Bonhams 1793 : ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT Book of Hours, use of Rome, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum

7 Jun 2011 14:00 BST London, New Bond Street
Books, Maps, Manuscripts and Historical Photographs
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ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT

Book of Hours, use of Rome, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum, ii + 203 + i leaves: 1¹², 2-7⁸, 8⁷ (of 9?, lacking i and ix), 9-10⁸, 11⁴, 12-14⁸, 16⁶, 16-22⁸, 17-22⁸, 23⁵ (of 6, vi cancelled blank), 26⁷ (of 8, lacking i), 27⁹ (ix a singleton), 28¹⁰, 14 lines written in brown ink in a gothic bookhand, ruled in pink, rubrics in red, one- and two-line initials in burnished gold on blue or dark pink grounds with white tracery and infills of the contrasting colour, similar line-endings (some in the form of flowers), all two-line initials with a panel border of blue, red and gold acanthus sprays, fruits, flowers and hairline tendrils with gold trefoil and disc terminals, three-line initials in red or blue with white tracery on a burnished gold ground infilled with ivyleaf rinceaux or sprays of fruit, 12 LARGE ARCH-TOPPED MINIATURES with text and miniature bordered by panel of fruit or floral decoration on burnished or liquid gold,, surrounded by acanthus sprays, flowers and fruit, 3 HISTORIATED INITIALS with bar borders and similar full-page border, first endleaf with sewing holes, surface wear to several miniatures, some cropping (loss to a few upper upper borders, just shaving frame of miniatures in some cases), occasional soiling and smudging, seventeenth century maroon morocco gilt, gilt panelled spine with raised bands, worn, 2 holes to upper cover, head of spine torn with loss, 130 x 195mm., [Paris, 1460s]

Sold for £16,800 inc. premium

Footnotes

CONTENTS: Added prayers in French and Latin i-ii; Calendar ff.1-12v; Gospel Extracts (from John, Matthew, Luke and Mark) ff.13-19; Obsecro te ff.19-23v; O intermerata ff.23v-26v; Hours of the Virgin ff.27-108v: matins f.27, lauds f.51 (lacking end of Psalm 150, capitulum and most of hymn), prime f.64 (lacking capitulum and 2 orations), terce f.69, sext f.74v, none f.79v, vespers f.84v, compline f.94v; Hours of the Cross ff.109-112v; Hours of the Holy Spirit ff.113-116v; additional Litany supplications in a later hand f.117, continued at foot of ff.118v-120; Penitential Psalms and Litany ff.118-140; Office of the Dead ff.140v-194v; Suffrages (to the Apostles, St. Sebastian, St. John the Baptist, St. Barbara, St. Katherine, Commemoration of the Cross) ff.195-203.

ILLUMINATION: Miniatures at f.27 Annunciation; f.51 Visitation; f.64 Nativity; f.69 Annunciation to the Shepherds; f.74v Adoration of the Magi; f.79v Presentation in the Temple; f.84v Flight into Egypt; f.94v Coronation of the Virgin; f.109 Crucifixion; f.113 Pentecost; f.118 David praying before an altar; f.140v Burial Service in a cemetery. Historiated initials at f.13 St John on Patmos; f.19 Virgin as the Woman clothed in the sun; f.23v (Pietà).

PROVENANCE: Paris, 1460s (illumination and calendar typical of place and period); prayer to the Cross in French added in contemporary hand to first added leaf; three other added leaves with sixteenth-century poem and prayers (one signed "v[ot]re mieulx... cousin Carrion"); Charles de Brosses (1709-1777, historian, antiquarian and author of Lettres d'Italie ), his library stamp on endleaves; presented to "Mr Rogier le 26 mars 1836", inscription pasted inside upper-cover; John Gilchrist Clark (great great-grandftaher of the present owner), acquired in Paris on the way home from his Grand Tour, with his signature on added front leaf. See illustrations on preceding page.