One of the earliest manuscripts telling the story of King Arthur and the quest for the Holy Grail is set to go up for auction in July, with an estimated value of between £1.5m and £2m. The medieval manuscript, decorated with gold leaf and rich illustrations, has been privately owned for more than 700 years and has never been publicly exhibited or fully studied by academics. Among the most striking illustrations is a depiction of the wizard Merlin as a magical talking stag, while another miniature shows the Knights of the Round Table returning victorious from battle.
The manuscript dates from between 1290 and 1310 and contains texts from the medieval French “Lancelot-Grail” cycle, considered the foundation of the myths of King Arthur, Merlin and the Holy Grail. It includes 126 meticulously crafted miniatures, many of them decorated with polished gold.
Experts at Christie’s auction house say there are only three such manuscripts in private collections, and this is the earliest and most illustrated of them. Known as the “Lebaudy Manuscript,” it is named after French industrialist Jean Lebaudy, one of its 20th-century owners. According to scholars, the work was created by the so-called “Master of the Apocalypse of Liège,” an anonymous artist known for his distinctive style and lavish illustrations that were expensive to produce in the Middle Ages. The manuscript has passed through the hands of several historical figures, including a 15th-century knight and British collector Sir Thomas Phillipps. Scholars believe its long history of private ownership has hindered full scholarly research.
Dr. Irene Fabry-Tehranchi of the University of Cambridge Library described the sale as a rare opportunity for the manuscript to finally enter a public collection. She noted that the version of this manuscript also contains unusual changes to the end of Merlin’s story, where the focus shifts more to Arthur’s battles and royal legitimacy than to the romantic adventures of the knights. According to scholars, these changes show the way medieval scribes adapted the stories to the tastes of their patrons of the time or their own personal interpretation of the story.