The Didot Sale.

miniatures , with Latin text extracted from the Scri ptural book and written in scrolls and on the borders—an extremely beautiful work of art , the archetype of the celebrated "Block-book Apocalypses , " two of which occurred at a later period of the sale ; 13 , the Latin Bible-history of Peter Comestor , with miniatures , of French execution , and dated A . D . 1229—5 , 000 f . ( Labitte ); 14 , " Graduate Romanum" a manuscript written in some Benedictine monastery

, of Northern Italy , in the 11 th century—3 , 900 f . ( Labitte ) ; 15 , " Graduale et Sacramentarium , " also a Benedictine manuscript with miniatures , executed in the Abbey of Ottenbeuern , in Suabia , about the year 1150—20 , 100 f . ( Techener . ) A similar manuscript to this—apparently belonging , like it , to a series of liturgical volumes , illuminated by or for the Abbot Isengrim , when the monastery was restored after its destruction b y fire in 1142—was in Sir

William Tite ' s possession , ancl afterwards sold at Mr . Bragge ' s sale in London a couple of years ago . 16 , " Missale Ecclesia ! Parisiensis , " manuscript of the 14 th century , with miniatures— -8 , 100 f . ( Techener . ) No . 17 was the extraordinary " Missal de Charles VI ., " of which mention has alread y been macle ; large in size , and richly decorated with numerous miniatures and other ornamentsit attracted more attention than any other MS . of the collection .

, 18 , " Missale Ecelesios Turonensis , " a MS . of the beginning of the 16 th century , with a few magnificent miniatures—20 , 000 f . ( Fontaine . ) No . 19 was the Talbot " Livre d'Heures , " already mentioned , which we must consider to have been , from an English point of view , the most interesting lot in the sale . 20 , " Ghetide , " a Dutch Prayer Book of the 15 th century—l , 600 f . ( Labitte ) ; 21 Hora 3 a Prayer Bookilluminatedabout 1480 for Rene II . Duke of

, , , , , , Lorraine , with miniatures , one of which represents the defeat of Charles the Bold at Morat—6 , 000 f . ; 22 , Horre , the Prayer Book of Antoine , the " Grand Batard de Bourgogne "—7 , 000 f . ( Labitte ); 23 , a similar "Livre d'Heure , " executed towards the end of the 15 th century , and believed , but on very slight

grounds , to have belonged to Mary Queen of Scots—10 , 000 f . ( Fontaine ) ; 24 , a similar French Prayer Book—2 , 900 f . ; 25 , a similar French Prayer Book , said to have belonged to Catherine d'Armagnac , Duchess of Bourbon , in 1484—12 , 900 f . ( Fontaine ) ; 26 , " Horaj , " a fine Dutch Prayer Book , some of the miniatures in which were attributed , with little reason , to the hand of Mending 20 , 800 f . ( Fontaine ) ; 27 , " Officium B . V . M ., " MS ., of Flemish execution , written about the end of the 15 th centuryin silver letters upon black

vellum—, ll , 500 f . ( Labitte ) ; 28 , Anne of Brittany ' s Book of Hours , according to the use of Rouen , a beautiful MS ., with remarkably fine miniatures—18 , 000 f . ( Labitte ) ; 29 , " Horaa , " very small , but fine , which had been in the collection of the Rev . Theodore Williams—l , 950 f . ( Quaritch ) ; 30 , another "Livre d'Heures , " of the early part of the 16 th century , which afterwards belonged to Anne of Austriathe Queen of Louis XIII— 27000 f . ( Fontaine ) 32 the

, , ; , "Rationale Divinorum Officiorum" of Durandns , the celebrated work which forms the foundation of all study upon the history ancl practice of the rites of the Roman Church , in an Italian hand of the 14 th century—3 , 900 f . ( Quaritch ) ; 33 , the " Moralia in Job " of Pope Gregory the Great , a MS . in Lombardic characters , stated in the sale catalogue to have been as old as the seventh or eight century , but which was probably a couple of centuries

younger—3 , 000 f . ( Quaritch ); 35 , "BonaventuraD Breviloqnium , " a MS . of the 14 th century , remarkable for its binding of enamel and gems—l , 800 f . ( Labitte . ) The same purchaser—who was reported to be buying for the Didot family —• gave 13 , 100 f . for the next lot ( 36 ) , "La Saint Abbaye , " an unpublished spiritual allegory , with other ascetic pieces , forming a single MS . volume , adorned with miniatures of great beautyexecuted in the earlpart of the

, y 14 th century . To him likewise fell No . 37—a tiny volume whose only claim to respect was that it had been written b y the famous calligraphist Jarry in 1645 . The penmanship was exquisite , but there was no ornament , yet it brought the price of 8 , 000 f . No . 38 was the " Decretum " of Gratian , the basis of the