Surfacing on the market: Leaf out of a book (of hours)

The Los Angeles-based collector Franklin Spellman and his wife, Elizabeth Krown Spellman, sold and collected rare and scholarly books for almost four decades. During a period of ill health for Spellman in 2014, the US-based online auction house Heritage Auctions received the couple’s private collection and the stock from their shop, Krown and Spellman Booksellers. An illuminated folio from a French Book of Hours (around 1450) was included in the trove. Both sides of the folio are in good condition and contain miniature illustrations. On one side stands a tortured Saint Benignus of Dijon, with thumbscrews on his fingers; on the other is Saint Sebastian, characteristically pierced by arrows. The illuminated folio forms a highlight of the rare books sale at Heritage Auctions in Dallas. Online bidding starts at $1,000 on 17 July, with the final auction due to take place on 5 August.