King Arthur manuscript in private hands for 700 years goes on sale – for a huge price

Summary

• A 700-year-old illuminated manuscript featuring tales of King Arthur and Merlin is hitting the auction block.
• The Clermont-Tonnerre Grail contains Old French text from the Lancelot-Grail cycle and 126 gold-leaf illustrations.
• Christie’s expects the “virtually unknown” manuscript to sell for up to $2.7 million in July.

AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.

A medieval manuscript featuring an early version of the tales of King Arthur and Merlin, which has been in private hands for about 700 years, is going under the hammer in a rare sale this summer.

Expected to fetch up to $2.7 million, the illuminated manuscript, which dates from the 13th or 14th century, is one of the earliest documents to narrate the legend of King Arthur and the search for the holy grail.

Written sometime between 1290 and 1310, the Clermont-Tonnerre Grail is the highlight of an upcoming Valuable Books and Manuscripts auction at Christie’s in July.

The tome contains text in Old French from a series known as the Lancelot-Grail cycle and has been valued at between £1.5 million ($2 million) and £2 million ($2.7 million).

Written on vellum and decorated with gold leaf, the manuscript features 126 “rich illustrations” of the legend that has spawned countless books, films and academic debates, according to Eugenio Donadoni, director of medieval and renaissance manuscripts at Christie’s.

Among the images are some depicting Merlin the magician shape-shifting into different forms and some of the tales of King Arthur and his knights.

It has never been publicly exhibited nor studied in any great detail, according to the auction house.

Donadoni told CNN in an email that it is a “virtually unknown” manuscript that is likely to garner much interest when it comes up for sale.

“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.

The auction house has detailed provenance for the manuscript showing a long line of previous owners, Donadoni said.

He added that previous owners included a 15th century knight, a jouster, an “obsessive medievalist” and a 20th century industrialist called Jean Lebaudy who was awarded two “croix de guerre” for his “heroic deeds in both World Wars.”

While the seller of the manuscript has not been identified, Donadoni told CNN that it comes from a “long-standing private collection.”

“There are so many appealing angles to this manuscript: historical, art-historical, textual and cultural,” he said. “There’s the Christian element – the Quest for the Holy Grail; the chivalric element: the adventures, the quests, the jousts, the battles.”

The sale is likely to attract many potential bidders, according to Donadoni.

“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’.”

The sale will take place at Christie’s in London on July 8.