Rhetorica C8th fragment with uncial script

We were pleased recently to place this beautiful ‘R’ initial C8th fragment with uncial script into the hands of an Institution.

A previously unknown written document from the first half of the 8th century: Fragment of an early uncial manuscript,
Rhetorica. “De rethorica eiusdemque nomen”. Incipit fragment of a Latin manuscript on parchment. 1 leaf, 1 page. 13 lines. Text area approx. 10.2 x 11 cm. Leaf size 10.6 x 13.6 cm. Uncial script in brownish-black ink. With a 15-line pen and interlace initial “R” in brownish-black ink. Probably Northern Italy, first half of the 8th century.
An exceptionally magnificent manuscript fragment of an early Carolingian uncial manuscript, which can most likely be dated to Northern Italy in the first half of the 8th century, with a particularly large, magnificent interlace initial “R” (9 x 5.3 cm) and 13 lines of text. Comparisons with the few fragments preserved in public libraries support the dating.

This previously unknown fragment is among the oldest textual evidence of the widely circulated Etymologiae (Etymologiae, II, I, 1) of Isidore of Seville (d. April 4, 636), Book II “De artibus liberalibus”, Chapter !De rhetorica eiusque nomine!