More Leaves
in the Book of Numbers
from the Chudleigh Bible
in the Collection of Richard Weber
Latin Vulgate Bible
Northern France
Sant-Vaast Abbey?
Circa 1220–1230
Text written in Gothic Bookhand
Laid out in Double Columns of 56 lines
with Running Titles, Rubrication,
Text-Initials in Red and Blue,
and Marginalia within Frames
[Posted on 19 March 2026]
Collection of Richard Weber. Chudleigh Bible Leaf 42, recto, top left. Photograph by Richard Weber.
Continuing our series of posts describing discoveries for the study of manuscript fragments (see Manuscript Studies Blog: Contents List), this post augments our post introducing two leaves which belonged to the Book of Numbers in the medium-format Latin Vulgate Bible now known as the Chudleigh Bible:
Those are leaves (which we introduced as Leaves 1 and 2) are numbered in pencil as Folios 38 and 43, apparently once the outermost leaves of a quire.
Previous blogposts have celebrated portions of the collection of manuscripts of our Associate Richard Weber. For example:
Before
We quote from our previous blogpost:
The Two Leaves [Folios 38 and 43]
We introduce a pair of non-consecutive leaves from the Book of Numbers in the Chudleigh Bible. The modern Arabic numbers written in pencil at the center directly below the columns of text label them as “38” and “43” respectively. Presumably they designate the folio numbers for them in a consecutive sequence entered before the separation of the leaves from each other.
So far we have not identified any surviving leaves which formerly stood between them or adjacent to them within the same Biblical Book.
That was then. This is now.
More Is More
Now we introduce four more leaves in the Collection of Richard Weber. Together they form a consecutive group from a former quire within the same Book of the Old Testament in the originally complete Latin Vulgate Bible. They came with an explanatory label, which describes in 7 lines of italic font some salient points about the leaves, their consecutive text (or testo consecutivo, however unidentified), features of layout, and notice of attributed origin.
Collection of Richard Weber. Seller’s Printed Label for Group of 6 Leaves (6 fogli) from the Chudleigh Bible. Photograph by Richard Weber.
Name by Association
As recap, the name of the dismembered and dispersed manuscript derives from one of its former owners, the eleventh Baron Clifford of Chudleigh. The place Chudleigh itself is an ancient wool town in Devon in Southwest England. About this Baron:
The name by which the fragmented book has become known does not celebrate or refer to its origin, artistry, creativity, or accomplishment in its own right, but attaches to an imposing nomenclature by association, attachment, or latter-day ownership. Current usage gives it the claim to ascendance in referring to this book and no other.
The Numbers Game:
Numbers of Leaves; Numbered Leaves,
and the Book of Numbers
Formerly, as described in its sales catalogue descriptions while still intact, the manuscript comprised a single volume of 411 vellum leaves, with its text laid out in double columns of 56 lines each. Initials opening Books of the Bible contained historiated scenes and decorative elements; some 90 or 91 of them were historiated.
The volume as such was sold at auction in London several times first by Sotheby & Co and then by Christie’s. Its appearance on the market began at the hands of its former owner, Charles Oswald Hugh Clifford, the eleventh Lord Clifford of Chudleigh. By that ownership it acquired its modern name.
Our first interest in the manuscript arose through the gift of two leaves, generously donated to the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence by our Associate, Richard Weber. From within the Book of Numbers, they are Leaves 38 and 43, as numbered in pencil at the center of the lower margin of the rectos. Our research continues to investigate the growing evidence for surviving leaves from the original book, along with their journeys from that book to their current homes.
Our first blogpost about about survivors, in the light of the two leaves from the Book of Numbers, surveys some known cases and outlines the scholarly assessments about the probable date and place of origin of the manuscript. Those assessments center upon books or articles by art historians and manuscript scholars, and descriptions by owners, vendors, and their agents, including catalogues for auctions or a given collection. See:
Since that blogpost, further developments were reported in some of our events:
Here we report some updates, with thanks to Richard Weber who shares information from his collection.
I. Two Leaves from the Book of Numbers
Previously we presented Folios 38 and 43. See below for their images and an account of their textual contents. These two leaves came apparently from the front back of a quire, to judge by their features.
II. Four More Leaves from the Book of Numbers
in the Collection of Richard Weber
With permission, we reproduce images of four more leaves, accompanied by details and observations. The modern pencil numbers of the leaves stand in the center of the lower margins. We use those numbers as reference points.
Folios 39–42
These specimens comprise Leaves 2, 3, 4, 5 in an original quire apparently of 6 leaves. Our previous blogpost introduced Leaves ‘1’ and ‘2’ of the pair of leaves which comprise Folio 38 and Folio 43; formerly they stood respectively at the front and the back of the quire. Together the group has significant evidence to show about the formation and construction of the original quire, manuscript, and its binding. We celebrate the opportunity to see the unit as a whole and to learn from its evidence.
1. Folio 39
Recto
The page continues and completes Chapter IV through column a and partway through column b, then opens Chapter V in the lower part of column b, with an enlarged decorative initial L embellished with pen-line flourishing.
Collection of Richard Weber. Chudleigh Bible Leaf 39, recto. Photograph by Richard Weber.
Verso
The page completes Chapter V in column a, opens Chapter VI which it finishes partway through column b, then opens Chapter VII apparently mistakenly in the lower part of column b, as its rubricated chapter number is cancelled with a horizontal cross-stroke.
Collection of Richard Weber. Chudleigh Bible Leaf 39, verso. Photograph by Richard Weber.
Detail
Collection of Richard Weber. Chudleigh Bible Leaf 39, verso: lower. Photograph by Richard Weber.
2. Folio 40
Recto
The page completes Chapter VI in column a, opens Chapter VII in line 7 modestly with an enlarged in-line initial and the chapter number VII entered within a paraph in the inner margin, continues the chapter through the rest of the page to continue on the verso.
Collection of Richard Weber. Chudleigh Bible Leaf 40, recto with guide. Photograph by Richard Weber.
Verso
The page completes Chapter VII in column a, opens Chapter VIII in the penultimate line of that column, and opens Chapter IX in the last line of column b; these chapters open with an initial L in each case, rendered respectively in red pigment or blue pigment, with pen-line flourishing in the opposite color.
Collection of Richard Weber. Chudleigh Bible Leaf 40, verso with guide. Photograph by Richard Weber.
3. Folio 41
Recto
The page contains the end of Chapter IX in column a, completes its text in the first two lines of column a, and opens Chapter X directly with an initial L in red.
Collection of Richard Weber. Chudleigh Bible Leaf 41, recto with guide. Photograph by Richard Weber.
Verso
The page completes Chapter X in the upper part of column a and opens Chapter XI with a blue initial L.
Collection of Richard Weber. Chudleigh Bible Leaf 41, verso with guide. Photograph by Richard Weber.
4. Folio 42
Recto
Collection of Richard Weber. Chudleigh Bible Leaf 42, recto with guide. Photograph by Richard Weber.
Verso
Collection of Richard Weber. Chudleigh Bible Leaf 42, verso with guide. Photograph by Richard Weber.
Traces of Stitching, Ruling, Pricking,
and other Processes of Production and Use
The ability to see adjacent leaves reveals significant evidence of shared processes of production, along with various traces of use. We celebrate the ability, with thanks to the generosity and perspicacity of the collector and the quality of his photographs!
Collection of Richard Weber. Chudleigh Bible Leaf 42, recto, top left. Photograph by Richard Weber.
The Outer Limits
We review the two known leaves which once directly preceded and followed the four leaves in the Weber Collection from the Book of Numbers in the Chudleigh Bible, as reported in our previous blogpost about them and their manuscript.
Opening of Quire (Leaf ‘1’): Folio 38
This leaf must have directly followed the opening leaf of the Book, as it starts partway within Chapter 1. That leaf would have carried the opening initial for the Book, with L for Locutusque. Its present location is unknown, but the contents of its illustrated initial have been recorded to indicate a depiction of the figures of God, Moses, and Joshua at an altar. (p. 69 and 72 note 8)
Text (recto and verso)
Numbers 1
36 [De filiis Benjamin per generationes et familias ac domos] cognationum suarum recensiti sunt nominibus singulorum a vigesimo anno et supra, omnes qui poterant ad bella procedere,
37triginta quinque millia quadringenti.
Numbers 2
1 Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen et Aaron, dicens
Numbers 3
1 Hæ sunt generationes Aaron et Moysi in die qua locutus est Dominus ad Moysen in monte Sinai.
7 et observent quidquid ad cultum pertinet multitudinis coram taberna // culo testimonii,
Numbers 4
1 Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen et Aaron, dicens
14 ponentque cum eo omnia vasa, quibus in ministerio ejus utuntur, id est, ignium receptacula[, fuscinulas ac tridentes, uncinos et batilla.]
Recto
Formerly Collection of Richard Weber, Leaf 1 from the Chudleigh Bible: Recto.
Verso
Formerly Collection of Richard Weber, Leaf 1 from the Chudleigh Bible: Verso.
End of Quire (Leaf ‘6’): Folio 43
Text (recto and verso)
Numbers 15
9 [dabis per singulos boves similæ tres decimas consper]sæ oleo, quod habeat medium mensuræ hin
Numbers 16
1 Ecce autem Core filius Isaar, filii Caath, filii Levi, et Dathan atque Abiron filii Eliab,
28 Et ait Moyses : In //hoc scietis quod Dominus miserit me ut facerem universa quæ cernitis, et non ex proprio ea corde protulerim :
[Possibly struck through incorrect marking for chapter 16 at]
Numbers 16
36 Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen, dicens
Numbers 17
1 Et locutus est Dominus ad Moysen, dicens
Numbers 18
1 Dixitque Dominus ad Aaron
11 Primitias autem, quas voverint et obtulerint filii Israël, tibi dedi, et filiis tuis, ac filiabus tuis, jure perpetuo : qui mundus est [in domo tua, vescetur eis. ]
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Recto
Formerly Collection of Richard Weber, Leaf 2 from the Chudleigh Bible: Recto.
Verso
Formerly Collection of Richard Weber, Leaf 2 from the Chudleigh Bible: Verso.
III. A (Disconnected) Quire as Witness
Thus we advance our on-going project to study the surviving witnesses to medieval manuscript fragments. As promised in our first blogpost on the Chudleigh Bible, we encourage and cultivate the study of the leaves and their context, in the quest to identify and virtually reconstruct the former volume. This second blogpost reports more information as more leaves are revealed.
The generic characteristics of the printed label accompanying the ensemble of 6 leaves (see above), giving no indication of the text to identify a particular part of the manuscript, implies that the seller may have prepared groups of leaves, such as intact quires, to sell in themselves. If so, there might be other quires or former quires which found their way through such a dealer and might, in time, surface among various collections around the world. We look forward to more discoveries.
IV. The Book
IV.1. A Single Volume
The subject of this quest? Notice of the manuscript whilst still intact, with some black-and-white images of its illustrated elements, appeared in print for its sale by successive owners, starting with Charles Oswald Hugh Clifford, the eleventh Lord Clifford of Chudleigh.
Formerly, as described in its sales catalogue descriptions while still intact (see our previous blogpost), the manuscript comprised a single volume of 411 vellum leaves (with its text laid out in double columns of 56 lines each). Mention is made of 139 illuminated initials, some of which are historiated. Initials opening Books of the Bible contained historiated scenes and decorative elements; some 90 or 91 of them were historiated. Mention is also made of some damage to the volume, including losses of leaves.
1) Sold by Sotheby & Co, London,
7 December 1953, lot 51 (pp. 00? in catalogue)
Catalogue of fine Western and Oriental manuscripts and miniatures . . . : which will be sold by auction by Messrs. Sotheby & Co. . . . at their large galleries 34 & 35 New Bond Street, W.1
Bought by Maggs Bros., London, for £680.
2) Sold by Sotheby & Co, London,
Wednesday, 8th July 1970 as Lot 104 (pp. 78–79 in catalogue)
Catalogue of important Western manuscripts and miniatures . . . : which will be sold by auction by Sotheby & Co. . . . at their large galleries, 34 and 35 New Bond Street, W.1 . . . ; day of sale: Wednesday, 8th July, 1970
The entry cites 139 illuminated initials, some of which are historiated. It mentions some defects, including many margins “to some extent stained” and damage to some initials, of which “5 are badly damaged and 15 slightly damaged.” Some losses were discernible, with “the first two leaves largely defective” and “a few leaves missing at the end of the Interpretations [of Hebrew Names]”.
Facing the catalogue entry, the companion page of “Illustration” shows 8 cropped images with historiated initials (sometimes two in succession on the same page), encompassing 10 initials altogether. Their locations in the manuscript are not indicated.
“The text is the normal text of a thirteenth-century Bible, i.e. the modern Vulgate with the addition of Esdras III, which is called Esdras II, the modern Estras II being called Nehemiah. Acts follows the Pauline Epistles. . . . Marginal annotations in red and plummet are fairly numerous. Many are enclosed in red cartouches.”
IV.2. Individual Leaves or Groups of Leaves
Thereafter leaves appeared in various catalogues, including these (which I have not yet seen):
- Quaritch cat. 1147 (1991), no. 15
- Maggs Bros, Fine Books and manuscripts, cat. 1167 (1993), no. 2
- Sotheby’s, Western Manuscripts and Miniatures, 6 December 2005, lot 16
Sometimes the manuscript might receive notice on its own account. For example:
- Christopher de Hamel, Scribes and Illuminators. Medieval Craftsman Series (Toronto, 1992), page 43 and plate 36.
An account especially of the illuminated components appears by Peter Kidd:
- Peter Kidd, The McCarthy Collection, III: French Miniatures (London, 2021), no. 17 (pp. 69–73)
His companion blogpost seems to have disappeared, along with the blog as a whole:
IV.3. Some Specimens
Our previous blogpost has gathered a selective list of specimen leaves which have circulated through the marketplace on their own or in groups. To some extent, this list follows the order of the Books in the Vulgate manuscript; sometimes a catalogue listing groups into one entry a set of several leaves from the manuscript.
In time, in combination with other resources, this list might aid a full virtual reconstruction of the manuscript, not only of its illustrated leaves, but also leaves of text like the Weber/RGME leaves from within the text of the Book of Numbers.
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Further blogposts and/or other reports may offer more information about the manuscript and its identifiable fragments. The goal is to build towards a fuller recognition of the survivors, their characteristics, and their locations.
Do you know of other leaves from this manuscript? Do you know of other work by its scribal hands?
We look forward to hearing from you.
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Collection of Richard Weber. Chudleigh Bible Leaf 39, verso: lower. Photograph by Richard Weber.
