Beschreibung:

Northern France (probably Rouen), [c. 1470-80 and c. 1520]. Illuminated manuscript on vellum. Small 4to (160 x 110 mm). 236 leaves, 1 blank, complete, red ink foliation skips a leaf between fols.86 and 87, ruled in red ink, 25 lines, written-space 112mm. by 70mm., written in dark brown ink in two sizes of a gothic bookhand, quires vi-viii by a different scribe in a more rounded hand, capitals touched in yellow, rubrics in red, running titles in liquid gold (somewhat darkened) at top of each page, line-fillers, one-line, 2- to 5-line initials throughout in liquid gold on red, blue and brown grounds, a FULL BORDER ON EACH PAGE of narrow bars of liquid gold on three sides and the outer side a panel with blue and gold acanthus, flowers, fruit and occasional birds, with black dots and fine lines, a large historiated initial (11 lines) of the Trinity on fol.44r, ELEVEN LARGE MINIATURES WITH FULL BORDERS in arched compartments above large initials and 5 lines of text, with borders of acanthus, fruit, flowers and occasional birds on parti-coloured gold grounds. 18th-century mottled calf, tooled in blind, white metal clasp, vellum pastedowns and free-endleaves. Condition : occasional wear and rubbing of borders, slight stains and general signs of use, some water damage towards end of manuscript; small splits to joints. Provenance : (1) Written and illuminated for use in Rouen. The Calendar includes Rouen feasts, including Hugh, Romanus, Evodius, Mellonius etc., and the translation of the relics of St.Anne and translations of Audoenus, Laurence, Ursinus, Romanus and Evodius as well as the dedication of Rouen cathedral (October 1). The lengthy Litany includes Mellonius, Evodius, Romanus, Audonus etc., as well as Ermelinda, a Belgian recluse from Maldart, Opportuna of Montreuil and Angadresima, abbess of Oroër-des-Vierges, who recieved the veil from Audoenus; (2) M. Lowdon-Rolly (according to a loosely inserted printed label, the manuscript was owned by Lowdon-Rolly whenit was exhibited in the 1952 exhibition 'L'Art du Moyen Age', in the Musée Cantini in Marseilles). Contents : The manuscript opens with a Calendar including Rouen saints (fol.1r); the Hours of Virgin [Use of Rouen], with Matins (fol.7r), Lauds (fol.18v), Prime (fol.23r), Terce (fol.30r), Sext (fol.32v), None (32v), Vespers (fol.36v) and Compline (fol.39r); Hours of the Holy Ghost (fol.41v); Suffrages to the Holy Trinity and Saints (fol.44r); the Penitential Psalms (fol.49r) and Litany; the Office of the Dead (fol.63r) and the Commendation of Souls (fol.78v); additional Offices for different feasts throughout the year (fol.92r); additional Psalms and prayers to the Virgin (fol.228r). Illumination : The illumination is the work of two artists of different generations. The majority of the miniatures are painted by a follower of the MASTER OF THE ÉCHEVINAGE DE ROUEN (or the Master of the Geneva Latini), who dominated Rouennais illumination during the third quarter of the fifteenth century. Books of Hours in this style were illuminated in Rouen in huge numbers in the later fifteenth century, supplying the needs not only of that city but also of all Normandy and elsewhere. The Échevinage Master ran a large workshop with many collaborators, producing very standardised Books of Hours designed to be sold on the open market (cf. F. Avril and N. Reynaud, Les manuscrits à peintures en France 1440-1520 , 1993, pp.169-72; J. Plummer, The Last Flowering, French Painting in Manuscripts 1420-1530 , 1982, pp.66-7, nos.87 and 88). The style of the miniatures in this manuscript is very close to that in a manuscript from the group, now Edinburgh, University Library MS.43. A second artist painted the miniatures of the Crucifixion (fol.39r), Pentecost (fol.41v) and the initial of the Trinity (fol.44r) in the distinctive style of the MASTER OF THE ANGO HOURS. Quires 5, 6 and 7 are early sixteenth-century replacements for the original leaves, which presumably were damaged in some way, but written