A LEAF FROM AN ATLANTIC BIBLE, in Latin, manuscript on vellum [Italy, 11th century]

A LEAF FROM AN ATLANTIC BIBLE, in Latin, manuscript on vellum [Italy, 11th century]

An enormous leaf from an Atlantic Bible written in a clear, and unusually archaising, 11th-century Italian hand, epitomising the clarity and legibility of Caroline minuscule script.

394 x 285mm. The text, beginning with Daniel 12:5: '[unus hinc super] ripam fluminis', and including Jerome's insertion on Theodotion's translation after Book 12 ('Hucusque Danihel in hebraeo volumine legimus cetera [...]'), and ending with Daniel 14:18: [et risit] Daniel et tenuit regem', 52 (of originally 60) lines in two columns (lower margin trimmed with loss of 8 lines, outer margin trimmed with loss of c.8 letters, verso darkened, creased and stained, red offsets, cockled, showing signs of use as a pastedown, sewing holes). Provenance: Bishop & Miller, 21 October 2017, lot 332.

This is an elegant and highly legible specimen of Caroline minuscule written in a slightly archaising hand, with the letters well-spaced and well-formed and the ‘st’ ligature tall and graceful.