[MANUSCRIT]. [BIBLE]. - Lot 14

[MANUSCRIT]. [BIBLE]. Old Testament; New Testament; Interpretation of Hebrew names. In Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment. Spain, Kingdom of Castile (Seville?), circa 1250-1275. 375 ff, with the first four leaves blank and ruled differently from the rest of the manuscript, first page written (fol. 5v), very fine and carefully prepared parchment (parchment preparation of the type practiced in southern Europe), complete manuscript (impracticable collation, tight old binding, some advertisements e.g. ff. 341v, 357v indicating a composition in quires of 14 and 16 ff.), very abbreviated Gothic script (several hands from the same workshop) in brown ink, a separate hand for the Interpretation of Hebrew Names (ff. 328-374v), wide-margin manuscript, text copied in two columns (up to 58 lines per column), drypoint ruled, headings in red, running titles in red and blue in the upper margin, biblical chapters marked in Roman numerals and transferred to the margins, some capitals highlighted in red in the text (these capitals are sometimes missing in the text, a sign that the rubricator has not completed his work, e.g. left-hand column, fol. 254), numerous painted initials (2 to 4 lines high) in blue or red with watermarked decoration in red or light blue introducing the changes to the biblical chapters transferred to the outer margins of the leaves (and not included in the justification of the text), larger initials painted in red or blue with watermarked decoration in the opposite, more developed color, extending into the margins (5 to 15 lines high), introducing major textual divisions (prologues and changes of biblical books); note that the large initial painted in red for "Frater Ambrosius" (fol. 6) extends over 36 lines of text, as does the large blue-painted initial of "In principio creavit deus..." (beginning of the book of Genesis) with red filigree decoration and green watercolor highlights (fol. 8), which extends over 45 lines of text, the large red-painted initial 'L' with openwork ornamental decoration and light blue filigree decoration introducing the beginning of the Gospel according to St. Matthew (fol. 260), and a slightly different initial to introduce the Interpretation of the Hebrew Names (fol. 328), a red and blue 'puzzle' with red and blue filigree decoration (the darker blue, different from the rest of the pale blue filigree decorations). Late 14th- or 15th-century Gothic binding, cold-stamped calf, tan calf on wood, 6-rib spine punctuated with fleurons and cold fillets, repeated small-iron decoration (iron with mystic pelican and the letters LIDA, repeated in the outer frame ; iron with rabbit or hare; iron with hybrid animal or griffin), multiple frames and panels separated by multiple cold fillets, gilded edges, ink inscription on edge: "Biblia manuscripta." This binding can be compared with a binding also containing a 13th-century Bible and preserved in Milan, Bibliotheca Braidense, AD.XII. 45, said to be of French manufacture. A few restorations to the binding, some spotting, good condition inside (some initials slightly stained, e.g. fol. 73v), a few creases to the parchment (a little more pronounced on ff. 115-132 in the upper corners), a few traces of wormholes but not serious. Modern conservation box. Sheet dimensions: 175 x 115 mm; binding dimensions: 182 x 120 mm Rare example of a portable Bible produced during the reign of AlfonsoX the Wise (Alfonso el Sabio) (1221-1284), who acceded to the throne in 1252. This manuscript features the type of vermiculated filigree decoration (see Avril et alia, 1982) to be associated with biblical manuscripts produced during the reign or in the entourage of AlfonsoX the Wise in the second half of the 14th century. Small portable Bibles containing the complete text of the Old and New Testaments were one of the great innovations of the 13th century, developed by Dominican and Franciscan preachers. The first pocket Bibles may have been copied in Paris in the late 1220s or early 1230s (see the work of Laura Light and Chiara Ruzzier). Spanish examples of this type of Bible appear fairly early (Paris, BnF, n.a.l. 836 is dated 1240), but to date there is no comprehensive study devoted to 13th-century Latin Bibles in Spain. In a recent study by Chiara Ruzzier on 13th-century portable Bibles, based on a very comprehensive sample of surviving manuscripts, only 3% of the Bibles in circulation in Spain are dated.