MS in Latin on bronze, Roma, 13 February 139, 2 tabellas (complete), 19x16 cm, single column, 22 lines and 2 columns, 7 lines with witnesses' signatures, in formal Latin capitals, the insides, 12+3 lines in more informal capitals, 2 holes through each tablet for a wire that originally bound the two tablets together, secured with the seals of the 7 witnesses.

Binding: Barking, Essex, 1991, dark blue quarter morocco gilt folding case by Aquarius.

Context: There are 3 praetorian diplomas (MSS 1801, 1870, 2051/7) in The Schøyen Collection, further 11 auxiliary diplomas (MSS 1836, 1899, 2051/1-6, 2051/8, 2052, 2086), and 3 fleet diplomas (MSS 698, 1921, 2032). 6 of the 7 witnesses on the present diploma also signed MS 1921.

Provenance: 1. Marcus Lollius Neon, Laertes, Pamphylia (from 139 until his death); 2. Found in the Dardanelles, Turkey; 3. Private Collection, Beverly Hills, California (until 1990); 4. Bernard Quaritch Ltd., London.

Commentary: The present diploma gives Marcus Lollius Neon an honourable discharge from the navy of Emperor Antoninus Pius, Roman citizenship for himself and his descendants, and the right of legal marriage.

The present MS contains the unusual information, of both date, place and the exemplar copied. The exemplar, the bronze tablet set in the wall on Forum Romanum, still survives in fragments.

Published: Margaret M. Roxan: Roman Military Diplomas 1954-77 (I), no. 38.

Exhibited: 1. Conference of European National Librarians, Oslo. Sept. 1994; 2. Kistefos-museet, Jevnaker: Romerske portretter i gull og marmor, 22 mai - 25 september 2005.

MS in Latin on bronze, Spain or South Italy, 209, 1 partial plaque, 22x15 cm, single column, (22x15 cm remaining), 13 lines in a transitional script between square and rustic Latin capitals.

Context: Such charitable foundations are quite well known from Italy in the 2nd c., but there is only one hitherto known from Spain, from Sevilla. The donor may be a known official who come from Venafro in south central Italy. If so, the tablet comes from Venafro.

Provenance: 1. Private collector, Spain (until 1994); 2. Bernard Quaritch Ltd., London.

Commentary: The surviving bronze law tablets are central to the study of Roman law. Although most of the texts consist of very small fragments, they nonetheless constitute the single most important source modern scholars have for the rules, procedures, and application of Roman law before the codifications of the late Empire.

Published: R.S.O. Tomlin: An early third-century alimentary foundation: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 129(2000):, pp. 287-292.

Exhibited: Comité International de Palaéographie Latin (CIPL) at Senate House, University of London , 3 September 2008.

MS in Latin on vellum, St. Martin's Tour, France, 2nd half of 7th c., 1 f., 23x19 cm, 2 columns, (23x19 cm), 22-24 lines in Merovingian cursive (text 1). Lined with part of a leaf of a late classical papyrus codex (text 2) in Greek, 7th c., originally 2 columns, 20 lines in Greek uncial.

Context: From the binding of Philippus on Job, MS 10.A.1. in Den Haag, the Meerman-Westreenen Museum, together with 31 further ff. now in, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale and 1 f. in London, British Library, originally comprising one or more account rolls.

Provenance: 1. Benedictine Abbey of St. Martin, Tour (ca. 675-1789); 2. Bibliothèque Municipale de Tour (1789-1832); 3. Amans-Alexis Monteil, France (1832-1833); 4. The Monteil sale, Silvestre, Paris 1833:473; 5. Sotheby's 20.6.1989:26; 6. David Thompson, Toronto; 7. Sam Fogg Rare Books Ltd., London.

Commentary: Rare leaf from a major Merovingian MS of great historical and palaeographical importance, representing the oldest MS of the Tour scriptorium (Bischoff), and preserving part of the only extant papyrus codex to have survived from antiquity north of the Alps. Text 2 is by far the earliest MS of the text. Cf. ChLA vol. IV:238 and XVIII:659.

Published: Pierre Gasnault: Deux nouveaux feuillets de la comptabilité domaniale de l'Abbaye Saint-Martin de Tour à l'époque mérovingienne, in: Journal des Savants, Paris, June-Dec. 1995, pp. 307-321, and ChLA vol. 47, no. 1404, Zürich 1997.

Exhibited: Comité International de Palaéographie Latin (CIPL) at Senate House, University of London , 3 September 2008.

MS in Anglo-Saxon on vellum, Christ Church, Canterbury, 1013-20, 1 f., 5x26 cm, (5x25 cm), 5 long lines in a handsome skilful Anglo-Saxon minuscule, at the foot, the upper part of "+cyrograpfhum" in bold capitals with uncial "M".

Provenance: 1. Benedictine Priory of Christ Church, Canterbury; 2. Sir Edward Dering, Surrenden, Dering, Kent (1598-1644); 3. Dering family, Surrenden, Dering, Kent (1644-1863); 4. Puttick and Simpson Sale 4.2.1863:1155; 5. Dering family, Hamptons, Tonbridge, Kent (1863-1956); 6. Lady Herbert Dering of Hamptons, Tonbridge, Kent (1956); 7. Myrtle Sturges (born Dering), Biddenden, Kent (1960'es); 8. Sir Rupert Dering of Hamptons, Tonbridge, Kent (until 1989); 9. Sotheby's 20.6.1989:27; 10. Bernard Quaritch Ltd., London.

Commentary:Apart from the Aethelgifu will in the Scheide library and MS 1354 in The Schøyen Collection, the only document in Anglo-Saxon in private ownership.

Published: L.B. Larking: On the Surrenden Charters; in: Archaeologica Cantiana 1(1858) pp. 62-64. A.J. Robertson: Anglo-Saxon Charters. Cambridge 1939, pp. 148-149, 394-395, no. 75.

P.H. Sawyer: Anglo-Saxon Charters. An annotated list and bibliography. London 1968, p. 356, no. 1220.

Simon Keynes: Anglo-Saxon Charters. Supplementary volume I. Oxford 1991, pp. 6-7, no. 19.

Mentioned: Exports of Works of Art. 37th Report of the Reviewing Committee appointed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer 1952. Presented to Parliament by the Minister for the Arts by Command of Her Majesty. London 1991, pp. 19-20, case 16.

H.R. Woudhuysen: Manuscripts at Auction: January 1989 to December 1990; in: Peter Beal and Jeremy Griffiths, eds: English Manuscript Studies 1100-1700. Vol. 3. London 1992.

Exhibited: Comité International de Palaéographie Latin (CIPL) at Senate House, University of London , 3 September 2008.

MS in Latin and Anglo-Saxon on vellum, Westminster, England, 26 October 1259, 1 f., 56x42 cm, (49x37 cm), 50 long lines in English court documentary script, and Anglo-Saxon minuscule, 5 initials with penwork decoration, part of the Great Seal of Henry III in green wax with a plaited cord.

Binding: England, modern, half-morocco gilt folding case.

Provenance: 1. Benedictine Abbey of the Holy Cross, Wherwell, Andover, Hampshire ( 1259- ca. 1537); 2. Private Collection, Beverly Hills, California; 3. Bernard Quaritch Ltd., London.

Commentary: The original Ethelred charter is now lost, and the present MS is the earliest surviving record.

Published: The text was published in Dugdale: Monasticon Anglicarium, II, 1819, 636; J.M. Kemble: Codex Diplomaticus Aevi Saxonici III, London 1845, pp. 322-26, no. 707.

MS in Latin on vellum, Monforte, Galicia, 1115, 1 f., 20x60 cm, (11x59 cm), 14+1 long lines in Visigothic minuscule.

Provenance: 1. Monastery of S. Pedro de Valverde, Galicia (1115-); 2. H.P. Kraus, New York (-1962); 3. Bernard Rosenthal Collection, San Francisco, I/148 ( 1962-1987); 4. Bernard Quaritch Ltd., London.

Commentary: Visigothic minuscule used in a document is only known in Spanish archives and institutions, and hardly anywhere outside Spain.

Visigothic minuscule as book script, see MSS 73 and 190.

MS in Latin on vellum, County of Cerdanya, Pyrenean Catalonia, 26 October 965, 1 f., 7x29 cm, (5x28 cm), 10 long lines in a littera minuscula carolina documentaria media (Carolingian documentary script of medium quality), opening decorated penwork initial extended down the length of the left-hand margin, witnesses sign by penwork marks, penwork notarial mark of the presbiter Godmares. Annotated on the dorse in a 17th c. hand, with notes on contents.

Provenance: 1. Notary Godmares, presbiter, the monastery of Sant Sebastià del Sull (965); 2. Swann Galleries, New York, 6.11.1986:30; 3. Bernard Rosenthal Collection, San Francisco, I/280 (1986-1989); 4. Bernard Quaritch Ltd., London.

Commentary: The regnal date refers to the West-Frankish king Lothar, son of Louis IV (reigned 954-986). The beneficiary is a monastery of Sant Sebastià in the 'valle Bucuranense' which is a 10th c. designation for the vicinity of Broça, in the southern part of the county of Cerdanya. It is the obscure (and long defunct) Sant Sebastià del Sull, in the valley of the river Saldes, just west of Bagà between the counties of Cerdanya and Berguedà. Information thanks to Nathaniel L. Taylor, Ph.D.

Published: Discussed briefly and cited in: Manuel Riu, "El monestir de Sant Sebastià del Sull, al municipi de Saldes, i la seva rotonda," Urgellia* 6 (1983), 245-84, p. 251. Archiv für Diplomatik, Schriftgeshichte Siegel- und Wappenkunde, 49 Band 2003, pp. 49-80; Mark Mersiowsky: Katalanische Urkunden in privaten Sammlungen.

*Urgellia: anuari d'estudis historics dels antics comtats de Cerdanya, Urgell i Pallars, d'Andorra

MS in Latin on vellum, San Iuliani de Altura, Terrassa near Barcelona, 23 May 1062, 1 f., 11x15-26 cm, (9x25 cm), 14 long lines in a littera minuscula carolina documentaria currens (Current Carolingian documentary script), the confirmation clause in an engrossed and more cursive version of the script, by the monk Benedictus, opening decorated penwork initial, penwork notarial mark. Annotated on the dorse in several later medieval hands.

A copy, now at the library of the Abbey of Montserrat, of this MS was made by J. A. de Plandolit in the late 19th c. The Plandolit copies are ca. 50 charters of which most are now at the British Library, except for four charters including this one. The British Library purchased 78 manuscripts from Sant Llorenç del Munt (11th to 13th c.) in 1920, now BL MSS Add. Chart. 62604-62681

Context: The witnesses Dominus Audegari, abbot, and Remundi Seniofredi, are possibly the same individuals who sign another document dated 1039, which also has the word 'Monte' on the dorse and appears to relate to the same monastery of St Laurence.

Provenance: 1. Abbey of San Iuliani de Altura, Terrassa near Barcelona (1062); 2. Abbey of San Laurenzio, Spain (1062); 3. Archive of San Llorenc del Munt, near Barcelona (until 19th c.); 4. Sold in Barcelona (19th c.); 5. E. Fisher (1920); 6. Swann Galleries, New York 6.11.1986:33; 7. Bernard Rosenthal Collection, San Francisco, I/281 (1986-1989); 8. Quaritch, London.

Commentary: King Philip, possibly to be identified with the Capetian king Philip I, King of France 1060-1108. Audegarius may have been abbot of San Iuliani de Altura.

The annotations on the dorse mention the place-names of Terraca and Monte. The place (now a suburb) is still known by its old name, Sant Julià d'Altura, now just 3 km NE of Terrassa, itself 15 km N of Barcelona. The monastery of Sant Llorenç del Munt is just 8 km N of Terrassa. Formally founded as an independent Benedictine house only in the mid 11th c., it soon fell under the domination of the important house farther south, Sant Cugat del Valles, and declined and was dissolved in the 16th c. The most prominent person in the charter is Amat Eldric (or Uldric), seneschal for Count Ramon Berenguer I of Barcelona, and prominent in the region North and West of the city in the 1040s-1060s.

Information thanks to Nathaniel L. Taylor, Ph.D.

Published: Pere Puig i Ustrell. El monestir de Sant Llorenç del Munt sobre Terrassa: Diplomatari dels segles X XI, no 410, vol 3, pp. 1189-90. Barcelona, Fundaciò Noguera, 1995. 3 vols. This MS was known to the editor only through the Plandolit copies.

Archiv für Diplomatik, Schriftgeshichte Siegel- und Wappenkunde, 49 Band 2003, pp. 49-80; Mark Mersiowsky: Katalanische Urkunden in privaten Sammlungen.

MS in Latin on vellum, Vatican, 13 September 1024, 1 f., 29x53 cm, (19x53 cm), 13 long lines in a littera documentaria Pontificalis (Papal documentary script), with decorative elaboration of ascenders and descenders, marks of abbreviation, and initial letters, opening line in the elaborate calligraphic form. Annotated on the dorse, in Rustic capitals, and in a 14th c. hand in a littera semigothica cursiva.

Context: Early Italian documents from the archives of the abbey of Santa Maria de Organo in Verona are MS 590/01-02.

Provenance: 1. The Papal Chancery, Vatican (1024); 2. Archives of the Abbey of Santa Maria de Organo, Verona (1024-); 3. Italian dealer (1964); 4. Bernard Rosenthal Collection, San Francisco, I/170 (1964-1989); 5. Bernard Quaritch Ltd., London.

Commentary: This is an important, early example of an instrument issued by the Papal Chancery, and provides a fine example of the calligraphic script developed within the Papal Chancery.

The MS is issued in the year of the election of the new pope, Johannes XIX (pope 1024-1033). It mentions the particular depredations suffered by the abbey and assures the abbot of the Pope's support and prayers.

The MS has never been sealed. The present MS seems to be a copy made in the Papal Chancery at the time of the issuing of the original document.

MS iin Latin on vellum, Haliwell Priory, Middlesex, ca. 1181-1188, 1 f., 13x14 cm (10x14 cm), 16 long lines in a fine Romanesque documentary script. 2 seals in red wax, one round, diam. 5 cm, of Roger de Bray riding his horse, the other of mandorla form, 6x4 cm, showing his wife, Margery standing.

Binding: Barking, Essex, 1995, red cloth gilt folding case, by Aquarius.

Provenance:1. Augustinian Priory of Haliwell, Middlesex (Ca. 1188-); 2. Quaritch cat. 1056(1985):101; 3. Private Collector, England (1985-1992); 4. Bernard Quaritch Ltd., London.

Commentary: English Romanesque charters with large seals intact are possibly only to be found in public collections and archives. The first document recording this agreement is British Library, Harley Charters 83. A 47, dated 1181-88.

Exhibited: Comité International de Palaéographie Latin (CIPL) at Senate House, University of London , 3 September 2008.

MS in Latin on vellum, Toledo, Spain, 5 March 1195, 1 f., 43x43 cm, single column and 4 columns (witnesses), (38x41 cm), 33 long lines in a littera minuscula protogothica documentaria formata (formal Romanesque documentary script) by the royal clerk Michael, elaborated ascenders in top line, 6-line decorated opening initial, notarial mark. Annotated on dorse in Spanish.

Provenance: 1. Alfonso VIII of Castille, Toledo (1195); 2. Benedictine monastery of St Facundus, Sahagun, Spain (1195); 3. Dolphin Book Company, Oxford (1960); 4. Bernard Rosenthal Collection, San Francisco, I/108 (1960-1989); 5. Bernard Quaritch Ltd., London.

Commentary: This is a fine, large and early example of a Royal document issued from the Castilian court at Toledo. The Benedictine monastery of St Facundus at Sahagun, between Burgos and Leon, was one of the greatest monastic foundations in medieval Spain and the retiring place of the kings of Leon. It was founded by Alfonso II in 907, extensively endowed by members of the royal family and subsequently rebuilt in 1213. The monastery is now largely in ruins.

St. Facundus was born at Leon and beheaded, ca. 300, by the River Cea, where the Benedictine abbey of Sahagun was later built in commemoration.

The document MS is witnessed by Didaco Lupi, Chancellor; Petro Rodicerus, Keeper of the King's household; Aldefonso Telli; Fernando Garlie; the prior of the abbey of St Facundus; Aldericus, Bishop of Palentinus; Mantico, Bishop of Legionensis; Gutterio Sancii, Gutterio Petri, Domenico Manga, Guillelmo Claver and Domenico Facundus, all of the abbey of St Facundus. It was witnessed in the presence of Munio Gondissalius and his son; Petrus Munionis; Petrus Fernandi; Gomez Martini; Rodericus Sancii; Magister Petrus Alberti; Magister Michael; Don Gomez, chaplain of Sancti Tirsi; Magister Antoninus; Peter, abbot of the Royal Chapel; Don Iohanni, chaplain of St Peter; Don Michael, chaplain of St James; Petrus Bonus, chaplain of the Holy Trinity; Don Isidorus Sancti Martini; Don Paulus, chaplain of St Laurence; Don Petrus, abbot; Guillelmus Aldouarth; Don Bazolin; Guillelmus Durendi Aleaiath; Martinus Decors; Petrus Narrz; Stephen Maior; Don Facundus, son of Peter the abbot; Didacus de Castroterra; Rodericus Arabeza Alcaath; Fernandus Petri, his brother; Nicholaus, son of Don Bazolin; Bernaldus de Luzeche; Garsias Petri; Don Bartolomeus; Egidius Naccarius; Don Romio; Petrus Pelagii Eldiegano; Don Dominicus, a relation; Don Petrus, son of Cavallarii Albi; Garsias de Parales; Facundus Caluus; Petrus Facundi, his son; Michael Piscator; Don Facundus, his relation; Don Silvester.

The Monastery of Trianos was founded and endowed by the original individual holder of the estate, Don Tello Perez, but Alfonso VIII had previously given the estate to the residents of Sahagun, who hereby acknowledge that Don Tello became the rightful owner.

MS in Latin on vellum, Trier, Germany, mid 12^th c., 1 f., 26x32 cm, (25x32 cm), 20 long lines in a large Romanesque documentary script, first 6 words in tall compressed capitals.

Provenance: 1. Benedictine Abbey of St. Mary ad Martyres, Trier (from 12th c.); 2. Bernard Quaritch Ltd., London.

Commentary: An unusual Romanesque forgery of a Carolingian grant of property, maybe intended simply to increase the prestige of the Abbey, or the document had to be copied since the original was worn or lost.

The text is printed in H. Beyer: Urkundenbuch zur Geschichte der jetzt die preussischen Regierungsbezirke Coblenz und Trier, I, 1860, 310.