Illuminated Manuscript Leaf: Book of Solomon (c. 1260)
"I will fulfill my word to thee, which I spoke to David thy father. And I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel, and I will not forsake my people Israel."
LEAF FROM 13TH CENTURY BIBLE DETAILING THE BUILDING OF SOLOMON’S TEMPLE.
An exceptional leaf from a medieval pocket Bible, produced in Northern France—likely Paris—circa 1260. Executed in Latin in extraordinarily small Gothic script, the text is arranged in two neat columns of forty-three lines each, carefully ruled in red and penned in rich brown ink on fine animal vellum. Chapter numbers are rubricated, and the page is embellished with two multi-line initials, each accompanied by graceful marginal pen flourishes in red and blue. The handwriting is excellent—delicately thin, fluid, and perfectly consistent.
Excerpted section in Latin reads:
Et factus est sermo Domini ad Salomonem dicens domus haec quam aedificas si ambulaveris in praeceptis meis et iudicia mea feceris et custodieris omnia mandata mea gradiens per ea firmabo sermonem meum tibi quem locutus sum ad David patrem tuum et habitabo in medio filiorum Israhel et non derelinquam populum meum Israhel igitur aedificavit Salomon domum et consummavit eam.
English translation:
And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying: As for this house, which thou art building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments, walking in them, I will fulfil my word to thee, which I spoke to David thy father. And I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel, and I will not forsake my people Israel. So Solomon built the house, and finished it.
In these verses, Solomon’s wisdom, political skill, and dedication to building the Temple are described.
Provenance: From a compact “portable” Bible of the Crusades era, used for theological study or itinerant preaching in the medieval countryside. By the 17th century, the parent volume had reached England. It later belonged to Lord Saltoun and subsequently entered the collection of William Foyle (1885–1963) at Beeleigh Abbey.
Size: 156 × 103 mm.
Likely Paris: c. 1260. Closely cropped top. Minor browning to to margins.
Price: $795 .