1 - THE SO-CALLED BROCKETT-HUTH BIBLE

THE SO-CALLED BROCKETT-HUTH BIBLE BIBLE (OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS; INTERPRETATION OF HEBREW NAMES) In Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment France, Paris, circa 1250–1260 With 82 historiated initials and 60 ornate initials. Illuminations attributable to the so-called Soissons Workshop, active in Paris in the 1240s–1260s. 390 folios, preceded and followed by two paper endpapers; complete manuscript [collation: i12, ii12 [signature IIus (fol. 24v)], iii12 [truncated signature (fol. 36v)], iv12, v12, vi12, vii12, viii12, ix12, x12, xi12, xii12, xiii12, xiv12, xv12 [signature XV (fol. 180v)], xvi12, xvii12, xviii12, xix12, xx12, xxi12 [signature XXI (fol. 252v)], xxii12 [signature XXII (fol. 264v)], xxiii12, xxiv10 (no missing pages; end of the text of 2 Maccabees), xxv12, xxvi12, xxvii12, xxviii12, xxix12, xxx12, xxxi12, xxxii12, xxxiii8], featuring a clever system of quire signatures in Arabic numerals, for example “181,” “182,” “183,” etc., ruled with graphite (page size: 150 x 105 mm), text in two columns, small-modulus Gothic Textura script, running titles in red and blue, initials in blue or red with red and/or blue filigree decoration, Biblical chapters in Roman numerals in red and blue in the outer margins (and not included in the text’s margin), paragraph marks in red, capital letters highlighted in red within the text, numerous filigree initials in red and blue extending into the margins, single-line-high initials painted in red or blue, with 61 ornate and decorated initials (3 to 4 lines high) introducing biblical prologues or a change in text, in blue, pink, yellow, and green, with a decoration of scrolls and foliage; some featuring figurative elements such as hybrid creatures, dragons, or human heads (for example, the initial “P” with an extension into the margin and a human head [fol. 261]), 82 historiated initials introducing the biblical texts (4 to 16 lines high) with extensions into the margins, featuring the same color palette and ornamental elements as the decorated initials, as well as corrections, additions, or notes in the margins, most often in contemporary or near-contemporary handwriting. 18th-century red morocco binding, spine with 5 raised bands, compartmentalized and adorned with fleurons, head and foot bands on the spine featuring an ornament of gilded fillets forming diamond patterns, title label in dark green leather, gilded lettering “BIBLIA SACRA,” gilded borders on the covers with fleurons at the four outer corners of the central panel (Duseuil-style decoration), gilded inner edge, gilded edge on the fore-edges, gilded edges, endpapers and flyleaves of pebbled marbled paper. Page dimensions: 227 x 145 mm; binding dimensions: 235 x 160 mm. A SUPERB EXAMPLE OF A MANUSCRIPT OF A SO-CALLED “PORTATIVE” BIBLE, WITH VERY WIDE MARGINS, COPIED AND ILLUMINATED IN PARIS, AMID THE RISE OF PREACHING ASSOCIATED WITH THE MENDICANT ORDERS, AS WELL AS WITHUNIVERSITY ATTENDED BY NUMEROUS STUDENTS FROM THE NOBILITY OR HIGH-RANKING CLERGY EAGER TO OWN BEAUTIFUL COPIES OF THE “NEW VULGATE ” OR PARISIAN BIBLE. THE SO-CALLED BROCKETT-HUTH BIBLE IS A LUXURY EXAMPLE OF THIS PARISIAN PRODUCTION, DATEABLE TO THE YEARS 1250–1270. The production of these portable Bibles resulted from a revision of the biblical text that took place in the early decades of the 13th century, including the ordering of the books, the adoption of a specific set of prologues, the division into chapters, and philological corrections to St. Jerome’s translations. A corrected text simplified scholarly exchanges with a view toward standardization. In the case of this Bible, the books and prologues follow the order adopted in Paris. Acquired by Émile Rossignol in 1948