Four Illuminated Letters from French Bibles, Antique Print, 1849

Four great initials on one sheet, each lettered with its source: a letter I of the ninth century from the Biblia Sacra numbered 2, a letter V of the eleventh from the first volume of another Biblia Sacra, a letter S of the eleventh from a psalter of the Oratoire, and a fifteenth century letter F from a manuscript in the Bibliotheque de l'Arsenal. The S is the finest, a rope of gold interlace knotted against a dotted red ground; the V is set in a panel of lapis blue.

Le Moyen Age et la Renaissance was issued in Paris between 1848 and 1851 in five volumes under the literary direction of Paul Lacroix and the artistic direction of Ferdinand Sere. This plate belongs to the second volume, dated 1849. Its chromolithographs were drawn from the originals by artists sent into the libraries and collections of France, Belgium and Germany, and printed by Lemercier of Paris or by Engelmann et Graf.

Single letters are the most purchasable thing in the whole field of manuscript illumination, because a buyer can hang an initial that matches a name. Four on one sheet give a decorator four options, and the plate is often bought to be cut down, although it is far better left whole. It works above a desk or in a narrow hall.

Even age toning. Marked handling soiling along the bottom, right and top edges. A few small foxing spots in the margin. All four corners complete.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.