![BOOK OF HOURS, use of Utrecht, in Dutch, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM, [?Leiden, last quarter 15th century].](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2014/CKS/2014_CKS_01568_0010_002(book_of_hours_use_of_utrecht_in_dutch_illuminated_manuscript_on_vellum115912).jpg?w=1)
![BOOK OF HOURS, use of Utrecht, in Dutch, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM, [?Leiden, last quarter 15th century].](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2014/CKS/2014_CKS_01568_0010_001(book_of_hours_use_of_utrecht_in_dutch_illuminated_manuscript_on_vellum115912).jpg?w=1)
Details
BOOK OF HOURS, use of Utrecht, in Dutch, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM, [Leiden, last quarter 15th century]
165 x 115 mm. ii + 98 leaves, COMPLETE: 1-26, 3-58, 6-76, 8-128, 136, 144, 20 lines written in black ink in a gothic book hand between two verticals and 21 horizontals ruled in grey, ruled space: 92 x 67 mm, rubrics in red, text capitals touched red, one- and two-line initials in red or blue, three-line initials in blue flourished in red, FIVE LARGE INITIALS ON GOLD GROUNDS WITH BORDERS TO THREE SIDES of acanthus and foliate forms with flowers and some birds (diagonal stained line through margins of ff.54v-55, small stains inner upper margin ff.65-77). 17th-century red morocco gilt (lightly scuffed).
PROVENANCE:
(1) St Jeroen appears in red in the calendar on 17 August, indicating an origin in the County of Holland. The style of illumination shows that the manuscript was decorated in Leiden, although the limited penwork decoration is not characteristic of Leiden and the book could have been written elsewhere and brought to Leiden for completion. (2) An early hand has annotated the margins: 'sinte pouels kerk' f.37v, 'sint Jans kerk' f.65, 'sinte pieters kerk' f.65v, 'sint louriskerk' f.68, 'onser lieve vrouwen kerk sinte sebastiaen kerk' f.71, 'heylych cruys kerk' f.93v. These are references to the seven principal pilgrimage churches of Rome: S. Paolo fuori le mura, S. Giovanni in Laterano, S. Pietro, S. Lorenzo fuori le mura, S. Maria Maggiore, S. Sebastiano and S. Croce in Gerusalemme, placed besides specific psalms, except on f.65. The owner could have been evoking the memories of an actual pilgrimage or engaging in a purely mental journey, which could earn the same indulgences and spiritual benefits. Using the great Roman churches to structure devotion was an established practice in the Netherlands, as seen in series of pictures of their patrons and in illustrated texts like the guide to the churches of Rome owned from the 1470s by Margaret of York, Duchess of Burgundy (Yale University, Beinecke Library ms 639; see H. Defoer, ‘Images as aids for earning the Indulgences of Rome’, Tributes in Honor of James H. Marrow, J. Hamburger and A. Korteweg eds, 2006, pp.163-171). (3) CORSTIAEN PIETERSZ VAN DER BEECK: his name on first flyleaf below a record, slightly trimmed, of the gift in 1579 from ‘my aunts Margen Corsses doc[hter] van der Beeck and Janne [...] Corsses dochter van der Beeck’ ‘because I was named for their father’. Corsse was an accepted abbreviation of Corstiaen. This is apparently Corstiaen Pietersz van der Beeck (c.1476-1553), a prominent citizen of The Hague, who was repeatedly an alderman between 1526 and 1549, Weesmeester (orphans’ trustee) repeatedly between 1536 and 1553 and office holder in the St George’s Guild and the Sacraments Guild. He married Grietken Maertijnsdr (d.1563) and their children were Jacob, Arent, Jannetgen (d. by 1584), Maritgen and Martina (d.1562) who married Albrecht Thonisz Kyevit or Kyevidt. The recipient was presumably their son CORSTIAEN ALBRECHTSZ KYEVIT, who inherited his share of his mother’s estate as a minor on her death in 1562, and who may have been particularly concerned to maintain connections with his mother’s family. The only other nephew of Jannetgen and Maritgen known is Jan, Arent’s son. Corstiaen Kyevit died in 1638 in Voorburg in South Holland (see esp. F. van Kan, Haagse Elite tot 1572, https://www.gemeentearchief.denhaag.nl/websitehga/haagseelite/hal-b.htm). (4) J.K. HODGSON, acquired 9 September 1875: 9/9/75 in a 19th-century hand on first flyleaf.(5)TALBOT OF GONVILE’S HALL, WYMONDHAM, Norfolk: late 19th-century armorial bookplate with some optimistic quarterings inside upper cover with date of 1584 of the grant of arms at 1; Gonvile’s Hall seems a deliberate archaism for Gonville Hall, which the family had left by the early 18th century. Their desire for an illustrious past was increased when the author and artist Frances, daughter of Thomas Talbot, surgeon of Wymondham (d.1795) and sister of the Rev Thomas Talbot (1778-1832), married the future Earl of Morley in 1809. These are not the arms used by the Rev. Thomas as they appear on his tomb; the plate was commissioned either by one of his sons, Rear Admiral John Talbot (1805-1881) or more probably Clere Talbot (1808-1901), Chief Clerk at the War Office, or by one of his grandsons, most likely the Admiral’s son, the Rev. Reginald Talbot (1862-1934), who lectured and wrote on church history and ended his career as Dean of Rochester. (5) ROBERT W. MARTIN of New Rochelle, Westchester NY: his sale, Parke Bernet, 12 November 1963, lot 364; previously American Art Association-Anderson Galleries, 24 April 1935, lot 224.
CONTENT:
Calendar ff.1-12; blank f.13; Hours of the Cross ff.14-19; prayer to be said before the arma Christi ff.19-20; Office of the Virgin, use of Utrecht, ff.21-49v: matins f.21, lauds f.27, prime f.33v, terce f.36, sext f.38, none f.40, vespers f.42v, compline f.46v; Hours of Eternal Wisdom ff.50-64v: lauds f.55v, prime f.57v, terce f.58v, sext f.60, none f.61, vespers f.62, compline f.63v; Penitential Psalms and Litany ff.65-77; Office of the Dead with three lessons, use of Utrecht, ff.78-94v; prayers on receiving the sacrament and to the Virgin, one’s guardian angel, the Cross, St Peter and St Barbara ff.95-97v; ruled blank f.98.
ILLUMINATION:
The borders are in styles localised to Leiden in the county of Holland. Those on ff.31, 50, 65 and 80 with their attractive flowers and birds in subtly muted colours are typical of the ‘flower rich’ variant of the Leiden blue acanthus style. They are particularly close to the borders in a Book of Hours attributed to Leiden in the last quarter of the 15th century, The Hague, KB 133 E 24, and could even be by the same hand. The first border, f.13, has similar motifs but set against a background of dense penwork circles, whereas only faint indications of sparser penwork decoration appear in the other borders. The initials with their bold leaf forms delineated in red on shell gold are also found in Leiden illumination, as in a slightly later Book of Hours, KB 132 G 38. Leiden books tended to a restricted use of illumination and there is no evidence from offsetting that miniatures once faced these attractive borders. For Leiden and these mss see A. Korteweg, Kriezels, Aubergines en Takkenbossen, 1992, pp.72-73; 82-83; H. Defoer et al., The Golden Age of Dutch Manuscript Illumination, 1990, pp.286-288.
165 x 115 mm. ii + 98 leaves, COMPLETE: 1-26, 3-58, 6-76, 8-128, 136, 144, 20 lines written in black ink in a gothic book hand between two verticals and 21 horizontals ruled in grey, ruled space: 92 x 67 mm, rubrics in red, text capitals touched red, one- and two-line initials in red or blue, three-line initials in blue flourished in red, FIVE LARGE INITIALS ON GOLD GROUNDS WITH BORDERS TO THREE SIDES of acanthus and foliate forms with flowers and some birds (diagonal stained line through margins of ff.54v-55, small stains inner upper margin ff.65-77). 17th-century red morocco gilt (lightly scuffed).
PROVENANCE:
(1) St Jeroen appears in red in the calendar on 17 August, indicating an origin in the County of Holland. The style of illumination shows that the manuscript was decorated in Leiden, although the limited penwork decoration is not characteristic of Leiden and the book could have been written elsewhere and brought to Leiden for completion. (2) An early hand has annotated the margins: 'sinte pouels kerk' f.37v, 'sint Jans kerk' f.65, 'sinte pieters kerk' f.65v, 'sint louriskerk' f.68, 'onser lieve vrouwen kerk sinte sebastiaen kerk' f.71, 'heylych cruys kerk' f.93v. These are references to the seven principal pilgrimage churches of Rome: S. Paolo fuori le mura, S. Giovanni in Laterano, S. Pietro, S. Lorenzo fuori le mura, S. Maria Maggiore, S. Sebastiano and S. Croce in Gerusalemme, placed besides specific psalms, except on f.65. The owner could have been evoking the memories of an actual pilgrimage or engaging in a purely mental journey, which could earn the same indulgences and spiritual benefits. Using the great Roman churches to structure devotion was an established practice in the Netherlands, as seen in series of pictures of their patrons and in illustrated texts like the guide to the churches of Rome owned from the 1470s by Margaret of York, Duchess of Burgundy (Yale University, Beinecke Library ms 639; see H. Defoer, ‘Images as aids for earning the Indulgences of Rome’, Tributes in Honor of James H. Marrow, J. Hamburger and A. Korteweg eds, 2006, pp.163-171). (3) CORSTIAEN PIETERSZ VAN DER BEECK: his name on first flyleaf below a record, slightly trimmed, of the gift in 1579 from ‘my aunts Margen Corsses doc[hter] van der Beeck and Janne [...] Corsses dochter van der Beeck’ ‘because I was named for their father’. Corsse was an accepted abbreviation of Corstiaen. This is apparently Corstiaen Pietersz van der Beeck (c.1476-1553), a prominent citizen of The Hague, who was repeatedly an alderman between 1526 and 1549, Weesmeester (orphans’ trustee) repeatedly between 1536 and 1553 and office holder in the St George’s Guild and the Sacraments Guild. He married Grietken Maertijnsdr (d.1563) and their children were Jacob, Arent, Jannetgen (d. by 1584), Maritgen and Martina (d.1562) who married Albrecht Thonisz Kyevit or Kyevidt. The recipient was presumably their son CORSTIAEN ALBRECHTSZ KYEVIT, who inherited his share of his mother’s estate as a minor on her death in 1562, and who may have been particularly concerned to maintain connections with his mother’s family. The only other nephew of Jannetgen and Maritgen known is Jan, Arent’s son. Corstiaen Kyevit died in 1638 in Voorburg in South Holland (see esp. F. van Kan, Haagse Elite tot 1572, https://www.gemeentearchief.denhaag.nl/websitehga/haagseelite/hal-b.htm). (4) J.K. HODGSON, acquired 9 September 1875: 9/9/75 in a 19th-century hand on first flyleaf.(5)TALBOT OF GONVILE’S HALL, WYMONDHAM, Norfolk: late 19th-century armorial bookplate with some optimistic quarterings inside upper cover with date of 1584 of the grant of arms at 1; Gonvile’s Hall seems a deliberate archaism for Gonville Hall, which the family had left by the early 18th century. Their desire for an illustrious past was increased when the author and artist Frances, daughter of Thomas Talbot, surgeon of Wymondham (d.1795) and sister of the Rev Thomas Talbot (1778-1832), married the future Earl of Morley in 1809. These are not the arms used by the Rev. Thomas as they appear on his tomb; the plate was commissioned either by one of his sons, Rear Admiral John Talbot (1805-1881) or more probably Clere Talbot (1808-1901), Chief Clerk at the War Office, or by one of his grandsons, most likely the Admiral’s son, the Rev. Reginald Talbot (1862-1934), who lectured and wrote on church history and ended his career as Dean of Rochester. (5) ROBERT W. MARTIN of New Rochelle, Westchester NY: his sale, Parke Bernet, 12 November 1963, lot 364; previously American Art Association-Anderson Galleries, 24 April 1935, lot 224.
CONTENT:
Calendar ff.1-12; blank f.13; Hours of the Cross ff.14-19; prayer to be said before the arma Christi ff.19-20; Office of the Virgin, use of Utrecht, ff.21-49v: matins f.21, lauds f.27, prime f.33v, terce f.36, sext f.38, none f.40, vespers f.42v, compline f.46v; Hours of Eternal Wisdom ff.50-64v: lauds f.55v, prime f.57v, terce f.58v, sext f.60, none f.61, vespers f.62, compline f.63v; Penitential Psalms and Litany ff.65-77; Office of the Dead with three lessons, use of Utrecht, ff.78-94v; prayers on receiving the sacrament and to the Virgin, one’s guardian angel, the Cross, St Peter and St Barbara ff.95-97v; ruled blank f.98.
ILLUMINATION:
The borders are in styles localised to Leiden in the county of Holland. Those on ff.31, 50, 65 and 80 with their attractive flowers and birds in subtly muted colours are typical of the ‘flower rich’ variant of the Leiden blue acanthus style. They are particularly close to the borders in a Book of Hours attributed to Leiden in the last quarter of the 15th century, The Hague, KB 133 E 24, and could even be by the same hand. The first border, f.13, has similar motifs but set against a background of dense penwork circles, whereas only faint indications of sparser penwork decoration appear in the other borders. The initials with their bold leaf forms delineated in red on shell gold are also found in Leiden illumination, as in a slightly later Book of Hours, KB 132 G 38. Leiden books tended to a restricted use of illumination and there is no evidence from offsetting that miniatures once faced these attractive borders. For Leiden and these mss see A. Korteweg, Kriezels, Aubergines en Takkenbossen, 1992, pp.72-73; 82-83; H. Defoer et al., The Golden Age of Dutch Manuscript Illumination, 1990, pp.286-288.
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