12th century Copy of Origen’s Homilies on the Bible Leads Freeman’s Sale

More than 65 illuminated manuscript leaves and cuttings alongside a selection of codices go under the hammer at Freeman's on July 9.

Leading the sale is an illustrated Romanesque manuscript, probably produced at Lambach Abbey in Austria c. 1150–1175 (estimate: $150,000-$200,000) containing Origen’s homilies on Genesis and Exodus. It features extensive illustration, including a full-page miniature, and retains its original medieval binding bearing the abbey’s historic shelf mark.


There are also two collections of richly illuminated Books of Hours assembled by prominent European bibliophiles in Switzerland and Germany. These showcase works attributed to celebrated artists and workshops of the late medieval period including the Master of the Beaufort Saints, the Rosenberg Master, the Master of Lee Hours, the Master of Buchanan E.5, and a close collaborator of Willem Vrelant. Among the most important is the Missal of Jean d'Amboise (estimate: $100,000-$120,000), a rare, illuminated manuscript commissioned for Jean I d'Amboise, peer of France and bishop-duke of Langres (1482–1497).

The sale also includes text manuscripts such as a 12th century work by Peter the Venerable on heretics, one of only three known copies of an important work by him and from the library of Parc Abbey (estimate: $15,000-$20,000).
 
Leading the selection of leaves are Romanesque and early Gothic works comprising illuminated sheets and cuttings from monumental Atlantic Bibles, a rare Mozarabic Spanish miniature (estimate: $9,500-$11,500), and an Italian cutting from the Lives of the Saints attributed to the Master of Monza (estimate: $10,000 - $12,000).

Other highlights include:

• a Book of Hours, made by the Pink Canopies Group in Bruges c. 1390-1400 for export to England, illuminated manuscript on parchment with English illuminator (
estimate: $120,000-$150,000
)
• The “de Saulx” Hours illuminated manuscript on parchment (Southern Netherlands, Bruges, c. 1460) by the anonymous Master of the Lee Hours (estimate: $90,000-$100,000
)
• Book of Hours illuminated manuscript on parchment (France, Dauphiné, perhaps Grenoble, c. 1480–1485) by the Master of the Apocalypse of Aymar de Poitiers (estimate: $85,000-$95,000)