Previously unrecorded Book of Hours, illuminated throughout by the Master of Claude de France will be the highlight of upcoming Christie’s London sale of Valuable Manuscripts and Printed Books. Estimated to fetch £500,000 – 800,000 ($800,000 – 130,000), this jewel of a manuscript comes from the property of a Scottish nobleman and has royal provenance; it is believed to have been created for Claude’s sister Renée and was later in the collection of Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales.
Master of Claude de France, named after two manuscripts he painted for the queen of France, wife of François I, was active in the early decades of the 16th century. He worked with an unsurpassed subtlety and delicacy of handling and colour and his miniatures combine a sophisticated naturalism with beguiling charm and immediate appeal.
Other notable pieces offered for sale, scheduled for Novembar 20, include Nicolaus Copernicus’ De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, libri VI, estimated £400,000 – 600,000 ($650,000 – 970,000) and a rare English folding almanac, estimate: £100,000 – 150,000 ($160,000 – 240,000).
