Origen, In Leviticum Homiliae, in the Latin translation of Rufinus, single leaf from a large manuscript on vellum

Estimate

1,200 - 1,800 GBP

bidding is closed

Description

a single leaf, 356mm. by 258mm., double column, 41 lines, ruled in blind, written-space 262mm. by 197mm., written in brown ink in a small and extremely fine late Carolingian minuscule, a 4-line heading in red capitals, opening words of text in red, very large initial ‘Q’ (“Qui perfectus est ab ipso …”), 75mm. by 76mm. with descender bringing the height to 135mm., the initial drawn in red ink and formed of elaborate interlaced plant stems with the descender formed of a long-necked bird, first lines erased for the insertion of the date ‘1535’ (repeated at foot) when the leaf was used as a wrapper around a binding, consequent wear and staining, outer corners defective with some loss of text at top, the initial rubbed and rather smudged, blue cloth folder, morocco title label gilt

Catalogue Note

Boehlen Collection, MS 0900 ES. Previously in the collection of Mark Lansburgh, deposited at Colorado College, and described in M. Lansburgh, ‘The Drawing Collection at The Colorado College’, The Art Journal, XXIX, 1970, fig.2. The recto is from homily XII of Rufinus’ translation of Origen, and the verso from the opening of homily XIII with a very large Ottonian initial, “Qui ‘perfectus’ est, ab ipso deo …”.