Leaf from a Bible historiale.

The three-volume Bible historiale was originally probably intended as a gift for or commission by King Louis XII of France and his queen Anne de Bretagne, France, Tours, ca. 1510-1514; the set was probably completed for King François I of France and his queen Claude de France, ca. 1515; the volumes were acquired by James Oglethorpe (1696-1785, founder of the American colony of Georgia) in Paris, France, in 1720; when the set was shipped from France to England, the third volume was confiscated by British customs, who declared that book "superstitious" (the first two volumes were later given by Olglethorpe to Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where they are their MSS 385-386 and nicknamed the "Oglethorpe Bible"; the third volume may later have been owned by Cator Esquire of Beckenham in Kent). This leaf: Museum van Maerlant, Damme, Belgium; deaccessioned by them, mid-1980s?; Jan Muller, Antiquaire, Belgium, Ghent; private collection, Leuven, Belgium (Mr. Cor Engelen?); sold in Liège, Lhomme, 4 February 2012, lot 3; bought by Laura Jereski.