COMPILATION OF BIBLICAL EXTRACTS made in a milieu... Lot 7

COMPILATION OF BIBLICAL EXTRACTS made in a milieu of Franciscan preachers (?) Northwest France, second quarter of the 13th century, ca. 1230-1250 (?) In Latin, decorated and illuminated manuscript on parchment Bound in full soft vellum, smooth spine, inscribed in ink on spine: "Biblia ms" and the call number "A 277" at the back of the spine Corners dulled, parchment missing from upper cover, a few leaves repaired in the past or a few tears not serious; ink a little paler in places; a few wormholes. 13,5 x 17,5 cm 140 ff, preceded by a paper endpaper and 2 sheets of old parchment endpapers, followed by a paper endpaper, some sheets missing at the beginning (first signature "d" suggesting that there must have been 3 quires preceding quire "d") and most certainly after sheet 54v and after sheet 129v [collation: i8, ii12, iii2, iv10, v12, vi10, vii12, viii12, ix12, x12, xi12, xii10, xiii5 (of 6, with vi missing after f. 129), xiv9 (of 10, with i missing before f. 130), xv2 (this is a final bifeuillet, probably old endpapers)], statement of old signatures of quires, some trimmed short but perceptible: "d" (f. 8v) / "e" (f. 20v) / "f" (f. 22v) / "g" (f. 32v, with additional advertisement); "h" (trimmed, but haste perceptible) (f. 44v) / "i" (f. 54v, barely perceptible) / "n" (f. 66v) / signature f. 78v, barely perceptible, "p" (?)) / "r" (?) (f. 90v, barely perceptible) / "s" (f. 102v) / "t" (f. 114v) / "u" (f. 124v) / "x" (?) (f. 129v) / "k" (?) (f. 138v); fine Gothic script, several hands (composite character of this manuscript), text in two columns, parchment ruled in graphite (justification: two columns of 50 mm and height justification of 145 mm), text copied above the first rule, pitting for the rule in the inner margins and also sometimes in the outer margins, text with numerous marginal corrections and additions by contemporary hands, numerous watermarked initials painted in blue or red with red or pale blue watermarked decoration, biblical chapters in Roman numerals painted in red and blue in one booklet (booklet no. 6 (ff. 45-55), the rest of the chaptering added in ink in the margins by a contemporary hand, some running titles in red and blue, the rest of the running titles added in pen in the upper margins (sometimes trimmed short), large "puzzle" initials in red and blue with red and blue watermark decoration, marking major textual divisions, illuminated initials with vegetal or zoomorphic decoration in the New Testament (31) ornate illuminated letters, some probably repainted later in the 15th century (e.g. ff. 96v, 101), partially erased drawing of a man with a pointed hat at the end of the manuscript with the inscription above: "Fuit in diebus Herodis regis judeo sacerdos quidam nomine Caiphas" (fol. 139v). PROVENANCE Manuscript copied and illuminated in France, probably in Paris or the north-west (Picardy? Normandy?) judging from the style of the painted ornamental initials and filigree decoration. A Franciscan origin is suggested here, or at least a relationship with the Franciscan world, from endnotes (fol. 138v) which mention St. Elizabeth of Hungary (1207-1231), a Franciscan tertiary sister, and St. Francis of Assisi himself (1181/82-1226), founder of the Franciscan Order. On fol. 56v, in the lower margin, we note an unexpected word: "arrel". Is this a reference to a member of the Arrel family, an important Breton family attested in the 14th century but probably even older (see La Chesnaye-Desbois, Dictionnaire de la noblesse, 1863, tome I, col. 833-835)? Jesuits of Pont-à-Mousson (Meurthe-et-Moselle), with an inscription in ink in the upper margin of the recto: "Collegii Mussipontani societatis Iesu catal[olgus] inscriptus". This inscription indicates that the manuscript was listed in the catalogue of the Jesuit library of Pont-à-Mousson. Collection Docteur Lucien-Graux. Traces of his red leather ex-libris vignette, here missing, but at one time attached to the upper counterfoil. Manuscript sold in 2014 in an Oger-Blanchet sale "Bibliothèque du Docteur Lucien-Graux". Private collection, Northern France This interesting example of a biblical compilation, probably made in a context of preaching monks (here Franciscans?), offers a kind of biblical "vade mecum" serving as a support to draw quotations for sermon writing. It is not a classic portable Bible, of which a large number of witnesses are known, and which developed in Paris in lay workshops with the rise of the universities and the mendicant orders. This manuscript does contain important sections of biblical books, but the