Romanesque Lives of Saints - photo 1
Romanesque Lives of Saints - photo 2
Romanesque Lives of Saints - photo 3
Romanesque Lives of Saints - photo 4

Romanesque Lives of Saints

Lot 38
12.12.2022 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 882
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 869434
Lot 38 | Romanesque Lives of Saints
Estimate value
£ 2 500 – 3 500
Romanesque Lives of Saints
Two fragments of bifolia of the Lives of Sts Sylvester, Felix, and Marcellus in Latin, manuscript on vellum [Germany, first(?) quarter 12th century].
Written in a very fine and regular romanesque bookhand.

Each c.215 × 235mm. Up to 25 lines per page survive, written in a very fine and regular romanesque bookhand, the text comprising parts of the Lives of Sts Sylvester and Felix on one fragment, and Sts Sylvester and Marcel on the other; their feast-days were 31 December, 14 January, and 16 January (the more legible sides: ‘ut eum colatis qui dixerunt […] Explicit passio sancti Felicis presbiteri. [Incipit …] sancti Cyriaci archidiaconi sociorumque eius’, Acta Sanctorum, p. 951, and ‘autem & Torquatus sacrifican\te/s et invocantes […] gradu per planum ac luci dum iter’; ‘Maximianus. Quid vocaris? Respondit. Ego peccator Sisinnius servus servorum domini Ihesu Christi […] Et dixit ei Sisinnius diaconus. Illuminet’, and ‘uestra legem Christianam accepit […] humana cessare. Dixit ei sanctus Silvest|’) (recovered from use as pastedowns in a volume bound in tanned leather, with consequent stains, wear, etc., and cropped at the top and to one side with the loss of some text, the surviving text almost entirely legible).

Provenance:
(1) Philip Bliss (1787–1857), Under-Librarian of the Bodleian Library from 1822-1828, Registrar of Oxford University from 1824-1853, Keeper of the University Archives from 1826-1857 and Principal of St Mary Hall from 1848-1857. His collection of leaves was sold at Sotheby’s, 21 August 1858, lots 100 and 119, where acquired by:
(2) Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792–1872), English antiquary and book collector who amassed the largest collection of manuscript material in the 19th century. Bliss’s collection of leaves became at least partially MS 18133 in the Phillipps library. Sold at Sotheby’s, 24 April 1911, lot 390, where acquired by:
(3) Edmund Hunt Dring (1863–1928), the first managing director of Bernard Quaritch Ltd.
(4) Edmund Maxwell 'Ted' Dring (1906–1990), senior director of Bernard Quaritch.
(5) Bernard Quaritch, Catalogue 1036: Medieval Manuscript Leaves, Principally from a Collection Formed in the 19th Century: Bookhands of the Middle Ages [I] (London, 1984), no 88 (with full-page pl.).
(6) Colker MS 332; acquired in 1984 from Quaritch.
Genre:Religious genre
Place of origin:Germany
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
28.11.2022 – 12.12.2022
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.
?>