A leaf from the Chester Beatty Bible and another from the Geraardsbergen/Grammont Abbey Bible, in Latin, two leaves from large illuminated manuscripts on vellum [late twelfth century and c.1300]

two leaves: (a) leaf from the Chester Beatty Bible (opening the second Epistle of Peter), 332mm. by 225mm., large historiated initial ‘S’ in blue on a light pink ground with white penwork and a bar-border in the same including the head of a dragon, enclosing the figure of St. Peter holding a large key, all against a blue ground, double column, 40 lines, written in a fine gothic bookhand, written space 225mm. by 245mm., headings and chapter numbers alternately in red and blue, capitals stroked in red, rubrics in red, 2-line initials in red with purple pen-flourishing or blue with red pen-flourishing with half fleur-de-lys extensions, vellum slightly cockled, in good condition, south-western France, c.1300; (b) text leaf from the Geraardsbergen/Grammont Abbey Bible (Acts of the Apostles, 10:44-12:21), 452mm. by 310mm., double column, 41 lines, written in dark brown ink in a fine and large late Romanesque hand, written space 327mm. by 211mm., headings in red, capitals stroked in red, rubrics in red, 2-line initials in red or blue with contrasting penwork, in good condition preserving prickings in all four margins, Geraardsbergen/Grammont, near Cambrai, late twelfth century

Item (a) is from a Bible formerly Phillipps MS.2506, then Chester Beatty MS.W.173; his sale in our rooms, 24 June 1969, lot 57, and subsequently dispersed. Item (b) is an otherwise unrecorded leaf from the monumental four-volume Bible of Geraardsbergen/Grammont Abbey. Volumes one and four are presumed lost, while volume two is in the Schøyen Collection, London and Oslo, MS.6/2. Volume three was partly broken by Dr.Walter Eichenberger, and the residue sold in our rooms, 24 June 1986, lot 78, and now also Schøyen Collection, MS.6/1.