Religious Texts
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Chronology : 1 to 1000 14th century 15th century 1430-1459 1460-1479 1480-1499 16th century 1500-1519 1520-1539 17th century 1640-1659
Chronology : 1 to 1000 14th century 15th century 1430-1459 1460-1479 1480-1499 16th century 1500-1519 1520-1539 17th century 1640-1659
Qur'an Leaf 2nd half of 1st century AH
2008 SOLD for £ 2.5M including premium by Christie's
Link to catalogue.
< 835 The School of the Gospels
2015 SOLD for £ 2M including premium
The Christian texts, mainly Gospel books and sacramentaries, were copied by scribes for being used by bishops and abbeys. Desiring to match the luxury and reputation of Constantinople, Charlemagne conducted political reforms that offered a considerable originality in terms of culture.
Unlike their predecessors the Merovingians, the Carolingians did not neglect the role of the Church. The creation of a religious teaching in 789 clearly identified its purpose to combat ignorance and had as a direct consequence an increase in the activity of the copyists.
Metz is not far from Aachen, and Charlemagne created in that city one of his imperial necropoles. The place that included many abbeys became an important intellectual center. Drogo, an illegitimate son of Charlemagne, became bishop of Metz in 823. His masterpiece, unfinished at his death in 855, is an illuminated book of prayers.
For several centuries, the Gospel books included the four Gospels with prefaces and comments, preceded by a Canon table for the concordance between the texts and followed by a capitulary with the list of celebrations. The four elements of the Canon table are separated within an arched portico lavishly painted.
On July 15 in London, Christie's sells a remarkably complete manuscript on vellum in very good condition, known as the Gospels of Queen Theutberga, lot 20 estimated £ 1M.
This book was made in the early ninth century, most likely in Metz. Despite the luxury scripts, it does not include decorative initials, increasing its presumption of a very ancient execution. The list of celebrations do not mention the feast of All Saints which became an obligation of the official liturgy in 835.
Unlike their predecessors the Merovingians, the Carolingians did not neglect the role of the Church. The creation of a religious teaching in 789 clearly identified its purpose to combat ignorance and had as a direct consequence an increase in the activity of the copyists.
Metz is not far from Aachen, and Charlemagne created in that city one of his imperial necropoles. The place that included many abbeys became an important intellectual center. Drogo, an illegitimate son of Charlemagne, became bishop of Metz in 823. His masterpiece, unfinished at his death in 855, is an illuminated book of prayers.
For several centuries, the Gospel books included the four Gospels with prefaces and comments, preceded by a Canon table for the concordance between the texts and followed by a capitulary with the list of celebrations. The four elements of the Canon table are separated within an arched portico lavishly painted.
On July 15 in London, Christie's sells a remarkably complete manuscript on vellum in very good condition, known as the Gospels of Queen Theutberga, lot 20 estimated £ 1M.
This book was made in the early ninth century, most likely in Metz. Despite the luxury scripts, it does not include decorative initials, increasing its presumption of a very ancient execution. The list of celebrations do not mention the feast of All Saints which became an obligation of the official liturgy in 835.
July 15: #Gospels of Queen Theutberga [#Metz, c.825-850]. One of the best-preserved 9th-C. #manuscripts in existence. pic.twitter.com/IKj8b3I2GG
— Christie's Books (@ChristiesBKS) June 2, 20151189 The Five Books of Moses
2015 SOLD for $ 3.6M including premium
The Pentateuch or Torah consists of the five books of the Law attributed to Moses. They are the basic texts of the Hebrew Bible.
The first sale of the Valmadonna Trust Library by Sotheby's in New York on December 22 includes three European manuscripts among the oldest that survived the persecutions. They have the usual original textual additions : the major commentaries or Masorah magna in the header and footer and the minor commentaries or Masorah parva in the intervals between the columns.
One of them is dated exactly of 15 Tammuz 4949, corresponding to July 2, 1189 of our calendar. This manuscript of 482 pages 28 x 31 cm is made of the Pentateuch, the Haftarot (books of the Prophets) and the Five Songs. Scholars locate it in England through paleographic considerations and by the presence of Anglo-Norman words in some marginal notes.
1189 was a terrible year for the English Jews who were victims of riots at the coronation of Richard I. Their manuscripts were considered as a wealth and were looted. Very few Jewish belongings escaped this event followed a century later by the expulsion of the Jews from England. This highly rare medieval English Pentateuch in beautiful condition is estimated $ 2M, lot 7.
In the manuscript at lot 6, estimated $ 1.5M, the Pentateuch and Haftarot with both types of Masorah are accompanied by the Targum which is the Aramaic translation of the Pentateuch. Undated, it may be contemporary to the English manuscript discussed above. Its writing is Ashkenazic and a Franco-German origin is assumed.
Lot 5, estimated $ 1M, is considered as the oldest manuscript from the Valmadonna Trust Library although it does not anticipate the other two by more than a few decades. This manuscript in Sephardic writing was done in Spain. It is limited to the Pentateuch and its two Masorah.
RESULTS
Lot 7 (English, 1189) SOLD for $ 3.6M including premium
Lots 5 and 6 unsold
The first sale of the Valmadonna Trust Library by Sotheby's in New York on December 22 includes three European manuscripts among the oldest that survived the persecutions. They have the usual original textual additions : the major commentaries or Masorah magna in the header and footer and the minor commentaries or Masorah parva in the intervals between the columns.
One of them is dated exactly of 15 Tammuz 4949, corresponding to July 2, 1189 of our calendar. This manuscript of 482 pages 28 x 31 cm is made of the Pentateuch, the Haftarot (books of the Prophets) and the Five Songs. Scholars locate it in England through paleographic considerations and by the presence of Anglo-Norman words in some marginal notes.
1189 was a terrible year for the English Jews who were victims of riots at the coronation of Richard I. Their manuscripts were considered as a wealth and were looted. Very few Jewish belongings escaped this event followed a century later by the expulsion of the Jews from England. This highly rare medieval English Pentateuch in beautiful condition is estimated $ 2M, lot 7.
In the manuscript at lot 6, estimated $ 1.5M, the Pentateuch and Haftarot with both types of Masorah are accompanied by the Targum which is the Aramaic translation of the Pentateuch. Undated, it may be contemporary to the English manuscript discussed above. Its writing is Ashkenazic and a Franco-German origin is assumed.
Lot 5, estimated $ 1M, is considered as the oldest manuscript from the Valmadonna Trust Library although it does not anticipate the other two by more than a few decades. This manuscript in Sephardic writing was done in Spain. It is limited to the Pentateuch and its two Masorah.
RESULTS
Lot 7 (English, 1189) SOLD for $ 3.6M including premium
Lots 5 and 6 unsold
That last just sold for $3 million pic.twitter.com/ZDAe1qPhit
— Mitch Fraas (@MitchFraas) December 22, 20151345 The Lotus Sutra
2016 SOLD for HK$ 31.6M including premium
The Lotus Sutra is a fundamental text of Mahayana Buddhism, announcing the eternal nature of Buddha and defining the bodhisattvas. Translated into Chinese, it is the basis of the teaching of Buddhism in the Far East. All living beings can attain the quality of a bodhisattva. The white lotus is an immaculate flower that manages to thrive while having its root in the mud.
On May 30 in Hong Kong, Sotheby's sells as lot 368 a set of seven calligraphic albums 32 x 22 cm with fifty to sixty leaves each, constituting the whole of this sutra in the translation of Kumarajiva which was one of the earliest. Its writing in gold on dark blue paper displays an extreme luxury. The seventh album is dated to the fifth year of the Zhizheng period corresponding to 1345 in our calendar.
Under the Mongolian Yuan dynasty, Buddhism has almost the rank of an official religion in China. Zhizheng is the fourth era of the reign of Toghon Temür. Korea was a vassal state of the Yuan. Its king belonged to the Goryeo Dynasty.
The 28th Goryeo king had ceased to please the powerful Emperor of China, but all hopes were placed in his eldest son pushed to the throne in 1344 at the age of six. The Sutra manuscript was certainly prepared for the use of the young prince who died after a reign of four years.
On May 30 in Hong Kong, Sotheby's sells as lot 368 a set of seven calligraphic albums 32 x 22 cm with fifty to sixty leaves each, constituting the whole of this sutra in the translation of Kumarajiva which was one of the earliest. Its writing in gold on dark blue paper displays an extreme luxury. The seventh album is dated to the fifth year of the Zhizheng period corresponding to 1345 in our calendar.
Under the Mongolian Yuan dynasty, Buddhism has almost the rank of an official religion in China. Zhizheng is the fourth era of the reign of Toghon Temür. Korea was a vassal state of the Yuan. Its king belonged to the Goryeo Dynasty.
The 28th Goryeo king had ceased to please the powerful Emperor of China, but all hopes were placed in his eldest son pushed to the throne in 1344 at the age of six. The Sutra manuscript was certainly prepared for the use of the young prince who died after a reign of four years.
1430 Imperial Wisdom
2018 SOLD for HK$ 240M including premium
The calligraphy of the Sutras of Mahayana Buddhism is an act of piety welcomed for education and enlightenment. When the patron or the user is an emperor, the manuscript reaches a luxury unmatched in its class.
A gold ink on dark blue paper is sumptuous. A Lotus Sutra handwritten in 1345 CE for the education of a child emperor of Korea was sold for HK $ 31.6M including premium by Sotheby's on May 30, 2016. The lot consisted of seven big albums.
Buddhism is essential for the consolidation of the Ming dynasty. After the death of the warrior emperor Yongle, his Buddhist advisers organize a period of peace. The very short reign of the Hongxi emperor initiates the necessary reforms. His son the Xuande emperor can satisfy his artistic talents and grant to Buddhism a preference devoid from political intents.
During the fifth year of his reign, 1430 CE, Xuande commissioned an Elder of the State named Huijin to calligraphy four great Sutras. The paper is covered with dark indigo ink mixed with goat brain. This thick, brilliant and strong layer allows the gold to stay on the surface without diffusing into the paper fibers. This biological constituent is an emulsifier similar to egg white in the tempera paint.
All the four Sutras are realized. Two are kept at the National Palace Museum in Taipei. The third was probably early lost in a fire after being presented to a monastery founded with Xuande's sponsorship.
Two cases containing five consecutive albums each from the Sutra of transcendent wisdom or prajnaparamita have survived. In addition to the calligraphy, the work includes illustrations in thin gold lines of Buddhist, imperial and esoteric figures including Buddhas, dragons and demons. This set will be sold by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on April 3, lot 101. The rest of this very long Sutra is lost.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
A gold ink on dark blue paper is sumptuous. A Lotus Sutra handwritten in 1345 CE for the education of a child emperor of Korea was sold for HK $ 31.6M including premium by Sotheby's on May 30, 2016. The lot consisted of seven big albums.
Buddhism is essential for the consolidation of the Ming dynasty. After the death of the warrior emperor Yongle, his Buddhist advisers organize a period of peace. The very short reign of the Hongxi emperor initiates the necessary reforms. His son the Xuande emperor can satisfy his artistic talents and grant to Buddhism a preference devoid from political intents.
During the fifth year of his reign, 1430 CE, Xuande commissioned an Elder of the State named Huijin to calligraphy four great Sutras. The paper is covered with dark indigo ink mixed with goat brain. This thick, brilliant and strong layer allows the gold to stay on the surface without diffusing into the paper fibers. This biological constituent is an emulsifier similar to egg white in the tempera paint.
All the four Sutras are realized. Two are kept at the National Palace Museum in Taipei. The third was probably early lost in a fire after being presented to a monastery founded with Xuande's sponsorship.
Two cases containing five consecutive albums each from the Sutra of transcendent wisdom or prajnaparamita have survived. In addition to the calligraphy, the work includes illustrations in thin gold lines of Buddhist, imperial and esoteric figures including Buddhas, dragons and demons. This set will be sold by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on April 3, lot 101. The rest of this very long Sutra is lost.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
1455 Gutenberg Bible
1987 SOLD for $ 5.4M including premium by Christie's
1471-1476 The Chapel of the Condottieri
2018 SOLD for € 2.2M including premium
Francesco Sforza was a very successful condottiere who managed to establish his dynasty in Milan in succession to the Visconti whose heiress he married. His son Galeazzo Maria succeeded him as Duke of Milan in 1466, aged 22.
Galeazzo Maria Sforza was a true prince of the Renaissance, altogether humanistic and perverse. He early deserved his reputation for lust and sadism. At the same time the best musicians were coming in his ducal chapel to sing and compose masses and motets.
A large size illuminated manuscript made for the young Duke was sold for £ 1.22M including premium by Christie's on July 6, 2011 over a lower estimate of £ 600K. It is estimated € 600K for sale by OVA Aristophil operated by Aguttes in Paris Hôtel Drouot on June 16, lot 22.
This very large book 35 x 24 cm could be read on a lectern in a chapel. The luxurious layout is of a great originality. The illuminations are from the hand of an artist identified as the Maestro d'Ippolita after a work done in 1465 for the wedding of Ippolita Sforza.
These Sforza's Great Hours for the use of Rome are mainly dedicated to the Virgin, in Latin with a few minor texts in Italian. The ducal emblems and monograms displayed in various parts of the book assess that its magnificence is intended for Duke Galeazzo Maria himself.
One page refers to Sixtus IV, allowing to date the book between the election of this pope in 1471 and the murder of Galeazzo Maria in 1476.
Galeazzo Maria Sforza was a true prince of the Renaissance, altogether humanistic and perverse. He early deserved his reputation for lust and sadism. At the same time the best musicians were coming in his ducal chapel to sing and compose masses and motets.
A large size illuminated manuscript made for the young Duke was sold for £ 1.22M including premium by Christie's on July 6, 2011 over a lower estimate of £ 600K. It is estimated € 600K for sale by OVA Aristophil operated by Aguttes in Paris Hôtel Drouot on June 16, lot 22.
This very large book 35 x 24 cm could be read on a lectern in a chapel. The luxurious layout is of a great originality. The illuminations are from the hand of an artist identified as the Maestro d'Ippolita after a work done in 1465 for the wedding of Ippolita Sforza.
These Sforza's Great Hours for the use of Rome are mainly dedicated to the Virgin, in Latin with a few minor texts in Italian. The ducal emblems and monograms displayed in various parts of the book assess that its magnificence is intended for Duke Galeazzo Maria himself.
One page refers to Sixtus IV, allowing to date the book between the election of this pope in 1471 and the murder of Galeazzo Maria in 1476.
La session estivale des ventes #Aristophil débute le 16 juin à 14h30 chez @Aguttes_ @Drouot. Entre les lettres de Marie de Médicis et François Ier, on retrouvera le chef-d’oeuvre d’enluminures « Les Grandes Heures de Galeazzo Maria Sforza » https://t.co/AjQQY7hdck pic.twitter.com/TYZkERxWg0
— AuctionLab (@byAuctionLab) June 5, 2018
1482 The Torah of the Quattrocento
2014 SOLD 2.8 M€ including premium
The Torah is a holy text whose writing on scroll must follow a meticulous rite. The invention of printing did however encourage the publication of Jewish books.
The Mishneh Torah is not for ritual use. This is a repetition of the Torah. One of them handwritten in Italy around 1460 in a book format was discussed in this column one year ago. Beautifully illuminated, it was made at a time when printing in Hebrew characters was not yet developed.
This prestigious book whose other volume is kept by the Vatican Library was withdrawn just before the auction to be sold jointly to the Israel Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Jews quickly feel the need of the printed book to share their learning. It is not a coincidence that their earliest printed book is not a Torah but a comment by Rashi. It was edited in Reggio di Calabria in 1475.
The most important Jewish book printed at that time is also not ritual. Made in Bologna in 1482, it was the first one to gather the five books of the Pentateuch, on 438 pages. The center of the page displays the sacred text which is surrounded by Rashi's comments. This book also includes some Hebrew words illuminated in gold on a dark blue background.
A copy on vellum is estimated € 1M for sale by Christie's in Paris on April 30. Here is the link to the Bloomberg story releasing this information.
POST SALE COMMENT
There was no doubt that this book is exceptional. It was sold for € 2.8M including premium.
The Mishneh Torah is not for ritual use. This is a repetition of the Torah. One of them handwritten in Italy around 1460 in a book format was discussed in this column one year ago. Beautifully illuminated, it was made at a time when printing in Hebrew characters was not yet developed.
This prestigious book whose other volume is kept by the Vatican Library was withdrawn just before the auction to be sold jointly to the Israel Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Jews quickly feel the need of the printed book to share their learning. It is not a coincidence that their earliest printed book is not a Torah but a comment by Rashi. It was edited in Reggio di Calabria in 1475.
The most important Jewish book printed at that time is also not ritual. Made in Bologna in 1482, it was the first one to gather the five books of the Pentateuch, on 438 pages. The center of the page displays the sacred text which is surrounded by Rashi's comments. This book also includes some Hebrew words illuminated in gold on a dark blue background.
A copy on vellum is estimated € 1M for sale by Christie's in Paris on April 30. Here is the link to the Bloomberg story releasing this information.
POST SALE COMMENT
There was no doubt that this book is exceptional. It was sold for € 2.8M including premium.
Past sales: an exceptional #Torah - the 1st appearance in print of the complete #Pentateuch: http://t.co/C70yK5GeDu pic.twitter.com/DgvyQ7d1Iq
— Christie's Books (@ChristiesBKS) March 28, 20151495 The System of the Hours
2018 SOLD for € 4.3M including premium
At the time of Jean Fouquet, Tours is the great French artistic center, appreciated and encouraged by the kings and queens of France. The death of Fouquet circa 1480 does not stop the activity. The later illuminators have not signed their works but their names surface through very rare documents : Jean Bourdichon, Jean Poyer.
A handwritten book of hours for the use of Rome including in its calendar several saints from Tours was sold for € 2.35M including premium by Gros et Delettrez on April 8, 2011 over a lower estimate of € 400K in the prestigious auction of the Weiller collection. It is estimated € 700K in the sale operated by Aguttes for OVA Aristophil at Paris Hôtel Drouot on June 16, lot 21.
This small book 23 x 14 cm is composed of 44 sheets. Sixteen circular miniatures 65 mm in diameter in shades of gold embellished with colors are front side and back side in the center of eight of these sheets. In the same position the other sheets are hollowed, providing the reader with a permanent consultation of the image related to the liturgical chapter which he is consulting.
This system is almost unique. Another example illustrated in losanges is also known, perhaps by the same workshop. A close look at the tweet below shows that the miniatures therein are viewed through one or two hollowed pages. The text is written in two columns to avoid the interruption of sentences by images and holes.
This book was made in the last phase of the illuminators when the workshops continued to provide luxury productions competing with printed books. It is associated with other opus attributed to Poyer.
In a poem written in 1504 by the chronicler Lemaire de Belges, Jean Poyer is quoted among the deceased artists. The catalog of the Weiller collection dated this book of hours between 1500 and 1510. The date around 1495 suggested in the OVA Aristophil catalog is plausible. The book is referred as the Petau Hours so named after a former owner.
A handwritten book of hours for the use of Rome including in its calendar several saints from Tours was sold for € 2.35M including premium by Gros et Delettrez on April 8, 2011 over a lower estimate of € 400K in the prestigious auction of the Weiller collection. It is estimated € 700K in the sale operated by Aguttes for OVA Aristophil at Paris Hôtel Drouot on June 16, lot 21.
This small book 23 x 14 cm is composed of 44 sheets. Sixteen circular miniatures 65 mm in diameter in shades of gold embellished with colors are front side and back side in the center of eight of these sheets. In the same position the other sheets are hollowed, providing the reader with a permanent consultation of the image related to the liturgical chapter which he is consulting.
This system is almost unique. Another example illustrated in losanges is also known, perhaps by the same workshop. A close look at the tweet below shows that the miniatures therein are viewed through one or two hollowed pages. The text is written in two columns to avoid the interruption of sentences by images and holes.
This book was made in the last phase of the illuminators when the workshops continued to provide luxury productions competing with printed books. It is associated with other opus attributed to Poyer.
In a poem written in 1504 by the chronicler Lemaire de Belges, Jean Poyer is quoted among the deceased artists. The catalog of the Weiller collection dated this book of hours between 1500 and 1510. The date around 1495 suggested in the OVA Aristophil catalog is plausible. The book is referred as the Petau Hours so named after a former owner.
Three extra French auctioneers are to assist in the mammoth disposal of the Aristophil collections of historic manuscripts:https://t.co/ASOXq4iDq3 (□) pic.twitter.com/Jl7IlET312
— AntiquesTradeGazette (@ATG_Editorial) May 14, 2018
1505 The Best Artists from Ghent and Bruges
2014 SOLD 13.6 M$ including premium
The printed book cannot claim to achieve the beauty of illuminated manuscripts. Under the Habsburgs, the best Flemish painters illustrate books of great luxury. They have not revealed all their secrets : the artists did not sign and the sponsors are not identified.
One of these masterpieces is known as the Rothschild Prayerbook. It was sold for £ 8.6 million including premium at Christie's on July 8, 1999. It is estimated $ 12M, for sale by Christie 's in New York on January 29.
It is a book of hours for the use of Rome (meaning that is based on Roman liturgy), made around 1505 in Ghent or Bruges. In a small format 23 x 16 cm, this book with 252 leaves in luxurious vellum includes 67 large illustrations.
From an iconographic point of view, it is a fabulous collection of religious and liturgical scenes, showing in very fresh colors the life and customs of its time. Decorative borders offer an extended variety of topics.
The styles of these images clearly show that several workshops have co-operated, and comparison with other manuscripts and paintings can identify that it was made by the most renowned artists of their time. Their co-operation in such collective artworks was an extraordinary and unique business of which no direct witnessing has surfaced.
The main illustrators of the Rothschild Prayerbook were Gerard Horenbout who worked at Ghent and Alexander Bening, a member of the guilds of Bruges and Ghent. Simon Bening, son of Alexander, to whom a few images are attributed, will be the last great Flemish illuminator. The style of Gerard David, the leading painter in Bruges at that time, is recognized on several images.
POST 2014 SALE COMMENT
This masterpiece reaches once again a great price : $ 13.6M including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared by Christie's :
One of these masterpieces is known as the Rothschild Prayerbook. It was sold for £ 8.6 million including premium at Christie's on July 8, 1999. It is estimated $ 12M, for sale by Christie 's in New York on January 29.
It is a book of hours for the use of Rome (meaning that is based on Roman liturgy), made around 1505 in Ghent or Bruges. In a small format 23 x 16 cm, this book with 252 leaves in luxurious vellum includes 67 large illustrations.
From an iconographic point of view, it is a fabulous collection of religious and liturgical scenes, showing in very fresh colors the life and customs of its time. Decorative borders offer an extended variety of topics.
The styles of these images clearly show that several workshops have co-operated, and comparison with other manuscripts and paintings can identify that it was made by the most renowned artists of their time. Their co-operation in such collective artworks was an extraordinary and unique business of which no direct witnessing has surfaced.
The main illustrators of the Rothschild Prayerbook were Gerard Horenbout who worked at Ghent and Alexander Bening, a member of the guilds of Bruges and Ghent. Simon Bening, son of Alexander, to whom a few images are attributed, will be the last great Flemish illuminator. The style of Gerard David, the leading painter in Bruges at that time, is recognized on several images.
POST 2014 SALE COMMENT
This masterpiece reaches once again a great price : $ 13.6M including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared by Christie's :
A very #MerryChristmas to all. Here’s a stunning #nativity scene from the #RothschildPrayerbook! pic.twitter.com/RIVYbiXLjC
— Christie's Books (@ChristiesBKS) December 25, 20151520-1539 The Princeps Edition of the Talmud
2015 SOLD for $ 9.3M including premium
The Jews understood that the sacred texts require commentaries. These scholarly tractates constitute the Talmud. The two main collections are named the Jerusalem Talmud and the Babylonian Talmud. They started from the antique oral traditions.
The invention of printing was not immediately applied to Hebrew types. In Italy, some Christian illuminators were able to continue their business during the last decades of the fifteenth century by adapting their expertise to the copy of Hebrew books.
The first books printed in Hebrew also appeared in Italy. A Mishneh Torah printed in Bologna in 1482 was sold for € 2.8 million including premium by Christie's on April 30, 2014. The texts are cleverly arranged in blocks for an easy comparison within the page between the basic text and its commentaries. There is nothing similar in the Christian culture as far as I know.
Daniel Bomberg, a Christian printer in Venice, obtained in 1515 the permission to print in Hebrew. His princeps editions of the Talmud are a major project carried out in three phases : the Babylonian Talmud from 1520 to 1523, the Talmud of Jerusalem in 1522 and 1523 and additional tractates from 1525 to 1539 that went to complete his Babylonian Talmud.
The result is an achievement. The composition continues the tradition of confrontational blocks with such skill that they will serve for centuries as a prototype for further printed editions of the Talmud. The rabbinical sources are carefully selected and considered as indisputable. The book is printed on a beautiful heavy paper.
Westminster Abbey once owned the finest surviving copy of the Babylonian Talmud of Bomberg, complete of its 3472 leaves of great freshness, in nine volumes 39 x 27 cm in a period binding. When he was assembling his Valmadonna Trust Library, the collector Jack Lunzer managed to acquire this set by providing in exchange a valuable old charter of the abbey.
The Bomberg Talmud of the Valmadonna Trust Library is estimated $ 5M for sale by Sotheby's in New York on December 22, lot 12.
The Valmadonna collection was exhibited at Sotheby's in February 2009. The video below, which is an introduction to the 11000 pieces displayed in this exhibition, demonstrates convincingly why the Bomberg Talmud is the most important jewel in this stunning library.
The invention of printing was not immediately applied to Hebrew types. In Italy, some Christian illuminators were able to continue their business during the last decades of the fifteenth century by adapting their expertise to the copy of Hebrew books.
The first books printed in Hebrew also appeared in Italy. A Mishneh Torah printed in Bologna in 1482 was sold for € 2.8 million including premium by Christie's on April 30, 2014. The texts are cleverly arranged in blocks for an easy comparison within the page between the basic text and its commentaries. There is nothing similar in the Christian culture as far as I know.
Daniel Bomberg, a Christian printer in Venice, obtained in 1515 the permission to print in Hebrew. His princeps editions of the Talmud are a major project carried out in three phases : the Babylonian Talmud from 1520 to 1523, the Talmud of Jerusalem in 1522 and 1523 and additional tractates from 1525 to 1539 that went to complete his Babylonian Talmud.
The result is an achievement. The composition continues the tradition of confrontational blocks with such skill that they will serve for centuries as a prototype for further printed editions of the Talmud. The rabbinical sources are carefully selected and considered as indisputable. The book is printed on a beautiful heavy paper.
Westminster Abbey once owned the finest surviving copy of the Babylonian Talmud of Bomberg, complete of its 3472 leaves of great freshness, in nine volumes 39 x 27 cm in a period binding. When he was assembling his Valmadonna Trust Library, the collector Jack Lunzer managed to acquire this set by providing in exchange a valuable old charter of the abbey.
The Bomberg Talmud of the Valmadonna Trust Library is estimated $ 5M for sale by Sotheby's in New York on December 22, lot 12.
The Valmadonna collection was exhibited at Sotheby's in February 2009. The video below, which is an introduction to the 11000 pieces displayed in this exhibition, demonstrates convincingly why the Bomberg Talmud is the most important jewel in this stunning library.
1640 Psalms for a New World
2013 SOLD 14.2 M$ including premium
The Puritans fleeing the England of the Stuarts built in Massachusetts Bay the communities that could meet their religious and social ideals. One of the villages, named Cambridge in 1638, specifically had a cultural vocation. Harvard College was founded there in 1636.
The singing of the psalms is a strong element of their liturgy, linking together the first parishioners of that region still in wilderness. Their scholars do not want to use the available British translations. Their new version in English verse takes the excuse of a need to be closer to the original Hebrew text. It was actually a remarkable collective work, and the first sign of their independence from the Church of England.
They now have to publish this text. In London, Josse Glover supports the project and in turn leaves to America in 1638. He did not reach it, but he was accompanied by Stephen Day (or Daye), a locksmith who will be the first printer in New England.
Currently known by the nickname Bay Psalm Book, The Whole Booke of Psalmes Faithfully Translated into English Metre is printed by Day in 1640 in Cambridge and sold by the earliest bookseller of New England, Hezekiah Usher.
The original edition consisted of 1700 copies. For a century, the book was highly successful and often reprinted. Because of its liturgical use, most copies were damaged and destroyed.
The arrival at auction of a copy in good condition of the 1640 edition is an event of the utmost importance for American bibliophiles and patriots. In 1947, one of them went to be more expensive than the Old Testament of the Gutenberg Bible.
Another one is estimated $ 15M to 30M, for sale by Sotheby's in New York on November 26. Here is the link to the home page of the sale. The seller is the Old South Church in Boston which keeps another copy in a similar condition.
POST SALE COMMENT
The Bay Psalm Book was sold for $ 14.2M including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
The singing of the psalms is a strong element of their liturgy, linking together the first parishioners of that region still in wilderness. Their scholars do not want to use the available British translations. Their new version in English verse takes the excuse of a need to be closer to the original Hebrew text. It was actually a remarkable collective work, and the first sign of their independence from the Church of England.
They now have to publish this text. In London, Josse Glover supports the project and in turn leaves to America in 1638. He did not reach it, but he was accompanied by Stephen Day (or Daye), a locksmith who will be the first printer in New England.
Currently known by the nickname Bay Psalm Book, The Whole Booke of Psalmes Faithfully Translated into English Metre is printed by Day in 1640 in Cambridge and sold by the earliest bookseller of New England, Hezekiah Usher.
The original edition consisted of 1700 copies. For a century, the book was highly successful and often reprinted. Because of its liturgical use, most copies were damaged and destroyed.
The arrival at auction of a copy in good condition of the 1640 edition is an event of the utmost importance for American bibliophiles and patriots. In 1947, one of them went to be more expensive than the Old Testament of the Gutenberg Bible.
Another one is estimated $ 15M to 30M, for sale by Sotheby's in New York on November 26. Here is the link to the home page of the sale. The seller is the Old South Church in Boston which keeps another copy in a similar condition.
POST SALE COMMENT
The Bay Psalm Book was sold for $ 14.2M including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
