![THE DE LA GRANGE-LANGUET HOURS, use of Langres, in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Langres, third quarter 15th century]](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2018/CKS/2018_CKS_16019_0020_001(the_de_la_grange-languet_hours_use_of_langres_in_latin_and_french_illu115337).jpg?w=1)
![THE DE LA GRANGE-LANGUET HOURS, use of Langres, in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Langres, third quarter 15th century]](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2018/CKS/2018_CKS_16019_0020_003(the_de_la_grange-languet_hours_use_of_langres_in_latin_and_french_illu115337).jpg?w=1)
![THE DE LA GRANGE-LANGUET HOURS, use of Langres, in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Langres, third quarter 15th century]](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2018/CKS/2018_CKS_16019_0020_004(the_de_la_grange-languet_hours_use_of_langres_in_latin_and_french_illu115337).jpg?w=1)
![THE DE LA GRANGE-LANGUET HOURS, use of Langres, in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Langres, third quarter 15th century]](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2018/CKS/2018_CKS_16019_0020_000(the_de_la_grange-languet_hours_use_of_langres_in_latin_and_french_illu115337).jpg?w=1)
Details
THE DE LA GRANGE-LANGUET HOURS, use of Langres, in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Langres, third quarter 15th century]
A charming Book of Hours with wide uncropped margins and of rare liturgical use, owned by Philippe Languet, 'Controlleur de la Grande Chancellerie de Bourgogne', and in Burgundy since at least the 16th century.
212 x 140mm. i (paper) + 145 leaves, complete. 14 lines of text, ruled space: 98 x 64mm, catchwords survive, rubrics in red, illuminated initials throughout, most pages with partial borders, three small and six large miniatures within full borders (opening three leaves heavily stained, occasional marginal spotting, small losses of pigment to miniature depicting the Burial scene). 18th-century white vellum gilt over wooden boards (a little browned).
Provenance: (1) The manuscript was likely produced in Langres, as suggested by the liturgical use of the Office of the Virgin and the presence of Langres saints in the calendar (especially St Didier, Bishop of Langres in gold on 23 May and his translation on 19 January). (2) Impressions of pilgrims' badges and prayers in early 16th-century hands on ff.1-2. (3) Births, marriages and deaths of the de la Grange family, beginning with Marie Quarré (1594-1669) and Jacques de la Grange (d.1551), and including the birth of their daughter Jeanne de la Grange in 1521: 17th-century inscriptions on ff.2-2v. (4) Philippe Languet (1608-1674), ‘Conseiller Secrétaire du Roy, Controleur de la Grande Chancellerie de Bourgogne’ and also Seigneur de la Roche and Notre Dame d'His: his autograph account on ff.17-17v recording his birth in Vitteaux, second marriage to Jeanne de la Grange in 1652, and the births, baptisms and deaths of his children. (5) The manuscript has remained in Burgundy to the present day.
Content: Prayers and de la Grange family records in 16th-17th century hands ff.1-2v; Gospel extract ff.3-4v; Calendar ff.5-16v; Philippe Languet’s family births and deaths, in a 17th-century hand, f.17-17v; Hours of the Virgin, use of Langres, ff.18-67v; Hours of the Cross ff.68-72; Hours of the Holy Spirit ff.72v-76v; Psalter of St Jerome ff.77-101; Short Office of the Dead ff.101v-115v; Seven Penitential Psalms and Litany ff.116-134v; Obsecro te (with ‘famulo tuo’ corrected to ‘famule tue’) and O intemerata ff.135-141; ‘Deus qui in cruce’ f.141-141v; verses of St Bernard ff.141v-143; added prayers 143-145v.
Illumination: The colourful, charming miniatures in the present manuscript are painted in a naive and provincial style: this is presumably the work of a local Burgundian illuminator, perhaps from Langres itself. There are echoes of the Parisian school of illumination, while the landscapes and the figures draw us east and contain elements of southern Netherlandish art. The treatment of the robes and the modelling of the faces, with their pale complexions and heavy-lidded eyes, are very close in style to a Book of Hours of unidentified use sold at Christie’s, 15 July 2015, lot 28, especially in the representation of the Virgin, with her high brow and long, straight nose.
The subjects of the large miniatures are: The Annunciation f.18; Crucifixion f.68; Pentecost f.72v; St Jerome f.77; Burial service f.101v; David in Prayer f.116.
The small initials are on ff. 3, 135 and 138v.
A charming Book of Hours with wide uncropped margins and of rare liturgical use, owned by Philippe Languet, 'Controlleur de la Grande Chancellerie de Bourgogne', and in Burgundy since at least the 16th century.
212 x 140mm. i (paper) + 145 leaves, complete. 14 lines of text, ruled space: 98 x 64mm, catchwords survive, rubrics in red, illuminated initials throughout, most pages with partial borders, three small and six large miniatures within full borders (opening three leaves heavily stained, occasional marginal spotting, small losses of pigment to miniature depicting the Burial scene). 18th-century white vellum gilt over wooden boards (a little browned).
Provenance: (1) The manuscript was likely produced in Langres, as suggested by the liturgical use of the Office of the Virgin and the presence of Langres saints in the calendar (especially St Didier, Bishop of Langres in gold on 23 May and his translation on 19 January). (2) Impressions of pilgrims' badges and prayers in early 16th-century hands on ff.1-2. (3) Births, marriages and deaths of the de la Grange family, beginning with Marie Quarré (1594-1669) and Jacques de la Grange (d.1551), and including the birth of their daughter Jeanne de la Grange in 1521: 17th-century inscriptions on ff.2-2v. (4) Philippe Languet (1608-1674), ‘Conseiller Secrétaire du Roy, Controleur de la Grande Chancellerie de Bourgogne’ and also Seigneur de la Roche and Notre Dame d'His: his autograph account on ff.17-17v recording his birth in Vitteaux, second marriage to Jeanne de la Grange in 1652, and the births, baptisms and deaths of his children. (5) The manuscript has remained in Burgundy to the present day.
Content: Prayers and de la Grange family records in 16th-17th century hands ff.1-2v; Gospel extract ff.3-4v; Calendar ff.5-16v; Philippe Languet’s family births and deaths, in a 17th-century hand, f.17-17v; Hours of the Virgin, use of Langres, ff.18-67v; Hours of the Cross ff.68-72; Hours of the Holy Spirit ff.72v-76v; Psalter of St Jerome ff.77-101; Short Office of the Dead ff.101v-115v; Seven Penitential Psalms and Litany ff.116-134v; Obsecro te (with ‘famulo tuo’ corrected to ‘famule tue’) and O intemerata ff.135-141; ‘Deus qui in cruce’ f.141-141v; verses of St Bernard ff.141v-143; added prayers 143-145v.
Illumination: The colourful, charming miniatures in the present manuscript are painted in a naive and provincial style: this is presumably the work of a local Burgundian illuminator, perhaps from Langres itself. There are echoes of the Parisian school of illumination, while the landscapes and the figures draw us east and contain elements of southern Netherlandish art. The treatment of the robes and the modelling of the faces, with their pale complexions and heavy-lidded eyes, are very close in style to a Book of Hours of unidentified use sold at Christie’s, 15 July 2015, lot 28, especially in the representation of the Virgin, with her high brow and long, straight nose.
The subjects of the large miniatures are: The Annunciation f.18; Crucifixion f.68; Pentecost f.72v; St Jerome f.77; Burial service f.101v; David in Prayer f.116.
The small initials are on ff. 3, 135 and 138v.
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