Folio, (330 x 240 mm; sheet size 375 x 265 mm). 8 (out of nine) drawings in watercolour and gouache. Contemporary boards, drawings loose, worn. The drawings with occasional foxing mostly visible on verso, last one with tears repaired at an early stage, overall in exceptionally fresh and strong colors, excellent condition.

“In his Neunfelsenbuch, Rulman Merswin presents a vision of the apocalyptic separation of the saved from the damned, which may be firmly placed in the tradition of the medieval vertical debate. In this tradition there exists a necessary distance between the narrator and the deity in terms of knowledge or insight, for only in this way can the author's argument develop. In vertical debates revelation is given in stages to narrow the gap between man and God, and the usually obtuse narrator is led with frequent setbacks and bafflements to slow steady progress toward understanding the message of the higher authority that instructs him. One sees this development readily in two other late medieval works, the Middle English Pearl of the late 14th century and the Early New High German Ackermann aus Böhmen” (Clark, S. l., and Julian N. Wasserman. “The soul as salmon: Merswin’s ‘Neunfelsenbuch’ and the idea of parable.” Colloquia Germanica 13, no. 1 (1980): 47–56).

“Man´s damnation for unconscious sins raises the issue of predestination in Das Neunfelsenbuch. The problem hearkens back to the question of whether men are saved because God chooses them or whether they manage to sabe themselves through right choice and, once saved, are chosen by God after the fact. Merswin pays lipservice to free will, to be sure…” (Clark and Wasserman, p.52).

Authorship:

The text is usually attributed to Rulman Merswin (c.1307-1382), lay leader of the “Friends of God”, a short-lived group inspired by the mystical teachings of the Neoplatonic Theologian Meister Eckhart. The book describes a vision of a mountain with nine precipices: the ascent of the mountain represents stages of spiritual development of increasing difficulty (each rock being therefore more sparsely populated than the last). The first rock, for example, which includes crowned princes, and prelates, depicts those who guard against sin but are without love, whilst the third, which includes flagellants and people dragging crosses, depicts those who focus on spiritual exercises but remain ensnared by the Devil.

No text accompanies the present series of highly accomplished but anonymous watercolours, which in our opinion are evidently English in origin.

The drawings are unsigned, but they are the production of an obviously skilled artist, whose use of gouache provides the viewer with dramatism and melancholy, in line with the subject of the drawings. Whether these have been made in England, or for the English market in continental Europe, we don´t know, they merit scholarship and further research.

The drawings present Strasbourg Arms watermarks including one with the name of Jean Villedary, fl. 1758-1812.

Provenance: Sotheby´s, English Literature, History, Children's Books, 15 July, 2014, lot 214.