Peter Kidd Manuscripts Provenance (mssprovenance): Ethical Concerns and the Legacy of Dismembered Manuscripts
- ISFiDa
- May 2
- 2 min read
Peter Kidd, a British manuscripts dealer operating under the label mssprovenance, has for years maintained a blog titled Medieval Manuscripts Provenance. Once perceived as an amateur resource on manuscript history, this blog has recently come under scrutiny for its role in promoting and legitimising the trade of dismembered illuminated manuscripts.
The most striking case is that of the so-called De Roucy Hours, a richly illuminated Book of Hours attributed to an illuminator from Troyes (Champagne). This codex was dismembered by antiquarian Peter Kiefer in Germany, with Kidd acting as public promoter of the separated leaves via detailed descriptions and attributions published on his blog. These actions are thoroughly documented in the scholarly monograph:👉 Digital Reconstruction of a Dismembered Book of Hours Illuminated by Robert Boyvin (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2024)📘 Link to book
Further investigations by Prof. Carla Rossi and the OProM team have revealed a pattern of promotional strategies used by Kidd in collaboration with various dealers, often giving academic legitimacy to the sale of individual manuscript leaves. A full documented case study is available at:📄 The Case of the De Roucy Hours
Since December 2022, the mssprovenance blog has ceased to focus on manuscript leaves and instead shifted toward targeted defamatory attacks against scholars and institutions involved in manuscript restitution and digital reconstruction.📄 Peter Kidd Manuscripts Provenance: A Dormant Blog Once Used to Promote Manuscript Leaves
In June 2023, Kidd even reproduced protected logos and distorted information about the Organisation pour la Protection des Manuscrits Médiévaux (OProM), despite clear legal warnings against unauthorised use.📄 False Claims and Misuse of Identity
A Pattern of Ethical Failure
Kidd’s digital activities have contributed to the normalisation of biblioclasm — the intentional destruction of books for commercial gain. His descriptive work, far from being neutral, has facilitated and encouraged the dismemberment of codices, particularly Books of Hours, now sold piecemeal across auctions and private dealers’ websites.
This conduct raises fundamental ethical concerns regarding the role of independent actors who operate outside institutional peer review but exert disproportionate influence on the rare book market and public perception of provenance.
ISFiDA – Istituto di Studi Filologici e Danteschi Committed to the protection, reconstruction, and transmission of medieval cultural heritage🔗 www.isfida.eu
