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BOOK OF HOURS, use of Utrecht, in Dutch, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM
[Haarlem, 1470-75].
163 x 115mm. ii + 220 + iv, modern foliation in pencil 1-220 followed here: 1-26, 39 (i an inserted singleton), 4-68, 69 (i an inserted singleton), 7-88, 99 (i an inserted singleton), 108, 11-148, 159 (i an inserted singleton), 16-198, 209 (i an inserted singleton), 21-228, 239 (iii an inserted singleton), 24-308, COMPLETE. 19 lines written in brown ink in a gothic bookhand between two verticals and 20 horizontals ruled in brown, justification: 93 x 60mm, rubrics in red, one-line initials alternately in red or blue, two-line initials in gold on grounds of red and blue with white tracery, three-line initials in a similar style with baguette extending into upper and lower margins decorated with foliate ink sprays, eight-line illuminated initials opening the major texts in blue on grounds of gold with foliate infills framed by three-sided foliate borders interspersed with hairline tendrils with gold leaves and grotesques, SIX FULL-PAGE MINIATURES in architectural frames surrounded by three-sided foliate borders (occasional light loss of pigment to miniatures, some ink corrosion affecting text in the Calendar, occasional offsetting of red rubrics onto facing pages). Early 20th-century dark olive morocco tooled in gold, spine in six compartments signed by Rivière, green morocco-backed box.
PROVENANCE:
The Calendar is for the use of Utrecht, with St. Jeroen in red indicative of the County of Holland. The style, border decoration and miniatures by the Masters of the Haarlem Bible support an origin in Haarlem, possibly for a patron in Delft since the Hours of the Holy Spirit, the Eternal Wisdom and the Holy Cross precede the Hours of the Virgin, an arrangement common in manuscripts produced in Delft -- Caroline Marie Boeing Poole (1885-1932), who likely had the manuscript rebound, purchased from the Pasadena rare book dealer Alice Millard -- Acquired from Bernard M. Rosenthal, 1977.
CONTENT:
Calendar of Utrecht ff.3-14v; Short Hours of the Holy Spirit ff.15v-39v; Hours of the Eternal Wisdom ff.40v-64v; Long Hours of the Cross ff.65v-96v; the 'Eight Verses of St Bernard' f.97r-v; Hours of the Virgin, in the compilation of Geert Grote ff.98v-138v; Seven Penitential Psalms and Litany ff.139v-157v; Office of the Dead, Prayers and Suffrages ff.158v-220v.
ILLUMINATION:
The distinctive style of the miniatures, characterized by a bright palette of blues, purples and pinks and by the expressive linearity of the figures, is that of the Masters of the Haarlem Bible, named after the three-volume Bible now at the Stadsbibliotheek, Haarlem, Mss 187 C 1-3 (The Golden Age of Dutch Manuscript Painting, 1990, pp.233-238; the present manuscript no. 77). The miniatures, with their resplendent burnished gold grounds, the borders and the illuminated initials are very close to those in a Book of Hours which was written in or after 1470 (The Hague, KB, BPH 134, see H.C. Wüstefeld and A.S. Korteweg, Sleutel tot Licht: Getijdenboeken in de Bibliotheca Hermetica Philosophica, 2009). The Last Judgement miniatures are almost identical, except that in the datable Hours Christ is flanked by lily and sword, while in the Vershbow Hours Christ is placed between two swords, the Masters' usual pattern. The two manuscripts are surely roughly contemporary. Their more intricate and generous border decoration in the takkenbossen, bundles of twigs, style typical of Haarlem, represents the later phase of the Masters' style, which can be seen evolving through two dated Books of Hours; one from 1448 in Cracow (Museum Czartoryskich, Ms. 3204); the second in The Hague, dated 1457 (Koninklijke Bibliotheek, 131 G 7).
While exemplifying the Masters' style, the Vershbow Hours has several distinctive features. The splendidly varied architectural frames are not found in the datable manuscript, which has only five miniatures. Such frames, possibly derived from the work of the Master of Catherine of Cleves, were not a standard part of the Masters' repertoire, occurring rarely elsewhere as in, for instance, only two of the ten miniatures in a Book of Hours in the Morgan Library, New York (MS. M.1031) and then in much simpler and less ambitious forms. The individualized luxury of the Vershbow hours is also evident in the choice of miniature subjects. Like most Dutch illuminators of the time, the Masters usually prefaced the Hours of Eternal Wisdom with a miniature of Christ as Salvator mundi; here the miniature shows the less common scene of Christ demonstrating that his wisdom is truly eternal by dumbfounding the scholars in the Temple while He was still a child, f.40v. They gathered patterns from a wide range of sources, from other illuminators, such as the Masters of the Delft Grisailles, and from prints and block books: the Biblia pauperum may be the source for the two swords at the Last Judgment. The interdependence of illuminations and prints can make it difficult to know where an idea originated: the dated and datable manuscripts by the Masters of the Haarlem Bible as well as being rewarding in themselves, also offer significant insights into the relationship between printed and handmade images.
The subjects of the full-page miniatures are as follows:
Pentecost f.15v; Christ among the Doctors f.40v; Crucifixion f.65v; Annunciation f.98v; Last Judgment f.139v; Raising of Lazarus f.158v
[Haarlem, 1470-75].
163 x 115mm. ii + 220 + iv, modern foliation in pencil 1-220 followed here: 1-26, 39 (i an inserted singleton), 4-68, 69 (i an inserted singleton), 7-88, 99 (i an inserted singleton), 108, 11-148, 159 (i an inserted singleton), 16-198, 209 (i an inserted singleton), 21-228, 239 (iii an inserted singleton), 24-308, COMPLETE. 19 lines written in brown ink in a gothic bookhand between two verticals and 20 horizontals ruled in brown, justification: 93 x 60mm, rubrics in red, one-line initials alternately in red or blue, two-line initials in gold on grounds of red and blue with white tracery, three-line initials in a similar style with baguette extending into upper and lower margins decorated with foliate ink sprays, eight-line illuminated initials opening the major texts in blue on grounds of gold with foliate infills framed by three-sided foliate borders interspersed with hairline tendrils with gold leaves and grotesques, SIX FULL-PAGE MINIATURES in architectural frames surrounded by three-sided foliate borders (occasional light loss of pigment to miniatures, some ink corrosion affecting text in the Calendar, occasional offsetting of red rubrics onto facing pages). Early 20th-century dark olive morocco tooled in gold, spine in six compartments signed by Rivière, green morocco-backed box.
PROVENANCE:
The Calendar is for the use of Utrecht, with St. Jeroen in red indicative of the County of Holland. The style, border decoration and miniatures by the Masters of the Haarlem Bible support an origin in Haarlem, possibly for a patron in Delft since the Hours of the Holy Spirit, the Eternal Wisdom and the Holy Cross precede the Hours of the Virgin, an arrangement common in manuscripts produced in Delft -- Caroline Marie Boeing Poole (1885-1932), who likely had the manuscript rebound, purchased from the Pasadena rare book dealer Alice Millard -- Acquired from Bernard M. Rosenthal, 1977.
CONTENT:
Calendar of Utrecht ff.3-14v; Short Hours of the Holy Spirit ff.15v-39v; Hours of the Eternal Wisdom ff.40v-64v; Long Hours of the Cross ff.65v-96v; the 'Eight Verses of St Bernard' f.97r-v; Hours of the Virgin, in the compilation of Geert Grote ff.98v-138v; Seven Penitential Psalms and Litany ff.139v-157v; Office of the Dead, Prayers and Suffrages ff.158v-220v.
ILLUMINATION:
The distinctive style of the miniatures, characterized by a bright palette of blues, purples and pinks and by the expressive linearity of the figures, is that of the Masters of the Haarlem Bible, named after the three-volume Bible now at the Stadsbibliotheek, Haarlem, Mss 187 C 1-3 (The Golden Age of Dutch Manuscript Painting, 1990, pp.233-238; the present manuscript no. 77). The miniatures, with their resplendent burnished gold grounds, the borders and the illuminated initials are very close to those in a Book of Hours which was written in or after 1470 (The Hague, KB, BPH 134, see H.C. Wüstefeld and A.S. Korteweg, Sleutel tot Licht: Getijdenboeken in de Bibliotheca Hermetica Philosophica, 2009). The Last Judgement miniatures are almost identical, except that in the datable Hours Christ is flanked by lily and sword, while in the Vershbow Hours Christ is placed between two swords, the Masters' usual pattern. The two manuscripts are surely roughly contemporary. Their more intricate and generous border decoration in the takkenbossen, bundles of twigs, style typical of Haarlem, represents the later phase of the Masters' style, which can be seen evolving through two dated Books of Hours; one from 1448 in Cracow (Museum Czartoryskich, Ms. 3204); the second in The Hague, dated 1457 (Koninklijke Bibliotheek, 131 G 7).
While exemplifying the Masters' style, the Vershbow Hours has several distinctive features. The splendidly varied architectural frames are not found in the datable manuscript, which has only five miniatures. Such frames, possibly derived from the work of the Master of Catherine of Cleves, were not a standard part of the Masters' repertoire, occurring rarely elsewhere as in, for instance, only two of the ten miniatures in a Book of Hours in the Morgan Library, New York (MS. M.1031) and then in much simpler and less ambitious forms. The individualized luxury of the Vershbow hours is also evident in the choice of miniature subjects. Like most Dutch illuminators of the time, the Masters usually prefaced the Hours of Eternal Wisdom with a miniature of Christ as Salvator mundi; here the miniature shows the less common scene of Christ demonstrating that his wisdom is truly eternal by dumbfounding the scholars in the Temple while He was still a child, f.40v. They gathered patterns from a wide range of sources, from other illuminators, such as the Masters of the Delft Grisailles, and from prints and block books: the Biblia pauperum may be the source for the two swords at the Last Judgment. The interdependence of illuminations and prints can make it difficult to know where an idea originated: the dated and datable manuscripts by the Masters of the Haarlem Bible as well as being rewarding in themselves, also offer significant insights into the relationship between printed and handmade images.
The subjects of the full-page miniatures are as follows:
Pentecost f.15v; Christ among the Doctors f.40v; Crucifixion f.65v; Annunciation f.98v; Last Judgment f.139v; Raising of Lazarus f.158v