A rare medieval manuscript telling early stories of King Arthur and Merlin is set to be auctioned in London, the United Kingdom, this summer with an estimated value of up to $2.7 million.
Dating from between 1290 and 1310, the illuminated manuscript known as the Clermont-Tonnerre Grail is considered one of the earliest surviving texts recounting the legend of King Arthur, Merlin and the quest for the Holy Grail.
The manuscript will headline Christie’s Valuable Books and Manuscripts sale on July 8. Written in Old French as part of the famed Lancelot-Grail cycle, the tome is expected to sell for between £1.5 million ($2 million) and £2 million ($2.7 million).
Crafted on vellum and adorned with gold leaf, the manuscript contains 126 richly detailed illustrations depicting scenes from Arthurian legend, including Merlin transforming into different forms and adventures involving King Arthur and his knights.
According to Christie’s, the manuscript has remained in private hands for around 700 years and has never before been publicly exhibited or extensively studied.
Eugenio Donadoni, director of medieval and renaissance manuscripts at Christie’s, described it as a “virtually unknown” work likely to generate strong interest among collectors and institutions.
“This is a rediscovered manuscript of one the greatest of all medieval romances: the story of the Holy Grail, Merlin and the young King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, texts fundamental to Western culture,” he said, adding that there are only three such manuscripts in private hands and this is the earliest.
Donadoni said the manuscript’s ownership history includes a 15th-century knight, a jouster, an “obsessive medievalist” and French industrialist Jean Lebaudy, who received two “croix de guerre” for his “heroic deeds in both World Wars.”
While the current owner has not been identified, Christie’s said the work comes from a “long-standing private collection.”
“There are so many appealing angles to this manuscript: historical, art-historical, textual and cultural,” Donadoni said. “There’s the Christian element – the Quest for the Holy Grail; the chivalric element: the adventures, the quests, the jousts, the battles.”
He added that the auction could attract both institutions and private collectors because of the manuscript’s rarity and cultural significance.
“It should interest institutions because it’s a virtually unknown manuscript of one of the greatest medieval romances, but it could interest private buyers for the same reasons that it appealed to the long line of owners who have treasured it over the course of the past 700 years.”
He added, “It has been a privilege to have been able to work on a manuscript of this rarity and calibre: the stories are universal and it has so much still to offer in terms of research and enjoyment. As Merlin himself prophesies in the text itself: ‘And the story will forever be told and gladly heard for as long as the world lasts’.”
