Beschreibung:

Manuscript on vellum, illuminated by the Workshop of the Masters of Zweder van Culemborg Netherlands, Utrecht, ca. 1430 135 x 102 mm. iii (paper) + 180 vellum + iii (paper) leaves. Collation not determined because of tight binding. Modern foliation in pencil in lower right corner of every tenth leaf. 16 long lines, written in brown ink in gothic textura script between two verticals and seventeen horizontal lines ruled in red; written space 80 x 55 mm. One-line initials in gold flourished alternately in red and violet; two-line initials in gold on red and blue grounds with infilling of white tracery accompanied by bar borders in gold, red, and blue in left margins; 29 six- to nine-line historiated initials in red or blue on burnished gold grounds accompanied by full bar borders in gold, red, and blue; all bar borders accompanied by marginal sprays of small trefoil leaves in gold. Many leaves darkened apparently from handling and use, some historiated initials slightly abraded, lacking an undetermined number of leaves. 19th century stained vellum gilt. Provenance: S. L. Broadbent, signature on flyleaf, initials on f. 1r. Content: ff. 1r-12v: Calendar for Utrecht, including in red, Pancratius (May 12), Servatius (May 13), Boniface (June 4), Odulf of Utrecht (June 11), Lebuin (June 24), Martin (July 4), Lambert of Maastricht (September 17), Willibrord of Utrecht (November 7). ff. 13r-67v: Hours of the Virgin, use of Geert Grote, with Matins (ff. 13r-26r), Lauds (ff. 26v-37v), Prime (ff. 38r-42r), Terce (ff. 42v-46r), Sext (ff. 46v-53v), [apparently no None], Vespers (ff. 54r-61v), Compline (ff. 62r-67v). ff. 68r-96r: Hours of the Holy Spirit, with Matins (ff. 68v-73r), Prime (ff. 73v-80v), Sext (ff. 81r-82v), lacking a leaf before f. 81), None (ff. 83r-84v), no rubric (ff. 85r-87v), Vespers (ff. 88r-92r), Compline (ff. 92v-96r). ff. 97r-127v: Hours of the Eternal Wisdom, with prayer to Christ (ff. 97r-98r), Matins (ff. 98r-110v), Prime (ff. 111r-113r), Terce (ff. 113v-115v), Sext (ff. 116r-118r), None (ff. 118v-120v), Vespers (ff. 121r-124r), Compline (ff. 124v-127v). ff. 128r-147v: Hours of the Cross, with prayer to Christ (ff. 128r-129v), Matins (ff. 130r-132v), Prime (ff. 133r-134r), Terce (ff. 135r-136v), Sext (ff. 137r-139r), None, begins incompletely (ff. 140r-143v, lacks a leaf before f. 140), Vespers (ff. 144r-144v), Compline (ff. 146r-147v). ff. 149r-180v: Miscellaneous prayers. Illumination: Annunciation (f. 13r), Nativity (f. 26v), Visitation (f. 38r), Nativity (f. 42v), Annunciation to the Shepherds (f. 46v), Flight into Egypt (f. 54r), Presentation in the Temple (f. 62r); St. George (f. 68r), St. Lawrence (f. 73v), St. Mary Magdalene (f. 83r), St. Katherine (f. 85r), St. John the Evangelist (f. 88r), St. Barbara (f. 92v); Christ Holding the Orb (f. 97r), St. Peter (f. 98r), St. Apollonia (f. 111r), Unidentified male saint (f. 113v), Unidentified male saint (f. 116r), Unidentified male saint (f. 118v), St. Agnes (f. 121r), St. Margaret (f. 124v); Agony in the Garden (f. 128r), Mocking of Christ (f. 130r), Christ before Pilate (f. 133r), Imposing the Crown of Thorns (f 135r), Preparing the cross (f. 137r), Lamentation (f. 144r), Pentecost (f. 146r); The Netherlands were the one area of Europe where the Book of Hours, a late medieval best seller, was routinely coped in the vernacular language, in this case in the Dutch translation made by Geert Grote (1340-1384), who founded the Devotio moderna, a popular devotional movement in the later Middle Ages that emphasized solitary, personal meditation on Christ's passion. The style of the historiated initials, many of their motifs, and the style of the borders all mark it as a production of the Workshop of the Masters of Zweder van Culemborg, bishop of Utrecht (d. 1433), who commissioned a number of manuscripts in this style. The arrangement of the illumination in the Hours of the Holy Spirit and the Hours of the Eternal Wisdom is unusual in that, although the texts are divided