Beschreibung:

Collection of leaves from legal manuscripts, in Latin, on parchment [thirteenth to fourteenth century] Six leaves (including two bifolia), comprising: (a) leaf from a copy of Digest of Justinian, Corpus Juris Civilis, main text in double column of 52 lines of an early gothic bookhand, red rubrics, small initials in red or blue (those in margin tall and curved, and sometimes touched with contrasting penwork), two larger initials in pink or blue on contrasting grounds, enclosing foliage and with gold bezants mounted within their bodies and within the foliage, the second of these accompanied by a pink long-necked rabbit who stands on the initial below and looks back at the text, the entire leaf remarginated soon after it was written, with the original margins (and their gloss) cut away, and strips of parchment pasted to each side to allow space for the new gloss, small tears at edges and spots and stains, else good condition, Italy and then France, early thirteenth century with gloss added later, 435 by 253mm.; (b) bifolium from a copy of Digest of Justinian, Corpus Juris Civilis, main text in double column of 41 lines of a rounded gothic bookhand, capitals touched in yellow, paragraph-marks and one-line initials in red, larger slender initials in blue, each with a few red penstrokes, 2-line initials in gloss in alternate red or blue, the main text encased by smaller glossing script, discoloration at top of leaves from old water damage (this affecting only a few lines of gloss there), small tears to edges, small spots, else good condition, each leaf 434 by 270mm., southern France, first half of thirteenth century (parent codex reportedly dated 1238); (c) leaf from the Decretals of Gregory IX, or the 'Liber Extra', with double column of 40 lines of a rounded Italian gothic bookhand, blocks of gloss in margins in smaller script, occasional interlinear glosses, red rubrics, running titles in in red capitals at head of page, red or blue one-line initials, large initials in red or blue with contrasting penwork, one larger initial in pink enclosing coloured and gold foliage on blue grounds, one initial in pink touched with white penwork, enclosing a white faced animal on brightly burnished gold ground, the whole on blue grounds with coloured foliate extensions in margin terminating in coloured leaves with a gold bezant, grain pattern noticeable on one side, else in excellent condition, Italy, second half of fourteenth century, 448 by 280mm.; and (d) bifolium from a copy of William Durandus, Speculum judiciale, with double column of 82 lines, red rubrics and running titles, initials in red and blue, recovered from later reuse in a binding and hence with folds, stains and illegible sections, Italy, fourteenth century, total size 420 by 568mm. Item (a) here is one of the long-lost leaves from an imperfect codex of the Digest of Justinian sold in Sotheby's 10 July 2012, lot 22, identifiable by the mix of Italian script and French illumination, as well as the remargination of the entire codex soon after it was finished in order to equip it with a new, and probably more up to date, gloss. Other leaves of item (b) were offered by King Alfred's Notebook, Enchiridion 4 (2011), no. 2.