COMPILATION OF BIBLICAL EXCERPTS Made in a Franciscan... Lot 1

COMPILATION OF BIBLICAL EXCERPTS Made in a Franciscan preaching environment (?) Northwestern France, second quarter of the 13th century, ca. 1230-1250 (?) In Latin, decorated and illuminated manuscript on parchment 140 ff, preceded by a paper endpaper and 2 sheets of old parchment endpapers, followed by a paper endpaper, some sheets are 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 (it is a final two-sheet, 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 claim in addition); "h" (trimmed, but perceptible haste) (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 on two columns, parchment ruled with graphite (justification : two columns of 50 mm and height justification of 145 mm), text copied above the first rule, pitting for 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 watermarked 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 fifteenth 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). Bound in full soft vellum, smooth spine, inscribed on the spine in ink: " Biblia ms " and the quotation " A 277 " at the back. Corners dulled, parchment missing from upper board, a few leaves repaired early or a few tears not serious; ink a little paler in places; a few wormholes. 13,5 x 17,5 cm Provenance Manuscript copied and illuminated in France, probably in Paris or in the northwest (Picardy? Normandy?) judging by the style of the painted ornate initials and the filigree decoration. A Franciscan origin is suggested here, or at least a relationship with the Franciscan world, according to notes at the end of the manuscript (fol. 138v) evoking 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, there is 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, volume 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 catalog of the Jesuit library of Pont-à-Mousson. Collection Docteur Lucien-Graux. Traces of its red leather ex-libris vignette, here missing, but once fixed on the upper counterfoil. Manuscript sold in 2014 in an Oger-Blanchet sale "Bibliothèque du Docteur Lucien-Graux". Private collection, North of France This interesting example of a biblical compilation, probably realized in a context of preaching monks (here Franciscans?), offers a kind of biblical "vade mecum" serving as a support to draw quotations within the framework of writing sermons. 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 certainly contains important sections of books