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Book of Hours, Use of Rome Lewis E 212
Free Library of Philadelphia
Manuscript Overview
References
Binding Images

Abstract

This Book of Hours of the Use of Rome is written in a Rotunda script unusual for manuscripts produced in Northern France. It contains a calendar with arched border vignettes of the labors of the month and the zodiac. The Gospel Lessons, each of which is illustrated by a small miniature, are followed directly by the Obsecro te and O intemerata prayers, also accompanied by small miniatures. The Hours of the Virgin opens with a miniature of the Annunciation with four border vignettes, and each subsequent hour is illustrated with a larre miniature surrounded by an inhabited border, though the miniature or Prime is missing. The Hours of the Cross (miniature lacking) and Hours of the Holy Spirit follow. The Penitential Psalms, Litany, and Prayers are followed by the Office of the Dead. The penultimate section consists of suffrages to Saints Michael, John the Baptist, Sebastian, Christopher, Anthony, Nicholas, Catherine, Barbara, and Margaret. The final section, its decoration unfinished, consists of a Mass of the Virgin written in a distinct Rotunda script with Northern elements. The twenty-four calendar vignettes and all of the small miniatures except for one are by an artist perhaps from Tours, while the eleven large miniatures and the small miniature of the Virgin and Child on fol. 22r are by a more conventional artist likely trained in Paris. The book was later owned by the superintendent of the French navy, Jean-Louis Girardin de Vauvré (1642-1724), according to the heraldry on the binding.

Physical Description

Support: Parchment; Extent: i+221+i; 160 x 110 mm bound to 172 x 116 mm; Foliation: Modern foliation in pencil, upper right recto; switches to lower right recto at fol. 196; Collation: 1 (14), 2-7 (8), 8 (8, -6 -7), 9-13 (8), 14 (8, +1 +2 +3 +4 -5 -6 -7 -8), 15 (8, -1), 16-27 (8), 28 (4, +1 +2), 29 (2); Catchwords: Horizontal catchwords, partially erased, in lower margin at fols.: 22v, 38v, 46v, 54v, 61bisv, 67v, 75v, 83v, 91v, 99v, 107v, 118v, 126v, 134v, 142v, 158v, 166v, 174v, 182v, 190v, 198v, 206v

Layout

One column of fifteen lines, ruled in red ink; written area: 84 x 50 mm

Script

Gothic--rotunda

Decoration

Twenty-six border vignettes: keeping warm (fol. 2r), Aquarius (fol. 2v), feasting (fol. 3r), Pisces (fol. 3v), pruning (fol. 4r), Aries (fol. 4v), picking flowers (fol. 5r), Taurus (fol. 5v), Couple on horseback (fol. 6r), Gemini (fol. 6v), mowing (fol. 7r), Cancer (fol. 7v), reaping (fol. 8r), Leo (fol. 8v), threshing (fol. 9r), Virgo (fol. 9v), treading grapes (fol. 10r), Libra (fol. 10v), sowing (fol. 11r), Scorpio (fol. 11v), thrashing acorns (fol. 12r), Sagittarius (fol. 12v), slaughtering pigs (fol. 13r), Capricorn (fol. 13v); eleven full-page miniatures with full borders: Martyrdom of Saint John the Evangelist (fol. 15r), Annunciation (fol. 31r), Visitation (fol. 54r), Annunciation to the Shepherds (fol. 72r), Adoration of the Magi (fol. 78r), Presentation in the Temple (fol. 83r), Flight into Egypt (fol. 88r), Coronation of the Virgin (fol. 98r), Pentecost (fol. 120r), David in Prayer (fol. 127r), Three Living and Three Dead (fol. 151r); fourteen small miniatures: Luke writing (fol. 17r), Matthew writing (fol. 19r), Mark writing (fol. 21r), Virgin and Child enthroned (fol. 22r), Lamentation (fol. 26r), Saint Michael (fol. 204r), Saint John the Baptist (fol. 205r), Saint Sebastian (fol. 205v), Saint Christopher (fol. 207r), Saint Anthony (fol. 209r), Saint Nicholas (fol. 210r), Saint Catherine (fol. 210v), Saint Barbara (fol. 211v), Saint Margaret (fol. 212r); red, blue, and gold decorated initials and line fillers throughout; inhabited borders throughout; two leaves missing between fols. 66 and 67, one of which contained a miniature for of Prime of the Hours of the Virgin; further leaves missing at the end of Compline for the Hours of the Virgin (fol. 111v) and the miniature for the Hours of the Cross also lacking (before fol. 112r); the decoration on fols. 213v-220r is unfinished; spaces were left for a small miniature and decorated initials; miniatures are by two distinct artists: a more skilled and possibly younger artist, likely trained in Tours, was responsible for the border vignettes and thirteen small miniatures; another artist, likely trained in Paris, produced the eleven large miniatures and their borders, as well as the small miniature for the Obsecro te (fol. 22r)

For a full list of Decorations in this manuscript please see the Content and Decorations section by clicking on the [i] button in the top left corner of the image viewer above.

Notes

Printed early-twentieth-century catalogue entry pasted onto inside front cover; page of notes in French in a nineteenth-century hand tipped onto recto of front flyleaf; written in pencil on this sheet, "Gift of Lydia T. Morris"; stamped on recto of front flyleaf, "Gift of Miss Lydia T. Morris, February 1926"; traces of notes written in ink on fol. 1r, now to faint to read, possibly in a sixteenth- or seventeenth-century hand; written in pencil on the inside back cover, "Gift of Lydia T. Morris" and the number "244"

These are pages that we pulled aside that disrupted the flow of the manuscript reader. These may be bindings, inserts, bookmarks, and various other oddities.

Spine

Fore edge

Top edge

Bottom edge

Keywords
15th century
French
France
Book of Hours
Illustration
Miniature
Illumination
Christian
Devotion
Private devotional text
Free Library of Philadelphia

Place of Origin

Paris(?) or Tours(?), France

Date

Circa 1475

Binding

Eighteenth-century French calf, circa 1700, gilt stamped with the arms of Jean-Louis Girardin de Vauvré (a shield with three bird heads), on front and back cover; traces of gilding on edges

Language

Latin

Provenance

In Spain, ca. 1600; Jean-Louis Girardin de Vauvré (1642-1724); sale by Sotheby (London, 12 December 1907, n. 170); Maggs Cat. 244 (1909), n. 296; given to the Free Library by Lydia T. Morris in 1926

return to search Book of Hours, Use of Rome Lewis E 212

Place of Origin

Paris(?) or Tours(?), France

Date

Circa 1475

Language

Latin

Provenance

In Spain, ca. 1600; Jean-Louis Girardin de Vauvré

Manuscript Overview

Abstract

This Book of Hours of the Use of Rome is written in a Rotunda script unusual for manuscripts produced in Northern France. It contains a calendar with arched border vignettes of the labors of the month and the zodiac. The Gospel Lessons, each of which is illustrated by a small miniature, are followed directly by the Obsecro te and O intemerata prayers, also accompanied by small miniatures. The Hours of the Virgin opens with a miniature of the Annunciation with four border vignettes, and each subsequent hour is illustrated with a larre miniature surrounded by an inhabited border, though the miniature or Prime is missing. The Hours of the Cross (miniature lacking) and Hours of the Holy Spirit follow. The Penitential Psalms, Litany, and Prayers are followed by the Office of the Dead. The penultimate section consists of suffrages to Saints Michael, John the Baptist, Sebastian, Christopher, Anthony, Nicholas, Catherine, Barbara, and Margaret. The final section, its decoration unfinished, consists of a Mass of the Virgin written in a distinct Rotunda script with Northern elements. The twenty-four calendar vignettes and all of the small miniatures except for one are by an artist perhaps from Tours, while the eleven large miniatures and the small miniature of the Virgin and Child on fol. 22r are by a more conventional artist likely trained in Paris. The book was later owned by the superintendent of the French navy, Jean-Louis Girardin de Vauvré (1642-1724), according to the heraldry on the binding.

Notes

Printed early-twentieth-century catalogue entry pasted onto inside front cover; page of notes in French in a nineteenth-century hand tipped onto recto of front flyleaf; written in pencil on this sheet, "Gift of Lydia T. Morris"; stamped on recto of front flyleaf, "Gift of Miss Lydia T. Morris, February 1926"; traces of notes written in ink on fol. 1r, now to faint to read, possibly in a sixteenth- or seventeenth-century hand; written in pencil on the inside back cover, "Gift of Lydia T. Morris" and the number "244"

Script note

Gothic--rotunda

Decoration Note

Twenty-six border vignettes: keeping warm (fol. 2r), Aquarius (fol. 2v), feasting (fol. 3r), Pisces (fol. 3v), pruning (fol. 4r), Aries (fol. 4v), picking flowers (fol. 5r), Taurus (fol. 5v), Couple on horseback (fol. 6r), Gemini (fol. 6v), mowing (fol. 7r), Cancer (fol. 7v), reaping (fol. 8r), Leo (fol. 8v), threshing (fol. 9r), Virgo (fol. 9v), treading grapes (fol. 10r), Libra (fol. 10v), sowing (fol. 11r), Scorpio (fol. 11v), thrashing acorns (fol. 12r), Sagittarius (fol. 12v), slaughtering pigs (fol. 13r), Capricorn (fol. 13v); eleven full-page miniatures with full borders: Martyrdom of Saint John the Evangelist (fol. 15r), Annunciation (fol. 31r), Visitation (fol. 54r), Annunciation to the Shepherds (fol. 72r), Adoration of the Magi (fol. 78r), Presentation in the Temple (fol. 83r), Flight into Egypt (fol. 88r), Coronation of the Virgin (fol. 98r), Pentecost (fol. 120r), David in Prayer (fol. 127r), Three Living and Three Dead (fol. 151r); fourteen small miniatures: Luke writing (fol. 17r), Matthew writing (fol. 19r), Mark writing (fol. 21r), Virgin and Child enthroned (fol. 22r), Lamentation (fol. 26r), Saint Michael (fol. 204r), Saint John the Baptist (fol. 205r), Saint Sebastian (fol. 205v), Saint Christopher (fol. 207r), Saint Anthony (fol. 209r), Saint Nicholas (fol. 210r), Saint Catherine (fol. 210v), Saint Barbara (fol. 211v), Saint Margaret (fol. 212r); red, blue, and gold decorated initials and line fillers throughout; inhabited borders throughout; two leaves missing between fols. 66 and 67, one of which contained a miniature for of Prime of the Hours of the Virgin; further leaves missing at the end of Compline for the Hours of the Virgin (fol. 111v) and the miniature for the Hours of the Cross also lacking (before fol. 112r); the decoration on fols. 213v-220r is unfinished; spaces were left for a small miniature and decorated initials; miniatures are by two distinct artists: a more skilled and possibly younger artist, likely trained in Tours, was responsible for the border vignettes and thirteen small miniatures; another artist, likely trained in Paris, produced the eleven large miniatures and their borders, as well as the small miniature for the Obsecro te (fol. 22r)

For a full list of Decorations in this manuscript please see the Content and Decorations section by clicking on the [i] button in the top left corner of the image viewer above.

References
Binding Images

These are pages that we pulled aside that disrupted the flow of the manuscript reader. These may be bindings, inserts, bookmarks, and various other oddities.

Spine

Fore edge

Top edge

Bottom edge

Keywords
15th century
French
France
Book of Hours
Illustration
Miniature
Christian
Devotion
Private devotional text
Free Library of Philadelphia
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