Derived from dealer description: This collection consists of an illuminated and engraved marriage charter on parchment, created in Lyon, France in June 1623 and measuring approximately 10 x 14 inches. The charter features an ornamental and figurative engraved border enclosing eight lines of calligraphic manuscript text written in brown ink. There are spaces left blank within the text and at the end of the document for the newlyweds' names and the church, date, and priest's signature, written in cursive in yellow ink.

Eight religious scenes are depicted within a border of strapwork and arabesque, angels and putti, with God at top, illuminated in blue, red, green, and gold. The engraved borders contain a scene of the Fall, at the moment that Adam takes the apple from Eve, urged on by the Serpent, while animals romp in the Garden of Paradise in the background and God looks down from on high. At the foot of the text is the marriage of Mary and Joseph, the epitome of a good marriage. On either side the Annunciation is depicted, the Angel being shown on the left and the Virgin with the Holy Spirit on the right. In the four corners are the figures of the four Evangelists, and four musician angels are perched on the upper and lower borders. These scenes, contrasting two weddings and the two archetypal wives, the temptress Eve and the divinely pure Mary, along with the Annunciation and the Evangelists, appear in many Lyon marriage charters.

The text of the document is written in French, and in English roughly translates to: “In the name of the Holy Trinity of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. I, Jacques Roland, take for my wife and loyally espouse you, Anne of Bourg [sic] and recommend to you my alms as well as God dictates St. Paul the scripture and Saint loy Romme confirms [sic] what God By marriage the man will not separate. Given in Lyon at St. Paul's Church on the first day of June in the year one thousand six hundred and twenty-three by myself, Guilbon [sic] Of the Church.”