France: The National Library reunited the two parts of a 13th century psalter, written in Greek

The National Library of France (BnF) announced that it has reunited the two parts of a valuable 13th-century Greek manuscript, after almost half a millennium when they had been separated.

This epilogue was made possible thanks to the pre-emptive right (pre-purchase) of the first part of the manuscript, which was sold at auction on October 5 by the Giraudeau auction house, in the Commune of Joué-lès-Tours in central France.

This book composes a psalter – a collection of psalms – written in Constantinople at the end of the 13th century.

The BnF describes in a press release that it is “a small manuscript written entirely in gold ink and richly decorated with colourful outlines and initials on a gold background.”

This manuscript was sold for 130,200 euros. According to the specialised magazine La Gazette Drouot, the sellers were descendants of a family of French nobles, the Desgrées du Loû.

The BnF was particularly interested in this, because it has owned the second part of the same manuscript since the 19th century, coded in its collections under the name “Supplément grec 260”.

According to experts at the National Library, the two manuscripts “were separated before the beginning of the 17th century.” And the appearance at a public sale of the first part, previously unknown, came as a surprise.

The arrival of this manuscript in France is likely the work of a French cardinal and advisor to Louis XII, Georges d’Amboise.

The BnF states that it has “one of the most important collections of Greek manuscripts in the world,” with approximately 5,000 copies.