Another Soranzo MS, now in Philadelphia

Browsing images of manuscripts at the Free Library, Philadelphia, I recently came across another unrecognised manuscript (Lewis E 219) formerly owned by Giacomo (alias Jacopo) Soranzo, with the distinctive foliation described in a previous post:

Alan Thomas and the Gabárty-Brandeis Manuscripts

In a previous post I discussed a cutting from the Bible of Pedro of Pamplona that was owned by Eugene Gabárty. I mentioned that he had sold it, with an Italian illuminated leaf, but somehow re-acquired them, and gave them both Brandeis University.

Since writing that post, I have acquired some auction catalogues, including a few that were owned by the bookseller Alan G. Thomas (1911–1992), who traded as Commin's, in Bournemouth (there is an online obituary and a appreciation on the website of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association).

New Cuttings From a Missal of Leo X, Illuminated by Attavante c.1520 [Part I]

In preparation for a visit to manuscript repositories within a few hours drive of New York city, I contacted Vassar College Library's Special Collections. They have a online listing of their leaves and cuttings, which included this tantalizing description:

I enquired about this and other items, and was kindly sent images by Ronald D. Patkus, Head of Special Collections and Adjunct Associate Professor of History, and Dean Rogers, Special Collections Assistant. I was not at all prepared for what I received:

The Colbert Libraries (Midweek Miscellany 3)

The "Histoire de la Bibliophilie" blog has recently posted about the libraries of the various members of the Colbert family, including a family tree; portraits of, and biographical information about, the key individuals; discussions of their auction catalogues; and images of their binding-stamps, including these:

The JBC monogram of Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619–83)

Yet More About the Cuttings From the Bible of Pedro of Pamplona

In a recent post I discussed some of the missing cuttings of the Bible of Pedro of Pamplona, known only from old photographs.

Within a few days of that post Bill Stoneman, Curator of Early Books and Manuscripts at Houghton Library, Harvard, identified for me the present whereabouts of one of the initials I had discussed; and just a few days after that Geneviève Mariéthoz sent me news that two more cuttings have been acquired by the Bibliothèque municipale in Angers.

Long-Lost Miniatures from the Sigmaringen Psalter

Looking at the Lost Art website in connection with this blog post, I encountered this image:

The accompanying text states that this leaf was auctioned in Berlin in 1936, in a forced liquidation sale of 500 objects owned by the Jewish art dealer A.S. Drey:

A Parchment Hole Used by an Artist (Midweek Miscellany 2)

This really has nothing to do with provenance, but it's too good not to share.

This drawing ...

Detail, recto

... appears in the lower margin of the huge (c.530×370mm) Clumber Bible (France, c.1395):

Full-page view

Detail, verso

The most detailed published description of the manuscript is: Sam Fogg, Illuminated Manuscripts: An Exhibition at the Blumka Gallery, New York (London, 1999), no.12 pp.44–49.