Turin MS E.V.5: The Three Stolen Leaves Sold at Sotheby's (2013–2015) and the Origins of ReceptioGate

This dossier documents the history of the three illuminated leaves removed in 1979 from manuscript E.V.5 of the Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria di Torino, their appearance on the international antiquarian market, their sale through Sotheby's London in 2013 and 2015, and their subsequent recovery.

Particular attention is devoted to the Sotheby's sale of 7 July 2015, in which the catalogue descriptions of lots 49–51 were prepared by Peter Kidd. The same catalogue also included leaves from the dismembered Book of Hours of Louis de Roucy, another manuscript that later became the subject of scholarly reconstruction research.

The dossier further examines the relationship between the public documentation of these cases, the transmission of evidence to the Italian Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (TPC), and the campaign of harassment and defamation that subsequently became known as ReceptioGate.