Of Virtues and Vices: A luxury Copy of Peraldus’ ‘Summa de Virtutibus’
Italy or South of France (?), Last third of the 13th century
This elegant manuscript with 17 illuminated initials, contains the complete and unabridged text of Peraldus’ important work ‘Summa de virtutibus’, The Summation of Virtues. It is the first volume of Peraldus’ two-part famous moral-theological handbook, the ‘Summa de Virtutibus et Viitis’, On the Virtues and Vices.
240'000,- (VAT not included)
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Illuminated manuscript on vellum.
342 x 230 mm; 4 (paper) + 237 (vellum). Written in Southern gothica textualis (height: ca. 2 mm) in (often light) brown ink in one single hand. 17 illuminated, sometimes historiated initials. – Condition: Parchment of good quality, hair side clearly recognisable. – Modern (20th-century) binding on five raised bands, brown leather over wooden boards, decorated with geometrical motives, using original medieval clasps (with Agnus Dei) and metal elements in the centre (with Agnus Dei) and angles.
A luxury Copy of Guillelmus Peraldus’ ‘Summa de virtutibus’ with 17 multi-layered and complex initials befitting this monumental moral-theological Work
Overview
Guillelmus Peraldus was a master of theology at the University of Paris and after his consecration as bishop, he was given the See of Paris by Pope Gregory IX in 1228. He authored multiple texts which found wide appreciation throughout the Middle Ages. The Summa was translated into a range of vernacular languages in the 14th and 15th century, and was printed in multiple editions between the 15th and 17th century, due to its status as influential Dominican theological work.
Compared to its many other copies of this text, the manuscript at hand is clearly a more luxurious and refined specimen due to its layout and illuminated initials, which is highly unusual for manuscripts containing the Summa. Its beautifully decorated initials are reminiscent of some copies in Paris. It is decorated with 17 complex and intertwining initials. 15 of the initials are 7 lines high and created on a blue or pink background and filled with vine-like bodies of hybrid creatures and gold. The initials’ ascenders or descenders frame the elegant column of the meticulously written text. White tracery highlights and adorns the topmost layer of the initials, mesmerizing the eye, while little birds and dragon-like creatures joyfully play in the elegant curves of the initials. It is an astonishing manuscript combining influential learning of the Dominican order and French book art of the 13th century.