The History of Script: Sixty Important Manuscripts Leave the Schøyen Collection for Sotheby's

. We are supposed to believe that the main reason why collecting histories do not contain information on previous owners is that the latter do not like people to think they are selling because they have fallen on hard times. One cannot however but wonder why collector Martin Schøyen is selling these gems through Sotheby's: History of Script: Sixty Important Manuscript Leaves from the Schøyen Collection

This sale comprises a selection of items from the celebrated manuscript collection of Martin Schøyen, in London and Oslo. The sixty lots have been chosen to represent the entire history of writing in Europe, from piece of an ancient manuscript of Homer’s Iliad right through to the thirteenth century, with specimens of some of the rarest and most compelling scripts from the Dark Ages and early medieval Europe. [...]

Not much of a history of writing in Europe if the slide presentation starts with a dugup manuscript scrap from Fustat (that's in Africa). Oh, and do look at the tenth century Visigothic-manuscript-meets-Stanleyknife. Where's that from and where's the rest of it? Note how the SALE is presented as having been constructed to reveal history ("The sale catalogue will doubtless be reference work for many years to come"). "Only if it goes open access" shout the collectors. I'm guessing the rest of us decent folk would not touch it if the collecting histories are not properly detailed.