Beschreibung:

BOOK OF HOURS, use of Rome, in Latin and French, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [Hainaut, probably Mons, c.1460] 154 x 112mm. 144 leaves: 1-2 6, 3-6 8, 7 6(of 8, lacking ii & vii), 8 6(of 8, lacking ii & vii), 9-14 8, 15 2(of ?8, lacking central leaves), 16-19 8, 20 6, possibly lacking inserted leaves with miniatures before folios 13 and 65, 19 lines written in black ink in lettre bâtarde between two verticals and 20 horizontals ruled in red, justification 88 x 63mm, rubrics in red, text capitals touched yellow, one-line initials alternately of blue flourished red and burnished gold flourished black, two-line initials with staves of pink or blue against grounds of burnished gold infilled with leaf-sprays of the other colour, line-endings of the same colours, PANEL BORDERS with sprays of acanthus and naturalistic flowers and hair-line tendrils with berries, leaves, flowerheads, golden disks and trefoils on every page with a two-line initial, EIGHTEEN FULL-PAGE BORDERS of the same forms around three-sided fillets of burnished gold and also including birds, beasts, huntsmen or the coat of arms of the original owner, FORTY-SIX SMALL MINIATURES in frames of burnished gold (thumbing to borders of folios 13 and 65, minor spotting and smudging to some borders and 10 miniatures, loss of inner corner of folio 14 and of lower margin of folio 121). French 18th-century mottled calf, spine in seven compartments gilt-tooled with flowers and sprays (defective at foot of spine, upper joint split at head, extremities rubbed). Brown cloth box by N. Reid. PROVENANCE: 1. The coats of arms in the borders of folios 13, 35v, 65 and 79v are those of Esneval (paly or and azure , a chief gules ), de Dreux (checky or and azure , a border gules ), de Chappes ( azure , a cross fleuretty or ) and of de Dreux impaling Esneval. Gauvain de Dreux married Jeanne d'Esneval in 1404 and was succeeded by Robert II de Dreux, Vidame et Baron d'Esneval (1406-1478): the original owner may have been a member of his family. The presence of St Waldetrudis (twice), her husband Count Vincent (in red, 14 July) and her sister Adelgundis in the Calendar, their appearance in the Litany, the rare suffrage to Waldetrudis and the presence of Ghislain (in red, 9 October) in the Calendar point, like the style of illumination, to the origin of the manuscript in Mons, although it may not have been intended for use there. 2. An inscription in the lower margin of the final verso reads 'Ce livre A partien a Nicolace ?Le fraye'. The name from a similar inscription has been excised from folio 121. CONTENT: Calendar ff.1-12v; Office of the Virgin, use of Rome f.13-61: matins f.13, lauds f.26, lauds of the Office of the Cross f.34v, prime f.35v, prime of the Cross f.38, terce f.39, terce of the Cross f.41v, sext f.42v, sext of the Cross f.45, none, lacking one leaf f.45v, none of the Cross f.47v, vespers, lacking two leaves f.48, vespers of the Cross f.52, compline lacking end and most of compline of the Cross f.52v, variants of the Office of the Virgin f.56; Hours of the Holy Spirit f.61-64; Seven Penitential Psalms ff.65-73v; Litany ff.73v-79; Office of the Dead, use of Rome, lacking end of lauds ff.79v-105v; prayers of St Augustine, prayers to Christ, Verses of St Bernard, prayers at Mass, lacking opening ff.106-117v; prayers to the Virgin opening with O Intemerata ff.118-129; Suffrages ff.129-144: to Saints John the Baptist f.129, Peter and Paul f.129v, Andrew f.130, James f.130v, John the Evangelist f.131, Thomas f.131v, Philip and James f.132, Bartholomew f.132v, Matthew f.133, Simon and Jude f.133v, Luke f.134, Mark f.134v, Michael f.135, Sebastian f.135v, Adrian f.136, Quentin f.136v, Nicholas f.137, George f.137v, Hubert f.138, Eligius f.138v, Anthony Abbot f.139, Francis f.139v, Bernardino f.140, Mary Magdalene f.140v, Catherine f.141, Barbara f.141v, 142v Apollonia f.142v, Waldetrude f.143. ILLUMINATION: With golden initials and panel borders on every page, intense colour