Four Illuminated Letters from French Bibles, Antique Print, 1849
€ 230
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1849
Mapmaker / artist
A. Rivaud (draughtsman), Hauger (lithographer)
Publisher
Administration, 5 rue du Pont-de-Lodi, Paris (chromolithographed by Lemercier, Paris)
Technique
Chromolithograph
Coloring
Printed color
Sheet size
28 × 21 cm (11.0 × 8.3 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-12228-2-18
What the condition grades mean
Excellent
Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
Very good
Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
Good
Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
Fair
Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
Condition
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.
About this sheet
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. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.
