Byzantine manuscript, psalter, "ΨΑΛΤΉΡΙΟΝ ΤΟΥ ΔΑ[ΥΙ]Δ". - Lot 1

Byzantine manuscript, psalter, "ΨΑΛΤΉΡΙΟΝ ΤΟΥ ΔΑ[ΥΙ]Δ". Small in-8, volume: 13 x 9.5 cm, leaves: 12 x 9 cm. Collation: [exlibris leaf]-[262]f. The last three pages are blank. Manuscript divided into 33 quires of 8 leaves each, with the exception of the last quire of 6 leaves. Each quire bears a small cross at the head of its first page and a number at the bottom right of the last leaf (the last leaf being correctly numbered "λΓ" (for 33). Manuscript in gold ink and illuminated on vellum skin, second half of the 13th century, gouache and gold ink lettering and bands, 10 illuminations at the head of the pages (two-thirds of the way up), known as pylés or pylais, with carpet-like decoration. This manuscript is part of a production of ceremonial manuscripts from the Palaeologus period, at the end of the 13th century, most certainly around the widow of Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus, Theodora Vatatzès. Widowed in 1282, she died in 1303. The complete psalter contains 150 psalms, and our psalter contains psalms 1 to 76. We have identified the second part of our manuscript as Greek Supplement 260, kept at the BnF for at least 200 years (it bears a Restoration stamp). These two manuscripts were probably originally bound together in a Byzantine binding, making the complete manuscript unwieldy (too thick) and certainly weakening the original binding. However, the first leaf of the second part has left a discharge on the last leaf of the first part, and vice versa. While the discharge on our manuscript is larger (full page), the discharge on the BnF manuscript is very limited: it only contains the signature of our last quire. Consultation of the BnF manuscript provides us with several interesting pieces of information: - If the complete psalter is indeed considered as two manuscripts, as our shorter last quire with blank pages proves, these two manuscripts were originally intended to be one, as the signatures on the BnF manuscript, whose numbering continues ours, prove. - The manuscript, which probably arrived in France with Cardinal des Cars, was already bound in two volumes, in a blue silk velvet binding with small silver threads. The binding of the BnF manuscript was restored some one hundred years ago, preserving the remaining elements of the early 17th-century binding. Ours, restored around 1810, has lost all its older elements, as was customary at the time. The Greek script is still an archaic form, in gold ink, or more precisely with a red primer on which gold ink (generally made from gold leaf) is applied. The primer is sometimes visible at the edge of the script. Provenance: Cardinal Anne de Pérusse des Cars (1546-1612) with his bookplate painted in gouache on vellum skin, as cardinal (after 1596). Presumably, he brought this manuscript back from Rome (and probably the other volume now in the BnF); Desgrées du Loû family and descendants, for over a hundred years. Early 19th century binding, full eggplant morocco basane, gilt edges. Ex-libris leaf with small traces of gouache. First leaf a little faded, small marginal wetness on a few leaves. Apart from this, the manuscript is extremely fresh. Spine of binding slightly cracked. This manuscript has an export certificate allowing it to circulate freely within the European Union. In the event of destination outside the European Union, the buyer will have to wait for the issuance of the export license, which can only be applied for after the sale. Expert : Benoît GALLAND