Book of hours : use of Poitiers : in Latin and French

Item Information

Title:
Book of hours : use of Poitiers : in Latin and French
Creator:
Catholic Church
Former owner:
Whitney, Joseph
Former owner:
J. M. C. Armbruster (Firm)
Date:
[1425–1450]
Format:
Manuscripts
Books
Genre:
Illuminations
Manuscripts, Latin (Medieval and modern)--France
Manuscripts, Medieval--France
Books of hours
devotional calendars
Gothic scripts
Location:
Boston Public Library
Rare Books Department
Collection (local):
Medieval and Early Renaissance Manuscripts (Collection of Distinction)
Places:
France > Nouvelle-Aquitaine (region) > Poitiers
Extent:
192 leaves : parchment, ill. ; 223 x 155 (140 x 100) mm bound to 24 cm, in box 26 cm
Permalink:
https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/v9800140g
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: flyleaf, blank.
2. fol. 1v: flyleaf, with text in pencil: "Josiah H. Benton / Dec. 24, 1940 / L."
3. fol. 2-13v: calendar (approximately 3/4 full), for use of Poitiers. Includes saints from regions of Poitiers, Paris, Autun, Amiens. One folio for each month.
4. fol. 14-19v: Gospel readings.
5. fol. 19v-21v: The Passion of our lord Jesus Christ according to John (Passio domini nostri ihesu xpi secundum Johannem...)
6. fol. 22-26v: Obsecro te (fol. 22 written in a different hand)
7. fol. 26v-27v: Santa mana mater.
8. fol. 28r/v: blank.
9. fol. 29-50: Matins (Hours of the Virgin, use undetermined)
10. fol. 50v-63v: Lauds (Hours of the Virgin, use undetermined)
11. fol. 64-69: Prime (Hours of the Virgin, use undetermined)
12. fol. 69v: blank.
13. fol. 70-73v: Terce (Hours of the Virgin, use undetermined, fol. 70 written in a different hand)
14. fol. 74-77v: Sext (Hours of the Virgin, use undetermined)
15. fol. 78-81v: Nones (Hours of the Virgin, use undetermined)
16. fol. 82-88: Vespers (Hours of the Virgin, use undetermined)
17. fol. 88v-91v: Compline (Hours of the Virgin, use undetermined)
18. fol. 92-107v: Advent season (Hours of the Virgin, use undetermined)
19. fol. 108-109v: Matins (Hours of the Cross)
20. fol. 109v-110: Prime (Hours of the Cross)
21. fol. 110v-111: Terce (Hours of the Cross)
22. fol. 111v-112: Sext (Hours of the Cross)
23. fol. 112v-113: Nones (Hours of the Cross)
24. fol. 113v-114: Vespers (Hours of the Cross)
25. fol. 114v-115: Compline (Hours of the Cross)
26. fol. 115v-116v: Matins (Hours of the Holy Spirit)
27. fol. 117-117v: Prime (Hours of the Holy Spirit)
28. fol. 118-118v: Terce (Hours of the Holy Spirit)
29. fol. 119-119v: Sext (Hours of the Holy Spirit)
30. fol. 120-120v: Nones (Hours of the Holy Spirit)
31. fol. 121-121v: Vespers (Hours of the Holy Spirit)
32. fol. 122-123: Compline (Hours of the Holy Spirit)
33. fol. 123v: blank.
34. fol. 124-138: Penitential psalms.
35. fol. 138v-147v: Litany.
36. fol. 148-190: Office of the Dead, for the use of Poitiers.
37. fol. 190v-191v: blank.
Notes:
Ms. codex.
Bibliographic record created by BPL staff based on description by Dr. Lisa Fagin Davis. Consult full description for complete list of miniatures.
Origin: Illuminated in Northern France in the second quarter of the fifteenth century. Likely meant for the use of Poitiers. Many of the landscapes and compositions in the miniature cycles are similar in style to those created by the Workshop of the Boucicaut Master.
Notes (ownership):
Provenance: Appeared in the catalog of the German dealer J.M.C. Armbruster in September 1852 (no. 2597). Exhibited at the New York Historical Society by "Dr. Osgood" and sold to Joseph Whitney in 1856 (reported in the Christian Inquirer on December 20, 1856).
Notes (acquisition):
Immediate source of acquisition: Purchased in October 1940 from Joseph Whitney's grandson, George H. Whitney. On the flyleaf at the front of the manuscript is the following text in pencil: "Josiah H. Benton / Dec. 24, 1940 / L."
Notes (date):
This date is inferred.
Notes (object):
Collation: Parchment, fol. 192 ; 1¹² 2⁸ 3⁸⁻¹ (made up of three bifolia, with a tipped-in singleton at the front of the quire (fol. 22) written in a secondary hand ) 4-7⁸ 8¹⁰ 9-10⁸ 11⁶ 12-23⁸ 24⁴ ; modern quire numbers written in lower left corner on first recto of each quire. Modern foliation in upper right corner of each recto, skipping 31 and thus reaching 191 instead of 192. Flyleaf counted in the foliation as fol. 1, but is not part of the first quire. Tiny folio numbers in gutter of each leaf in dark pencil or brown ink, beginning after calendar on fol. 14, with 1 and running uninterrupted through the manuscript, except for a critical break between quires III and IV.
Layout: Single column, 13 lines (17 lines in calendar). Bounding lines in red plummet, full length vertically and horizontally.
Script: Primarily written in a northern gothic textualis formata (textus quadratus) in black ink with red rubrics. Secondary hand in a gothic cursive on folios 20 and 70, both singletons with blank spaces where miniatures should be. The secondary hand is written with a red-tinted ink.
Decoration (primary): 25 illuminated miniatures, appearing at the beginning of each hour in the Hours of the Virgin, the Hours of the Holy Cross, and the Hours of the Holy Spirit as well as the beginning of the Penitential Psalms and the Office of the Dead. Recorded in the catalog of J.M.C. Armbruster (September 1852) as including 27 miniatures. The two extra miniatures likely refer to the two blank spaces found on folios 20 and 70 (tipped-in leaves), where miniatures were apparently meant to be.
Decoration (secondary): Fully decorated borders throughout the manuscript. Black vines with golden leaves, acanthus leaves, fruits, flowers, and other plants (often clustered in block patterns). Gold, blue and red lines on the outer edges of text columns, frequently with flowers and plants sprouting out from top of line. A variety of different hands working on the borders, evident from the wide range of foliage.
Decoration (tertiary): One- to three-line initials throughout the manuscript. Three-line decorated initials, often with intertwined vines and flowers, accompany every miniature (except miniature on fol. 74). Three initials with unidentified coats of arms: fol. 29 (Hours of the Virgin, Matins), fol. 124 (Penitential Psalms), fol. 148 (Office of the Dead, Matins). The coats of arms consist of gold and red stripes with five birds in profile on the left, a gray diamond pattern in upper right, and a gold fleur-de-lis pattern in lower right with red background.
Binding: Modern vellum conservation binding. Housed in a tan cloth clamshell case, brown gilt-stamped labels on spine: "Livre d'heures/XV Century" and "MS Q. MED. 89." Previously bound in nineteenth-century brown morocco leather by "Niderée" in Paris, France, with large brass clasps added in 1857 (Census Supplement). Clasps engraved by Joseph Whitney's son with his initials and date. Engravings reads: [top clasp] "Missal of the XIV Century"; [bottom clasp] "H.A.W. from my Father Joseph Whitney Jany. 1st, 1857." On the inside of the back cover of the nineteenth-century binding is a newspaper clipping from the Christian Inquirer (New York), dated Saturday, December 20, 1856, entitled "A Remarkable Manuscript." This article describes an exhibition of the manuscript at the New York Historical Society by "Dr. Osgood." Both bindings shelved together.
Notes (bibliography):
Bibliography: 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. 83.
Notes (language):
In Latin and French.
Identifier:
06_01_018669
Call #:
RARE BKS MS q Med.89
MS 1516 (no longer used)
Barcode:
39999091846426