Overview
- Christie’s has consigned the Clermont‑Tonnerre Grail to its Valuable Books and Manuscripts sale in London and will offer the volume on 8 July with an estimate of £1.5 million to £2 million.
- The vellum codex dates to about 1290–1310 and contains the first three Old French texts of the Lancelot‑Grail (Vulgate) Cycle, a core source for later Arthurian literature.
- The book is richly illuminated with 126 miniatures attributed to the anonymous Master of the Liège Apocalypse, notable for burnished gold leaf and a distinctive facial style in the figures.
- Its long, traceable provenance includes owners from Michel de Gronnais in the 15th century through Sir Thomas Phillipps and Jean Lebaudy, and it is one of only three Vulgate manuscripts known to be privately held.
- Initial digital scans suggest an abridged, rewritten ending to the Suite Vulgate du Merlin, which has prompted scholars to urge museums and libraries to try to buy the manuscript despite tight budgets because public access could change understanding of the texts.