witchery breviary, but an anthology of picaresque tales written by a pre-Voltairian priest, Juan Rodríguez Freyle in the city of Sante Fé de Bogotá. The writer was born in 1566 in Bogotá and died there in 1640. He was in Spain for six years and then returned to the New World where he married and searched continuously for treasures. It was the search for El Dorado which spurred on the conquistadors, but Rodriquez Freyle, after many failed adventures found his promised land in the pages of this book which has become more and more valuable with the passing of time. The magic of El Carnero capitivates the reader with all the fantasies of the mestizo culture and the strength of a language, anachronistic but alive, which recreates a world permanently in a trance of adventure, fusion and change. Transcription by Delia Palomino Urbano, commentary by R.H. Moreno-Durán. Limited edition of 980 bound in full leather with generous tooling. €775 [84-95767-54-6] 

[Bologna, Museo Internazionale e Biblioteca della Musica, Cod. Q15]
Bologna Q15: The Making and Remaking of a Musical Manuscript. Introductory Study and Facsimile Edition by Margaret Bent. Volume I: Introductory Study. Volume II: Facsimile.
Ars Nova, Nuova Seria, 2. Lucca: LIM Editrice, 2008. 24.5 x 32.5 cm. 2 vols, 400, 686 pp.

This manuscript is the largest international anthology of polyphonic music of the early 15th century. It was compiled in Padua in the early 1420s (stage I) and Vicenza in the early 1430s (stages II-III), all copied by a single scribe. The three illuminations are an unusual luxury for a musical manuscript at this period. It was acquired by Padre Martini in 1757 and is a major treasure of his library in Bologna. About half of its 323 compositions are unique; some others are shared with and complemented by the slightly younger Veneto manuscripts Bologna, Biblioteca Universitaria 2216 and Oxford, Canon. misc. 213. It is the most important source for the works of Zacara and Ciconia and for the early works of Guillaume Du Fay (with 78 works, many of them unica). About 50 composers are represented, including native Italians, and composers from the north who were sought after and made their careers in Italy. It is primarily a collection of mass movements (mostly Glorias and Credos, and a few cycles) and motets. Du Fay's Missa Sancti Jacobi was assembled as a cycle only here, and can now be linked with the humanist circle around the Venetian patrician bishop Pietro Emiliani of Vicenza, in which Q15 was compiled. The 109 motets include compositions in honour of doges, bishops and noblemen. 19 French songs were added at the end of stage I, and 11 laude at stage III. Other late additions are the cycle of 24 hymns (most by Du Fay), 9 Magnificats and 3 sequences. For the first time, the complex codicological history of this manuscript is unravelled and the importance of its many revisions examined. The first compilation was originally much larger; the manuscript now embodies two overlapping, superimposed anthologies. Margaret Bent tells this story in her extensive introductory study, which also includes comprehensive indexes and catalogues. She spells out some of the conclusions to be drawn from the partial destruction of the manuscript by its own creator, a unique and extraordinary testimony to changing taste and contemporary reception. Deluxe limited edition, supplied with slipcase. €1000 978-88-7096-513-1  (more info... )

[Bonn, Universitätsbibliothek, Hs. S 526]
Lancelot en prose. Farbmikrofiche-Edition der Handschrift Bonn, Universitätsbibliothek, Hs. S 526. Literarhistorische Einführung von Ulrich Mölk. Kodikologische Beschreibung von Irmgard Fischer.
Codices Illuminati Medii Aevi, 28. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 1991. 17 x 25 cm, 30 pp, 16 fiches (x60).

Amiens, 1286. Vellum, 477 fols., 3 cols. This large MS is adorned with 4 historiated initials on the first folios, 345 small miniatures and golden initials at the beginning of chapters, and red and blue initials with fleuronnée. The manuscript, referred to in the literature as source “B”, is the oldest of the dated mss containing the complete Lancelot-Grail cycle in prose. The 5 parts are “Estoire del Saint Graal”, “Merlin”, “Lancelot del Lac”, “Queste del Saint Graal”, and “Mort le Roi Artu”. The scribe signs the colophon: "Arnulfus de Kayo scripsit istum librum... En lan... MCCIIIIxxVI el mois daoust le iour deuant le s.Iehan decolase” (28 August 1286). Linen. €420 [3-89219-028-3]  (more info... )

[Brussels, Bibl. Royale Albert I, iv 90]
Cancionero de Juana I de Castilla. Bibliothèque Royale de Belgique, Bruselas. Siglo XVI. [title of commentary:] Cancionero de Juana la Loca. La música en la corte de Felipe el Hermoso y Juana i de Castilla / Song Book of Joan the Mad / Das Liederbuch Johannas der Wahnsinnigen.
Valencia: Patrimonio Ediciones, 2006. Oblong, 11 x 9 cm, 60, 359 pp, 1 audio CD.

This lovely Burgundian chansonnier, one of the smallest complete collections of the time, created around 1511, consists of 56 pages of polyphonic music with Latin, French and Flemish texts by leading Netherlandish composers. Its 54 miniatures, made up of delightful little dramatic scenes, botanical designs, or emblema in the style of the Ghent-Bruges school of book illumination, have been linked to the atelier of the prestigious artist Alexander Bening (father of Simon Bening). The book lacks an heraldic device but this in no way rules out an almost certain noble connection as its illuminations belong to a group of books of hours that include the Hours of Joanna of Castile (London, BL, add. 18852). Although the songbook was originally comprised of 4 separate partbooks—superius, alto, tenor, bassus—the bassus partbook is now lost, and the altus (=Bibl. Royal Albert I, ms. iv 1274 ) and tenor (=Bibl. Tournai, ms. 94) are incomplete and less well preserved. The surviving superius part, reproduced for this deluxe facsimile edition, still has its early 16th-c. leather binding decorated with animal figures and vines; it is the work of Lodovicus Bloc, a master bookbinder active in Bruges 1484-1529, credited with binding numerous books for Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy. Contents: 22 songs without attributions; concordances allow us positive identification of most of the composers—Compère (4), Josquin (4), Obrecht, Ockeghem, de la Rue, Agricola, Barbireau, Busnois, Japart, Pipelare, Hayne van Ghizighem (2), Ninot le Petit, and Isaac. Musicological commentary by Honey Meconi, modern transcriptions by Miguel Ángel Picó, and an essay on the making of a codex by José Aspas Romano (texts in Sp-Eng-Ger). Limited edition of 999 copies, bound in full leather with gold, tooling, and leather ties, after the original. Please call for special OMI price. €2800    (more info... )

[Cambridge, Cambridge Univ. Library, Kk.5.16]
The Moore Bede. An Eighth Century Manuscript of the Venerable Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum in Cambridge University Library (Kk.5.16.). Edited by Peter Hunter Blair with Contribution by Roger A.B. Mynors.
Early English Manuscripts in Facsimile, 9. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger, 1959. 29 x 35 cm, 39, 258 pp.

This MS has long been considered the oldest surviving copy of Bede’s “History” and has formed the basis of all printed editions. It may well be a production of the Jarrow Wearmouth scriptorium and may have been completed as early as 737, that is within two years of Bede’s death. Textually it holds a key position by the 9th c., or perhaps already in the 8th, it was in France, and there it had a large progeny. Half-morocco binding (also available in wrappers for c.25% less). €820  

[Chantilly, Musée Condé, Ms. 604 (1339) XIV-D-14].
Rimado de la conquista de Granada. Edición facsímil integra del manuscrito 604 (1339) XIV-D-14 de la biblioteca del Museo-Condé, castillo de Chantilly (Francia).
Colección Artísticos, 12. Madrid: EDILAN, 1995. 15 x 22 cm, 336, 453 pp.

Commentary by Estrella Ruiz-Gálvez Priego. Limited numbered edition of 1500 copies, bound in full leather. [84-85197-44-5] 

[Chantilly, Musée Condé, Ms. 388]
Histoire d’amour sans paroles. Racconto per immagini di un corteggiamento.
Ars Illuminandi. Modena: Il Bulino, 2005. 19.2 x 12.7 cm, 30 pp + commentary.

A narration—completely in pictures—of two young court lovers in the north of France at the beginning of the 16th c. The story develops only through the illuminated images—no text—which, thanks to their beauty and exquisite details, show the development of the loving feeling between the two young protagonists. Like illuminated calendar scenes of the period, the painter captures typical everyday activities, rich with foliage, trees, animals, rivers, & city backdrops; the vignettes are made even more poignant with the use of painted borders, resembling real, carved wooden frames. Commentary in Italian. Bound in green leather decorated with a golden frame; wooden case covered with tooled leather. €1250 [88-82651-69-6] 

[Cleveland, Clevand Museum of Art]
Tuti-Nama /Tales of a Parrot. Muhammed A. Simsar. The Cleveland Museum of Art.
Codices Selecti, LV. Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1977. 14 x 20.4 cm, 684, 224 pp.

Tales of a Parrot are a collection of stories told by a wise bird who—by means of his tales—prevents the beautiful wife of a travelling merchant from deceiving her husband. The codex dates from 1560 to 1568. Includes edition and translation into English. Commentary by Pramod Chandra, foreword by Sherman E. Lee. €790 [3-201-00958-X] 

[Cologny-Genève, Bibliotheca Bodmeriana, cod. 78]
Guido de Columnis. Historia destructionis Troiae. Farbmikrofiche-Edition der Handschrift Cologny-Genève, Bibliotheca Bodmeriana, Cod. 78. With an introduction to the text tradition and the iconography by Hugo Buchthal.
Codices Illuminati Medii Aevi, 3. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 1987. 17 x 25 cm, 40 pp, 3 fiches.

14th-c. (c.1370?) Venetian vellum MS with 88 fols. (2 cols), in an Italian chancery hand. Adorned with 187 miniatures attributed to Master Giustino del fu Gherardino da Forli, a Venetian illuminator active from 1362 to the end of the century; one of the most lavishly illustrated manuscripts of Guido’s “Historia”. The “Historia destructionis Troiae”, begun about 1270 and completed in 1287 by Guido de Columnis, a judge at Messina, is an abridged paraphrase in Latin prose of Benoît de St.-Maure’s “Roman de Troie” (see Vienna, ÖNB cod. 2571). Linen. €220 [3-89219-003-8]  (more info... )

[Copenhagen, Kongelige Bibl. Gl. Kgl. Sam. 1595]
The Copenhagen Wulfstan Collection. Copenhagen Kongelige Bibliotek, Gl. Kgl. Sam. 1595. Edited by James E. Cross, Jennifer Morrish Tunberg.
Early English Manuscripts in Facsimile, 25. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger, 1993. 31 x 40 cm, 62, 176 pp.

Collotype. Brought to scholarly attention many years ago by N.R. Ker, when he identified numerous alterations and additions in Wulfstan’s hand, this crucial MS at last becomes generally accessible. The introduction reopens the canon of Wulfstan’s Latin writings. An amalgam of several distinct sections, including the earliest witness to sermons of Abbo of St. Germain, the MS with its nine different hands provides a clear profile of scribal and scriptorium practice in early 11th-c. Worcester. Half-morocco binding (also available in wrappers for c.25% less). €1120  

[Copenhagen, Ny Kongelike Saml. 512-3 4˚]
The Thorkelin Transcripts of Beowulf. Edited by Kemp Malone.
Early English Manuscripts in Facsimile, 1. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger, 1951. 43, 233 pp.

Collotype. Beowulf, now universally acknowledged to be the greatest surviving masterpiece of Old English literature, was still little known in the 18th c. But in 1787 Thorkelin, an Icelandic scholar in the Danish civil service, commissioned an unknown scribe to copy the poem from the only existing manuscript, Cotton Vitellius A.xv. in the British Library. A little later in the same year he himself made a second copy of the poem direct from the manuscript. These two transcripts are now in the Royal Library in Copenhagen. They supply us with texts of the poem more nearly complete than the one which now survives in the manuscript itself, because over the years the outer edges of the MS’s leaves have crumbled as a result of the scorching they sustained in the disasterous fire of 1731 in the Cotton Library. Half-morocco binding (also available in wrappers for c.25% less). €750  

[Dijon, Bibl. Municipale, 527]
Roman de La Quête du Graal “La Búsqueda del Santo Grial”.
Valencia: Ediciones Grial, n.d. 30.5 x 41.5 cm, 326, 318 pp.

The literary cycle around the mythic Holy Grail produced one of the most beautiful prose texts of all times, in which fantasy is combined with spirituality in such a way that it became the basis for the chivalresque novels to come later. "The Story of the Holy Grail" is the best known work by Chrétien de Troyes. A new spiritual tendency colored with Christianity is added here to the legends of King Arthur and his knights. Not by accident it is the moment of the Third Crusade. The knights, now horsemen at God's service, will give a much more trancendental sense to their adventures impregnating the literature with a profound religiousness. Chrétien de Troyes did not finish his story and many successors developed his initial theme. Around 1220 one or more authors, in a successively collective work, came up with the most beautiful cycle of medieval literature. These prose geniuses, even anonymous ones, wrote what is known as the "Vulgata" or the "Great Holy Grail". The vulgata is made up of three parts: "Lancelot", "The Quest or Demand of the Grail", and "The Death of King Arthur". Without a doubt, "The Quest for the Holy Grail" is the most impressive and best written of the trilogy. In this manuscript the knightly and courteous virtues are transformed into Christian virtues and they are colored with the spirit of reform and purity of faith which the Cistercian Order upholded. The banner of this new spirituatlity will be Galaad, the knight amongst the knights, the chosen one to initiate and conclude with success the quest for the Holy Grail. The knights who start out from Camelot with Galaad on this quest will come across a multitude of adventures on their way, as well as unbelievable dangers, but also the mystic guidance of the Holy Cup, a symbol which will supply them with the interior strength needed to conclude such a fascinating adventure. One of the most beautiful manuscripts of the Holy Grail Cycle is under the custody of the old chapel of the Jesuit School (now in the Bibliothèque Municipale), an early 15th-century codex containing over 50 miniatures, rich capital letters and a profusion of ornamented borders decorated with exquisite details. Commentary by Carlos Alvar and François Avril. Limited edition of 870 copies, bound in full leather.   (more info... )

[Épinal, Bibliothèque Municipale; Erfurt, Wissenschaftliche Bibliothek, Amplonian Collection]
The Épinal, Erfurt, Werden, and Corpus Glossaries. Edited by Bernhard Bischoff, Mildred Budny, Geoffrey Harlow, M.B. Parkes, J.D. Pheifer.
Early English Manuscripts in Facsimile, 22. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger, 1988. 78 pp.

Collotype. In this volume are gathered three surviving glossaries of the 8th and 9th c. They are lists of Latin words with explanations of their meanings in Latin and sometimes in Old English as well, and they derive from a collection of glosses compiled in England in the 7th c. The Corpus and probably the Épinal glossaries were written in England, but the Erfurt MS is in a stype of script used in the Cologne cathedral school and is thus an interesting example of the influence of English scholarship upon the Continent. Indeed these glossaries are an index, albeit an incomplete one, to the intellectual life of their time. But they are more than that: their entries in English, distinctively Mercian in dialect, provide precious material for the linguist, being by far the most substantial evidence we have for the state of the language at such an early period. Half-morocco binding (also available in wrappers for c.25% less). €1200  

[Erlangen, Universitätsbibliothek, Ms.2361]
Christine de Pizan. L’Epistre d’Othéa. Farbmikrofiche-Edition der Handschrift Erlangen-Nürnberg, Universitätsbibliothek, Ms.2361. Einführung zu Christines “Buch der Weisheit” von Helga Lengenfelder.
Codices Illuminati Medii Aevi, 31. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 1996. 17 x 25 cm, 98 pp, 3 fiches.

Flemish, Bruges(?), c.1455(?). Vellum, 126 fols. The MS was produced at the time of Philip the Good, duke and count of Burgundy and count of Flanders and Artois, and is splendidly adorned with 101 grisaille miniatures by different artists, among them Willem Vrelant and Jan de Tavernier. Christine (1364-1430) finished this work about 1400, and had dedicated it to Duke Louis d'Orléans, the younger son of the French king Charles V. The MS consists of a prologue and 100 chapters, treating classical cardinal virtues, the nature of the 7 planets, figures or legendary heroes, and stories having their sources in Ovid's Metamorphoses or the history of the Trojan War. Each chapter comprises a miniature, a 4 line versified 'dit' or sentence serving as heading to the chapter and as caption to the miniature, 2 commentaries denoted “glose” and “alegorie”, and a biblical citation in Latin. The miniatures at the beginning present personifications of the 4 classical cardinal virtues, and in the following miniatures the 7 planets are depicted as riding knights and chivalrous ladies on horsebacks. The artist(s) took great care to organize the composition of the depicted episodes and their chronology in a fine gradation, arranging the main scene on the foreground and the more subsidiary ones in smaller proportion in the background, thus creating a simultaneous aspect as in a panel painting, and the impression of perspective. The work is a “Manual of classical and Christian morality”, destined for the ethical education of a prince. Linen. €320 [3-89219-031-3]  (more info... )

[El Escorial, Bibl. del Monasterio, T.j.1 “E2”]
Cantigas de Alfonso X El Sabio, deluxe facsimile.
Colección Scriptorium. Madrid: Testimonio, 2010. 35 x 50 cm, 3 vols, 512; 473, 697 pp

El Escorial Ms. T.j.I ("E2")—also known as "Códice Rico"—is the third of four surviving manuscripts that preserve the Cantigas repertoire, settings in a narrative format relating to Marian miracles and festivities. Although incomplete "E2" is considered the most important from the point of view of the miniatures. It is made up of 256 folios of parchment in the elegant French script of 13th-c. codices. Originally it contained 200 cantigas, but the loss of some folios has reduced the count to 196. This codex was lavishly illustrated with 1,257 miniatures on 210 of its folios and depicts a vast array of human typology in Spain during the 13th c. Deluxe, totally new, full-color facsimile in the original format, limited to 980 copies, bound in full leather with tooling. €8000   (more info... )

[Escorial, Biblioteca del Monasterio, T.j.1 “E2”]
Cantigas de Santa María [de] Alfonso X el Sabio. Edición facsímil del códice T.I.1 de la Biblioteca de San Lorenzo el Real de El Escorial, siglo XIII.
Madrid: EDILAN, 1979. 35 x 50 cm, 512 pp.

Deluxe full-color facsimile in the original format. Known as “Códice Rico”–the “rich codex”, the most sumptuous of the four surviving cantigas. Limited edition of 2000 copies, bound in full leather with tooling. [84-85197-13-5] 

[Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Ms. Gaddi 112]
San Francesco d'Assisi. La vita e le opere.
Castelvetro di Modena: ArtCodex, 2010. 21.5 x 28.4 cm. 370 pp + commentary.

Ms. Gaddiano 112 contains an extraordinary recounting of Franciscan works, among them the Legend and Life of St. Francesco in two versions: “I Fioretti di San Francesco (fol. 1-43 & 137-142) and “Il Suo Testamento (fol. 164-166). The decoration of the ms which has 30 filigree initials of 39 narrated stories displays a technique in water color and ink which was not common at that time. In the Middle Ages it was a technique considered poor compared with the rich colors applied with paint brush. The design with ink and water color of the Trecento and Quattrocento is linked to a revival in and renewed interest of the old classic culture and a desire to use a technique devoid of pomp and instead one having an utilitarian character which was a testimony to the unknown miniaturists of the Franciscan codex. Limited edition of 999 copies bound in full leather. €4900    (more info... )

[Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, med. pal. 87]
Il codice Squarcialupi. Ms. Mediceo Palatino 87, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana di Firenze. Studi raccolti di F. Alberto Gallo.
Ars Nova. Lucca & Florence: Libreria Musicale Italiana/Giunti, 1992. 29 x 41 cm, 2 vols, 442, 287 pp.

This is the most magnificent and extensive of the Italian trecento sources. The codex, a “retrospective” anthology compiled c.1410-20 under Antonio Squarcialupi’s supervision, contains richly painted miniatures and portraits of 14 composers presented in roughly chronological order. It includes 353 settings of Italian lyric poetry (madrigals, ballate, cacce, etc), half of them unique. Recent iconographic research confirms that the miniatures and splendid illuminations had their origins in the Florentine scriptorium of Santa Maria degli Angeli between 1410 and 1415. The accompanying commentary volume, authored by a team of international scholars, include John Nádas, Kurt von Fischer, Luciano Bellosi, Margherita Ferro Luraghi, Nino Pirrotta, Giuseppe Tavani, Giulio Cattin, & Agostino Ziino. Deluxe clamshell case in half leather. €2400 [16164-N]  (more info... )

[Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Ms. Strozzi 174]
Francesco Petrarca, I trionfi.
Castelvetro di Modena: ArtCodex, 2010.

Petrarch wrote Trionfi between 1350 and 1374 and in the mid 15th century and versions of the text appeared in sumptuous manuscripts with illustrations. MS Stozzi 174, preserved in the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana is one such example, believed to be decorated by the Florentine artist Apollonio di Giovanni (c.1415-1465), an illuminator and painter specializing in the decoration of bridal chest, spalliere and devotional painting. The manuscript is written in calligraphic mercantesca script with humanistic features. Limited edition of 999 copies. €5700   

[Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, Banco Rari 38]
Regia Carmina de Convenvole du Prato.
Torino: UTET, 2004. 24 x 37 cm, 70 pp + commentary.

To celebrate the seventh centenary of Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374) UTET published in a limited numbered edition the facsimile of Regia Carmina, a work of Convenevole da Prato, teacher of Petrarca. Preserved in the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale in Florence under call number Banco Rari 38, this sumptuously illuminated codex from the 14th c. is one of the richest manuscripts of the Trecento. The poem Regia Carmina, begun c.1320, took many years to complete; it is especially remarkable as a historic document, a testimony of an era in crisis where the author shows himself as an interpreter of diffuse hope. He deplores the ambition and corruption of the time, the animosity and cold war among the Italian cities, the decadence of Rome—a city abandoned by the Popes who went to reside in Avignon—and sees Roberto d’Angiò (Robert d’Anjou) as the savior and unifier of Italy. Convenevole da Prato was born in Prata between 1270-1275 and is considered the most important writer of that city. He taught “il trivio”, the three disciplines: grammar, rhetoric and dialectics. Petrarca, one of this students, often mentions his teacher in his letters. Regia Carmina was a present for Roberto D’Angiò; in 1336 da Prato was officially appointed Professor of the “Comune di Prato”. Full-color facsimile executed in 8 to 11 colors plus gold and metallic colors. The accompanying critical commentary includes a complete transcription and translation into Italian. Limited edition of 330 copies bound in silken velvet with wooden box.  

[Florence, Biblioteca Riccardiana, Ricc. 492]
Vergilius Publius Maro: Bucolicon, Georgicon, Aeneis. Virgilio Riccardiana, Ricc. 492.
Collectio Maior. Castelvetro di Modena: ArtCodex, 2003. 20 x 30.5 cm, 2 vols, 512, 172 pp.

Publius Vergilius Maro (70 BC-19 BC)—Virgil in English—is the greatest of all the Roman poets. This beautifully illuminated MS dating from to the second half of the 15th century reproduces the full text of the “Bucolics”, consisting of 10 pastoral poems that relate to the Idylls of the Hellenistic Greek poet Theocritus, the “Georgics”, a didactic poem in four books on farming, and the “Aeneid”, Rome’s national epic poem. The manuscript was crafted by the famous illuminator Apollonio di Giovanni for the de Medici court. This elegant Renaissance codex transports the Aenean adventures into the Florentine world and splendor of Lorenzo I de Medici. In one of the miniatures Lorenzo is depicted as a blond youth among a group of shepherds. The extremely detailed miniatures convey an inexhaustible insight into the life and world of ideas of the time: clothing, transport, the decoration and furnishing of interiors, municipal scenes depicting the monuments of Alberti and Brunelleschi, flora and fauna, celestial bodies, etc. Important personages and venues are specifically named. In its entirety the codex is an original and fascinating union of elements of the Classical Age with those of the Renaissance. Oddly the completion of the codex was interrupted and the illustrations were never finished. The initial unfinished depictions merely lack their final coloration and the completed quill-drawn sketches had already received their most valuable colors: gold, blue, and red. Seldom in the history of the art of illumination does one have the possibility of seeing the process that went into the crafting of such a manuscript. The masters of the miniature began with a sketch, continued by applying the more valuable colors and then completed the work with the addition of the other hues. What caused the commissioner of this manuscript to interrupt this enormous task and leave so many miniatures uncompleted is unknown. Commentary by Giovanni Lazzi. Limited edition of 999 copies bound in light brown goat leather, with wooden box. €8900  

[Gotha, Forschungs- & Landesbibliothek, Chart. A 689]
Heinrich von Neustadt. Apollonius von Tyrland. Farbmikrofiche-Edition der Handschrift Chart. A 689 der Forschungs- und Landesbibliothek Gotha. Einführung in das Werk und Beschreibung der Handschrift von Wolfgang Achnitz.
Codices Illuminati Medii Aevi, 49. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 1998. 17 x 25 cm, 42 pp, 6 fiches.

Bavarian, c.1465. Paper, 158 fols., 2 cols. Master Heinrich, born at Wiener Neustadt in Austria, was a practicing doctor in Vienna in the years 1312 and 1314. His versified narration of adventurous wanderings of the (fictitious) pagan King Apollonius living at the time of Jesus Christ is illustrated by a cycle of 128 colored pen drawings. The illustrations highlight episodes during these wanderings across the Mediterranean to frontiers of the Christian sphere, India in the East, and Galicia in the West. There are scenes of battles with legendary kings or monsters at historic places like Antiochia, Babylon, Ninive, Assyria, Armenia, Rumania, Bulgaria and in miraculous countries like ”Crisia”, where Apollonius, having lost his wife and young daughter shortly after the beginning of his wanderings—seduced by Venus—had married Diamena, daughter of the king Candor. After many years and many dangerous adventures, Apollonius, having discovered his wife Lucina and his daughter being alive, returns with them to their home country Tyrland. The illustrations narrate the very complicated story with a multitude of protagonists in a contemporary realistic style. Linen. €335 [3-89219-049-6]  (more info... )

[Hamburg, Staats- & Universitätsbibl., cod. 8]
Historienbibel. Farbmikrofiche-Edition der Handschrift. Hamburg, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Cod.8 in scrinio. Beschreibung der Handschrift und Aonmerkungen zum Übersetzungswerk von Anna Katharina Hahn.
Codices Illuminati Medii Aevi, 47. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 1997. 17 x 25 cm, 61 pp, 13 fiches.

Wiener Neustadt, 1458 (and later). Paper, 460 fols., 2 cols. This history bible is an abbreviated translation of the first part of the Old Testament (from Genesis through the 2 Maccabees) of the “Historia scholastica” by Petrus Comestor, combined with selected passages of secular history from the “Weltchronik” by Heinrich von München, and some extracts of the books of the Prophets. The headings of the divisions are in red, some in large textura, and the main headings to the biblical books include sometimes summaries. The MS is decorated with 421 miniatures, and with 28 large, partly historiated initials, linked to simple border decorations, that mark the beginnings of the biblical books. The picture cycle begins with the Creation and the Fall of Angels for the prologue, followed by 8 presentations of the Days of Creation, and then illustrates events in the history of mankind from the Fall of Man through the Roman emperor Octavian and Cleopatra, concluding with 6 miniatures for the Books of the Prophets. The biblical scenes are furnished with many details, figures with fine facial expressions are well proportioned, wearing richly varied clothes with nice drops of folds. Linen. €475 [3-89219-047-X]  (more info... )

[Hamburg, Staats- & Universitätsbibl., cod. 11-11a]
Loher und Maller. Übertragen aus dem Französischen von Elisabeth von Nassau-Saarbrücken. Hamburg, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Cod.11 und 11a in scrinio. Farbmikrofiche-Edition. Literar- und kunsthistorische Einführung und kodikologische Beschreibung von Ute von Bloh
Codices Illuminati Medii Aevi, 35. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 1995. 17 x 25 cm, 46 pp, 5 fiches.

Saarbrücken?, after 1455. Paper, 143 fols., 2 cols., 160 (of originally 197) tinted pen-drawings with headings in red, and large initials at the beginnings of chapters. All drawings are pasted. This MS was probably commissioned by Elisabeth of Lorraine (1393-1456), married to count Philipp I of Nassau-Saarbrücken, for her younger son Johann III (1423-1472), whose arms are displayed at the beginning. The lost literary source of this chronicle may have been a French chanson-de-geste “Lohier et Mallart”, telling the story of Loher (Lothaire), presented as the elder son of Charlemagne. Supported by the layout of the large sized MS the performance of history can be read in a trilingual hierarchy: by the headings that supply the names of the main figures, and sites of their ongoing actions, thus relating the central "historical" events in a straight and consequent line. Next there are the pictures telling the episodic story in a far more detailed manner, and last the descriptive text using the form of dialogues, moralizing excursions and commentaries. The style of multi-scenic genre painting may be northern French or Flemish school, and the composition of the pen drawings prove a skilled artist and accomplished practitioner with good textual knowledge, as well as knowledge of courtly, religious, legal, military, political, and clerical customs, as well and insight into topographical aspects of certain cities. This picture cycle is remarkable for its iconographic invention. Linen. €285 [3-89219-035-6]  (more info... )

[Hamburg, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, cod. 12]
Huge Scheppel / Königin Sibille. Übertragen aus dem Französischen von Elisabeth von Nassau-Saarbrücken. Farbmikrofiche-Edition der Handschrift Hamburg, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Cod. 12 in scrinio. Einführung zum Text und Beschreibung der Handschrift von Jan-Dirk Müller.
Codices Illuminati Medii Aevi, 26. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 1993. 17 x 25 cm, 47 pp, 3 fiches (x60).

Strasbourg(?), after 1455. Paper, 76 fols., 2 cols., 24 (of originally 33?) tinted pen drawings for “Huge Scheppel”, with headings in red, and large initials at the beginnings of chapters. The pen drawings are pasted. Both the headings and pen-drawings for “Königin Sibille” are lacking, their reserved positions had been left blank. The picture cycle illustrates mainly the struggles of Huge Scheppel (Hugues Capet), presented as the heroic son of a chevalier and the daughter of a Paris butcher, with the counts of Champagne and of Venice and other nobles, who revolt against the French queen Blancheflur and her daughter Marie, heiress to the throne. Finally Huge marries Marie and becomes king, reward for his fortitude and loyalty, and overcomes the opponents. The style of the pen-drawings is the same as in the other manuscripts attributed to Elisabeth of Lorraine (c.1395-1456). The scenes, some of which may allude to contemporary events, are complex and show figures very well integrated in their settings. The command of perspective is particularly notable, demonstrated through the elaborate panoramic landscapes; pictorial naturalism which manifests itself in the atmospheric backgrounds, details of landscapes and interior settings is also striking. Linen. €260 [3-89219-026-7]  (more info... )

[Hamburg, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, cod. 47]
Aesopi et Aviani Fabulae / Physiologus. Farbmikrofiche-Edition der Handschrift Hamburg, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Cod. 47 in scrinio. Kodikologische Beschreibung und Verzeichnis der Rubriken, Initien und Bilder von Helga Lengenfelder.
Codices Illuminati Medii Aevi, 48. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 2003. 17 x 25 cm, 90 pp, 3 fiches (x60).

North German vellum MS, beginning of the 14th c., with 69 fols. In part I the codex transmits 119 Latin Aesop-Fables in the so-called Romulus LBG version (MSS in London, Brussels, and Göttingen) and 16 Fables from the collection “Anonymi Avianicae Fabulae”, all with moralizations. The MS is decorated with 142 pen drawings with softly colored outlines in red or green that are set against rectangular panels of bright red, blue, green and yellow, and framed alternatively. The function and meaning of the coloring is not known because the Hamburg codex (H) never had been studied in depth, and therefore it has been ignored that it is the earliest and the most comprehensive one in a closely related group of eight illustrated MSS. Part II of the codex, stemming from another ms altogether, contains 12 chapters from an incomplete "Physiologus latinus" (predominantly following Version B), and concluding, with the rubric "medicine bestiarum", with 6 entries from the "Liber de bestiis et aliis rebus" of ps.-Hugo of St. Victor, all with little pen drawings. Linen. €240 [3-89219-048-8]  (more info... )

[Heidelberg, Universitätsbibliothek, cpg 112]
Das Rolandslied des Pfaffen Konrad. Vollfaksimile des Codex Palatinus Germanicus 112 der Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg. Einführung von Wilfried Werner und Heinz Zirnbauer.
Facsimilia Heidelbergensia, 1. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 1970. 16 x 22 cm, 246, 145 pp.

Limited edition of 1000 copies. €280 [3-920153-02-2] 

[Heidelberg, Universitätsbibliothek, cpg 142]
Pontus und Sidonia. Farbmikrofiche-Edition der Handschrift Heidelberg, Universitätsbibliothek, Cod. Pal. Germ. 142. Literarhistorische Einführung und Beschreibung der Handschrift von Henrike Lähnemann.
Codices Illuminati Medii Aevi, 52. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 1999. 17 x 25 cm, 44 pp, 5 fiches.

Stuttgart(?), "Workshop of Ludwig Hennfflin", c.1475. Paper, 135 fols., 131 framed tinted pen drawings, headings (captions) in red, simple red initials. The love and adventure romance is an anonymous translation of the French “Ponthus et la belle Sidonia” of count Geoffrey de la Tour Landrie (1322-1402/06). The “materia” treats the struggles of the Saracens, taking place between Galicia, Brittany, England and Ireland, combined with court bride's favour. Pontus, son of king Tibor of Galicia, escapes to Brittany by sea from the attack of the army of the king of Babylon, where he falls in love with the king's daughter Sidonia. Before their marriage Pontus has to prove his courage by fighting against the sons of the sultan pursuing him, and together with the English prince Henry against Ireland during his seven years banishment in England. After having overcome all enemies, he makes a pilgrimage together with his wife Sidonia to Santiago de Compostela, and then drives away the Saracens from Spain. The rich cycle of illustrations structures the complicated course of action and marks its intersections and highlights. The manuscript was commissioned by Margaret of Savoy (1420-1479) and came to her son, Elector Philipp den Aufrichtigen. Linen. €310 [3-89219-052-6]  (more info... )

[Heidelberg, Universitätsbibliothek, cpg 152]
Historie von Herzog Herpin. Übertragen aus dem Französischen von Elisabeth von Nassau-Saarbrücken. Farbmikrofiche-Edition der Handschrift Heidelberg, Universitätsbibliothek, Cod.Pal.germ.152. Literarhistorische Einführung und Beschreibung der Handschrift von Ute von Bloh.
Codices Illuminati Medii Aevi, 17. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 1990. 17 x 25 cm, 73 pp, 7 fiches (x98).

Stuttgart(?), "Workshop of Ludwig Hennfflin", c.1475. Paper, 334 fols., 260 tinted pen drawings, taking two thirds of a page, framed by red lines and with captions in red ink. Represented are scenes of sieges and combats as well as courtly and ceremonial events such as marriages and receptions, tournaments, fighting and fencing scenes, or coronation ceremonies. - The source of this epic is the 14th c. chanson-de-geste “Lion de Bourges” with its historical figure Harpin de Bourges; it had been originally adapted to German by Elisabeth of Lorrain (see Wolfenbüttel, HAB, 46 nov. 2°). This manuscript in Low Alemannic dialect was commissioned by Margaret of Savoy (1420-1479) and came to her son, Elector Philipp den Aufrichtigen. Linen. €360 [3-89219-017-8]  (more info... )

[Heidelberg, Universitätsbibliothek, cpg 329]
Hugo von Montfort. Gedichte und Lieder. Faksimile des Codex Palatinus Germanicus 329 der Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg, illuminiert von Heinrich Aurhaym, österreichisch, nach 1414.
Facsimilia Heidelbergensia, 5. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 1989. 21 x 31 cm, 108, 147 pp.

Luxurious Ms of Austrian provenance, copied c.1414. One of the major sources for this important poet-musician. Exquisite illuminations by Heinrich Aurhaym. 17 pages of music. Separate commentary vol. with essays on provenance, illumination, the use of color and gold, the melodies, and a complete translation of the texts into modern German. Limited numbered edition of 600 copies, bound in half leather with matching slipcase. €1250 [3-88226-378-4] 

[Heidelberg, Universitätsbibiothek, cpg 346]
Eilhart von Oberge. Tristrant und Isalde. Farbmikrofiche-Edition der Handschrift Heidelberg, Universitätsbibliothek, Cod.Pal.germ.346. Literatur- und kunsthistorische Einführung von Norbert H. Ott.
Codices Illuminati Medii Aevi, 19. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 1991. 17 x 25 cm, 38 pp, 4 fiches (x98).

Upper Swabia (region Lake Constance), c.1460/1475. Paper, 175 fols., 91 framed tinted pen drawings placed within the text. Eilhart's epic was created c.1170-80, and this MS is the only illustrated and integral evidence of this early versified version of the Tristan material. The extant French sources are fragmentary. The picture cycle illustrates episodes of courtly life and offers a very typical example of late medieval illustration in vernacular literature by iconography, composition, and style. The MS was part of the palatine library of Elector Ottheinrich. Linen. €290 [3-89219-019-4]  (more info... )

[Heidelberg, Universitätsbibliothek, cpg 350]
Mittelhochdeutsche Spruchdichtung. Früher Meistersang. Der Codex Palatinus Germanicus 350 der Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg.
Facsimilia Heidelbergensia, 3. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 1974. 16 x 25 cm, 136, 152, 200 pp.

Commentary in Ger by Walter Blank and Günter & Gisela Kochendörfer. Limited edition of 830 copies. €450 [3-920153-23-5] 

[Heidelberg, Universitätsbibliothek, cpg 357]
Die kleine Heidelberger Liederhandschrift. Codex Palatinus Germanicus 357 der Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg.
Facsimilia Heidelbergensis, 2. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 1972. 14 x 19 cm, 90, 200 pp.

Introduction by Walter Blank. Limited edition of 830 copies. €298 [3-920153-10-3] 

[Heidelberg, Universitätsbibliothek, cpg 389]
Thomasin von Zerclaere. Der Welsche Gast. Vollfaksimile des Codex Palatinus Germanicus 389 der Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg. Einführung in Thomasins Verswerk von Friedrich Neumann. Die Handschrift und ihre Bilder von Ewald M. Vetter.
Facsimilia Heidelbergensia, 4. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 1975/ 1980. 12 x 18 cm, 462, viii, 208 pp.

Limited edition of 550 copies. €1450 [3-920153-91-X] 

[Heidelberg, Universitätsbibliothek, cpg 403]
Heinrich von Veldeke. Eneas-Roman. Farbmikrofiche-Edition der Handschrift Heidelberg, Universitätsbibliothek, Cod.Pal.germ.403. Einführung in das Werk von Hans Fromm.
Codices Illuminati Medii Aevi, 2. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 1987. 17 x 25 cm, 27 pp, 6 fiches.

Paper MS of 256 folios, dated 1419, from the “Elsässische Werkstatt von 1418”. The codex, written in a bastarda hand, is by Hans Coler and is decorated with 39 hastily executed watercolor drawings. The workshop, located probably at Strasbourg, is the oldest one of this type in the southwest of the German-speaking region. The source for the Middle High German “Eneas-Roman”, created between 1170 and 1190, is the Old French “Roman d’Enéas”. Linen. [3-89219-002-X]  (more info... )

[Heidelberg, Universitätsbibliothek, cpg 848]
Codex Manesse. Die grosse Heidelberger Liederhandschrift. Faksimile des Codex palatinus germanicus 848 der Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg. Herausgegeben von Walter Koschorreck und Wilfried Werner.
Frankfurt: Insel Verlag, 1975-81. 25 x 35.5 cm, 426, 194 pp.

The largest and most important songbook from the German-speaking Middle Ages, compiled c.1300 in Zürich by Johannes Hadlaub under the patronage of the patrician family Manesse from whom the codex gets its name. The MS contains love songs in Middle High German by important poets (Minnesänger), some of them from nobles families. The poetic style represents an adaption of the Provençal troubador tradition to German. The MS contains 137 portraits of each poet, some of them as idealized knights dressed in their specific heraldic colors and devices. Facsimile edition produced on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the founding Insel Verlag. Limited edition of 750 copies printed in collotype with up to 9 colors.  

[Heidelberg, Universitätsbibliothek, cod. Sal.X 16]
Hildegard von Bingen. Liber scivias. Farbmikrofiche-Edition der Handschrift Heidelberg, Universitätsbibliothek, Cod. Sal. X 16. Einleitung, kodikologische Beschreibung und Verzeichnis der Bilder, Rubriken und Inialen von Antje Kohnle.
Codices Illuminati Medii Aevi, 50. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 2002. 17 x 25 cm, 81 pp, 7 fiches (x60).

Kloster Zwiefalten(?), c.1200. Vellum, 200 fols., 2 cols. Hildegard's first comprehensive theological work, created between 1141 and 1151, was inspired by her visions related to the performance of sacred history from the Apparition of God, the Appointment of the Holy Church, the Day of Revelation and finally the time of the New Heaven and New Earth. This MS has in front an additional folio with 2 full-page miniatures showing the Creation in several scenes and a cosmological picture, and a summary ending with a column-wide author's picture showing Hildegard and her scribe in an architectural frame. The basic work consists of a prefatory “Protestificatio” and is divided into three parts with 26 chapters. The beginning is a beautiful decorated page with a historiated border initial I ("Incipiunt capitula libri sciuias simplicis hominis"); the 26 chapters are marked by large decorated initials in two different styles and by incipits in capitals with changing colors. Only the last chapter has 14 colored or tinted pen-drawings, unframed and inserted in various sizes to columns or even to borders, and 4 collective pictorial pages with illustrations corresponding to the metaphorical language of Hildegard's visions. The well organized presentation of the whole book and the careful layout is probably due to its use for study and to be read loudly in a community. Linen. (Sale price) €335 [3-89219-050-X]  (more info... )

[Heidelberg, Universitätsbibliothek, cod. Sal.X 16]
Hildegard von Bingen. Liber scivias. [standard edition].
Codices Selecti, CXX. Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 2013.

Hildegard's first comprehensive theological work, created between 1141 and 1151, was inspired by her visions related to the performance of sacred history from the Apparition of God, the Appointment of the Holy Church, the Day of Revelation and finally the time of the New Heaven and New Earth. Special subscription price for prepaid orders valid until 10/31/12. €6980  

[Heidelberg, Universitätsbibliothek, cod. Sal.X 16]
Hildegard von Bingen. Liber scivias. [deluxe edition].
Codices Selecti, CXX. Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 2013.

Same as above but special edition reproduced in 23k gold. Special subscription price for prepaid orders valid until 10/31/12. €11500  

[Innsbruck, Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, FB 32001]
Sammlung kleinerer deutscher Gedichte.
Codices Selecti, XXIX. Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1972. 21 x 30 cm, 228 pp.

€190 [3-201-00751-X] 

[Innsbruck, Universitäts-Bibliothek, ohne Signatur]
Oswald von Wolkenstein. Liederhandschrift B. Farbmikrofiche-Edition der Handschrift Innsbruck, Universitätsbibliothek, o. Sign. Einführung und kodikologische Beschreibung von Walter Neuhauser.
Codices Illuminati Medii Aevi, 8. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 1987. 17 x 25 cm, 41 pp, 2 fiches.

Vellum MS consisting of 50 fols., from Neustift (?), 1432, with additions of 1436 and 1438. Calligraphic cursive bastarda, with musical notation. The extraordinary decoration of the MS consists of the well-known portrait of the poet. The entire codex, its script and decoration, is uniform in style. It contains the most comprehensive collection of Oswald’s known poems and was corrected by the poet himself. It is therefore of great importance for the history of art, literature, and secular medieval music. Linen. 230 [3-89219-008-9]  (more info... )

[Istanbul, Topkapi Sarayi Müzesi, ex Hazine 2153, Hazine 2160]
Siyah Qalem (Istanbul, Topkapi Sarayi Müzesi, ex Hazine 2153, Hazine 2160; Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.).
Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1976. 28 x 38 cm, 48, 16 pp.

This particular group of 79 paintings in the Saray Albums of the Topkapi Museum in Istanbul was, until not long ago, almost unknown among art historians. It contains folios attributed to “Ustad Muhammad Siyah Qalem”. The clumsy manner in which the attributions are affixed, often even upside down, as well as the inclusion of title and nickname, make it obvious that they are later additions; the reason for the name itself remains unknown; in spite of the reference to black-and-white drawings implied by the words "Black Pen", the work assigned to the artist consists almost entirely of colored paintings. The whole group, though varied, is so well defined, however, that this attribution has become generally accepted. It is more difficult to establish the place of origin of these paintings, which has been localized in places as far apart as the Crimea and Transoxiana, with datings ranging from before 1200 to the second half of the 16th century. It is clear that they are not Persian, as nothing like them has been found in Iran, nor is there anything related to them among the academic paintings from the well-known centers further to the east such as Herat, Samarkand and Bukhara. Judging from the nature of the figures and their activities they must come from a non-urban hinterland, a region accessible to Chinese influence, which is evident from their coloring and many stylistic and iconographic features. [3-201-00997-0] 

[Istanbul, Topkapi Sarayi Müzesi; Washington, Freer Gallery]
Siyah Qalem (Istanbul, Topkapi Sarayi Müzesi, ex Hazine 2153, Hazine 2160; Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.).
Rome: Salerno Editrice, 1976. 28 x 38 cm, 48, 16 pp.

 

[Kassel, Landes- & Murhardsche Bibliothek, 2º Ms. poet.et roman.3]
Giovanni Boccaccio. Il Filocolo. La storia di Florio et Biancifiore. Farbmikrofiche-Edition der Handschrift Kassel, Gesamthochschulbibliothek, Landesbibliothek und Murhardsche Bibliothek der Stadt Kassel. 2º Ms. poet. et roman. 3. Mit einer literaturhistorischen Einführung von Michael Dallapiazza. Verzeichnis und Anmerkungen zum Bilderzyklus von Helga Lengenfelder.
Codices Illuminati Medii Aevi, 54. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 1999. 17 x 25 cm, 49 pp, 11 fiches.

Northern Italy (or Naples?), last quarter of the 15th c. Vellum, 210 fols., 2 cols., Italian bookscript. Boccaccio (1313-1375) composed this first famous love and adventure story in the vernacular about 1340-1345. The literary source was the French “Floire et Blancheflor” that had developed in the second part of the 12th c. and then spread in vernacular versions over Europe. This luxury MS is adorned with 209 splendid miniatures in golden frames, of which 18 are two columns wide. The 5 parts of the work are marked by great decorated initials and small initials introduce the chapters. The narration of the picture cycle, concentrating on the more important episodes and exposing scenes of greater significance with impressing details, serves as a guide line through the muddled text situations with many figures and jumping to various places at different times, and also makes clear the ethic-religious meaning covered by the narrative surface of this historic romance of two lovers as the note in the prologue "memoria delli amorosi giouani pensando alla grande constantia de loro animi" tells us. It is still unknown who commissioned this splendid Italian MS. Linen. €370 [3-89219-054-2]  (more info... )

[Klagenfurt, Kärnten Landesarchiv, Sammelhs. 6/19]
Millstätter Genesis- und Physiologus-Handschrift.
Codices Selecti, X. Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1967. 13 x 20 cm, 2 vols, 334, 52 pp.

This well-known source, a composite MS copied between 1120 and 1160 in the environs of Kämten (southern Bavaria), is one of the earliest examples of an illustrated codex in Middle High German. Of great literary and philological importance its texts include Genesis and Exodus and chapters entitled Physiologus, Vom Rechte, Die Hochzeit, Millstätter Sündenklage, Paternoster, and Die verstümmelten Anfangsverse der Dichtung 'Das himmlische Jerusalem'. The illustrations preserve a pictorial recension of Genesis which relates to the Cotton Genesis fragments in the British Library, a mosaic cupola at St. Mark's in Venice, and the Genesis frontispiece of the Carolingian bibles created in Tours. The MS is key for any research on the full Genesis cycle, as well as the treatment of the Physiologus text and illustrations of Latin and Greek texts that gave rise to the 12th-c. bestiary MSS. Commentary by A. Kracher. Monochrome facsimile, bound in full leather with slipcase. €240 [3-201-00744-7] 

[Konya, Turkey, Mevlânâ Müzesi, Kütüphane, Ms. 68-69]
Dîvân-i Kebîr / [Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī].
Anniversary Edition. San Mateo: Society for Understanding Mevlana, 2007. 35.2 x 47 cm, 2 vols, iv, 304, 346 pp.

The Dîvân-i Kebîr ("Great Divan") by Jalaluddin Mohammad Rumi (1207-1273) is considered one of the greatest works of Persian literature ever written. This masterpiece, an anthology of lyric poems comprised of more than 40,000 verses, comes down to us in a presentation manuscript preserved in the Mevlâna Museum in Konya Turkey. The museum is the mausoleum of Mevlana Rumi and is also the dervish lodge (tekke) of the Mevlevi order, better known as the whirling dervishes. The manuscript compiled in 1364 consists of two volumes (Mss. 68-69) written in Khorasani Farsi; it also has some Arabic, Turkish, and Greek texts. In the second volume, on page 289, Abu Bekir al Mavlavi (the man who constructed the cover) indicates that the scribe of the Dîvân was Hasan ibn-I Osman who started writing on July 2, 1367 and finished in October of 1368. He worked from the original notes taken down by the "Secretaries of the Scribe", a circle of students and friends who wrote down the poems as they came out of Rumi’s mouth. Introduction in English by Nevit Oguz Ergin. Deluxe limited edition of 200 copies bound in light brown leatherette with generous tooling and traditional fore-edge flaps. $1500 [978 18 8799130 8]  (more info... )

[London, British Library, 10470]
Papyrus Ani (London, British Museum, Nr. 10.470).
Codices Selecti, LXII Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1978. 38 x 70 cm (average), 37 segments.

The papyrus of Ani, consisting of 37 segments, was found at Thebes, and was purchased by the Trustees of the British Museum in 1888. It measures 78 feet by 1 foot 3 inches, and it is the longest known papyrus of the Theban period. Commentary (in German) by E. Dondelinger. €567 [3-201-01048-0] 

[London, British Library, Add. 47967]
The Tollemache Orosius. British Museum Additional Manuscript 47967. Edited by Alistair Campbell.
Early English Manuscripts in Facsimile, 3. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger, 1953. 28 x 31 cm, 27, 174 pp.

Collotype. The vernacular prose version of Orosius’ “History of the World” was one of the main productions of the literary circle associated with the court of King Alfred. It is perhaps best known for its striking original additions, including its account of the geography of northern Europe and the famous accounts of the voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan. Half-morocco binding.  

[London, British Library, Cotton Nero A.i]
A Wulfstan Manuscript, containing Institutes, Laws and Homilies. British Museum Cotton Nero A.i. Edited by Henry R. Loyn.
Early English Manuscripts in Facsimile, 17. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger, 1971. 54, 185 pp.

Collotype. The two component parts of this volume were bound together by 1580. The first, of mid-11th c. date, is a collection of laws in English ranging in date from the reign of Ine (688-726) to that of Canute (Liebermann’s MS G). It includes some codes drafted by Wulfstan, archbishop of York and bishop of Worcester. The second part of the volume, from the beginning of the 11th c., is even closer to Wulfstan, for it was a handbook prepared for his use, being written presumably at either Worcester or York. Its miscellaneous contents, mostly in English, comprise maily ecclesiastical institutes and laws. They include a number of his own works, the well known “Sermo Lupi” among them, as well as earlier texts of interest to him. Half-morocco binding (also available in wrappers for c.25% less). €990  

[London, British Library, Cotton Tiberius B.v., part 1]
An Eleventh-Century Anglo-Saxon Illustrated Miscellany. British Library Cotton Tiberius B.v, Part I. Together with Leaves from British Library Cotton Nero D.II. Edited by P. McGurk, D.N. Dumville, M.R. Godden, Ann Knock.
Early English Manuscripts in Facsimile, 21. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger, 1983. 109, 189 pp.

The original parts of Cotton Tiberius B. v, vol. 1, consist of an illustrated miscellany of computistical, astromonical and geographical matter written during the first half of the 11th c., perhaps at Winchester. It was at Battle Abbey by the 12th c. It contains both Latin and English texts. The Latin material includes a metrical calendar, Cicero’s “Aratea”, a versified translation of a Greek astronomical text; and Priscian’s “Periegesis”, another verse translation, this time of a Greek verse text describing the whole world. The metrical calendar was considered by the late Edmund Bishop to be the production of an Irishman at King Alfred’s court. In Bishop’s words: “it is in the highest degree interesting as the only liturgical document that comes down to us from Alfred’s times or the early days of Edward the Elder”. The English material in the MS includes includes Ælfric’s “De temporibus anni”. There are also a Latin text and an English one of an account of the “Marvels of the East”. The book is lavishly illustrated. Half-morocco binding (also available in wrappers for c.25% less). €1060  

[London, British Library, Cotton Vitellius A.xv]
The Nowell Codex. Edited by Kemmp Malone.
Early English Manuscripts in Facsimile, 12. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger, 1963. 120, 116 pp.

Collotype. With the publication of this volume the series fulfills its aim of making generally available in facsimile the primary materials for a thorough study of the text of the greatest of all surviving Old English poems, first with the Thorkelin transcripts (EEMF 1), and now the unique MS itself. For the first time it also provides a facsimile of the whole MS which, belonging to the end of the 10th c. or the beginning of the 11th, contains besides Beowulf some other vernacular texts of the highest interest. Half-morocco binding (also available in wrappers for c.25% less). €890  

[London, British Library, Stowe 955]
Pierre Sala. Petit livre d’amour. Stowe MS 955, British Library, London. [standard edition].
Luzern: Faksimile-Verlag, 1994. 10 x 13 cm, 40; v, 401 pp.

The French poet Pierre Sala presented this beautiful manuscript to his future wife Marguerite Bulliard possibly between 1500 and 1519. Sala was born in 1457 in Lyon, the son of a wealthy family and member of the French court. The Book of Love is one of those rare volumes which through the intimacy of its verses and its sensitive and beautifully executed miniatures enchant the reader from the outset. This work is original in many ways, especially in the manifold relations between pictures and text. The text is not exclusively about love but addresses other more philosophical subjects such as the nature ofwisdom, mendacity, success or the state of the world and society. Sala’s Ms has been attributed to the final years of Charles VIII’s reign, or the first few of Louis XII’s. Although we know very little about Sala’s life we know what he looked like, thanks to the superbly executed portrait of him found in the book. It is a unique work in book illumination of this period. It was painted by Jean Perréal, known as Jean de Paris, a friend of Sala. He was highly regarded for his talents as a portrait painter and is reputed to have given lessons in miniature painting to Leonardo. His portrait of of Sala is an early milestone in the history of miniature portraiture and the illustrations in the Book of Love are masterpieces of art at the French court. Commentary by Janet Backhouse & Yves Giraud. Limited edition of 690 copies, case bound, in brown paper boards.  

[London, British Library, Stowe 955]
Pierre Sala. Petit livre d’amour. Stowe MS 955, British Library, London. [deluxe edition].
Luzern: Faksimile-Verlag, 1994. 10 x 13 cm, 40; v, 401 pp.

 

[London, British Library, Yates Thompson ms. 36]
La divina commedia di Alfonso d’Aragona.
Modena: Franco Cosimo Panini, 2006. 25.7 x 37 cm. 2 vols, 396, 340 pp.

Richly decorated with over 100 splendid miniatures and featuring illuminated initial letters at the beginning of each canticle, this Codex was produced in Tuscany around the middle of the 15th century at the request of an illustrious client, the king of Naples, Alfonso of Aragon, known as the Magnanimous. The king, an enlightened patron and sensitive humanist, in an effort to affirm the predominance of his kingdom over the other Italian states, transformed Naples into a lively artistic and cultural center. A sophisticated bibliophile, he looked upon manuscripts as precious treasures and, having accumulated an extensive library in Spain, wanted to augment it in Naples with Italian, Latin and Greek texts, obtaining precious miniature codices through the good offices of the scholarly Guiniforte Barzizza. The sumptuous collection of miniatures in the Divine Comedy is the work of two different artists, although the assignment to decorate the three canticles was probably given to a single artist, identified as the Siennese, Lorenzo di Pietro, known as il Vecchietta. It was this first illuminator who decorated all the capital letters and the scenes of Hell and Purgatory, executed between 1442 and 1450. The decoration of Paradise, has been attributed to another Siennese, Giovanni di Paolo, an artist immersed in a dream-like, spiritual dimension which he translated in his miniatures into unreal, fairy-tale atmospheres sharing three common characteristics: the structure of the universe, represented by the azure brightness of the sky and the celestial spheres, usually blazing with gold; the all-consuming loveliness of the countryside, inspired by the beauty of the Tuscan landscape to the south of Sienna and frequently clearly recognizable; and the unifying presence in the majority of the miniatures of the coupled figures of Dante and Beatrice. Limited edition of 750 copies, bound in silk velvet over wood boards and featuring decorations, gilded silver and enamel work. €8750   

[Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional, vitr. 17.8 (= cod. 3995)]
Castigos e documentos del rey don Sancho.
Madrid: Club Bibliófilo Versol, 2000. 26 x 37 cm, 170, 195 pp.

Deluxe facsimile of a manuscript from the scriptorum of Alfonso X. Commentary by Juana Hidalgo Ogáyar. Limited edition of 500 copies, bound in full leather. €1950   

[Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional, vitr. 22-4]
Petrarca. Los triunfos de Petrarca. Vitr. 22-4, Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid.
Valencia: Vicent García Editores, 1996. 7.5 x 11.5 cm, 176, 174 pp.

Attributed to the Florentine illuminator Ricciardo di Nanni. Deluxe edition of 1,380 copies. €4550   

[Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional, vitr. 25-7]
Speculum humanae salvationis. Edición facsímil de la primera parte del manuscrito Vit. 25-7 de la Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid.
Colección Artísticos, 13. Madrid: EDILAN, 1997. 27 x 36 cm, 86, 307 pp.

Commentary by Teresa Pérez Higuera and Albert Guillem Hauf i Valls. Transcrition of the Latin and Spanish version by Agustín Santiago Luque. Limited edition of 1000 copies. Facsimile volume bound in full leather with generous tooling; commentary volume in quarter leather. [84-85197-47-3] 

[Manchester, John Rylands Univ. Library, MS English 1]
John Lydgate. The Sege of Troye. Colour Microfiche Edition of the Manuscript Manchester, The John Rylands University Library, MS English 1. Introduction to the Text and Manuscript by Wilhelm G. Busse.
Codices Illuminati Medii Aevi, 38. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 1998. 17 x 25 cm, 36 pp, 6 fiches.

England (London?), c.1445. Vellum, 174 fols., 2 cols. John Lydgate (c.1370-c.1450) was a monk, deacon, priest, and famous poet, who declared himself to be the disciple and successor of Chaucer. In 1412 he started compilation of the Troy book on commission by Prince Henry, later King Henry V as the rubric tells at the beginning. Lydgate's work, comprising more than 30,000 verses, is a free rendering of Guido de Columna's story of the Trojan war (see Cologny-Genève, Bibl. Bod. 78), supplemented by materials taken from Ovide, or Christine de Pizan, and full of his own moral reflections and many astronomical, mythological and other learned digressions, thus representing the knowledge of his time in a real encyclopaedic work. The magnificent MS is illuminated with 5 half-page miniatures. There are 64 great miniatures on the wide margins of pages that are decorated with floriated borders, and numerous initials organize the text. The unframed miniatures—often composed of several scenes—illustrate the text following the struggles between Greek and Trojan kings and their nearest companions, as well as ceremonial events. The codex is perhaps the most beautiful extant English MS of its kind and size. The courtly magnificence of its decoration refers evidently to a royal person to whom it had been dedicated. This work with its intentional moralizing and educational character, may have been for Henry VI, commissioned by his father, and presented to the young king at the time of his marriage to Margarete, daughter of René I d'Anjou (1445). Linen. €420 [3-89219-038-0]  (more info... )

[Milan, Biblioteca Trivulziano, ms. 2162]
Il codice di Leonardo da Vinci nella Biblioteca Trivulziano di Milano. Trascrizione diplomatica e critica di Anna Maria Brizio.
Florence: Giunti Barbèra, 1980. 25 x 36 cm, 55 plates, 138 pp.

Compiled about 1487-1490, Codex Trivulzianus records Leonardo’s attempt to organize and arrange the part of the Italian language which deals with science, philosophy and academic subjects in general. Many of the words collected here derive from Latin, and almost all of them are drawn from such famous Renaissance works as Roberto Valturius’ “De re militari” and Luigi Pulci’s “Vocabulista”. This is an exceptional document for the study of that period of the Italian language when rules and spellings were not yet firmly established. In addition Codex Trivulzianus contains an important series of architectural drawings which are primarily studies pertaining to a competition held to complete the construction of the Milan cathedral. Accompanied by a volume with critical and diplomatic transcriptions by Anna Maria Brizio. Limited edition of 998 copies supplied with deluxe leather covered clamshell case. €1800  [16155-M] 

[Milan, Biblioteca Trivulziano, ms. 2162]
Il codice di Leonardo da Vinci nella Biblioteca Trivulziano di Milano. Trascrizione diplomatica e critica di Anna Maria Brizio.
Florence: Giunti Barbèra, 1980. 25 x 36 cm, 55 plates, 138 pp.

Same as above, but English edition (“Codex Trivulzianus”) co-published by Johnson Reprint Corporation, with standard box. €1200  [16183-A] 

[Modena, Bibl. Estense Univ., it. 474 (=alfa R.4.8)]
Dante Estense, cod. alpha.r.4.8. (Ital.474) / Biblioteca Estense di Modena, Commentario di Ernesto Milano.
Scarmagno: Priuli & Verlucca Editori, 2001. 25.5 x 35 cm, 280, 232 pp.

This beautiful parchment MS of Dante's Divine Comedy, known as the Dante Estense, has established itself throughout the world as one of the most important MSS of this great work. In fact, both because of the period in which it was produced (certainly the 14th century—most probably around 1380-90—which means it came out no more than 60-70 years after Dante's death, thus offering the sensation of being almost contemporaneous with his great poem) and because of the completeness of the entire text which makes it an extremely important integral document compared to the many fragments of the Divine Comedy, it is one of the few existing editions of this work offering philological novelties. Other interesting features of the codex are its aesthetic value, with the three exquisite illuminations that decorate the beginning of the three sections of the Divine Comedy, the large illuminated initial letters at the beginning of the poem, and the colored ones in all the Cantos, and above all, the fact that it is one of the very few existing codices that is completely illuminated. Each page has illuminated scenes in the upper margin that accompany and illustrate the text. The initial pages of the three Cantos have illuminated ornamentation in the margin; in particular, the first two have, in the middle of the lower margin, a large red stemma with a light blue band that belonged to an unknown owner, while the last page has the Christian monogram of the Sun. Because of its great importance, this codex was taken to Paris by Napoleon's commissars on 11 October 1796 and became part of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (whose seal, a c.1, it still bears); after many interesting vicissitudes it was restored and brought back to Modena in 1816 by the head librarian of the Biblioteca Estense, Antonio Lombardi, at the behest of the Duke of Modena. Commentary by Ernesto Milano. Deluxe limited edition of 500 copies, bound in calfskin, with gilt toolings on the boards.  

[Montecassino, Archivio dell’Abbazia, casin, 132]
Rabanus Maurus. De universo. Casin, 132, secolo XI. Archivio dell’Abbazia dei Montecassino.
Scarmagno: Priuli & Verlucca Editori, 1996. 35 x 49 cm, 530, 216 pp

The archive of the Montecassino Abbey, the religious community founded by St. Benedict in the 6th century that was the hub of medieval monastic life, boasts the invaluable Rabanus Maurus Cassinese MS, which was produced at Montecassino during the time of Abbot Theobald (1022-35) and contains the great encyclopedic dictionary De Universo, or De rerum naturis, which Rabanus Maurus (780-865), a monk from Fulda who became Bishop of Mainz, wrote in the 9th century, at the zenith of the Carolingian epoch. This large-format codex consists of 530 pages in Beneventan script, splendidly illustrated with over 360 miniatures with lively figures and colors. The true importance of the codex goes beyond its artistic merit, since De Universo is one of the leading medieval encylopedias and the first one compiled after two centuries of silence, that is, after St. Isidore of Seville's Etymologies. And although Rabanus drew inspiration from this latter work, De Universo surpasses it for the grandiosity of its concepts and its noble aim of spreading knowledge. The work is like an immense library of knowledge that covers the entire Middle Ages, a combination and cross-section of various aspects: the historical and biblical tradition of the Church, books and culture, the animal and plant worlds, descriptions of human life, the nature of the soul and body, monsters and miracles, celestial phenomena and the calculation of time, weights and measures, minerals and metals, the organisation of states, music, medicine, agriculture, the science of war, manual labour, diet, everyday tools and objects. There is no facet of the Middle Ages that is not discussed in this encyclopedia, which mirrors the entire civilisation of the time. Furthermore, the miniatures, which illustrate every subject in marvellous scenes, faithfully follow the style and aim of the text, making the codex a grand fresco of the universal order. Commentary (It-Eng), edited by Guglielmo Cavallo. Limited edition of 500 copies. bound in quarter brown calfskin, with wooden boards and tie-strings. €8450   

[Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibl. & Nueremberg, Ger. Nationalmuseum]
Wolfram von Eschenbach. Willehalm. Fragmente der Bilderhandschrift aus der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek München und dem Germanischen Nationalmuseum Nürnberg.
Stuttgart: Verlag Müller & Schindler, c.1975. 25 x 33 cm, 22 pp + commentary.

“Willehalm”, written around 1215-1218, is the representative period work of the great poet of the Staufer epoch. The oldest surviving illuminated MS of the work, copied c.1260, comes down to us in fragmentary form. These fragments are priceless, for they contain on every page beautiful colored drawings illustrating the action of the text written on one side of the page in a single column. This full color facsimile reproduces all eleven fragments. Introduction by Ulrich Montag. Bound in half leather. €240   

[Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, cgm 19]
Wolfram von Eschenbach: Parzival–Titurel–Tagelieder. Cgm 19 der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek München.
Stuttgart: Verlag Müller & Schindler, 1970. 21 x 30 cm, 150, 344 pp.

Wolfram’s masterwork written around 1210. Together with “Tristan” these works represent the high point of German epic poetry of the Middle Ages. This MS, compiled c.1250, probably in the same Strasbourg(?) workshop as “Tristan” (Munich Cgm 51), includes nearly all the late transmissions, i.e., “Parzival”, plus five other works: the only early version of “Titurel”, “Tagelieder” (unicum), and three short prose works. Four pages of colored illustrations recreate scenes from the Parzival history. Commentary/transcription by Fridolin Dreßler and Heinz Engles. Limited edition of 850 copies, bound in full leather.  

[Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, cgm 51]
Gottfried von Straßburg: Tristan und Isolde. Faksimile-Ausgabe des Cgm 51 der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek München.
Stuttgart: Verlag Müller & Schindler, c.1979. 17 x 24 cm, 218, 146 pp.

Gottfried’s “Tristan” represents the highest mastery of language and melodious sound in Middle High German poetry. In the dissemination of Tristan, of which the original dates from c.1210, MS Cgm 51 takes a very special place: of eleven surviving complete MSS and 16 fragments, it is the oldest, copied in the middle of the 13th century (the second oldest, now in Heidelberg, comes from the end of the century and all the other sources date from the beginning of the 14th c.). Probably from the same Strasbourg(?) workshop as “Parzival”, MS Cgm 51 is of major importance for art historians for its fabulous drawings, including 30 full page illuminations that acccompany the action of the text. Introduction by Ulrich Montag & Paul Gichtel. Limited numbered edition of 950 copies. €810   

[Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibl., cgm 4997]
Die Kolmarer Liederhandschrift der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek München (Cgm 4997). In Abbildung herausgegeben von Ulrich Müller, Franz Viktor Spechtler und Horst Brunner.
Göppinger Beiträge zur Textgeschichte, Litterae, 35. Goppingen: Alfred Kümmerle Verlag, 1976. 8º, x, 1712 pp.

Halftone of Cgm 4997 in its entirety. Copied c.1450 (possibly in Mainz), this MS is one of the oldest witnesses of the German Minnesinger tradition and by far the most complete in regard to poetry, illuminations and music. Indispensable tool for the research of the Minnesinger period. Commentary by Ulrich Müller, Franz Viktor Spechtler & Horst Brunner. Bound in linen, with slipcase. €496 [3-87452-253-9] 

[Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, clm 19486]
Ruodlieb. Faksimile-Ausgabe des Clm 19486 der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek München sowie der Fragmente von St. Florian. I.1: Einleitung; I.2: Faksimile; II: Ruodlieb.
Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 1974-85. 19 x 27 cm, 82, 74, 181 pp.

€118  [3-920153-13-8] 

[Munich, Universitätsbibliothek, 2˚ Cod. Ms. 731]
Die Lieder Reinmars und Walthers von der Vogelweide in der Würzburger Handschrift.
Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 1972. 28 x 37 cm, 25, 50 pp.

Preface by Gisela Kornrumpf. €178  [3-920153-12-X] 

[New York, Pierpont Morgan Library, M.948]
Der Rosenroman für François I. M.948 aus dem Besitz der Pierpont Morgan Library in New York.
Codices Selecti, XCVII. Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1993. 19.5 x 27 cm, 2 vols, 420, 188 pp.

In its own epoch, the Roman de la Rose—an allegorical poem of love—constituted one of the most frequently read books of secular and vernacular poetry. The text is thought to be a unique creation of allegoric poetry in general and Old French literature in particular. The work, which was written by two authors, Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun, owes its popularity to its straightforwardness, its sense of humour and the complexity of the world of thoughts dealt with in this epic poem. One night in the month of May, a young man of twenty years dreams of a paradisiacal garden. He is admitted to the prettiest part of it and finds a rose, symbol of his beloved maiden. Immediately, an untameable desire overwhelms him and the dreamer turns into a man in love. The courting of his rose is only the beginning of a long journey which leads him through the highs and lows of a love affair. The states of heart he experiences on his way, confusion and pleasure, appear to him as allegorical figures. Some help him to feel ultimate happiness while others plunge him into deep dispair before he achieves his heart’s desire and wins the rose. Among the many copies of the Roman de la Rose, the magnificent example now in New York occupies a special position. This MS copied by Girard Acarie around 1519 for his king, Francis I of France, and flawlessly illuminated in Rouen boasts extraordinarily lavish decoration. All 107 radiant miniatures, finely embellished with gold, enhance important moments of the narrative in delicate pictorial language. The illustrations, which are set in architectural frames and on backgrounds painted with great love of detail, break with formal medieval traditions and move toward a more expressive Renaissance style—an unusual feature, even for the famous School of Rouen. The elaborate decoration is a pleasure to the eye and makes this edition of the Roman de la Rose an exquisite jewel, a picture book that fascinates with or without reading the text. Commentary by William Voelkle and Margareta Friesen. Limited edition of 480 copies, beautifully bound in red velet. [3-201-01607-1] 

[London, British Library, MS Royal 20 B XX]
The Romance of Alexander.
Lucerne: Quaternio Verlag, 2014. 19.5 x 28.4 cm, 2 vols, 194 pp + commentary.

Special prepaid subscription price valid until August 2013. €4480   

[Oxford, Bodleian Library, Arch. Selden, B.24]
The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer and The Kingis Quair. A Facsimile of Bodleian Library, Oxford, MS Arch. Selden. B.24. With an Introduction by Julia Boffey & A.S.G. Edwards and an Appendix by B.C. Barker-Benfield.
Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 1997. 20 x 29 cm, 61, 464 pp.

A late 15th c. or early 16th c. manuscript of English and Scottish verse. Its most significant contents are a number of poems by Chaucer and the unique copy of “The Kingis Quair”. Cloth $711  [0-85991-476-3] 

[Oxford, Bodleian Library, Eng. Poet. a.l]
The Vernon Manuscript. A Facsimile of Bodleian Library, Oxford, MS. Eng. Poet. a.l, with an Introduction by A.I. Doyle.
Cambridge: Boydell & Brewer, 1987. 37 x 52 cm, 16, 26 & 826, i pp.

The largest and most important single collection of medieval English religious verse and prose, also containing some French texts. The range of vernacular religious literature accumulated by the end of the 14th century in English is exemplified by the Vernon sequence of moralising lyrics, by a unique Arthurian Grail romance (Joseph of Arimathia), a text of the alliterative Pistill of Susan, one of the earliest copies of Piers Plowman (A-text), the still unpublished Speculum Vitae in rhyming couplets and, among some notable prose, an also as yet unpublished recension of the Ancrene Riwle, an early copy of Walter Hilton's Scale of Perfection and important versions of Richard Rolle's epistels, besides some of his other outstanding devotional poems. The English of the two scribes, coming from the central West Midlands, is also of great interest. Hardbound. £450  [0-85991-200-0] 

[Oxford, Bodleian Library, Fairfax 16]
Bodleian Library MS Fairfax 16. With an Introduction by John Norton-Smith.
London: Scolar Press, 1979. 22 x 29 cm, xxix, 680 pp.

Important source (ca.1450) of the works of Geoffrey Chaucer, his friend Sir John Clanvowe, John Lydgate and Thomas Hoccleve. Cloth. $325  [0-85967-513-0] 

[Oxford, Bodleian Library, Hatton 20, etc.]
The Pastorale Care. King Alfred’s Translation of St. Gregory’s Regula Pastoralis. Ms. Hatton 20 in the Bodleian Library at Oxford; Ms. Cotton Tiberius B.XI in the British Museum; Ms Anhang 19 in the Landesbibliothek at Kassel Edited by N.R. Ker.
Early English Manuscripts in Facsimile, 6. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger, 1956. 30 x 40 cm, 34, 204 pp.

Collotype. The Hatton MS takes us right to the heart of King Alfred’s drive to use vernacular prose to effect a revival of learning after the Danish wars, for it was one of the original copies which the king himself sent out when, as he tells us in his famous preface, he gave systematic distribution to his version of the “Cura pastoralis”, a work so fundamental to the well-being of the Church. This was the copy which he sent to Worcester, and it can be dated to 890-96. The charred fragments of MS Cotton Tiberius B. xi, almost wholly destroyed in the Cotton fire of 1731, and the Kassel leaf represent between them all that now remains of another MS that belonged to the king’s “first” editions. Half-morocco binding (also available in wrappers for c.25% less). €800  

[Oxford, Bodleian Library, Hatton 48]
The Rule of St Benedict. Oxford, Bodleian Library, Hatton 48. Edited by D.H. Farmer.
Early English Manuscripts in Facsimile, 15. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger, 1968. 29, pp.

Collotype. This MS is revered in the history of English and European culture as the oldest surviving copy of the rule. It was written in bold unical script, of unmistakably Anglo-Saxon character, by a master scribe late in the 7th c. or early in the 8th. During the Middle Ages, and as late as the 17th c., it was at Worcester. It has a great many beautifully drawn initials. Half-morocco binding (also available in wrappers for c.25% less). €980  

[Oxford, Bodleian Library, Tanner 10, etc.]
The Tanner Bede. The Old English Version of Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica, Oxford Bodleian Library, Tanner 10, together with the Mediaeval Binding Leaves, Oxford Bodleian Library Tanner 10* and the Domitian Extracts, London, British Library, Cotton Domitian A.IX Fol.11. Edited by Janet Bately.
Early English Manuscripts in Facsimile, 24. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger, 1992. 31 x 40 cm, 39, 288 fac pp.

Collotype. The oldest (c.930) MS of the translation, probably made in the latter part of the 9th c. and formerly attributed to King Alfred, presents a text in four hands that is an important witness to a period from which comparatively few Anglo-Saxon MSS survive. It is noteworthy also for a remarkable series of zoomorphic initials in brilliant colors in the early “Winchester School” style. The disbinding of the MS has afforded a unique opportunity for photography in ideal conditions. Half-morocco binding (also available in wrappers for c.25% less). €1130  

[Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, allem. 113]
Splendor solis. Tratado de alquimia.
Valencia: Patrimonio Ediciones, 2009. 21 x 30 cm. 100 pp + commentary.

The Splendor Solis, an important treatise on alchemy written at the dawn of modern science, consists of text accompanied by a series of 22 elaborate images set in ornamental borders and niches similar in style to the decorative borders used in book of hours of the period. The book's symbolic process follows the alchemical death and rebirth of the King, followed by a series of 7 flasks, each associated with one of the planets. Within the flasks a process is shown involving the transformation of bird and animal symbols into the Queen and King, represented by white and red pigment. Elements of the work can be found in the Pretiossisimum Donum Dei sequence (15th c.) and the writings of Saloman Trismosin, possibly the teacher of Paracelsus. MS allem. 113 of the Bibliothèque Nationale—the basis of this deluxe facsimile edition—is a beautiful parchment manuscript of 50 folios, sumptuously illuminated in gold and silver; the MS is one of just seven early surviving mss sources of this fascinating text. List of illuminations: 1) The Arms of the art; 2) Philosopher with flask; 3) The Knight on the double fountain; 4) Solar King and Lunar Queen meet; 5) Miners excavating hill; 6) Philosophers beside tree; 7) Drowning King; 8) Ressurrection out of the swamp; 9) Hermaphrodite with egg; 10) Severing the head of the King; 11) Boiling the body in the vessel; 12) Saturn – Dragon and child; 13) Jupiter – Three birds; 14) Mars – Triple-headed bird; 15) Sun – Triple-headed dragon; 16) Venus – Peacock's Tail; 17) Mercury – The White Queen; 18) Moon – The Red King; 19) The dark sun; 20) Children at play; 21) Women washing clothes; 22) Sun rising over the city. Limited edition of 999 copies. €4000   

[Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, arabe 5847]
Maqamat al-Hariri.
London: Touch@rt, 2003. 27 x 38 cm, 2 vols, 344, 60 pp,

Al-Maqamat is the title of a book written by Abu Muhammad al Qasim ibn Ali al-Hariri (1054-1122) containing fifty relatively short stories (maqamat = "settings" or "sessions"), each one identified by the name of a city in the Muslim world of the time. The stories tell of actual adventures and especially the verbal pronouncements in verse or in prose of a roguish and peripatetic hero, Abu Zayd from Saruj, a town in northern Syria, as told by al-Harith, a sober and slightly gullible merchant travelling from place to place. Limited edition of 2000 copies. €2500    (more info... )

[Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, español 36]
Libro del caballero Zifar. Bibliothèque Nationale, Ms. Español 36.
Barcelona: M. Moleiro Editor, 1996. 29 x 41 cm, 396, 325 pp.

This work, written c.1304 by Ferrán Martinez, was the first knight novel to appear in Spain, preceding Cervantes’ “Don Quijote de la Mancha” and marking the beginning of a personal style in the Castilian prose. The manuscript, dating from the last quarter of the 15th c., contains 242 beautiful miniatures that provide a wonderful source about the civil and military life of the time. The miniatures were executed by five different artists, one of them, Juan de Carrión, is the most famous of the Castillian Flamenco miniature painters. Commentary by Francisco Rico. Limited edition of 987 copies, bound in full leather. [84-88526-25-3]  (more info... )

[Paris, Bibl. Nationale, fr. 146]
Le roman de Fauvel in the Edition of Mesire Chaillou de Pesstain. A Reproduction in Facsimile of the Complete Manuscript Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Fonds français 146. Introduction by Edward H. Roesner, François Avril and Nancy Freeman Regalado.
New York: Broude Brothers Limited, 1991. 41 x 52 cm, 280 pp (incl. 205 B/W + 12 color reproductions).

Gervais de Bus’ great poetic narrative written between 1310 and 1314 with interpolations of over 150 monophonic songs and polyphonic motets, including some of the works of Phillipe de Vitry. The name Fauvel is derived from the first letters of Flaterie, Avarice, Vilanie, Variété, Envie, Lascheté. Men of all walks and conditions try to cleanse Fauvel. The Roman is a sharp attack on the failings of the medieval church and the political establishment. $575    (more info... )

[Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Rothschild 2973]
Le chansonnier Cordiforme de Jean de Montchenu.
Valencia: Vicent García Editores, 2007-2008. Heart shaped, 22 x 16 cm, 144 pp + commentary.

This exceptional MS, closed, is shaped like a heart; it opens into the shape of a butterfly composed of the hearts of the two lovers who send love messages to one another in each one of the songs. When the word “heart” appears in the texts, it is represented by a pictogram. Two full-page illustrations appear in the codex. In the first, Cupid throws arrows at a young girl while at his side Fortune spins his wheel. In the other, two lovers approach one another lovingly. Throughout the MS the pentagrams, music and love poems are surrounded by borders made up of animals, birds, dogs, cats and all kinds of flowers and plants highlighted in abundant and delicate gold. The book gets its name from Jean de Montchenu, a nobleman, apostolic prothonotary, Bishop of Agen (1477) and later of Vivier (1478-1497) who commissioned the work. The music repertoire consists of French and Italian songs written by Dufay, Ockeghem, Busnois and their contemporaries. Limited edition of 1380 copies bound in red velet after the original; 2-part slipcase covered in green leather. €3480    (more info... )

[Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, suppl. turc. 190]
Mi’ragnama. Apocalipsis de Mahoma.
Valencia: Patrimonio Ediciones, 2008. 24.5 x 35.5 cm. 70 pp + commentary.

Conserved in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris under the siglum Suppl. Turc. 190 "Mi'ragnama – The apocalypse of Mohamed" is a masterpiece of Mimurid style, produced in 1436 in Herat in the north of modern day Afghanistan. It describes the adventures of the prophet Mohamed’s journey through the celestial sphere, in the company of the Archangel Gabriel, to arrive before the throne of God and his subsequent return trip to Earth through the seven circles of Hell. In medieval Europe the work became known through the Latin translation that Alfonso the Wise commissioned from the school of translators in Toledo, which, in the judgment of some experts, may have inspired Dante’s Divine Comedy. Islamic culture produced books on par with those of the west and created numerous art works of impressive beauty. In Persia, the perfect fusion of the Arab school and the Buddhist art of India and China produced the Timurid style. Timur’s son—Tamerlane, the Shah Ruj—transferred the capital from Samarkand, where his father lived, to Herat and promoted a style of illumination characterized by a realism that surpassed the typical stylization of Islam and resulted in a fascinating pictorial drama. The even rhythm of the miniatures, masterfully balanced, brought about a pivotal moment in early 15th-century Persian art. The magic that inspires the Chinese-influenced design of these compositions of harmonious movement imparts to the art of the Persian miniature an excellence that, along with its exquisite palette, converts its illustrations into treasures of world art. Limited edition of 999 numbered examples bound in leather and fire-engraved gold. €4800   

[Philadelphia, Free Library, Widener 1]
Jacques Bruyant: Le livre du chastel de labour (The Way of Poverty or Riches).
Luzern: Faksimile-Verlag, 2005. 14.4 x 20.7 cm, 146 pp + commentary.

While at first glance it appears to be a book of hours, this manuscript is a guide to happiness for the newly-wed nobleman. In secular poetry and with pictures, the art of living and working congenially is portrayed. The text was written c.1342 by Jacques Bruyant, a clergyman from Paris. A great number of ms copies bear testimony to the popularity of his work but only one single copy was illustrated with miniatures. The priceless work is part of a small group of illuminated mss made in the circle of the famous Bedford Master of Paris. For more than 25 years, starting c.1410, the Master remained one of the most significant illuminators of Europe. His art was inspired by the Limbourg brothers but he introduced new creative elements: well balanced compositions with refined colorings, marvellous perspective, dimensionality of forms and faces, plus sumptuous borders. His images help us discover the medieval world largely through details, individualistic facial expressions and realistic elements which betray his exact sense of observation. Limited edition of 980 copies, bound in red velvet with gilt edges and four gilt silver fittings. Commentary by Eberhard König & William Lang. €3480   

[Prague, National Library of the Czech Republic]
Adalbert Stifter. Aus der Mappe meines Urgroßvaters. Faksimile-Ausgabe der Handschrift der dritten Fassung aus dem Besitz der Staatsbibliothek in Prag. Herausgegeben und mit einem Vorwort versehen von Karl-Heinz Hahn. Kommentiert und transkribiert von Alois Hofmann.
Manu scripta, 3. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 1988. 28 x 34 cm, 90, 96 sheets, 92 pp.

 

[Rochester, St. Andrew’s Priory]
Textus Roffensis, Part I. Edited by Peter Sawyer.
Early English Manuscripts in Facsimile, 7. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger, 1957. 23, 242 pp.

Collotype. Legal documents detailing the laws of King William I of England; they are a record of land ownership (like the Domesday Book) and they come, in part or whole, from Anglo-Saxon literature. Compiled at Rochester during the bishopric of Ernulf the documents include a register of royal charters and grants to Rochester Cathedral. It is a compilation of outstanding importance because it contains codes and parts of codes, particularly of the early laws of Kent, which do not survive elsewhere. Half-morocco binding (also available in wrappers for c.25% less). €820  

[Rochester, St. Andrew’s Priory]
Textus Roffensis, Part II. Edited by Peter Sawyer.
Early English Manuscripts in Facsimile, 11. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger, 1962. 42, 234 pp.

Collotype. This volume reproduces the second part of the codex. Written at Rochester in 1122 or soon after by the scribe who wrote the first part, is basically a cartulary of Rochester Priory. It is a collection of documents that is most valuable for both pre- and post-Conquest history, some forty of them being before the Conquest. Its importance has long been recognised, but the printed version fails to distinguish the original cartulary from additions and alterations made to it later in the 12th c., so that the present facsimile makes it possible for scholars to study the detail of this MS properly for the first time. Half-morocco binding (also available in wrappers for c.25% less). €860  

[St. Gall, Vadiana Cantonal Library]
Rudolf von Ems: Weltchronik / Der Stricker: Karl der Grosse.
Luzern: Faksimile-Verlag, 1982. 20 x 30 cm, 2 vols, 588, 370 pp.

214 double pages with 47 miniatures plus 76 Two major Middle Age German works are united in this codex. The World Chronicle is followed by Stricker’s Charlemagne, which stems from the old French La chanson de Roland and tells of the beginning of the Western Empire. The World Chronicle by Rudolf von Ems covers the history of the world from the creation until the death of Solomon in over 33,000 verses. Original in the Vadiana Cantonal Library in St. Gall. Separate commentary volume in Ger Limited edition of 980 copies. Binding matches original, in cowhide with brass clasps and fittings.  

[St. Petersburg, National Library, lat. Q.v.I 18]
The Leningrad Bede. Edited by O. Arngart.
Early English Manuscripts in Facsimile, 2. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger, 1952. 36, 323 pp.

Collotype. This, the least accessible of all the surviving copies of Bede’s “History” and unknown when Plummer published his famous edition in 1896, is a MS of the highest importance, not only as our best source of knowledge of the text of Bede’s great work by also as a landmark in Northumbrian palaeography and illumination. Half-morocco binding.  

[St. Petersburg, Russian National Library, ФP.Fv.III,4]
Libro de los Tesoros.
Barcelona: M. Moleiro Editor, 1999. 25 x 34 cm, 300 pp + commentary.

Encyclopedic work of Brunetto Latini (c.1230-1294), Florentine politician, poet, historian-philosopher, and friend of Dante. Written in French during the author’s exile in France (1260-1267), it consists of three books. The first begins with a biblical history, the history of Troy, Rome and the Middle Ages, followed by a compilation of information about astronomy and geography. It also addresses certain animal and bird species in depth. The second book concerns ethics: the thinking of modern and classical moralists, and studies the vices and virtues that characterize humanity. The third book, and most original part of this work, deals with matters related to politics and the art of government. The miniatures in this codex are extremely rich and varied. The artist’s boundless imagination fills the margins of the 18 folios with countless arabesques and drolleries which constitute one of the most highly developed, most interesting and earliest series of this genre in the history of the European miniature. There are also countless beasts, grotesque and peculiar figures, dwarves up to all sorts of tricks, acrobats doing balancing acts and juggling, musicians playing trumpets, flutes, violas, tambourines, organs and bagpipes. Birds, hares, fawns, lions and hounds hunting boars, and even the creation of Eve are depicted too. Bound in brown leather with mosaic motifs and leather case. [84-88526-52-0] 

[Salamanca, Biblioteca Universitaria, 2663]
Libro de buen amor. Reproduction facsímil del códice 2.663 de la Biblioteca Universitaria de Salamanca.
Madrid: EDILAN, 1975. 21 x 28 cm, 110 pp + commentary.

Transcription and commentary by César Real de la Riva. [84-85197-00-3] 

[Santa Monica, J. Paul Getty Museum, Ms. Ludwig XI 7]
Der Hedwigs-Codex von 1353. Sammlung Ludwig. Herausgegeben von Wolfgang Braunfels.
Berlin: Gebrüder Mann, 1972. 26 x 36.5 cm, 2 vols, 408, 231 pp.

Important illustrated MS (also known as the Schlakenwerter Codex) on the life of Saint Hedwig von Andechs-Meranien (c.1174-1243; sainted 1267), daughter of a Bavarian Herzog and the wife of Heinrich des Bärtigen. The codex is believed to have been copied in a cloister in Silesia, commissioned by Herzog Ludwig I von Liegnitz und Brieg, the great grandson of St. Hedwig. It is a composite manuscript of various old texts, copied in an elegant hand, and illustrated with 65 miniatures greatly admired for their spontaneity and freshness. Limited edition of 850 copies. Commentary by Wolfgang Braunfels, Josef Krasa, Klaus Kratzsch & Peter Moraw. Linen, with clamshell case.  

[Santiago de Compostela, Archivo de la Catedral]
Jacobus: Codex Calixtinus de la Catedral de Santiago de Compostela.
Madrid: Kaydeda Ediciones, 1993. 21 x 29.5 cm, 450+ transcription/translation pp.

Deluxe full-color facsimile. This MS, compiled around 1160, also known as the Book of St. James, is a jewel in medieval bibliography and one of the richest sources for historians, geographers, musicologists, sociologists, ethnologists, art historians and linguists. Consists of five “books”: I) sermons, texts and homilies for the liturgy of St. James; II) Book of Miracles, a collection of 22 miracles credited to St. James; III) narration of the moving of St. James’ body from Palestine to Compostela; IV) history of Charlemagne and Roland; V) “Liber Peregrinationis” (Guide to the Pilgrim)–the oldest touristic guide of Europe. Musical settings include plainsong and polyphonic conducti, tropes, and organa. Limited edition of 845 copies, bound in full leather with matching slipcase.   (more info... )

[Valencia, Biblioteca General i Històrica de la Universitat, Ms. 837]
Vergilius Maro, Publius. Bucolica, Georgica, Aeneis. Farbmikrofiche-Edition der Handschrift València, Biblioteca General i Històrica de la Universitat, Ms. 837. Einführung und Beschreibung der Miniaturen von Antonie Wlosok.
Codices Illuminati Medii Aevi, 23. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 1992. 17 x 25 cm, 42 pp, 10 fiches (x60).

Naples (and Rome?), after 1480(?). Vellum MS with 274 fols., humanistic script, headings in red. Contains the three major works of Virgil, adorned with gilded initials in “bianchi girari” style and various border decorations. The frontispiece is composed in Italian (Florentine) Renaissance style, and, serving as well as opening page to the “Eclogues” or “Bucolics”, displays three pastoral scenes. The “Georgics” have three smaller miniatures depicting scenes with agricultural activities at the beginnings of book I, II and IV. A cycle of 35 (11 full-page) miniatures illustrates the “Aeneid”; book VI, narrating Aeneas's travel to the underworld, is adorned with 16 miniatures placed within the text. The strange scenic composition and iconographic details at least of some of the miniatures point at an allegoric meaning beyond the narrative surface. The cycle thus can be regarded as a pictorial commentary and reflection to the traditional classical text and its interpretation in a Christian sense. The MS contains additional “argumenta” (versified summaries) of the books of “Georgics” and “Aeneid”. On the borders are numerous corrections and scholia of a later scholar. The codex was produced for the library of the Aragon court at Naples, came then after the fall of the city 1495 to Ferrara and 1527 to Valencia as inheritance to duke Ferdinand of Aragon who gave it to the monastery of San Miguel de los Reyes. Linen. €360 [3-89219-023-2]  (more info... )

[Valencia, Biblioteca General e Histórica de la Universidad, ms. 837]
Virgilio. Opera de Publio Virgilio Marón.
Valencia: Vicent García Editores, 1999. 22.2 x 31.4 cm, 552 pp + commentary.

One the important illustrated Virgil manuscripts from the 15th century, MS 837 from the University of Valencia contains many allegorial illustrations, as well as capitals illuminated in gold and color. The distinctive codex, bound in patterned leather with a bust of the poet in relief, wreathed with laurels and gold was originally from the Napolitan library, Duques de Calabria and San Miguel de los Reyes. Commentary in Sp-Eng by María Cruz Cabeza Sánchez-Albornoz. Limited edition of 1380 copies, bound in tooled leather on wooden boards.  

[Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica, lat. 3225]
Vergilius vaticanus (Codex Vaticanus lat. 3225).
Codices Selecti, LXXI (= Codices e Vaticanis Selecti, 40). Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1980. 22 x 22.5 cm, 2 vols, 156, 108 pp.

Vergilius Vaticanus is the best preserved example of a book illustrated in the Greco-Roman tradition and constitutes one of the oldest sources of Virgil’s great epic poem Aeneid. Made in Rome around 400 A.D., it also is the oldest of only three surviving classical MSS containing illustrated classical literature. The text is interspersed with 50 vivid miniatures which make the MS a sumptuous codex of the highest artistic value. Its exuberant color illustrations show stunning parallels to Pompeian wall paintings which were derived from Greek models. On 76 preserved leaves, Vergilius Vaticanus contains both fragments of Georgics, a didactic poem on agriculture, and of Aeneid and is considered to be one of the most authentic sources of Virgil’s texts. The scriptorium where Vergilius Vaticanus was made united the most excellent experts in their field. The master scribe first copied the full text in an elegant version of capitales rusticae (a script frequently used for luxury codices of this epoch), leaving space for a number of illustrations. The miniatures were later inserted by three different painters who worked after iconographic copybooks. However, they not only copied these models but also completed them with ornate golden frames, artful landscape paintings as well as architectural and other details. The natural proportions and vivacity of the figures impress the reader as much as the relations in which they stand to each other. The book originally contained—as was common practice at this time—all canonical works of Virgil and must have counted approximately 440 leaves of text in all, interspersed with about 280 illustrations. In spite of this great number of illustrations, the codex had a handy format and constituted a most precious edition of Virgil’s work. Although Virgil was also admired by and popular with Christian readers, Vergilius Vaticanus was probably commissioned by a member of a circle of pagan noblemen who wished to preserve the old tradition, a connoisseur whose pleasure in reading great literature was increased by the illustrations provided by the artists. Commentary by David H. Wright. Limited edition of 750 copies, bound in gold-tooled red leather binding, after the original. €1280 [3-201-01147-9] 

[Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica, lat. 3256; Berlin, Staatsbibl., lat. 416]
Vergilius Augusteus (Staatsbibliothek Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin, Codex lat. fol. 416 et Codex Vaticanus lat. 3256).
Codices Selecti, LVI. Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1976. 34.5 x 42 cm, 2 vols, 20, 32 pp.

€290 [3-201-00969-5] 

[Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica, lat. 3867]
Vergilius Romanus. Vat. lat. 3867.
Codices e Vaticanis Selecti, LXVI. Zürich: Belser Verlag, 1985. 32 x 33 cm, 618, 284 pp.

One of the rarest and oldest volumes in the Vatican Library; an illustrated volume of the writings of the Roman poet Vergil, attributed to the 5th century A.D. Strikingly full-page miniatures framed in solid gold leaf. Contains the complete epic poems of Vergil, divided into 3 sections: Eclogus, a selection of short bucolic poems; Georgica or “Agricultural Poem”, regarded as Vergil’s masterpiece and Aeneid, which recounts the adventures of Aeneas after the fall of Troy. In 7 colors plus 23k gold and bound in hand-sewn morocco leather. Each copy is serially numbered. For the first time the entire MS has been reproduced in a separate volume of more than 600 pages which accompany the illustrated facsimile. Dustproof case in polished mahogany and ebony. Commentary volume with contributions by C. Bertelli, E. Gallicet, G. Garbarino, J. Lana, A. Pratesi, D. Wright & Msgr. Ruyschaert. Limited numbered edition of 500 copies. [5007] 

[Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica, lat. 11254]
Franz von Assisi und die Heilige Anna. Vat. lat. 11254.
Codices e Vaticanis Selecti, LXXIII. Zürich: Belser Verlag, 1987. 60, 64 pp.

This manuscript is the smallest book in the Vatican Library. Limited edition of 980 copies.  

[Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica, Reg. lat. 1896
Dantes Divina Commedia mit den Illustrationen von Sandro Botticelli. Reg. lat. 1896.
Codices e Vaticanis Selecti, LIV. Zürich: Belser Verlag, 1986. 27 x 63 & 17 x 24 cm, 2 vols, 184, 184 pp.

Commentary by Peter Dreyer. Limited numbered edition of 500 copies. [5008] 

[Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica, Urb. lat. 365]
Il Dante urbinate della Biblioteca vaticana (Codice urbinate latino 365).
Codices e Vaticanis Selecti, 29. Città del Vaticano: Bibnlioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1965. 24.1 x 38.7 cm, 2 vols, 594; xv, 192 pp.

15th-c. MS of the Divina commedia with 3 full-page miniatures and 117 large illuminated initials. Executed before 1482 by Guglielmo Giraldi of Ferrara. Commentary by M. Tocci, L. Petrocchi, & G. Salmi. Limited edition of 1990 copies bound in half vellum and silk; slipcase. [88 2100 359 0] 

[Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica, Urb. lat. 376]
Der Rosenroman des Berthaud d’Achy. Entstanden Ende des 13. Jahrhunderts.
Codices e Vaticanis Selecti, LXXI. Zürich: Belser Verlag, 1987. 24 x 33 cm, 2 vols, 260, 196 pp.

Guillaume de Lorris, fl. 1230, is the author of this Romance of the Rose. Commentary by Eberhard König. Limited numbered edition of 600 copies, bound in linen. [5010] 

[Venice, Bibl. Naz. Marciana, fr.z.21 (=257)]
La Entrada en España “El Cantar de Roldán”. Poema épico del siglo XIV en franco-italiano.
Valencia: Ediciones Grial, 2003. 19 x 29 cm, 2 vols, 608, 318 pp.

Commentary by Carlos Alvar. Deluxe edition of 591 copies, bound in full leather. €3800   

[Vercelli, Bibl. Capitolare, CXVII]
The Vercelli Book (Vercelli, Biblioteca Capitolare CXVII). Edited by Celia Sisam.
Early English Manuscripts in Facsimile, 19. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger, 1977. 28 x 35 cm, 62, 282 pp.

Collotype. A distinctive vernacular literature of high quality was, of course, one of the principal achievements of Anglo-Saxon England. This MS, from the second half of the 10th c., is one of the four great codices on which our knowledge of Old English poetry mainly depends. It also contains 23 items of striking vernacular religious prose, most of which are not even in print. Half-morocco binding (also available in wrappers for c.25% less). €1050  

[Vienna, Österreichische Museum für Angewandte Kunst]
Hamza-Nama (Hamza Roman).
Codices Selecti, LII/1. Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1974. 37 x 47 cm, 147 pp.

Complete color facsimile of all the known and accessible folios from the Austrian Museum of applied Arts, Vienna (vol. I), from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (vol. II), and from other public and private collections. Only full page miniatures. Li amza passed into the world of legend after his death and became the central figure of a popular romance to whom were attributed fantastic adventures. From Persia the Romance of Hamza spread to India and achieved great popularity at the Mughal court. The story was much embroidered at this period and it became a favorite subject for the miniature painter. €490 [3-201-00788-9] 

[Vienna, Österreichische Museum für Angewandte Kunst]
Hamza-Nama (Hamza Roman).
Codices Selecti, LII/2. Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1974. 37 x 47 cm, 54 pp.

€290 [3-201-01200-9] 

[Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, 529]
Einhard: Vita caroli magni aus Codex Vindobonensis 529
Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1991. 16.6 x 22.5 cm, 26, 90 pp.

[3-201-01533-4] 

[Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, 2571]
Benoît de Sainte-Maure. Roman de Troie Farbmikrofiche-Edition der Handschrift Wien, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod.2571. Einführung und kodikologische Beschreibung von Dagmar Thoss.
Codices Illuminati Medii Aevi, 10. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 1989. 17 x 25 cm, 44 pp, 7 fiches.

Padova, Master of the Gherarduccio, third decade 14th c.; vellum, 189 fols., 2 cols., calligraphic Italian Gothic book-hand. Decorated with a splendid series of 197 framed miniatures inserted in various positions on the page within the two-column text. All scenes relate directly to the text and illustrate in a lively manner events during the Trojan wars. The dramatic narrative composition of the pictures and the figural painting style reflect the direct influence of Giotto's art on Trecento book painting by artists of the Padova-Bologna school. There are 43 larger painted initials on a gilt and blue field with acanthus leaves, and numerous smaller initials in red and blue with fleuronnée decoration. Titles are in red. Benoît wrote his “Roman de Troie” between 1160 and 1170 when he stayed at the court of King Henry II Plantagenet. His narration of the Trojan war in Old French verses soon became the primary source for vernacular adaptations in other countries, and even for the later Latin prose version of Guido de Columnis (see Cologny-Genève, Bibl. Bodmeriana, cod. 78). Linen. €350 [3-89219-010-0]  (more info... )

[Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, 2624]
Ovidius Naso, Publius. Héroïdes. Traduit en vers français par Octovien de Saint-Gélais. Farbmikrofiche-Edition der Handschrift Wien, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. 2624. Einleitung und kodikologische Beschreibung von Dagmar Thoss.
Codices Illuminati Medii Aevi, 1. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 1986. 17 x 25 cm, 28 pp, 5 fiches.

Vellum MS of 141 folios from the “School of Rouen”, dating from the end of the 15th c. (after 1496). French bastarda handwriting, decorated with a frontispiece that displays the arms of the Coligny family, and with 21 splendid full-page paintings, each presenting the “portrait” of one of the heroines while writing a letter. All pictures are within architectural frames; at one side are three small miniatures showing various scenes. The miniatures of this codex are among the remarkable works of one the most important French workshops of the period and reflect very clearly the influence of Italian Renaissance models. Linen. €280 [3-89219-001-1]  (more info... )

[Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, 2670]
Wolfram von Eschenbach. Willehalm (Codex vindobonensis 2670).
Codices Selecti, XLVI. Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1974. 22 x 31 cm, 2 vols, 702, 70 pp.

This court epic is perhaps the most famous of the Middle Ages and ranks among the most popular pieces of poetry in history. It was written in the early 13th century by Wolfram von Eschenbach (1170–1220), one of the foremost representatives of Middle High German epic literature. Although little is known about his life, we may assume that he was a member of the nobility. His outstanding literary works have inspired writers throughout the centuries. Wolfram patterned his famous work on a French chanson de geste of the 12th century. After his defeat near Narbonne and Carcassonne in 793, Willehalm, a hero based on the historic figure of William of Orange, halts the march of the Saracens. He defends his wife Gyburc, the baptized daughter of the pagan king Terramer who arrives with a pagan army to free her; Gyburc had previously liberated Willehalm from captivity and followed him to his homeland. In the first battle, the Christians are defeated. Now young Rennewart, Gyburc’s brother, enters the scene. Fighting side by side with Willehalm in the second battle, he leads the Christians to victory, with a few strokes of his mace. In ”Willehalm” the struggle between Christians and pagans, a great theme of Middle High German poetry, corresponds to a battle between the realm of God and that of the Devil in accordance with the crusaders’ ideology. Nonetheless, Wolfram breaks with this classical way of thinking, and for the first time, the pagans are given their own religious, ethical significance. They are regarded as creatures of God and treated on an equal footing with the Christians. Closely interwoven with classical elements of courtly romance, such as the hero courting his beloved young lady of the nobility, the writer draws a fascinating picture of courtly life in the Middle High German language. MS Vienna ÖNB 2670, reproduced here in full color, constitutes possibly the finest version of the Willehalm epic and clearly owes its impressive appearance to its exuberant decoration, countless colored initials, 22 deluxe initials and no less than 117 miniatures illustrating the fascinating epic tale and also introducing the reader to the exciting world of courtly love. Commentary by H. Heger. Limited edition bound in finely tooled brown leather. €3500 [3-201-00855-9] 

[Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, 2777]
Oswald von Wolkenstein-Handschrift A (Codex vindobonensis 2777).
Codices Selecti, LIX. Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1977. 27 x 37 cm, 122 pp.

3-color facsimile of the complete ms copied around 1425 in the Tyrol. The codex, with close to 100 songs, was evidently commissioned by Oswald himself; it includes 1 large format miniature portrait of the musician-poet. Linen. €421 [3-201-00995-4] 

[Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, 2856]
Mondsee-Wiener Liederhandschrift (aus Codex vindobonensis 2856).
Codices Selecti, XIX. Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1968. 21 x 28 cm, 238 pp.

Deluxe 2-color facsimile of one of the most important monuments of German song, c.1500-50. 31 religious and 57 secular lieder, more than half attributed to Hermann von Salzburg. Handsomely bound in quarter leather and vellum paper. €490 [3-201-00747-1] 

[Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, 2861]
Heinrich von Veldeke. Eneas-Roman. Farbmikrofiche-Edition der Handschrift Wien, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. 2861. Einführung und Beschreibung der Handschrift von Marcus Schröter.
Codices Illuminati Medii Aevi, 59. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 2000. 17 x 25 cm, 55 pp, 4 fiches.

Pfaffenhausen (Swabia), 1474. Paper, 95 fols., 2 cols., and 37 (facing) pages with 152 square tinted pen drawings set two, and up to six, to a page, with a caption. The Middle High German versified “Eneas-Roman” was created by Heinrich von Veldeke, born in the surroundings of Limburg (Belgium), between 1170 and 1190. The main source for his work was the Old French “Roman d'Enéas”, the first medieval anonymous adaptation of Virgil's Aeneid (see Valencia, Bibl. General, Ms. 837). This MS presents the abbreviated history of Aeneas as legendary founder of the Roman Empire after the destruction of Troja. The picture cycle highlights those scenes of the “Aeneid” that allow the display of courtly customs and behaviour: the announcement of a messenger, the ceremonial reception of foreign guests, the formal meeting of a young man and lady, hunting as social event (or as negative example), the distressful farewell and suicide of Dido. Several scenes depict Aeneas and Sibyl wandering through the underworld visiting the lost souls. In the second part when the struggles go on between Aeneas and Turnus about the king's daughter Lavinia the scenes of fight and siege are arranged according to the rules of military art and fighting. The narrative connection between the literary and the visual medium is secured by the pictures' captions with the names of places and persons in action. The pictorial narration functions as an organized summary of the history and becomes an interpretation with its own value. Linen. €280 [3-89219-059-3]  (more info... )

[Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, ser.nov.2639]
Lobgedicht auf König Robert von Anjou [deluxe edition].
Codices Selecti, CXIII. Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 2008. 34,4 x 48,5 cm, 144 pp + commentary.

(same as above but limited deluxe edition of 80 copies bound in deerskin, with raised bands and four golden lilies on the front cover [after the House of Anjou], together with the coat of arms of Robert d'Anjou). (Special subscription price valid until late Summer 2010) €7900 [3-201-01874-4] 

[Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, ser.nov.2639]
Lobgedicht auf König Robert von Anjou [standard edition].
Codices Selecti, CXIII. Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 2008. 34.4 x 48.5 cm, 144 pp + commentary.

An outstanding example of 14th-c. book illumination and courtly setting. This large-format MS, copied around 1340 contains the Regia Carmina of Convenevole da Prato (c.1275-1338), scholar, poet and teacher of Francesco Petrarch. In this epic poem Prato celebrates Robert d'Anjou, King of Sicily both as the rescuer of the church during the time of the papal schism and the ruler of a unified Italian state. The codex is a veritable caleidoscope of 14th customs and taste, richly decorated with 43 large-format miniatures on 72 pages and 29 floriated initials, highlighted with gold and silver. The miniatures depict the idealized kingdom of Robert through the use mythological allegories and virtues prized by the king. The second part of the MS contains references from St. Augustine supporting Robert as the ideal ruler of Italy and introduces the four cardinal virtues, the christian virtues and various allegorical devices from the arts. Bound in full leather. (Special subscription price valid until late Summer 2010) €4950 [3-201-01893-7] 

[Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, ser.nov.2652]
Losbuch in deutschen Reimpaaren (Codex vindobonensis S.N. 2652).
Codices Selecti, XXXVIII. Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1972. 20 x 29.5 cm, 2 vols, 46, 34 pp.

A facsinating MS that deals with the Zodiac and fate, compiled during the last quarter of the 16th century in Limburg. Commentary by W. Abraham. Limited edition, bound in full leather in the style of the original. €390 [3-201-00790-0] 

[Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, ser.nov.2663]
Ambraser Heldenbuch (Codex vindobonensis S.N. 2663).
Codices Selecti, XLIII. Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1973. 36 x 46 cm, 2 vols, 486, 40 pp.

[3-201-00859-1] 

[Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, Guelf. 46 nov. 2º]
Historie von Herzog Herpin. Übertragen aus dem Französischen von Elisabeth von Nassau-Saarbrücken. Farbmikrofiche-Edition der Handschrift Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, Cod. Guelf. 46 Novissimi 2º. Kunsthistorische Einführung und Beschreibung der Handschrift von Eva Wolf.
Codices Illuminati Medii Aevi, 57. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 2000. 17 x 25 cm, 59 pp, 6 fiches.

Strasbourg(?), after 1455. Paper, 172 fols., 2 cols., 32 tinted pen drawings, captions in red ink. The source of this “History” is the 14th c. French “Lion de Bourges”. The smaller column-wide pictures mostly depict interior scenes, the larger two-column wide pictures are presentations of battles, sieges, and tournaments, they are multi-scenic with masses of figures that become smaller and smaller until vanishing in the perspective background, and with towns, villages, and buildings set in panoramic landscapes. The style of the pasted drawings refers to Flemish and French book painters about 1450, the formal composition is similar to illustrations in chronicles. The MS was probably commissioned by Elisabeth, niece of the Duke of Lorraine, for her son count Johann III (1423-1472), and forms a singular group together with three other "historic" works (see Hamburg, Staats- & Universitätsbibl., Cod. 11 und Cod. 12; Heidelberg, Universitätsbibl., cpg 152). Linen. €340 [3-89219-057-7]  (more info... )

[anthology, various libraries]
Old English Verse Texts from Many Sources. A Comprehensive Collection. Edited by Fred C. Robinson, E.G. Stanley.
Early English Manuscripts in Facsimile, 23. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger, 1991. 36 x 47 cm, 32, 276 pp (14 in full color).

The volume comprises verse texts from over 100 different MSS, inscribed objects, and , where these are the surviving primary witness, printed books. Including all MSS of Cædmon’s “Hymn” and Bede’s “Death Song”, the “Ruthwell Cross”, and the complete “Meters of Boethius”, together with Junius’ transcript, all but a few of these primary sources have never before been reproduced in facsimile. As well as illustrating the primary evidence for the texts, the volume displays the remarkable variety of forms in which Old English poetry survives. Half-morocco binding (also available in wrappers for c.25% less). €1200  

INCUNABULA, PRINTS, MAPS & DOCUMENTS
Amman, Jost.
Kunst- und Lehrbüchlein. Vollständiges Faksimile der erweiterten Auflage 1580. Einführung von Ruth Mettler.
Stuttgart: Verlag Müller & Schindler, 1971. 13 x 16 cm, 160, 32 pp.

 

Auden, W.H.
W.H. Auden. Poetry, 1927-1929.
New York: New York Public Library, 1989.

Cloth. $90   

[Berlin, Staatsbibl., Kupferstichkab. Cim. 1,2,5,7,9,10,12]
Apokalypse / Ars moriendi / Biblia pauperum / Antichrist / Fabel vom kranken Löwen / Kalendarium und Planetenbücher / Historia David. Die lateinisch-deutschen Blockbücher des Berlin-Breslauer Sammelbandes. Berlin, Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Kupferstichkabinett, Cim. 1,2,5,7,8,10,12. Farbmikrofiche-Edition. Einführung und Beschreibung von Nigel F. Palmer.
Monumenta Xylographica et Typographica, 2. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 1992. 17 x 25 cm, 98 pp, 4 fiches.

8 blockbooks, 1469-70 in xylographic as well as chiro-xylographic copies (cut Latin texts accompanied by handwritten German translations on inserted leaves as in the Apokalypse [ Ed. V], with 48 colored plates, and the Biblia pauperum [Ed. X], with 40 colored plates). These synoptically Latin-German editions are of special interest for research on literary and linguistic history, even if the Biblia pauperum and the Apokalypse are well known from other blockbooks. There follows: 1) Ars moriendi (Ed. IIB), with 11 colored plates and synoptically arranged pictures and texts; 2) Der Antichrist und die 15 Zeichen vor dem Jüngsten Gericht (Ed. I), 1st xylographic edition with 32 colored plates; 3) Fabel vom kranken Löwen (= Cim. 9), xylographic pictures with handwritten German text and 9 colored plates. Cim. 10 contains a Latin Planet Book (unique fragment of 4 xylographic pages with text); a German Planetenbuch (7 pages of xylographic pictures and handwritten German texts on verso pages), the 1468 Kalendarium of Johannes de Gmunden (unique), and a Historia David (I Rg 1-III Rg 2), unique ed. with 19 xylographic plates. The linguistic characteristics of the handwritten parts seem to indicate an origin in Thuringia. The critical commentary establishes and describes the structure of the original Berlin-Breslau compendium in virtually all its details. Linen. €335 [3-89219-402-5]  (more info... )

Brecht, Bertolt.
Hauspostille. Faksimile-Ausgabe.
Frankfurt: Insel-Verlag, c.1982. 160, 54 pp.

[3-458-15613-5] 

Büchner, Georg.
Woyzeck. Faksimile der Handschriften aus den Beständen des Goethe- und Schiller-Archivs, Weimar. Herausgegben von Karl-Heinz Hahn, Transkription und Kommentar von Gerhard Schmid.
Manu scripta, 1. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 1981. 29 x 39 cm, 46, 168 pp.

Linen case.  

Büchner, Georg.
Woyzeck. Faksimile der Handschriften aus den Beständen des Goethe- und Schiller-Archivs, Weimar. Herausgegben von Karl-Heinz Hahn, Transkription und Kommentar von Gerhard Schmid.
Manu scripta, 1. Leipzig: Edition Leipzig, 1981. 29 x 39 cm, 46, 168 pp.

Linen case.  

[Calderón de la Barco, Pedro]
Calderón de la Barca: “La Desdicha de la Voz”.
Colección Scriptorium. Madrid: Testimonio, 2002.

“La Desdicha de la Voz”, reproduced here in a deluxe facsimile edition from Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s autograph manuscript, is one of the most important and well known comedies of the great Spanish dramaturge. This publication commemorates the fourth centenary of the playwright’s birth. Commentary and edition by José María Díez Borque. Limited edition of 980 copies, bound in full leather with generous tooling. €650 [84-95767-20-1] 

[Calderón de la Barca, Pedro]
Calderón de la Barca: “El secreto a voces”.
Colección Scriptorium. Madrid: Testimonio, 2000.

Another one of Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s great intrigue comedies, reproduced in a deluxe facsimile edition from his autograph manuscript. Published on the ocassion of the fourth centenary of the playwright’s birth. Commentary and edition by José María Díez Borque. Limited edition of 980 copies, bound in full leather with generous tooling. €650 [84-95767-02-3] 

[Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de]
El ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha.
Colección Scriptorium. Madrid: Testimonio, 2005.

Special commemorative facsimile edition celebrating the 400th anniversary of the first edition of this enormously important milestone in Spanish literature. Deluxe limited edition of 980 copies, bound in full leather with generous tooling. [84-86290-89-9] 

[Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de]
2° parte del ingenioso caballero Don Quijote de la Mancha.
Colección Scriptorium. Madrid: Testimonio, 2005.

Part II of the first edition. €1050  

Colonna, Francesco.
Hypnerotomachia poliphili (Venetiis, Aldo Manuzio, 1499). With an Introduction by Peter Dronke. [original: Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid, I-1324].
Colección Mnemósine, 1. Zaragoza: Las Ediciones del Pórtico, 1981. 22 x 32 cm, 75, 465 pp.

One of the most beautiful books of the Venetian Renaissance, illustrated by 172 masterly woodcuts executed by an unknown artist, "Hypnerotomachia poliphili" tells the story of a quest for lost love (the tongue twisting "hypnerotomachia" poetically translates as the "strife of love in a dream". The text is written in an odd hybrid of Latin vocabulary imposed upon Italian syntax. Limited edition of 500 copies, bound in linen. €75  

Crane, Stephen.
The Red Badge of Courage. A Facsimile Edition of the Manuscript. Edited with an Introduction and Apparatus by Fredson Bowers.
Washington, D.C: NCR/Microcard Editions, 1973. 20 x 28 cm, 2 vols, 124, 263 pp.

Halftone of the autograph with critical commentary. Handsome red linen with slipcase.  

[Croft, P.J., ed.]
Autograph Poetry in the English Language. Facsimile of Original Manuscripts from the Fourteenth to the Twentieth Century. Compiled and Edited with an Introduction, Commentary and Transcripts by P.J. Croft.
London: Cassell, 1973. 26 x 34 cm, 2 vols, xxiii, 96; vii, 104 pp.

Major anthology of poetry from the British Isles with 146 halftone illustrations. Cloth, with slipcase. op$95   

[Dickinson, Emily]
The Manuscript Books of Emily Dickinson. A Facsimile Edition Edited by Ralph Franklin.
Cambridge: Havard University Press, 1981. 2 vols, 1350 pp.

Here are 1,147 poems, as Dickinson herself “published” them, writing them in ink and arranging them in sewn packets of fascicles. Preserved in every personal detail, from alternate readings and penciled revisions to sewing holes and inkspots, these poems are presented for the first time in their original sequence and chronology. Harbound  

Egenolf von Staufenberg.
Die Geschichte vom Ritter Peter. Vollständiges Faksimile der Inkunabel von 1483.
Stuttgart: Verlag Müller & Schindler, 1975. 16 x 27 cm, 32, 36 pp.

 

[Vic (Catalunya), Biblioteca Episcopal, ms. 88]
Documentos del Cid en el Archivo Histórico Nacional.
Colección Grandes Documentos Históricos. Barcelona: Liber Millennium, 2007. 10 documents, various sizes.

A portfolio of documents issued on the 800th anniversary of the poem of El Cid. Limited edition of 995 copies. €1475  

Eyb, Albrecht von.
Ob einem manne sey zunemen ein eelichs weyb oder nicht. Mit einem Vorwort zum Neudruck von Helmut Weinacht.
Texte zur Forschung, 36. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1982. xxxii, 118 pp.

Line-cut of the 1472 incunabulum. Wrappers. [3-534-08041-6] 

Ficoroni, Francesco de.
De larvis scenicis et figuris comicis de Francesco de Ficoroni, Roma, 1754.
Burgos: Siloé, Arte y Bibliofilia, 8°, 312 pp.

978-84-934894-0-3 

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von.
Faust. Erster Teil. Faksimile der Erstausgabe.
Frankfurt: Insel-Verlag, 1976. 8º, 310 pp.

[3-458-14901-5] 

[Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von.
Faust. Zweiter Teil. Faksimile der Erstausgabe; Erläuterungsband: Texte und Zeugnisse zur Entstehungs- und Wirkungsgeschichte herausgegeben von Jörn Göres.
Frankfurt: Insel-Verlag, 1975. 8º, 344, 144 pp.

[3-458-14902-3] 

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von.
“Hier schicke ich einen Traum”. 50 Geschenk- und Albumblätter. Faksimile im Lichtdruck, teils mehrfärbig.
Frankfurt: Insel-Verlag, 1982. 30 x 40 cm, 50, xxxii pp.

[3-458-14041-7] 

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von.
Die Leiden des jungen Werthers. Faksimile der Erstausgabe.
Leipzig: Insel-Verlag, 1968. 8º, 234 pp.

 

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von.
Sammelhandschriften Goethescher Gedichte. Faksimile, mit einem Kommentarband herausgegeben von Karl-Heinz Hahn.
Frankfurt: Insel-Verlag, 1984. 2 vols, 186, 130 pp.

[3-458-14187-1] 

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von.
Schulhefte.
Stuttgart: Verlag Müller & Schindler, c.1972. 16 x 22 cm, 270, 32 pp.

 

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von.
West-östlicher Divan. Faksimile der ab 1814 entstandenen Handschriften. Herausgegeben von Karl-Heinz Hahn. Transkription und Kommentar von Kartharina Mommsen.
Leipzig: Edition Leipzig, 1996. 25 x 37 cm, 150, 180 pp.

 

Gottsched, Johann Christoph.
Versuch einer critischen Dichtkunst durchgehends mit den Exempeln unserer besten Dichter erläutert.
Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1982. xxxii, 808 pp.

Line-cut of the Leipzig, 1751 edition. Wrappers. [3-534-01328-X] 

[Gotha, Forschungs- & Landesbibliothek, Poes. 2014/5 Rara]
Ein kurtzweilig lesen von Dil Ulenspiegel. In der Ausgabe Straßburg, Johannes Grüninger, 1519. Farbmikrofiche-Edition des Exemplars der Forschungs- & Landesbibliothek Gotha, Poes.2014/5 Rara. Einführung zum Text & Beschreibung des Drucks von Jürgen Schulz-Grobert.
Monumenta Xylographica et Typographica, 4. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 1995. 17 x 25 cm, 46 pp, 3 fiches.

This early print of the anonymous satirical tales of Till Eulenspiegel, the joker, was produced in 1519 by the famous workshop of Johannes Grüninger at Strasbourg. It is the only extant copy of this edition that is derived directly from the first print (extant fragments) of 1510/11 rather than of the print of 1515 (only extant copy London, British Library, C 57, c 23,1). The 95 (of originally 96) roguish histories centered on clerical as well as secular figures representing all social levels are illustrated by 87 woodcuts at the beginnings of most chapters. Hans Baldung Grien who was a follower of Albrecht Dürer and worked since 1509 at Strasbourg participated in the the woodcuts. The woodcut of the title page shows his sign. Linen. €235 [3-89219-404-1]  (more info... )

Gutenberg, Johannes.
Der Türkenkalender (Eyn manung der cristenheit widder die durken). Mainz: Erste Druckerei des Johannes Gutenberg, Dezember 1454. In Faksimile herausgegeben. Das älteste vollständig erhaltene gedruckte Buch.
Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 1975. 8º, 54, 12 pp.

This turkish calendar was the first printed book of Johannes Gutenberg, December 1454. It represents the oldest known typographical German publication (the calendar belongs to the year 1455). [3-920153-36-7] 

[Heidelberg, Universitätsbibliothek, cpg 438]
Die Zehn Gebote / Beicht- und Sündenspiegel; Bibia pauperum – Totentanz; Symbolum apostolicum; Septimania poenalis – Planetenbuch; Fabel vom Kranken Löwen – Dekalog. Farbmikrofiche-Edition der Handschrift und der Blockbücher in dem Cod. Pal. Germ. 438 der Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg. Beschreibung des Sammelbandes von Wilfried Werner.
Monumenta Xylographica et Typographica, 3. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 1994. 17 x 25 cm, 58 pp, 6 fiches (x60).

Contains the versified interpretation of the 10 Commandments (“Dy czehen gebott…”) in MS, combined with a confessional speculum, and tract on the seven deadly sins, with 74 full-page tinted pen-drawings showing banderols with inscriptions and rubricated headings. These hitherto unpublished texts are important, especially for the history of canon law, because they contain many quotations from traditional authorities (mostly from Augustinus and from the Ius canonicum) regarding decisions of punishment, as well as didactic and moralizing commentaries on current superstitious and magic practice and folkloristic customs. There follows 7 blockbooks: 1) Biblia pauperum, with 34 colored plates; 2) Totentanz (Ed. I), with 26 colored plates with pictures showing the clerical ranking from pope down to priest and nun, the secular ranking from emperor to farmer, and mother and child; 3) Symbolum apostolicum (Ed. II), with 8 colored plates); 4) Septimania poenalis, a book of weekly prayer and penance in memory of Christ’s Passion, with 5 colored plates; 5) Planetenbuch (Ed. I), with 4 colored plates; 6) Fabel vom kranken Löwen, 9 xylographic colored plates, supplemented by handwritten texts on verso-pages; 7) Dekalogn (Ten Commandments), with 10 colored plates. Watermarks indicated a date between 1455 and 1458. Linen. €350 [3-89219-403-3]  (more info... )

Joyce, James.
Giacomo Joyce by James Joyce. With an Introduction and Notes by Richard Ellmmann.
New York: Viking Press, 1968. 16 x 23 cm, xxvii, 16, 16 pp.

First edition with four full-scale facsimile pages from the manuscript and reduced reproductions of the other pages. Special limited edition.  

Kant, Immanuel.
Vorlesungen über die Metaphysik.
Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1988. iv, lxiv, 345 pp.

Line-cut of the 1821 edition. Linen. [3-534-01480-4] 

Kleist, Heinrich von.
Penthesilea. Faksimile der Erstausgabe.
Frankfurt: Insel-Verlag, 1980. 8º, 180 pp.

 

[Ludwig I, Fürst von Anhalt-Köthen]
Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft. Der Fruchtbringenden Gesellschaft geöffneter Erzschrein. Das Köthener Gesellschaftsbuch Fürst Ludwigs I. von Anhalt-Köthen. Faksimile.
Leipzig: Edition Leipzig, 1985. 15 x 20 cm, 3 vols, 414, 412, 680 pp.

Linen, with slipcase.  

[Manutius, Aldus, printer]
The Collected Works of Plato.
Athens: Militos Editions, 2002. 19.5 x 29.5 cm. 1,000 pp.

A faithful copy of the original that was created in Venice in 1513 at the printing house of the famous humanist-typographer Aldus Manutius. Bibliophile edition of 3000 copies. €180   

Moritz, Karl Philipp.
Neues ABC-Buch: Faksimile der Ausgabe von 1794 mit Illustrationen von Peter Haas / Kinderlogik: Faksimile der Erstgabe von 1786 mit Illustrationen von Daniel Chodowiecki. Nachwort von Horst Günther.
Frankfurt: Insel-Verlag, 1980. 8º, 52, 200 pp.

 

Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm.
Ecce homo. Faksimile der Handschrift aus den Beständen des Goethe- und Schiller-Archivs, Weimar. Herausgegeben von Karl-Heinz Hahn und Mazzino Montinari, Transkription von Anneliese Claus.
Manu scripta, 2. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 1985. 25 x 37 cm, 104, 108, 90 pp.

 

Pinder, Ulrich.
Speculum passionis. Neudruck der 1663 in Salzburg erschienenen Ausgabe mit kompleter Wiedergabe der Holzschnitte aus der 1507 in Nürnberg erschienenen Ausgabe. Mit Kommentaren von Helmar Junghans und Christa-Maria Dreissiger.
1986: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 4º, 460 & 70, 63 pp.

The facsimile edition unites the Latin edition of 1507 (with 70 woodcuts) and the first German translation of the works published in 1663.  

Pope, Alexander.
Court Eclogs Written in the Year, 1716. Alexander Pope’s Autograph Manuscript of Poems by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Edited by Robert Halsband.
New York: New York Public Library, 1977. 17 x 26 cm, x, 69 pp.

Limited numbered edition of 500 copies. Quarter linen $50   

[Quevedo, Francisco de]
El Buscón de Don Franciso de Quevedo y Villegas. [Fundación Lázaro Galdiano, Madrid, ms. 15513].
Barcelona: Liber Millennium, 2002. 7 x 10.5 cm.

Ms “B” of this seminal work from the Spanish literary Golden Age. Limited edition of 995 copies. €900   

Rilke, Rainer Maria.
Das Testament. Faksimile der Handschrift aus dem Nachlaß. Im Anhang Transkription der Handschrift, Erläuterungen und Nachwort von Ernst Zinn.
Frankfurt: Insel-Verlag, 1974. 164 pp.

$62  [3-458-15899-5] 

Schiller, Friedrich.
Die Räuber. Faksimile der Erstausgabe.
Frankfurt: Insel-Verlag, 1980. 8º, 234 pp.

$90  [978-3-458-14928-6] 

Von Arnim, Gisela.
Märchenbriefe an Achim. Faksimile der Handschriften. Transkription und Kommenar von Shawn C. Jarvis.
Leipzig: Edition Leipzig, 1991 30 x 42 cm, 92, 16 pp.

 

[Whitman, Walt]
Walt Whitman’s Blue Book.
New York: New York Public Library, 1968.

Cloth. $60   

[Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, 296.3 Hist.2°]
Vegetius Renatus, Flavius. Von der Ritterschaft. Aus dem Lateinischen übertragen von Ludwig Hohenwang. In der Ausgabe Augsburg, Johann Wiener, 1475/76. Farbmikrofiche-Edition des Exemplars der Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel, 296.3 Hist.2º. Einführung zum Werk und zur Druckgeschichte von Frank Fürbeth. Beschreibung des Bildkatalogs kriegstechnischer Geräte von Rainer Leng.
Monumenta Xylographica et Typographica, 6. Munich: Edition Helga Lengenfelder, 2002. 17 x 25 cm, 79 pp, 4 fiches (x60).

Produced by Johann Wiener at Augsburg. The oldest printed book with technical illustrations in the German language, an almost complete translation of Vegetius’ 4th-c. manual “Epitoma rei militaris”, widely disseminated in Europe up to the middle ages. Treated are all aspects of the military knowledge—scientia rei bellicae—of the Romans, and systematically organized in 4 main chapters with many sections: I) Education of young warriors, II) The army, its divisions, organization of battles, weapons, III) Logistics for the army moving forward, preparations for the field battle, and tactical reflections, IV) Fortification of places, preparation of defenses, and instruments and possibilities of siege; naval battles. Newly added is a dictionary of German military terms to the fourth chapter by the translator Ludwig Hohenwang. The most important enlargement of this incunabula is a supplement of 61 full-page colored woodcuts presenting in details weapons, including fire arms, and instruments that could serve for attack or for defense of fortified cities. Hohenwang explained the reason for this picture catalog in his preface: “Wann aber mangerlai gerist, bolwerck, vnd gebew, in dem vierden buch begriffen ist, Vnd kain sach gancz klarlich durch bedeutnuß der wort als durch zaigen ains monsters begriffen beschriben vnd bedewt mag werden, darumb hab ich das funft buch geseczet mit figuren dar zu gehoerend…“. The woodcuts are copied from ‘De re militari’ by the Italian Roberto Valturio, printed 1472 in Verona. Linen. €275 [3-89219-406-8]  (more info... )

[Wordsworth, William]
The Manuscript of William Wordsworth’s “Poems, in Two Volumes”. A Facsimile with an Introduction by Hilton Kelliher.
London: British Library, 1984. 23 x 36 cm, 328 pp.

£75  [0-7123-0036-8]