Exceptionally Rare lluminated Manuscript Telling Tales of King Arthur and his Court

Legends brought to life in the 700-year-old Clermont-Tonnerre Grail. This 700-year-old manuscript is written in Old French and divided into three narratives. The book provides a history of the Holy Grail — defining it for the first time as the chalice used at the Last Supper — the life story of Merlin, and the turbulent early years of Arthur’s reign.

Join Eugenio Donadoni, Director, International Specialist, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts as he reveals the legends stirring within this extraordinary book.

The book has the heft and dimensions of a church Bible. The front and back boards, made of wood, are upholstered in velvet that is a deep and variegated green, like ancient moss. There are four weighty brass cornerpieces, each decoratively scrolled like a Victorian balustrade. On the front cover are two fastenings made of the same yellow metal: the contents of the book are precious, and it could once be closed tight like a traveller’s trunk. Gilt letters embossed on the spine reveal the theme: Roman de Artus.

This is the 700-year-old Clermont-Tonnerre Grail, which tells in Old French the ancient stories of King Arthur and his court. It is to be auctioned in the Valuable Books and Manuscripts including Cartography sale on 8 July 2026 at Christie’s in London. The volume contains three separate but connected narratives, all beautifully illustrated with historiated initials: miniatures that depict episodes from the tale.

The first text, known as Joseph d’Arimathie or L’Estoire del Saint Graal, provides a history of the Holy Grail, how it was brought to Britain and became the object of a chivalric quest. The second part, L’Estoire de Merlin, is a kind of life story of the wizardly éminence grise behind the throne of Uther Pendragon, father of King Arthur. The third section, known as the Suite Vulgate, follows on from the Merlin biography, and gives an account of the turbulent early years of Arthur’s reign.