A Christie’s auction in London will be featuring medieval manuscripts, early printed books and a 14th-century quadrant. Many of these items are expected to get bids in tens of thousands of pounds.
The latest Valuable Books and Manuscripts auction by Christie’s is taking place December 13th at 11 am GMT. Over 178 lots are expected to be sold, with dozens coming from the Middle Ages or Renaissance period. Here are some of the highlights:
The Master of the Chetwode Quadrant
Estimate value: £100,000-150,000.
An instrument used for measuring angles and for making astronomical calculations, a quadrant is one of main scientifc tools of the Middle Ages. This has an inscription dating it to the year 1311, which might make it the oldest example of a quadrant in England.
James Hyslop, Christie’s science and natural history specialist, explains, “These quadrants were probably the tools of merchants, senior churchmen and scholars. The knowledge they provided would have revolutionised the way people in the Middle Ages lived.”
Book of Hours by Master of Jean Rolin (c.1445-65)
Estimate value: £120,000–180,000
A grand, richly-illuminated Book of Hours painted by the Master of Jean Rolin, named for a missal produced for the Burgundian cardinal-bishop of Autun. An elegant masterpiece by an artist whose work heralded a new style of Parisian illumination in the mid-15th century, from the same noble collection as the ‘Tilliot Hours’ held by the British Library (Yates Thompson MS.5).
A fragment from Dante’s La Divina Commedia from the 14th century
Estimate value: £60,000–90,000
A remarkable survival from the greatest work of Italian literature: an early fragment from Inferno, in which Dante and Virgil encounter the wrathful soul of Filippo Argenti and approach the demonic city of Dis, from a manuscript belonging to the Florentine ‘Cento’ group.
The Labouchère Hours, from the Workshop of the Martainville Master (c.1500)
Estimate value: £40,000–60,000
A richly illuminated Parisian Book of Hours from the turn of the 16th century with inhabited borders on every page, including the famous Dance of Death derived from the murals in the Cimitière des Innocents.
Three leaves from a medieval Bible (c.1300)
Estimate value: £3,000–5,000
At the lower end of these manuscripts for auction is this illuminated leaf and two text leaves from a deluxe Parisian Bible perhaps made for the Chartreuse de Vauvert around the year 1300.
Click here to see all the items up for auction by Christie’s.
A Christie’s auction in London will be featuring medieval manuscripts, early printed books and a 14th-century quadrant. Many of these items are expected to get bids in tens of thousands of pounds.
The latest Valuable Books and Manuscripts auction by Christie’s is taking place December 13th at 11 am GMT. Over 178 lots are expected to be sold, with dozens coming from the Middle Ages or Renaissance period. Here are some of the highlights:
The Master of the Chetwode Quadrant
Estimate value: £100,000-150,000.
An instrument used for measuring angles and for making astronomical calculations, a quadrant is one of main scientifc tools of the Middle Ages. This has an inscription dating it to the year 1311, which might make it the oldest example of a quadrant in England.
James Hyslop, Christie’s science and natural history specialist, explains, “These quadrants were probably the tools of merchants, senior churchmen and scholars. The knowledge they provided would have revolutionised the way people in the Middle Ages lived.”
Book of Hours by Master of Jean Rolin (c.1445-65)
Estimate value: £120,000–180,000
A grand, richly-illuminated Book of Hours painted by the Master of Jean Rolin, named for a missal produced for the Burgundian cardinal-bishop of Autun. An elegant masterpiece by an artist whose work heralded a new style of Parisian illumination in the mid-15th century, from the same noble collection as the ‘Tilliot Hours’ held by the British Library (Yates Thompson MS.5).
A fragment from Dante’s La Divina Commedia from the 14th century
Estimate value: £60,000–90,000
A remarkable survival from the greatest work of Italian literature: an early fragment from Inferno, in which Dante and Virgil encounter the wrathful soul of Filippo Argenti and approach the demonic city of Dis, from a manuscript belonging to the Florentine ‘Cento’ group.
The Labouchère Hours, from the Workshop of the Martainville Master (c.1500)
Estimate value: £40,000–60,000
A richly illuminated Parisian Book of Hours from the turn of the 16th century with inhabited borders on every page, including the famous Dance of Death derived from the murals in the Cimitière des Innocents.
Three leaves from a medieval Bible (c.1300)
Estimate value: £3,000–5,000
At the lower end of these manuscripts for auction is this illuminated leaf and two text leaves from a deluxe Parisian Bible perhaps made for the Chartreuse de Vauvert around the year 1300.
Click here to see all the items up for auction by Christie’s.
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