6 - [LUCIUS ANNAEUS SENECA]. Seneca on the Four Principal Virtues, Called the Cardinal Virtues [text attributed to Seneca, but actually by Martin de Braga, *Formulae honestate vitae*, translated by Jean Courtecuisse]

[LUCIUS ANNAEUS SENECA]. Seneca on the Four Principal Virtues, Called the Cardinal Virtues [text attributed to Seneca, but actually by Martin de Braga, *Formulae honestate vitae*, translated by Jean Courtecuisse] [MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO]. Treatise on Old Age [De senectute, translated by Laurent Premierfait] [MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO]. Treatise on Friendship [De amicitia, translated by Laurent Premierfait] In French, illuminated manuscript on parchment France, Paris, circa 1470 With 3 large illuminations attributed to François Le Barbier the Elder (Maître François). 123 folios, preceded by 2 paper endpapers, followed by 2 paper endpapers, complete [i3, ii-xvi8], very regular bastard script in brown ink, text copied in 32 lines (text size: 192 x 122 mm), ruled in red ink, rubrics in red, paragraph marks in blue or burnished gold with filigree decoration in red or dark blue ink, ornamental line endings in gold and/or red and blue, a few curled initials, initials in blue with white highlights on gilded backgrounds featuring vine and scrollwork in various colors (3 to 6 lines high), three large miniatures introducing the three texts, illuminated borders on reserved backgrounds, blue-and-gold acanthus leaf decoration, flowers, foliage, and small borders accompanying the ornate initials marking the chapters. 18th-century binding, green morocco leather, 6-rib spine, gilded decoration with small grotesque ironwork motifs, triple gilded fillets framing the covers, double gilded fillet on the edges, gilded garland on the inside, gilded edges, endpapers and flyleaves of combed marbled paper. Binding dimensions: 295 x 215 mm; leaf dimensions: 290 x 197 mm A VERY BEAUTIFUL MANUSCRIPT, WITH WIDE MARGINS AND NEAT HANDWRITING, ONCE PART OF SOME OF THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS BIBLIOPHILIC COLLECTIONS, FROM GAIGNAT TO SIR THOMAS PHILIPPS. THE TEXT IN FRENCH REFLECTS THE TASTE OF THE SOCIAL ELITE FOR TRANSLATIONS OF LATIN AND GREEK CLASSICS. THIS MANUSCRIPT CONTAINS THREE LARGE MINIATURES SET WITHIN ILLUMINATED BORDERS, ATRIBUTED TO THE ARTIST LONG KNOWN AS “MASTER FRANÇOIS” AND, SINCE THE RESEARCH BY M. DELDICQUE (2014), NOW IDENTIFIED AS FRANÇOIS LE BARBIER PÈRE. Acquired by Émile Rossignol in 1966