MS in Latin and Arabic (text 2) on vellum, Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, ca. 1150-1187, 2 partial ff., 19x14 cm, single column, (17x10 cm remaining), 16 lines remaining in Romanesque book script of medium quality; text 2: Palestine/Damascus, 13th c., 5 lines in Arabic naskhi.

Context: The script is extremely close to that of the Psalter of Queen Melisande (B.L. Egerton MS.1139), written in Jerusalem by a European scribe probably in 1131-43. Only 5 other MSS of 12th c. crusader books have hitherto been identified: Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum McClean MS.49 (fragment), B.N. mss.lat.9396 and 12056, and Vatican cod.Vat.lat. 5974. All are luxery books, and rescued to the West in the face of the advancing armies of the Mameluks before 2nd October 1187.

Provenance: 1. Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem (ca. 1150-1187); 2. Saracens, Palestine/Damascus (1187-); 3. Private owner, Damascus, Syria (-1993); 4. Sotheby's 6.12.1993:3d.

Commentary: The importance of the Crusades in the history of medieval Europe can hardly be over-estimated. The liberation of the Holy places was looked upon as God's own work. Antioch fell to the Franks in 1098, Jerusalem in July 1099. In 1100, Baldwin, count of Edessa, was crowned king of Jerusalem. By about 1131 Jerusalem stood supreme as the Christian capital on the very edge of the world, principally a French and Genoese kingdom. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was its cathedral, and followed from 1114, the western Latin liturgy according to the rule of St. Augustine. The Church must have been the leading scriptorium during this period. Jerusalem fell to Saladin on 2nd October 1187, the sacristy of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was looted and destroyed, and its libraries were destroyed. The leaves in MS 1776 more or less double our knowledge of crusader MSS, and were perhaps the first Latin books ever seen by the Saracens, who, instead of destroying them all, kept some for their vellum. They used the vellum for that most quintessential of Middle Eastern romances and fairy tales, Thousand and One Nights, also known as the Tales of the Arabian nights. They origin from India, Iran, Iraq, Egypt and Turkey, and the tales of Aladdin, Ali Baba and Sindbad the Sailor have almost become part of Western folklore. The earliest known reference to the Thousand and One Nights is a 9th c. fragment, while the present MS is from the 12th c. collection where Egyptian fairy tales were included for the first time.

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

MS and printed in English on paper, London or Westmoreland, England, August 1927, 2 pp., 17x12 cm, single column, (12x9 cm), 2+1 lines in cursive script, autograph, signed, 2 drawings in watercolour and ink. Text 3: 26 September 1913, 4 pp., 18x11 cm, 47 lines in total, autograph, signed, drawing of 3 pigs in a row.

Binding: London, quarter morocco slipcase gilt, by Chelsea bindery.

Provenance: 1. Beatrix Potter, London and Westmoreland (1927);  texts 1-2: 2. Bookshop for Boys and Girls, Hilda Attersberg, Boston (1927);  Text 1: 3. Mrs Townsend; Text 2: 3. Ruth L. Adams (1944-1993);  4. Christie's 13.12.2006:294;   Text 3: 2. Joy Shapland (1913-);  Texts 1-3: 5. Peter Harrington, London.

Commentary: Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) wrote the story of the naughty Peter Rabbit's adventures in Mr. McGregor's garden first in several picture letters to Noel Moore in 1893. She extended the letters to a small book with a colour frontispiece and 41 black and white text illustrations, which she published privately in 250 copies in December 1901, with a reprint of 200 copies in February 1902. The first trade edition with all illustrations in colours appeared in October the same year.

The present drawings are two of the 50 drawings Beatrix Potter remade in August 1927 to be sold in Boston to the benefit of the National Trust acquiring lands for conservation. The first frontispiece drawing of Peter in bed differs from those of the first editions and all following editions to the present. In the printed editions only the ears of Peter are visible on the pillow, while in the present the upper part of his head is also visible. The second drawing of Peter running for his life on all four legs chased by Mr. McGregor, was only included as a black and white drawing in the private 1st edition. In the trade edition and all following editions this illustration was not included, so the present illustration is the only one extant in water colours.

MS in Swedish on paper, Stockholm, 1945-1948, 1 p., 21x16 cm, single column, (ca. 19x14 cm), 12 lines in shorthand, 2 lines dedication in cursive script, autograph, signed, with a typed signed letter and signed photo.

Context: Astrid Lindgren's original MSS in Kungliga Biblioteket in Stockholm were placed on UNESCO's World Heritage list in 2005.

Binding: London, quarter morocco slipcase gilt, by Chelsea bindery.

Provenance: 1. Astrid Lindgren, Stockholm (1945-);  2. Kathe Jans Geier, Germany (ca. 1950?);  3. A. Schmolt, Krefeld, Germany (-2001);  4. Per-Otto Løvstad, Oslo (2001-2007);  5. J.W. Cappelen bokauksjon 48, 14.5.2008: 214.

Commentary: Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002) Sweden's greatest writer of children's books, sold about 145 million copies in more than 100 countries. She wrote her MSS in a rather unreadable shorthand and the present MS page is believed to be from one of her Pippi Longstocking books, which were: Pippi Långstrump (1945), Pippi Longstrump går ombord (1946) and Pippi Långstrump i Söderhavet (1948). Millions of kids know and loves Pippi with her fiery red hair worn in braids. movies and animated films have been made, both for the movie theatre and TV.

She is still very much alive for the 3rd generation of kids in Scandinavia and the rest of the world.

MS and printed in English on paper, England, 1988-1989, 4 lines, autograph, signed, full-page  drawing, 19x12 cm, signed, 2 printed vols.

Binding: England, ca. 1989, Paperback and bound vols.

Context: Roald Dahl's autographed filmscript of Ian Fleming's James Bond novel "You only live twice" from 1967 is also in the Fleming/Bond library in The Schøyen Collection. Nearly all other remaining Roald Dahl autographs and letters are in The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire. The majority of his discarded manuscript papers were thrown in his large wastepaper bucket, and when full to overflowing, he made once a month a bonfire outside his writing hut.

Provenance: 1. Peter Harrington, London.

Commentary: Roald Dahl (1916-1990), Norwegian and British author of 20 children's books, 19 short story collections, novels, non-fiction, filmscripts and even a cookbook. By 2006 his books had sold some 100 million copies, and he still sells about 2 million copies of children's books a year.

Quentin Blake (1932-) has illustrated all but one of Dahl's children's books, as well as 34 children's books of his own. According to Dahl, Quentin Blake is "The finest illustrator of children's books in the world today!" He was chosen to be the first children's Laureate in 1999, and in 2005 he was awarded the CBE for services to children's literature. He has kept all his original drawings, intended for a future Quentin Blake museum, so the present original illustration of Miss Trunchbull is an exceptional occurrence. He did not copy any of the many Trunchbull illustrations in Matilda, but made this unique one of her standing in classical threatening posture, staring angrily to the right, to the first printed illustration of Mathilda sitting devouring one of her many books at the beginning of the first chapter "Reader of Books".

MS and printed in English on paper, England, 1997, 1 MS p., 19x15 cm, single column, (10x10 cm), 4 lines in cursive script, autograph, signed, drawing 37x19 cm in full colours, inscribed: Albus Dumbledore, Thomas Taylor, 1997.

Provenance: Text 1: 1. Peter Harrington, London. Text 2: 1. Thomas Taylor (1997); 2. Pat McNailly collections; 3. Sotheby's London: Profiles in History, Hollywood auction 33, 11.12.2008:114; 5. Peter Harrington, London.

Commentary: With over 180 million Harry Potter books sold since 1997, J.K. Rowling is today the world's leading writer of children's books.

Text 1 is the paperback 1st edition published by Bloomsbury in 1997 in 200 copies only. The covers are uniquely laminated. This first paperback issue is from the same sheets as the hardcover edition, with the same uncorrected text errors.

Text 2: When Thomas Taylor made his drawing for the 1st edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone, he had not been allowed by J.K. Rowling to read the book before the publication, and the rather free fantasy drawing on the back cover of the 1st edition was the result. As soon as he had read the book, he made the present drawing, which has been adopted consistently on all the following editions.

MS in English on paper, England, 2006, 51 pp., 30x81 cm, 350 drawings with scene identifications and camera angles in capitals and cursive script.
Provenance: 1. Lucius Books, York.

Commentary: The scenes included here are a full sequence of Harry Potter and Professor Severus Snape in Snape's study, and the climax of the movie, the final battles around the arched stone monument, followed by the epic battle between Dumbledore and Voldemort. The storyboards in the hands of the four very different Warner Bros. artists include early sketches and interesting scenes not used in the movie, but most of them are the final drawings used in the actual shooting of the film.

MS in Norwegian on paper, Brekkestø, Norway, 1912, 61 pp., 28x22 cm, single column, (25x22 cm), 28 lines in Norwegian cursive script, autograph, signed.

Provenance: 1. Gabriel Scott, Brekkestø, Norway (1912); 2. Bjørn Hansson, Oslo (-1995); 3. Arild and Morten Hansson, Oppegård and Hop, Norway (1995-1999); 4. Cappelens antikvariat, auction 31, 25.4.1999:243.

Commentary: Gabriel Scott (1874-1958), Norwegian author. Published: Oslo, Aschehoug, 1912.

MS in Norwegian on paper, Brekkestø, Norway, 1913, 115 pp., 28x22 cm, single column, (25x22 cm), 27 lines in cursive script, autograph, signed, with corrections and notes.

Binding: Oslo, Norway, ca. 1950, quarter morocco gilt spine, marbled paper, sewn on 3 cords.

Provenance: 1. Gabriel Scott, Brekkestø, Norway (1913); 2. Publisher, Oslo (1913); 3. I. Såstad, Norway; 4. Bjørn Hansson, Oslo (-1995); 5. Arild and Morten Hansson, Oppegård and Hop, Norway.

Commentary: Gabriel Scott (1874-1958), Norwegian author.

Published: Oslo, Aschehoug, 1913.

MS in Norwegian on paper, Norway, ca. 1930, 4 pp., 21x14 cm, single column, (19x13 cm), 22 lines in cursive script, autograph, signed.

Provenance: 1. Knut Hamsun, Asker?, Norway (ca. 1930); 2. Norges Dyrebeskyttelsesforbund, Oslo (1930-); 3. Bjørn Hansson, Oslo (-1995); 4. Arild and Morten Hansson, Oppegård and Hop, Norway (1995-1996); 5. Damms Antikvariat cat. 650; 18.4.1996:110; 6. Hans Svenne, Drammen, Norway (1996-1998).

Commentary: Knut Hamsun (1859-1952), Norwegian author, Nobel prize in 1920. Published: Norges Dyrebeskyttelsesforbund's Calendar 1931.

MS in Norwegian on paper, Norway, ca. 1930, 12 pp., 34x21 cm (text), 21x16 cm (drawings), single column, (31x17 cm (text), 15x12 cm (drawings)), 35 lines in cursive script, autograph, signed, 51 full-page, pen-drawings in black-and-white.

Binding: Drawings tied together with cord through 2 holes.

Provenance: 1. Ella Hasselberg, Norway (ca. 1930-); 2. Damms Antikvariat, Oslo, Cat. (Oct. 2005):397.

Commentary: Fairytale about 2 rabbits' adventures, including a trip to Egypt carried on the back of a stork. Written as 51 poems accompanying 51 fullpage illustrations.

Published: Seems to be unpublished.

Provenance: 1. William Lunden, Oslo (1936); 2. Cappelens antikvariat, auksjon 31, 25.4.1999:229-230.

Commentary: P.Chr. Asbjørnsen & Jørgen Moe: Norske Folkeeventyr was first published in Christiania (Oslo), Johan Dahl, 1843. Most of the numerous following editions have been illustrated by several of the foremost Norwegian painters around the turn of the century. Published: The present edition was published in 2 vols. in Oslo 1936.

MS in Norwegian on paper, Oslo, Norway, 1945, 139+136 pp., 21x14 cm and 29x20 cm, single column, (16x10 cm and 20x15 cm), 30 lines in typesetting and typescript, with autograph chapter titles by Hallvard Tveiten, 14 original sepia drawings, one water-colour by "fag-".

Binding: Oslo, 1945, paper boards.

Provenance: 1. Hallvard Tveiten, Norway and Skåne, Sweden (-1945); 2. Brage Boklag, Oslo (1945); 3. Bjørn Hansson, Oslo (-1995); 4. Arild and Morten Hansson, Oppegård and Hop, Norway.

Commentary: Hallvard Tveiten states that there is only one copy of this book, the present 3rd proof copy (from Brage forlag), and that it has never been published. Hallvard Tveiten (1902-1976), Norwegian translator and author, living in Sweden 1950-1976. Thrond Sjursen Haukenæs (1840-1922), author and folklore explorer. Publ. from Hardanger: "Natur, folkeliv og folketro i Hardanger", 11 vols. incl. Voss, Røldal etc., 1884-1896, "Norsk eventyrskat", 1888, "Norsk sagnskat" 1905. We have been unable to find out the name of the illustrator.

Typescript in Norwegian on paper, Oslo, 1953, 2 ff., 30x21 cm, single column, 17+21 lines typed, both texts signed.

Provenance: 1. Peter Magnus, Oslo (1953-); 2. Cappelens Antikvariat, Auksjon 32, 23.5.2000:44.

Commentary: The letter was glued to the back of the front cover of the first publication (Oslo, Aschehoug, 1953) of the collection of poems by the same title as text 1. Quote from the letter: Jeg har en diktsamling på stabelen. TIttelen blir: "Prinsessen spinner i Berget". Kjernemotivet er hentet fra Asbjørnsens eventyr: prinsessen er bergtatt hos trollet, men spinner en gulltråd på rokken. Jeg vedlegger titteldiktet; det har tidligere stått offentliggjort i Norsk Ukeblads påskenr. Forøvrig er samlingen bygget opp i fire avdelinger - omkring de fire motiver: Barnet - Leken - Eventyret - Kunsten. André Bjerke (1918-1985), Norwegian author and poet.

Published: First published in Norsk Ukeblad's Easter edition, 1953. Oslo, Aschehoug, 1953, cover by Finn Havrevold.

Binding: Dunedin, New Zealand, ca. 1975, 2 vols.: shirting gilt on boards, sewn on 5 cords for University of Otago; 3 vols.: stitched paper covers.

Provenance: 1. Joan de Hamel, Macandrew Bay, Dunedin, New Zealand (1975-2003).

Commentary: Joan de Hamel (b. 1924). Her first book, "X marks the spot", was a landmark in New Zealand's children's literature. The present extensive materials for Take the Long Path, winner of the New Zealand Library Association's Esther Glen Award, comprise all stages from source materials of Maori history and language, early drafts, the extensive original version (with materials not used here, but later published in the children's picture book: Hemel's Pet) to the printer's copy of final version. The Maori proverbs were not used in Take the Long Path, but there are extensive sections of Maori language and poetry in the various drafts. Included in the final work was "Takahia atu ra, Te ara whahui -", "Take the long path, To the dense dark, To the waiting place of spirits, To the final home of man".

Published: First published by Lutterworth Press, Guilford and London, 1978.

MS and typescript in Norwegian on paper, Asker, Norway, 1981, 90 pp., 29x21 cm, single column, 30 lines in typescript with numerous autograph corrections and additions.

Provenance: 1. Arild Nyquist, Asker, Norway (1981); 2. Vidar Reinertsen, Porsgrunn, Norway; 3. Cappelens antikvariat, Oslo.

Commentary: Arild Nyquist (1937-2004), Norwegian author and artist. He wrote some 40 novels, children's books, collections of short stories, poetry and songs.

Published: Oslo, Aschehoug, 1913.

MS in English and Babylonian (text 1) on paper, London, 1996, 49 ff., 15x10 cm, 1-3 columns, (14x19 cm), 10-39 lines in cursive script and cuneiform script, autograph, signed, 9 pendrawings; with a typescript of text 1 with autograph and editor's corrections, signed, 48 pp.

Binding: London, ca. 1995, cardboard, spiral bound.

Context: An inscribed and signed copy of the printed book follows the MS. For the original Old Babylonian version of the Gilgamesh Epic, see MSS 3025 and 2652/5.

Provenance: 1. Irving Finkel, London(1996-2005).

Commentary: Gilgamesh, the oldest substantial world literature, is mostly preserved on a set of 11 Neo Babylonian tablets at British Museum. Gilgamesh was king in one of the oldest cities in the world, Uruk in Sumer, around 2700 BC. The Epic is about one of the great friendships in history, and how Gilgamesh went on a dangerous and adventurous journey to the East to find the secret of eternal life. He found it, but lost it on his way back.

Dr. Irving Finkel, Assyriologist in British Museum, is author of several books for children including "The Lewish Chessmen and What Happended to Them". His latest book (2005) is: Games, Discover and play 5 famous ancient games.

Published: London, British Museum Press, 1998, under the title: The hero King Gilgamesh.

MS in Ge'ez on vellum, Shoa, Ethiopia, 1425-1450, 128 ff. (-ca. 30), 37x25 cm, 2 columns, (27x19 cm), 27 lines in fine large Ethiopic Ge'ez book script, ornamental haräg in red, green and yellow introducing each gospel, full-page miniature of St. Matthew preceding his gospel.

Binding: Shoa, Ethiopia, ca. 16th c., wooden boards, chain stitches on 4 sewing stations, no spine.

Provenance: 1. King Ba'eda Maryam, Ethiopia (1468-1478); 2. Church of Meshala Maryam, Shoa (ca. 1470-); 3. Sam Fogg Rare Books Ltd., London.

See also 1971, 2. Text 2. Library catalogue and Inventories of treasury of the church of Gefu´ Giyorgis. Ethiopia, 1519/1520

MS in Middle English on paper, East Dereham, Norfolk, mid 15th c., 2 ff., 21x14 cm, single column, (18x11 cm), 31+16 lines in a current Anglicana book script.

Binding: London, 1993, cloth boards, sewn on 2 stations, by Celia Alberman.

Provenance: 1. Church of St. Nicholas, East Dereham, Norfolk (ca. 1450-) ; 2. Sir Thomas Phillipps, Cheltenham, ex Ph 25750, (-1872); 3. Katharine, John, Thomas & Alan Fenwick, Cheltenham, (1872-1946); 4. Robinson Bros., London (1946-1971); 5. Sotheby's 15.6.1971:1599; 6. Alan Thomas cat. 33(1975):61; 7. Harry A. Walton Jr., White Oak Dairy Covington, Virginia (-1992); 8. Sam Fogg Rare Books Ltd., London.

Commentary: The library catalogue includes 3 "massbooks" bound in red velvet, doeskin, and deerskin, a breviary in doeskin, a Gospels with the Epistles, a processional with silver clasps, a Gradual with silver clasps, "a book called The Master Stories that the vicar has", and a glossed Psalter. The relics comprise a pyx containing St. Nicholas' rib, and a silver shoe of St. Withburga. Medieval library catalogues of parish churches are scarcely known, and only in public institutions.

Published: Jeremy Griffiths: A Mid-fifteenth-century Book-list and Inventory from East Dereham, Norfolk. In: Norfolk Archaeology 42(1996), pp. 332-339. The Index of Middle English Prose. Handlist X. Irma Taavitsainen: Manuscripts in Scandinavian Collections. Cambridge, Brewer, 1994, p. 32. (Only text published.)

See also MS 1971, Text 3. Inventory of the possessions of the church of Gefu´ Giyorgis, received during the period of the office of Qesä Gäbäz Assäggahan, including 1 book of the funeral services, the book of hours sold, Ethiopia, 1519/1520

MS in Latin on vellum, Marostica, Italy, ca. 1480-1531, 1 f., 29x20 cm, 2 columns, (27x16 cm), 40 lines in humanistic book script. Binding: Venezia, 1480, black leather, sewn of 5 thongs.

Context: Flyleaf in: Astesanus de Ast: Summa de casibus conscientiae, ed. by Bartholomaeus de Bellatis and Gometicus de Ulisipone. Venezia, Leonardus Wild, for Nicolaus de Frankfordia, 28. April 1480. Goff A-1169, BMC V 265, GW 2757.

Provenance: 1. Franciscan Priory of St. Sebastian, Marostica, Italy (1480-); 2. Bernard Quaritch Ltd., London.

Commentary: The catalogue lists over 60 MSS, incunables and printed books, up to 1531, including this incunable containing the library catalogue as flyleaf, representing a good sized normal library of a Franciscan house in the Renaissance.

See also MS 5267, Text 2. Sir Thomas Phillipps: Acquisition list of manuscripts and printed books. England 1860-1866

MS in Old Babylonian on clay, Babylonia, 2000-1600 BC, 1 tablet, 10,5x6,4x2,2 cm, single column, 22+15 lines in a clumsy cuneiform script.

Commentary: The first 9 lines are love poetry, partly in the male voice, partly in the female. The following lines are using sexual or erotic language. From line 24 onwards, the texts are not love-related, but perhaps proverbs, riddles or other sayings. Some library cataloagues are known, but
tablets that collect incipits of poems, including love poetry, are only known from later periods. In most cases literature is identified by its first line of text in Babylonian library catalogues.

Published: Andrew George: Babylonian Literary Texts in the Schøyen Collection, Cornell University Studies in Assyriology and Sumerology, vol. 10, Manuscripts in the Schøyen Collection, Cuneiform texts IV. CDL Press, Bethesda, MD, 2009, text 12, pp. 71-75.

Image in: Andrew E. Hill & John H. Walton: A survey of the Old Testament, 3rd ed., Grand Rapids, Mi., Zondervan Publ. House, 2009, p. 403.Zondervan Illustrated Bible, Backgrounds, Commentary. John H. Walton, gen. ed. Grand Rapids, Mich., Zondervan, 2009, vol 1, p. 130, vol. 2, p. 160.

MS on chalk-like stone, Fords Bridge, Bourke, New South Wales, Australia, ca. 20000-3000 BC, 1 oval-conical and cornute form cylcon, flat base, 22x7x7 cm, paired parallel lines, groups of small dashes, longitudinal deep incisions, rows of dashes, heavy weathering on one side.

Provenance: 1. Found in Kerribree, Fords Bridge, Bourke, New South Wales, Australia 1970; 2. H. Gallasch Museum, Australia (1973-); 3. Sam Fogg Rare Books Ltd.

Commentary: The finding spot at Fords Bridge on Warrego River near Bourke, is in the north-west corner of this possible map. A series of small dashes between Fords Bridge and where Clog River meets Darling River, indicates a possible shortcut route, instead of following the river.

Present day's river courses have changed directions and are more curved, with several smaller tributaries to the South, than the present map shows. The expected dramatic changes in river courses and climate since 5 000 - 20 000 years ago, makes it impossible to prove with certainty that this is a map and of this area. If this is a map, it is the world's oldest.

The heavy weathering on the side that has been exposed, has entirely extinguished the marks on that side, attesting to the extreme age of this cylcon. Cylcons are earlier than churingas. There is no certain ways to date individual cylcons. The oldest cylcon/message stone found in a dateable archaeological context is about 20,000 years old. The simple line motifs of the oldest cylcons represent the earliest art of the Aborigines, from a very early period of occupation. In Australian nomenclature this is the colonizing period, or early Stone Age, ca. 50,000/40,000-3,000 BC. With the earliest rock-carvings and -paintings, the cylcons represent the oldest form of communication and art; and they represent the oldest religion still observed.

Only 2 Aborigines have been able to communicate their name of the cylcons: Yurda, and Wommagnaragnara (Heart of the snake), respectively. Other uses as tallies are possible, such as counting of dead people, warriors, emus, measures of nardo seeds, or mapping purposes counting day-marches in various directions. Later the use could also change to other magic rituals, some involving the chipping off smaller flakes, and the practical use for pounding and crushing. Much more research is needed before the cylcons' real age and significance can be properly understood and appreciated.

The term cylcon is derived from the title of R. Ethridge's publication: The Cylindro-conical and Stone Implements of Western New South Wales and their significance. Ethnological Series No. 2, Memoirs of the Geological Survey of New South Wales, 1916:1-41.

MS in Neo Sumerian on clay, Umma, Sumer, Ur III dynasty, 2112-2004 BC, 1 tablet, 6,3x7,2x2,3 cm, 5 lines in cuneiform script, map of fields.

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

Commentary: The present map belongs to a small group of the earliest maps extant. See also MSS 1850 and 1938/1. The present map belongs to a small group of the earliest maps extant. See also MSS 1850 and 1938/1.
Some high official or institution originally held the title to a regularly shaped piece of land measuring 5 bur 1 eshe (about 345 000 sq. meters). Then something catastrophic happened so that a large part of the originally allotted land was lost. In compensation the title holder was allowed to add several peripheral pieces of land. This was done i a carefully calculated way so that after the change the total holdings came to measure almost 5 bur, only slightly less than the original area.

Published: François-Maurice  Allotte de la Fuÿe: Un cadastre de Djokha, R A 12 (1915) pp. 47-54. J.P. Grégoire: Inscriptions et archives administratives Cunéiformes, in Unione Accademica Nazionale: Materiali per il vocobolario Neosumerico, vol. X, Roma 1981, no. 214-S-G 14. Also in RA 12, pp. 47-54. Jöran Friberg: A remarkable Collection of Babylonian Mathematical Texts. Springer 2007. Sources and Studies in the History of Mathematics and Physical Sciences. Manuscripts in the Schøyen Collection, vol. 6, Cuneiform Texts I. pp. 137-140.

MS in Old Babylonian on clay, Niru, Babylonia, 1684-1647 BC, 1 tablet, 9,5x12,0x2,8 cm, 22 lines and captions in cuneiform script.

Context: There are known 4 more Babylonian maps of a known place: the map of Nippur in Jena, the world map in British Museum, and the city maps of Babylon and Madakta. All of these are about 1000 years later than the present map.

Commentary: The only known Babylonian working map of a canal irrigation engineer.

MS French on vellum(text 1) and paper(text 2), Lorraine, France, 2 ff.; Text 1: ca. 1450, 12x33 cm, single column, (12x33 cm), 2 lines in a rotunda Gothic book script of medium quality, map in brown, green and red. Text 2: ca. 1550, 13x33 cm, single column, (13x33 cm), 1 line in French cursive script, map in grey, black, brown, and red.

Context: Inserted in the Le Moine palaeography handbook, MS 1275/01.

Provenance: 1. Cathedral of Toul, Lorraine (ca. 1450 & 16th c.-1761); 2. Pierre-Camille Le Moine, archivist and secretary of the cathedral of Toul (1761-1789); 3. M. le baron de Tremont, no. 1253; 4. M. Marchant, Saint-Mihiel; 5. François-Jean Baptiste Noël, Nancy, no 6205 (-1856); 6. Bruce Ferrini, Akron, Ohio.

MS palimpsest in Italian and Latin (texts 5, 50-51) on vellum, Firenze, Italy, ca. 1450, 166 ff. (complete), 27x17 cm, single column, (23x11 cm), 39-46 lines in Italian cursive with some side notes and capitals in red, 2 world maps, one in T-form, the other with outlines of the old world, 14 drawings in colours including the celestial spheres, the zodiac, the eclipses, the climate and wind directions. Underlying texts (texts 50-51) in chancery cursive and rounded Gothic book script of medium quality.

Binding: England, 19th c. russia calf gilt, sewn on 5 cords.

Context: Text 9 is also in the Biblioteca Riccardiana, Firenze, Ricc.2254, lacking the same lines at the end. Provenance: 1. Richard Heber, England (until 1836); 2. Heber sale, part II (1836):1465; 3. Sir Thomas Phillipps, Cheltenham, Ph 8334, (1830-1872); 4. Katharine, John, Thomas & Alan Fenwick, Cheltenham, (1872-1946); 5. Robinson Bros., London (1946-1978); 6. Kraus cat. 153(1979):61.

Commentary: At least texts 1, 2, 7, 13, 31 are unique and unpublished. Text 5 is the hitherto lost original and unique Latin text of the Florentine Inquisition's decree against the astrologer-heretic Gecco d'Ascoli (1269-1327), known only in Italian versions from much later MSS. Text 10 is an exceptionally early witness of Reformation history, purporting to be written by the Devil, dating from the period of the Great Schism, ca. 1408. Text 36 is a document of major importance for the history of the Albizzi conspiracy and overthrow of Cosimo I de' Medici in Firenze in September 1433, written by Nicholo Tinucci (1390-1440), an influential notary and poet, under torture on the rack, forced to sign the present text against Cosimo I de' Medici, who after one year's exile in Padua, returned to begin the uninterrupted 300 year domination of Firenze by the Medici family. Text 9 is actually a poem against sodomy. "Acquattino" is the nickname of the most famous man mentioned (as a sodomite): Giovanni Gherardi da Prato, a major character in Florence early Renaissance's litterature. It is important, giving the name of the author: Domenico da Prato, another poet who lived in the same age as Giovanni da Prato.

Provenance: Deaccession December 2010.

Published: Text 9: For the first time in 1931 by Domenico Guerri (La corrente popolare nel Rinascimento, Firenze, Sansoni), after Ricc.2254. Mentioned in: Antonio Lanza: La letteratura tardogotica; art e poesia a Firenze e Siena nell'autunno del Medioevo. 1994. Antonio Lanza: L'autore dell'Acquattino: ser Domenico da Prato, in "La Parola del testo". 1998. Antonio Lanza: L'Acquettino di ser Domenico da Prato, in "Letteratura Italiana Antica", II, 2000, on both the present MS and Ricc.2254.

Text 3: Interpres, XX1, Roma 2002, pp. 247-252. Germano Pallini: Una nuova testimonianza del capitolo Antichi amanti della buona e bella (con attribuzion a Bonaccorso Pitti).

See also MS 1981, Portolan map, Italy, late 15th c.