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Details
BOOK OF HOURS, use of Rome, in Latin, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM
[Paris, 1430s]
192 x 135mm. 180 leaves: 112, 28, 34, 4-128, 134, 14-238, COMPLETE, signature marks below bottom lines of text on rectos, horizontal catchwords at lower edge of a few final versos, 15 lines written in black ink in a gothic bookhand between two verticals and 16 horizontals ruled in pink, justification: 98 x 65mm, rubrics in red, text capitals touched yellow, one-, two- and three-line initials of burnished gold on blue or dark pink grounds with white tracery and infills of the contrasting colour, similar line-endings, some in the form of flowers, three-line initials of blue or dark pink with white tracery against grounds of burnished gold with ivy-leaf sprays in orange and blue, and geometric patterns, every page with a panel border with sprays of orange and blue acanthus and hairline tendrils with gold trefoil terminals, flowerheads in blue, orange, red and green, TWELVE LARGE ARCH-TOPPED MINIATURES with text and miniature surrounded by three-sided baguette with ivy-leaf and floral decoration on burnished gold, with acanthus sprays sprouting from each corner, one with two baguettes of vases of flowers, all surrounded with full-page borders of acanthus, fruit and flower sprays and hairline tendrils with gold trefoil and foliate terminals, some borders incorporating a vase of flowers or clumps of flowers on small grassy hummocks (very slight rubbing of some borders, slight smudging and staining in some margins). 19th-century panelled straight-grained red morocco gilt, the borders patterned with lozenges, a fleur-de-lys at each corner, lined with blue watered silk (textblock detached at upper joint, scuffing to joints, rubbed at extremities). Brown morocco box by Rivière and Sons.
PROVENANCE:
1. The style of illumination and aspects of the text suggest that the book was made in Paris, apparently for the open market although some degree of personal choice can be inferred from the texts. Although the Calendar is Parisian, none of the red-letter feasts is local to Paris. The Litany suggests an affinity with the Franciscans, since St Francis heads a special section of monastic saints -- which includes St Louis of Toulouse and, perhaps, St Anthony of Padua -- and St Clara and, perhaps, St Elizabeth of Hungary are among the virgins and widows. Two prayers are offered for the user's bishop, while another prayer includes a petition for the bishop (ff.122, 179v, 120). The Obsecro te is in the masculine.
2. 18th- or 19th-century monogram stamp in lower margin of f.1
3. ?Chester Beatty: a pencil note below the bookplate inside the first endleaf reads 'Bt in New York through Quaritch. Catalogue {Beatty} - Duveen'
4. Beverly Chew (1850-1924): his bookplate inside first endleaf. Chew 'was one of the most respected collectors of his day, a status he earned with discerning bibliographic judgement and good taste' (Dictionary of American Book Collectors). As well as building up a renowned collection he was one of the most active members of the Grolier Club from the year of its foundation, and his expertise was invaluable in the production of some of the Grolier Club's finest catalogues. After his death his library was sold by auction at the Anderson Galleries, New York in December 1924. The present manuscript (lot 261, illustrated) achieved one of the highest prices: it was bought by Sumner Healey for 1900 dollars.
5. Hermann Marx of Fairmile Lea, Cobham, Surrey: his bookplate inside front cover. A portion of Hermann Marx's 'Very Choice and Valuable Library' was sold by order of his executors in 1948 (Sotheby's, 19 April) and the remaining printed books were offered in 1976 (Christie's, 23 June). This manuscript and lot 23, the most valuable and prized of his collection, were bequeathed to his son, and by him to the present owner.
CONTENT:
Calendar ff.1-12v; Gospel Extracts ff.13-18, John f.13, Luke f.14, Matthew f.15v, Mark f.17v; Obsecro te ff.18v-22; O intemerata ff.22-24v; Office of the Virgin ff.25-100v: matins f.25, lauds f.45, prime f.58v, terce f.64, sext f.69, none f.74, vespers f.79, compline
f.87v; Penitential Psalms f.101-113v; Litany and prayers, ff.114-124; Hours of the Cross ff.125-128v; Hours of the Holy Spirit ff.129-132; Office of the Dead ff.132v-180
ILLUMINATION:
This fine Book of Hours has twelve miniatures by the Dunois Master, who during the 1430s replaced the Master of the Duke of Bedford in running the workshop which dominated Parisian illumination. The Bedford Master illuminated several manuscripts for the Duke who was Regent for the English in France, whereas the Dunois Master takes his name from the Book of Hours he painted for Jean, comte de Dunois, bastard brother of the Duke of Orléans, companion in arms of Joan of Arc and one of the leaders in the expulsion of the English from northern France. The Dunois Hours (BL, Yates Thompson Ms 3) is very close in design to another Hours of the 1440s made for a great military figure, Prigent de Coëtivy, the Admiral of France (Dublin, Chester Beatty Library, W. Ms 82). Although the royal court never returned to Paris, great nobles like Dunois and Coëtivy, and officials like Guillaume Jouvenel, Etienne Chevalier and Simon de Varie, all three also patrons of Jean Fouquet, commissioned books from the Dunois Master (see N. Reynaud, 'Les Heures du chancelier Guillaume Jouvenel des Ursins et la peinture parisienne autour de 1440', Revue de l'art, 126, 1999, pp.23-35).
The miniatures in this book share many compositional features with the Jouvenel, Dunois and Coëtivy Hours that derive from patterns originated by the Bedford Master. Notable in this respect is the miniature of a burial in a cemetary with an angel and devil battling for the soul of the deceased (f.132v). The distinctive figure types and painterly detailing show that they were indeed created by the Dunois Master and not by one of the many illuminators with access to the Bedford-Dunois Workshop patterns. Like other Hours painted by the Master for the open market this book is attractively coloured with burnished gold enhancing the reds, pinks and blues set against the greens of landscapes, colours which are repeated in the delicately painted borders. The intricate baguettes and the freely curving hairline borders of this manuscript, however, suggest a date before the specially commissioned Hours of the 1440s. Among the Dunois Master's Books of Hours, the closest in overall design seems to be that in the Huntington Library, HM 1100 (see C.W. Dutschke, Guide to Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the Huntington Library, 1989, II, pp.406-411), where some of the miniature compositions are extremely close: at the Visitation, the Virgin and Elizabeth are repeated almost identically. Landscape forms are also similar with spiralling rocky hills and branching trees. Closely comparable borders and landscapes are found in a Guiron le Courtois (Paris, BnF, Ms fr.357: F. Avril and N. Reynaud, Les manuscrits à peintures en France 1440-1520, 1994, pp.36-38) with miniatures by the Dunois Master peopled by figures in the costume of the 1430s. The landscape features recur in a dismembered Lancelot du Lac (Sotheby's, 6 July 2000, lots 23-26), which would seem to have formed a pair with the Guiron le Courtois. Although only some miniatures survive from the Lancelot for comparison, their style and the costume depicted supports an attribution to the Dunois Master in the 1430s. The present Hours, therefore, can also be dated to the 1430s, when the Dunois Master was in the early stages of his career, developing the designs of the Bedford Master with the sure sense of colour and compositional focus which would bring him commissions from France's greatest bibliophiles.
The subjects of the miniatures are as follows:
f.25 Annunciation
f.45 Visitation
f.58v Nativity
f.64 Annunciation to the Shepherds
f.69 Adoration of the Magi
f.74 Presentation in the Temple
f.79 Flight into Egypt
f.87v Coronation of the Virgin
f.101 David in Prayer
f.125 Crucifixion
f.129 Pentecost
f.132v Burial in a cemetery, with an angel fighting the devil for the soul of the deceased
[Paris, 1430s]
192 x 135mm. 180 leaves: 112, 28, 34, 4-128, 134, 14-238, COMPLETE, signature marks below bottom lines of text on rectos, horizontal catchwords at lower edge of a few final versos, 15 lines written in black ink in a gothic bookhand between two verticals and 16 horizontals ruled in pink, justification: 98 x 65mm, rubrics in red, text capitals touched yellow, one-, two- and three-line initials of burnished gold on blue or dark pink grounds with white tracery and infills of the contrasting colour, similar line-endings, some in the form of flowers, three-line initials of blue or dark pink with white tracery against grounds of burnished gold with ivy-leaf sprays in orange and blue, and geometric patterns, every page with a panel border with sprays of orange and blue acanthus and hairline tendrils with gold trefoil terminals, flowerheads in blue, orange, red and green, TWELVE LARGE ARCH-TOPPED MINIATURES with text and miniature surrounded by three-sided baguette with ivy-leaf and floral decoration on burnished gold, with acanthus sprays sprouting from each corner, one with two baguettes of vases of flowers, all surrounded with full-page borders of acanthus, fruit and flower sprays and hairline tendrils with gold trefoil and foliate terminals, some borders incorporating a vase of flowers or clumps of flowers on small grassy hummocks (very slight rubbing of some borders, slight smudging and staining in some margins). 19th-century panelled straight-grained red morocco gilt, the borders patterned with lozenges, a fleur-de-lys at each corner, lined with blue watered silk (textblock detached at upper joint, scuffing to joints, rubbed at extremities). Brown morocco box by Rivière and Sons.
PROVENANCE:
1. The style of illumination and aspects of the text suggest that the book was made in Paris, apparently for the open market although some degree of personal choice can be inferred from the texts. Although the Calendar is Parisian, none of the red-letter feasts is local to Paris. The Litany suggests an affinity with the Franciscans, since St Francis heads a special section of monastic saints -- which includes St Louis of Toulouse and, perhaps, St Anthony of Padua -- and St Clara and, perhaps, St Elizabeth of Hungary are among the virgins and widows. Two prayers are offered for the user's bishop, while another prayer includes a petition for the bishop (ff.122, 179v, 120). The Obsecro te is in the masculine.
2. 18th- or 19th-century monogram stamp in lower margin of f.1
3. ?Chester Beatty: a pencil note below the bookplate inside the first endleaf reads 'Bt in New York through Quaritch. Catalogue {Beatty} - Duveen'
4. Beverly Chew (1850-1924): his bookplate inside first endleaf. Chew 'was one of the most respected collectors of his day, a status he earned with discerning bibliographic judgement and good taste' (Dictionary of American Book Collectors). As well as building up a renowned collection he was one of the most active members of the Grolier Club from the year of its foundation, and his expertise was invaluable in the production of some of the Grolier Club's finest catalogues. After his death his library was sold by auction at the Anderson Galleries, New York in December 1924. The present manuscript (lot 261, illustrated) achieved one of the highest prices: it was bought by Sumner Healey for 1900 dollars.
5. Hermann Marx of Fairmile Lea, Cobham, Surrey: his bookplate inside front cover. A portion of Hermann Marx's 'Very Choice and Valuable Library' was sold by order of his executors in 1948 (Sotheby's, 19 April) and the remaining printed books were offered in 1976 (Christie's, 23 June). This manuscript and lot 23, the most valuable and prized of his collection, were bequeathed to his son, and by him to the present owner.
CONTENT:
Calendar ff.1-12v; Gospel Extracts ff.13-18, John f.13, Luke f.14, Matthew f.15v, Mark f.17v; Obsecro te ff.18v-22; O intemerata ff.22-24v; Office of the Virgin ff.25-100v: matins f.25, lauds f.45, prime f.58v, terce f.64, sext f.69, none f.74, vespers f.79, compline
f.87v; Penitential Psalms f.101-113v; Litany and prayers, ff.114-124; Hours of the Cross ff.125-128v; Hours of the Holy Spirit ff.129-132; Office of the Dead ff.132v-180
ILLUMINATION:
This fine Book of Hours has twelve miniatures by the Dunois Master, who during the 1430s replaced the Master of the Duke of Bedford in running the workshop which dominated Parisian illumination. The Bedford Master illuminated several manuscripts for the Duke who was Regent for the English in France, whereas the Dunois Master takes his name from the Book of Hours he painted for Jean, comte de Dunois, bastard brother of the Duke of Orléans, companion in arms of Joan of Arc and one of the leaders in the expulsion of the English from northern France. The Dunois Hours (BL, Yates Thompson Ms 3) is very close in design to another Hours of the 1440s made for a great military figure, Prigent de Coëtivy, the Admiral of France (Dublin, Chester Beatty Library, W. Ms 82). Although the royal court never returned to Paris, great nobles like Dunois and Coëtivy, and officials like Guillaume Jouvenel, Etienne Chevalier and Simon de Varie, all three also patrons of Jean Fouquet, commissioned books from the Dunois Master (see N. Reynaud, 'Les Heures du chancelier Guillaume Jouvenel des Ursins et la peinture parisienne autour de 1440', Revue de l'art, 126, 1999, pp.23-35).
The miniatures in this book share many compositional features with the Jouvenel, Dunois and Coëtivy Hours that derive from patterns originated by the Bedford Master. Notable in this respect is the miniature of a burial in a cemetary with an angel and devil battling for the soul of the deceased (f.132v). The distinctive figure types and painterly detailing show that they were indeed created by the Dunois Master and not by one of the many illuminators with access to the Bedford-Dunois Workshop patterns. Like other Hours painted by the Master for the open market this book is attractively coloured with burnished gold enhancing the reds, pinks and blues set against the greens of landscapes, colours which are repeated in the delicately painted borders. The intricate baguettes and the freely curving hairline borders of this manuscript, however, suggest a date before the specially commissioned Hours of the 1440s. Among the Dunois Master's Books of Hours, the closest in overall design seems to be that in the Huntington Library, HM 1100 (see C.W. Dutschke, Guide to Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the Huntington Library, 1989, II, pp.406-411), where some of the miniature compositions are extremely close: at the Visitation, the Virgin and Elizabeth are repeated almost identically. Landscape forms are also similar with spiralling rocky hills and branching trees. Closely comparable borders and landscapes are found in a Guiron le Courtois (Paris, BnF, Ms fr.357: F. Avril and N. Reynaud, Les manuscrits à peintures en France 1440-1520, 1994, pp.36-38) with miniatures by the Dunois Master peopled by figures in the costume of the 1430s. The landscape features recur in a dismembered Lancelot du Lac (Sotheby's, 6 July 2000, lots 23-26), which would seem to have formed a pair with the Guiron le Courtois. Although only some miniatures survive from the Lancelot for comparison, their style and the costume depicted supports an attribution to the Dunois Master in the 1430s. The present Hours, therefore, can also be dated to the 1430s, when the Dunois Master was in the early stages of his career, developing the designs of the Bedford Master with the sure sense of colour and compositional focus which would bring him commissions from France's greatest bibliophiles.
The subjects of the miniatures are as follows:
f.25 Annunciation
f.45 Visitation
f.58v Nativity
f.64 Annunciation to the Shepherds
f.69 Adoration of the Magi
f.74 Presentation in the Temple
f.79 Flight into Egypt
f.87v Coronation of the Virgin
f.101 David in Prayer
f.125 Crucifixion
f.129 Pentecost
f.132v Burial in a cemetery, with an angel fighting the devil for the soul of the deceased
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