Book of hours : use of St-Brieuc or Dôl : in Latin and French

Item Information

Title:
Book of hours : use of St-Brieuc or Dôl : in Latin and French
Creator:
Catholic Church
Former owner:
Hofstede, Petrus, 1716-1803
Former owner:
Bragge, William, 1823-1884
Former owner:
Bernard Quaritch (Firm)
Date:
[1425–1430]
Format:
Manuscripts
Books
Genre:
Illuminations
Books of hours
Manuscripts, Latin (Medieval and modern)--France
Manuscripts, Medieval--France
Manuscripts, French--France
Inscriptions
Gothic scripts
devotional calendars
Location:
Boston Public Library
Rare Books Department
Collection (local):
Medieval and Early Renaissance Manuscripts (Collection of Distinction)
Subjects:
Christian women--Prayers and devotions
Places:
France
Extent:
150 leaves : parchment, ill. ; 190 x 135 (90 x 60) mm bound to 20 cm, in box 23 cm
Permalink:
https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/rv046j33x
Terms of Use:
No Copyright - United States icon No Copyright - United States
No known copyright restrictions.
No known restrictions on use.
Place of origin:
[France]
Language:
Latin
French
Table of Contents:
1. fol. 1-12v: calendar, with verses "Prima dies mensis et vii truncat ut ensis" (Walther, Initia, 14563)
2. fol. 13-14v: Gospel reading: John.
3. fol. 14v-15v: Gospel reading: Luke.
4. fol. 15v-17: Gospel reading: Matthew.
5. fol. 17-18v: Gospel reading: Mark.
6. fol. 19-20: "7 Verses of the Psalter"
7. fol. 21-41v: Matins (Hours of the Virgin, Use of Brieuc)
8. fol. 42-52v: Lauds (Hours of the Virgin, Use of Brieuc)
9. fol. 52v-54: Little Hours of the Holy Cross, Matins and Lauds
10. fol. 54-55: Little Hours of the Holy Spirit, Matins and Lauds
11. fol. 55v-61: Prime (Hours of the Virgin, Little Hours prime follows)
12. fol. 61-64v: Terce (Hours of the Virgin, Little Hours terce follows)
13. fol. 65-68v: Sext (Hours of the Virgin, Little Hours sext follows)
14. fol. 69-72v: Nones (Hours of the Virgin, Little Hours nones follows)
15. fol. 73-76v: Vespers (Hours of the Virgin, Little Hours vespers follows)
16. fol. 77-83: Compline (Hours of the Virgin, Little Hours compline follows)
17. fol. 83v-87: Obsecro te (feminine use)
18. fol. 87v-91: O intemerata.
19. fol. 91-91v: O Maria piissima.
20. fol. 92-93v: 7 Joys of the Virgin.
21. fol. 94-95v: Stabat mater dolorosa.
22. fol. 95v-97: prayers.
23. fol. 97-98: Credo in deum patrem.
24. fol. 98-98v: prayer to ward off temptation, begins "Ihesus marie virginis filius..."
25. fol. 98-100v: Votive prayers: Archangel Michael, the Cross, the Apostles, St. Sebastian, St. Katharine, St. Anne.
26. fol. 101-130v: Penitential Psalms and litany.
27. fol. 131-150: Office of the Dead (Use of Dôl)
28. fol. 150v: blank.
Notes:
Ms. codex.
Bibliographic record created by BPL staff based on description by Dr. Lisa Fagin Davis.
Origin: Produced in Brittany for the use of a woman around the year 1425. The Hours of the Virgin suggests the use of St-Brieuc (on the northern coast of Brittany), while the Office of the Dead points to Dôl, some 50 miles to the east. The calendar includes saints that also point to both locations: St. Sansonis, Bishop of Dôl (in red, 28 July), and St. William, Bishop of St-Brieuc (in red, 29 July). The litany is equally ambiguous. Either way, the manuscript was certainly produced in Brittany for the use of a woman (see the feminine usage in "Obsecro te").
Notes (ownership):
Provenance: Bound in the Grolier style in the mid-sixteenth century for an unidentified patron, presumably with the initials "A.M." as found on both covers. Belonged to Dutch Reformed minister Petrus Hofstede (1716-1803), according to a description pasted inside the front cover written by the next (unidentified) owner in 1804: "Plenitudo legis dilectio sine anno mss splendidissimi in membr. cum lineis rubris litteris et eloquentissimi fig. colori[ ]as et auro depictis et illustratis, lig. gall. - Ex Bibliotheca Hofstediana a[nno] 1804 in meam transiit." The manuscript was not included in the Hofstede sale of 1804, as that sale included only printed books (see Bibliotheca Hofstediana (Rotterdam, 1804)). Later belonged to William Bragge of Birmingham (1823-1884), his sale Sotheby's 7 June 1876, lot 230, to B. Quaritch. Offered by Quaritch, cat. 31 (30 June 1876), lot 86, description pasted inside front cover with ownership inscription added, "Purchased by C. Lq from B Quaritch Dec. 28 1876." This "C. Lq" remains unidentified. Offered again by Quaritch in the 1931 catalogue, no. 35 (description pasted to front flyleaf).
Notes (acquisition):
Immediate source of acquisition: Purchased from Quaritch in December 1939.
Notes (date):
This date is inferred.
Notes (citation):
Bond, W.H. Supplement to the Census of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts in the United States and Canada, 209
Notes (object):
Collation: Parchment, fol. iii (first flyleaf 16th-century paper, second and third are parchment) + 150 + iii (first and second flyleaves parchment, final leaf 16th-century paper ; 1-15¹⁰ ; modern arabic pencil foliation, upper, outer corner of each recto.
Layout: Single column, 13 lines. Bounding and writing lines in red plummet.
Script: Written in a northern gothic textualis formata (textus quadratus) in black ink with red rubrics.
Decoration (primary): Thirteen three-quarter-page miniatures with gold-scroll or diapered backgrounds: The Annunciation (fol. 21, Matins) -- The Visitation (fol. 42, Lauds) -- The Crucifiction (fol. 52v, Matins, Little Hours of the Holy Cross) -- The Trinity (fol. 54, Matins, Little Hours of the Holy Spirit) -- The Nativity (fol. 55v, Prime) -- The Annunciation to the Shepherds (fol. 61, Terce) --Adoration (fol. 65, Sext) -- Presentation in the Temple (fol. 69, Nones) -- Flight into Egypt ( fol. 73, Vespers) -- Coronation of the Virgin (fol. 77, Compline) -- Virgin and suckling Child (fol. 83v, Obsecro te) -- Christ enthroned (fol. 101, Penitential Psalms) -- Funeral (fol. 131, Office of the Dead).
Decoration (secondary): 1-line gold initials on red and blue throughout; 2-line initials throughout alternating salmon or blue with white filigree highlighting on gold with gold bar extensions filling inner margin, leafy extensions into upper and lower margins with black tracery vines and gold leaves, 3-lines high with full border in similar style on leaves with miniatures.
Binding: 16th-century calf over pasteboard, elaborately gilt and tooled in Grolier style, possibly by Claude de Picques or Jean Picard (see Nixon, #25, pp. 95-97), spine gilt in compartments, all edges gilt, mottoes on front and back with initials: "Plenitudo legis dilectio/A.M." (front, Romans 13:10) and "A.M./Humilitas exaltat/FOL.I." (back); clasps lacking; formerly housed in a custom blue leather slipcase by Rivière and Sons, title gilt on spine: "Heures/ de la Vierge/ MS. sur vélin/ vers 1430"; paper label on front reading "Ms. q. Med./ No. 90."
Notes (bibliography):
Bibliography: Howard M. Nixon, Sixteenth-century gold-tooled bookbindings in the Pierpont Morgan Library (New York, 1971); Nancy Netzer, ed., Secular/Sacred 11th-16th Century Works from the Boston Public Library and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Boston College, 2006), no. 42.
Notes (language):
In Latin, with some French.
Identifier:
06_01_018670
Call #:
RARE BKS MS q Med.90
MS 1517 (no longer used)
Barcode:
39999091846442