22 Gothic biblical scrolls found in Alava sold at Christie’s auction

The Provincial Council of Álava has placed in the monastery of Quejana (Ayala) in Spain 22 parchments belonging to the same Gothic Bible, of which another 64 leaves will be sold at Christie’s auction with a starting price of more than 35 thousand euros.

Last week it was announced that the renowned auction house was set to bid for what they called the “Kehan ​​Bible”, which they dated to the late 13th or early 14th century.

Christie’s describes it as a rare copy and explains that it is not a complete Bible as it was “dismembered” before the end of the 17th century.

This Tuesday, “only a tenth of the original Bible”, estimated at 700 pages, will be auctioned, as explained by culture deputy Ana del Val, who considers it an exaggeration to talk about the “Kehan ​​Bible” and that it would be more correct to say “auction of scrolls”.

These parchments were found in Kehan ​​between the 17th and 19th centuries, in the office of a man responsible for accounting on behalf of the abbess. There they were used as disposable stationery, as they served as folders for storing documentation and, in fact, had subsequent records.

In addition to the 22 biblical scrolls found at Kehana, 13 more belonging to a 15th-century hymn book have been discovered, with two more yet to be identified.

The discovery of these documents is the main reason why it was decided not to auction another 64 pages of the same Bible on Tuesday, although the possibility was being considered “seriously”.

Another reason was the impossibility of collecting the entire Bible, which “could have some generic interest,” given that in 2016 and 2017, some pages of the same book were already sold at auction.