Bibles & sacred texts - facsimiles - Omi

OMI - Old Manuscripts & Incunabula • tel 212/ 758-1946 • fax 593-6186 • www.omifacsimiles.com • immels@earthlink.net Biblical texts, p.4
11th c. Die Bamberger Apokalypse.
[Bamberg, Staatsbibliothek, Ms. Bibl. 140]
Luzern, 2000. 20.4 x 29.5 cm, 106 pp + commentary.
The apocalyse with its texts on visions and prophecies of the end of the world and its
encoded language and enigmatic pictures have fascinated and bewildered man since the
beginning of time. Nearly 1000 year ago when these visions overflowed Europe and their
interpretations were widely discussed, the Ottonian dynasty commissioned a luxury
manuscript—now known as the “Bamberg Apocalyse”—to be carried out at Reichenau,
one of the best scriptoria of the empire. The manuscript can be dated between 1000 and
1020. After the untimely death of the emperor at the age of 21, the codex remained
unfinished until Henry II ordered it to be finished. He and his wife Cunegund donated it to
the Collegiate Abbey of St. Stephen in Bamberg. The Bamberg Apocalyse is among the
most marvellous illuminated mss and the only illustrated cycle of the Apocalyse produced
by Ottonian book painters. From earliest times the workshop of Reichenau developed its
own unique character, powerfully expressed in the 57 large format miniatures of this codex.
The desire to achieve this high expressive power is paralleled by a reduction of spatiality
and plasticity. Bright colored surfaces are limited by sweeping lines and an enhancement of
form and movement allows a great intensity in the reproduction of the religious themes.
Commentary, edited by Bernhard Schemmel and Gude Suckala-Redlefsen, with
contributions by Renate Baumgärtel-Fleischmann, Avinoam Shalem, Yves Christe, Martina
Pippal, Bernd Schneidmüller, Peter Wind, Peter Wünsche & Peter Klein. Limited edition of
980 copies, bound in red silk.
8th c. Psalterium Salabergae. Farbmikrofiche-Edition der Handschrift Berlin,
Staatsbibliothek - Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Ms.Hamilt.553.
Introduction and Codicological Description by Dáibhí Ó Cróinín.
[Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Preuß. Kulturbesitz, Hamilt. 553]
[3-89219-030-5] Codices Illuminati Medii Aevi, 30. Munich, 1994. 17 x 25 cm, 23 pp, 3
fiches (x60).
British Isles (?), first half of 8th c., vellum, 66 fols., 2 cols., expert insular half-uncial.
Contains the Creed, the Psalterium Romanum, and some Cantica. Apart from the larger
initial pages, decoration for the most part is comprised of carefully drawn small initials.
The colors used are bright yellow, grey-blue, grey-green, and brick red. The larger initial
letters are surrounded by red dots and are elaborately decorated, often with zoomorphic
motifs; spirals and interlace patterns are regular, and the birdheads in particular are very
close to those in the Augsburg Gospels (CIMA 9) and related MSS. The Salaberga Psalter
combines the Irish and Roman traditions of highlighting the liturgical and three-part
divisions of the psalter by elaborating the initials of Ps. 1, 51, and 101, as well as Ps. 17 and
Ps. 118 in the Irish manner. The MS belongs to the "Anglo-Saxon" family of Roman
psalters. The name “Salaberga Psalter” comes from its association with the monastery of
St. Jean de Laon (formerly “Notre Dame-la-Profonde”) founded in AD 640 by Salaberga, a
daughter of the Austrasian magnate Gundoin, who with his family had close association
with Columbanus' foundation at Luxeuil. The MS came to Berlin in 1882 as part of the
magnificent Hamilton Collection. Linen.
€ 260 http://www.omifacsimiles.com/brochures/cima30.pdf