to the ordiuary species of such works. There are large pictures of St. George and the Dragon, St. Catherine, St. Anthony, St. Denis, and other designs not usually seen in Books of Hours. 13 HORE BEATE MARIE VIRGINIS secundum Usum Romanum cum C'alendario, sm. Svo. French (not Flemish) MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM (with rubric and prayers in French), numerous CAPITAL LETTERS, BORDERS, and 15 MINIATURES, finely illuminated in gold and colours, black morocco, gilt edges, £28. cir. 1430 14 HORE BEATE MARIE VIRGINIS, cum Calendario, sin. 8vo. MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM, within elegant floreated borders, richly ornamented with numerous capital letters, and 56 MINIATURES (15 large and 41 small, including the 24 illustrating the Calendar), finely executed in gold and colours by a French artist, and having additional services (printed) inserted at end, old French brown morocco, gilt edges, £20. Sec. XV 15 HORE BEATE MARIE VIRGINIS Secundum consuetudinem Romanæ Curiæ, cum Calendario, 16mo. Manuscript on Vellum, with 15 Miniatures and Borders, illuminated in gold and colours, a curious specimen of Italian Art, blue morocco, joints, silk linings, gilt edges, by Chilliat, £36. Sec. XV The larger painting prefixed to the Officium Mortuorum is singular in its subject and its execution. 16 HEURES DE NOSTRE DAME, sm. 4to. illuminated MS of the 15th century on 186 leaves of fine vellum, by a French scribe, in fine and perfect condition, with eleven Miniatures well executed, very numerous initial letters in gold and colours, and nearly every page illuminated with delicately drawn scroll ornaments down the margin, in the ancient olive morocco binding, with a cipher composed of a triangle and 3 circles interlaced, £40. cir. A.D. 1450 17 HORE BEATE MARIE VIRGINIS ALIAQUE OFFICIA secundum Usum Romanum, cum Calendario, 4to. Manuscript on Vellum, illuminated throughout with borders of Pen-Tracery (with gilded leaves, coloured flowers and foliage) and numerous capital letters (the initials of the several Hours being very rich and beautifully painted). The Calendar is written in gold, azure and crimson, with three-side borders, in which are depicted 24 Miniatures (representing the signs of the Zodiac and the occupations for the different Months) of great merit and beauty. In addition this beautiful MS. which is unfortunately imperfect, is ornamented with 4 large and 17 small MINIATURES, finely illuminated in gold and colours, and highly finished with great pictorial skill, red velvet, gilt edges, £65. SEC. XV This beautiful Manuscript was purchased by Sir William Tite, as "An exquisite illuminated Missal, of the finest period of the art, with forty-six miniatures and rich arabesque borders. This beautiful Missal belonged to Mary (sister of Henry VIII), Dowager Queen of France, and Duchess of Suffolk. Her autograph is on the first leaf. It was purchased at the sale of the Duchess of Portland's Collection." With regard to this autograph, see Sir W. Tite's Lecture on illuminated Manuscripts, in which this volume is described. He says: On a leaf opposite the commencement appears the name" Marie de Suff." intended for that of Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VII, Queen-Dowager of France, and third wife of Charles Brandon Fourth Duke of Suffolk, but it is no doubt a fictitious signature." A long printed description of the MS. and its adornments is inserted in the volume. 18 HORE. Hier beghyně Onser lieu Vrouwe Getidě in Duytsche, 12mo. Manuscript on Vellum, with illuminated borders and initials, ornamented with 3 very early woodcuts, painted in gold and colours in imitation of genuine miniatures, red velvet, gilt edges, with engraved silver clasp and corners, a great curiosity, £21. SEC. XV 19 OFFICIUM BEATE MARIE VIRGINIS Secundum Curiam Romanam, cum Calendario, 16mo. Manuscript on Vellum, by an Italian Scribe, ornamented with 16 Miniatures and borders of great merit and beauty by an artist of the School of Padua, green morocco, joints, gilt gauffré edges, £50. Sec. XV. 20 OFFICIA ET PRECES, cum Calendario, MS. of the 15th century, on 371 leaves of very thin Vellum, by an English scribe, beautifully written, with numerous delicately drawn initial letters in gold and colours, imperfect at beginning and 11 leaves in different parts cut out, old calf, £6. 158 Sæc. XV At the end is this note of the same century: "Iste liber constat Morgano Williams et sibi pertinet." 21 OFFICIA ET PRECES, cum calendario, sm. 4to. illuminated MS. of the 15th century, on 154 leaves of Vellum, with Miniatures and fine painted initial letters, but chiefly remarkable for the beautiful borderings in which the miniatures are executed, and on which figures of birds, flowers and insects are painted on a ground of pale gold; including one fine specimen of the Dance of Death school, and a curious crucifixion, two leaves wanting, calf, £42. cir. 1450 22 Icelandic. EDDA samann tekinn af Snorra Sturlasyne, sm. 4to. MS. on paper, 150 pp. hf. bd. 258 circ. 1780 MSS. of the Minor Edda are very scarce. The above copy was made either in Denmark or Iceland. It differs considerably from the printed editions. 23 IRISH. LEABHAR UI MAOLCONAIRE: the Book of the Mulconries, sm. 4to. finely written IRISH MS. ON VELLUM, with curious initials, 122 leaves, containing a collection of 37 ancient Legends, Poems, Romances, etc. in prose and verse, green morocco extra, £90. cir. A.D. 1480-1561 Early MSS. in Irish are of extraordinary rarity; and the present is one of particular interest as being the Book of a .celebrated family of Irish scribes, and one to which later writers have made frequent reference. Of some (but according to Mr. O'Curry's list, only a few) of the pieces in this volume there are copies existing in the libraries of the Royal Irish Academy and of Dublin University; and it will readily be conceded by those who know the subject that nothing of the kind has occurred in the public sales for many years of equal importance with the Leabhar ui-Maolconaire. LIST OF THE CONTENTS. 1. Adventures of some Culdees cast away in the North-Western Ocean.-2. Life of St. Finian of Rossglas.-3. Legend of King Laeghaire and St. Patrick.-4. Chronological Poem on the Geraldines, with a Latin note at the end, A.D. 1561 hoc exemplar exaratum-5. Prophecy of St. Fursa.-6. Miscellaneous Religious pieces.-7. Part of the Litany of Aengus the Culdee.-8. Legend of St. Emin of Monastereven and the King and Chiefs of Leinster.-9. Moral Instructions.-10. Prophecy on Ireland, etc.-11. St. Columba's Farewell to Arran.-12. Metrical Testament of Cormac MacCullinan.-13. Prayers.-14. Chronology.-15. Columba's Poem on Hell.-16. Poem by Maolmuire of Morin on his death-bed, and Poems by William Macanlea.17. Lists of primitive Irish Saints, with their mothers' names.-18. Poem on Curoi MacDary's head.-19, 20. Pedigrees of Irish Saints.-21. Life of Mary of Egypt and Legend.-22. Creation, Fall, Dialogue of Satan and Sin.-23-27. Legends of Saints, etc.-28. An ancient Historical Romance entitled Bruidhean da-Choga.-29. Legend of the Emperor Alexis.-30. Martyrdom of St. Laurence. The number of 37 pieces is made up by the unmentioned separate pieces which sometimes accompany single numbers. 23* IRISH MSS. BEATHA AN ESBOIG GHLORMHAIR, i. Pattruice, Priomfhaigh na Heireann, sonn (Life of the glorious Bishop S. Patrick), sm. 4to. MS. in the Irish character, the first couple of leaves and the last damaged and defective, £2. 28 About 1770 23**Ossianic Poetry, etc. a volume, sm. 4to. in Irish MS. in the handwriting of William O'Livnain, containing the pieces enumerated below, some damaged and defective, £5. I. Origin of the Custom of the day of Bealtine, (May Day). II. Treatise on Merlin and the Evil Spirit; and the Report of Merlin from Hell. IV. Poem on the Day of Judgment. 1777 V. Elegies and other Poems by Seaghan O'Tuama, Eoghan MacCartha, Aodhgan VI. Ossianic Poetry, comprising the Dialogues of S. Patrick and Ossian; of Fionn VII. Minor Pieces by William O'Lionain. The longest and most interesting piece in the volume is the Ossianic fragment, which alone occupies 98 pages. 24 JOHANNIS ALFONSI de Benavento Repetitio de Potestate et Arbitrio Confessoris et de Canonibus Penitentialibus et de actibus confessoris, small 4to. MS. on Vellum, the first page decorated with an elegant border and initial letter, within which is contained a fine miniature representing the author's presentation of his book, in the original boards, covered with impressed leather, £10. 10s Tejares prope Salamanticam, 1455-56 The author, a Decretorum Doctor, notices in his final inscription that he put the last touch to his work in Tejares whilst the plague was rife in Salamanca. 25 KELHAM (R.) Norman Dictionary, to which are added the Laws of William the Conqueror, 8vo. interleaved with numerous MS. ADDITIONS by ALCHIN, calf neat, £4. 48 very 1779 26 LECTIONARIUM, CONTINENS EPISTOLAS et EVANGELIA, BEAUTIFUL MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM, each page richly ornamented with initial letters illuminated in gold and colours, and having the first line of the Epistle or Gospel of the Day written in capital letters of silver, in the original oak boarils covered with stamped leather and protected by clasps, sm. folio, in a morocco cuse, £650. SEC. XI This magnificent specimen of early Calligraphy and Ornamentation was probably executed in Bavaria, as on the fly-leaf is written "Liber iste pertinet ad Monasterium Ottenburen," that is the famous Monastery of Ottenbeuren in Bavaria. 27 LECTIONARIUM ET SEQUENTIE CUM ANTIPHONARIO ET ORATIONIBUS PRO FESTIS ECCLESIÆ ROMANE, a magnificent MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM, with Intitulations in letters of gold, by an Italian Scribe, richly ornamented with initial letters exquisitely painted in glowing colours, heightened with gold, and eight excellent Paintings with superb borders executed in the highest style of the finest period of Italian Art, most probably by TADEO MINIATORE (Pope Leo Xth's famous Illuminator), oak boards, covered with crimson velvet, with gilt corners and clasps, the centre ornaments being four Nielli (portraits of Leo X and Cardinal Bembo on obverse and their arms on reverse of covers), beautifully engraved, and almost certainly from the hand of BENVENUTO CELLINI, £120. folio, circ. A.D. 1540 "THIS SUPERB MANUSCRIPT is said to have been the gift of Pope Leo X to Cardinal Bembo, and is certainly one of the most beautiful specimens of Italian ornamentation ever offered for sale." The preceding note by Sir William Tite is somewhat erroneous, as Leo X had been eighteen years in his grave when Cardinal Bembo received his hat. But Pietro Bembo may have had the MS. presented to him by his friend and patron Leo X; and afterwards, on being decorated with the purple, employed his friend and protégé Benvenuto to engrave the portraits and escutcheons on the memorial volumes. At least we know that Benvenuto executed a medal of Bembo before the latter became cardinal in 1539; another begun before and ended after that event; and a third on which Mazzuchelli thinks he was at work in 1546. See Vita di Cellini, 8vo. Milano, 1806, page 303, where one of those portraits is described in such a way as to show its identity of character with that on the MS. The eight paintings represent-I. Birth of Christ; II. Christ rising from the Tomb; III. Nativity of St. John the Baptist; IV. St. Angustin expounding to four kneeling Monks; V. Saint John writing his Gospel; VI. Visit of the Three Maries to the Sepulchre; VII. High Priests and Scribes; VIII. Four Monks praying beside the Corpse of a Bishop; beneath each of which is a magnificently painted border. Altogether these two volumes, formerly in the possession of Count Cicognara, form a gem of the highest value, and would grace even the noblest library. 28 LECTIONARIUM Græcum, sm. 4to. Byzantine MS. on vellum, russia neat, £5. About A.D. 1100 28* LECTIONARIUM, Græce, sm. 4to. MS. on 162 leaves of vellum, defective at beginning and end, bound in vellum, £6. 10s About the year 1100 29 LECTIONARIUM, Latine, 4to. MS. on Vellum, containing the Scriptural extracts in use throughout the year, with the accompanying Prayers and the Music of the Chants, wanting the first leaf, ancient binding, £16. 16s circ. A.D. 1100 There is a memorandum written in A.D. 1222, in the Castle of Waldeck. 29 METRICAL CHRONICLE of England, from William the Conqueror to Henry VI, ROLLED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM, £8. 8s cir. 1490 A similar Chronicle (but varying in many particulars) was printed by Hearne in the Appendix to his Robert of Gloucester, where it is entitled "A Petegrue from William Conquerour, of the Crowne of Engelonde, lynnyally descending unto Kyng Henry VI." The original Chronicle was compiled about the year 1430 odd, and the present copy although apparently not made till about the end of the century, bears no alteration or addition of any kind. 30 Music and Dancing. A Collection of Dance Tunes, with Music, figures of Dances and directions in Italian, square 12mo. MS. on paper, bound in vellum, with another MS. of Dance Tunes, with music and figures, the headings in French, inserted at the end, 12mo. £1. 78 Sec. XVIII 31 PECOCK (Bp. Reginald) Ye donet of cristen religion and ye gaderid councels of Seint Ysidre, sm. 8vo. an ENGLISH MANUSCRIPT on VELLUM, morocco, £36. circ. 1460 At the end of the "Gaderid Coucels of Seint Ysidre" there are some pages of curious English rhymes, from which I extract the following : "Erthe upon Erthe wolde be a King But how Erth schal to Erthe thenkith he nothing Lyk as erthe unto erth neuer go schuld And zit schal erthe unto erthe rather than he wolde." See the account of this MS. in Mr. C. Babington's edition of "Pecock's Repressor," 1860. The work was composed about 1450, and in the copy above described all the first part is contemporary with its original, while the second part is but little later. 32 PETRARCA (F.) 'Rime, sm. 4to. Manuscript on Vellum, by a Venetian Scribe, with 7 Miniatures and numerous initial letters, finely illuminated in gold and colours, olive morocco joints, gilt edges, by C. Lewis; from the library of Dr. E. C. Hawtrey, Head-Master and Provost of Eton, £31. 108 about 1460 A most valuable Manuscript, in which there is a Sonnet, which Dr. Hawtrey was unable to find in other Manuscripts or in any printed edition. 33 PETRARCHA (Franciescho) Trionfi, Sonetti et Canzoni, sm. fol. splendid Manuscript on VELLUM, with two beautiful borders, 2 historiated capitals containing portraits of Petrarch, and elegant initial letters, all finely illuminated in gold and colours by an Italian Miniatore of the first order, the coat of arms of some illustrious family painted at the foot of the first page, morocco, super extra, covered with gold Grolier tooling, gilt gaufré edges, by F. Bedford, £200. about 1470 33 PETRI TRECENSIS (Comestoris) Historia Sacræ Scripturæ, dicta Hystoria Scholastica, large folio, fine MS. on Vellum, with numerous large illuminated initials decorated chiefly in the grotesque manner, in red russia binding, £14. Sec. XIII This work possessed considerable importance in former times, and was frequently printed in the early days of typography. This copy contains the dedication by the author (Peter of Troyes, called Comestor) to Gillaume, Bishop of Sens, which is usually absent; and also a Supplement on the Allegories of the Bible. The illumination is of a peculiar kind; the figures rude and antique in character. 34 PROCOPIUS. Belisarius (sic) de Bello Gothorum, sm. folio, MS. on paper, with fly-leaves of old vellum on the boards of the binding, which bear fine specimens of the so-called Visigothic writing of the tenth Century, El. 4s Scripsit Romeus Lull, 1467 The preface which is very well written implies that this is an original work by a patriotic Italian. He has however only paraphrased the text of Procopius. 35 PSALMORUM LIBER secundum Usum Monachorum Sancti Michaelis Montis Oliveti Ordinis Benedicti, small 4to. Manuscript on VELLUM, by an Italian scribe, with beautiful borders, miniatures, and initial letters, finely illuminated in gold and colours, from the Duke of Roxburgh's copy, £200. SEC. XV 35* PSALTERIUM, cum Canticis, Litania, Hymnis, Orationibus, &c. 16mo. Manuscript on Vellum, by a Low German Scribe, having the Calendar ornamented with the 12 Signs of the Zodiac, and the Text with bordered capitals, and 12 initial letters containing miniatures executed in gold and colours in a style similar to Early English; with three larger paintings of the Annunciation, Crucifixion and Descent of the Holy Ghost on a gold ground, prefixed to the text, red velvet, with clasps, £25. cir. 1300 In the Kalendar, the word Evangelista is spelled with a instead of a v; and at the head of the Matins of our Lady an inscription is given, the language of which seems to belong to somewhere in the region of Westphalia, perhaps Münster. The grotesque figures that usually surmount the large plain capitals are frequently remarkable for grim humour and quaint fancifulness of design. 36 PSALTERIUM DAVIDIS CUM HYMNIS VARIIS (cviii) thick small 4to. beautiful Manuscript on VELLUM, by an ITALIAN SCRIBE, richly illuminated in gold and colours, the reverse of the first leaf exhibiting the intitulation: Incipit Liber Psalmorum, &c. in letters of gold on an azure ground, above and beneath which are winged boys supporting escutcheons, surrounded by laurel wreaths, on which are depicted armorial bearings very similar to those of the MEDICI family (9 Torteaux). The Psalms commence on the next page in letters of gold, also on an azure ground, beneath a Miniature of David kneeling in a rich landscape, and playing on a Psaltery, his gaze fixed on the clouds in which is seen the Almighty bearing a cross with Christ crucified. The elegant border of this page is composed of exceedingly rich ITALIAN ARABESQUES of gold and colours, in which the armorial bearings are also repeated. In this border are also exhibited 8 fine Miniatures (the Annunciation, 5 small halflengths of figures of the Prophets, cach holding a scroll with a prophecy concerning Christ; Joseph and Mary kneeling with the infant Jesus, and a very elaborate painting of the Day of Judgment). The margins of these pages in letters of gold are painted green, and ornamented with burning branches in gold and red. The Psalms are divided into 7 Nocturns, at the commence |