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an old book with writing on it and a picture of a cross in the middlean old book with a picture of a woman holding a babyan old book with a painting of a woman holding a child
ALDE

28 - HOURS OF PARIS. [Paris, c. 1415].
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Estimate €10,000 - €12,000
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Description
HOURS OF PARIS. [Paris, c. 1415]. Manuscript on parchment, comprising I + 170 + I folios (145 x 100 mm), calendar layout: 75 x 50 mm, in 17 long lines; text area: 76 x 52 mm, in 12 long lines, in Textura script; gaps between ff. 32v and 33 (the Annunciation) and between ff. 122–123 (the Crucifixion and Pentecost); the end is incomplete. Brown morocco leather binding on wooden boards, Gothic-style decoration cold-stamped on the covers, spine with three raised bands decorated with cold-stamped fillets, supralibris ‘L[éon] Curmer’, metal clasps and fastenings (straps severed), cold-stamped roulette on the edges, gilt edges (pastiche binding attributable to Léon Gruel). Text ff. 1–12v: Daily calendar derived from Perdrizet (1933) ff. 13–20: Gospel pericopes ff. 20–22: The Passion according to St John ff. 22–32v: ‘Obsecro te’ and ‘O intemerata’ ff. 33–95v: Hours of the Virgin according to the Roman rite: Matins, Lauds (f. 46), Prime, Terce (f. 66), Sext (f. 71), None (f. 77), Vespers (f. 82), Compline (f. 89) ff. 96–111v: the Penitential Psalms, followed by the litanies ff. 112–122v: The Fifteen Joys of the Virgin, the Seven Petitions to Our Lord ff. 123–123v: Fragment from the Hours of the Cross and the Holy Spirit ff. 124–135: Prayers to Our Lady: the Conception, the Seven Joys, the Salutation, the Commemoration, the Love of the Holy Spirit, the Assumption. ff. 135–143v: Prayers to St Denis, St Sebastian, St Nicholas, St Anthony, St Genevieve, St Andrew, all the saints, and the Five Saints. ff. 143v–158: ‘The Life of Theophilus’, prayers to the Virgin. ff. 158v–174: Further prayers to the Good Angel, to St Michael, St Boniface, a prayer to Our Lady, at the altar of St Peter, and to St Margaret. Decoration Two miniatures framed by mouldings extending into gold scrollwork with ivy leaves in blue, white, orange, pink and gold. – f. 96: Christ in Majesty (Psalms of Penitence, 50 x 50 mm). Christ, with a halo, is depicted seated on an orange-coloured throne, the same colour as his robe. His blue cloak is edged in black and the folds are also outlined in black. His right arm blesses a golden chalice placed on an orange-coloured altar. His left arm holds the white globe resting on his knees. The ground is painted in yellow-green and the background is chequered in pink and gold. The miniature is set within a frame adorned with a pink border lined with a gold border. – f. 112: The Virgin and Child (The 15 Joys of the Virgin, 50 x 50 mm) The Virgin, surrounded by a halo, is seated with her legs stretched out on a cushion. She holds the Child Jesus, also surrounded by a halo, in her arms; he rests on a white cloth. The position of Jesus, with his knees bent, is unusual. The floor is also painted in yellow-green and the background features the same chequered pattern. The same frame is also present. These two miniatures are the work of the Master of the Black Rings, whose black outlines are recognisable here. This book of hours confirms the link with the Master of Virgil, as the illuminator uses exactly the same type of chequered background. He also shares with the Master of the Virgil a spare style, but his colours are brighter and lack shading. Solid areas of pink, minium and blue alternate. The illuminator’s hand can be recognised in two manuscripts held at the Chantilly Castle Library: The Chronicle of Duguesclin, ms. 490, and the Deeds of the Romans, ms. 769 (I. Villela-Petit, ‘La petite clef d’harmonie’, The Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry. Illumination in France in the Early 15th Century, P. Stirnemann (ed.), exhibition catalogue, Chantilly, Musée Condé, March–August 2004, p. 71). The Master of Virgil was active in Paris between 1380 and 1420. First identified by M. Meiss, he owes his name more recently to the manuscripts of the *Aeneid* and the *Bucolics* produced for Jacques Courau, Treasurer to the Duke of Berry, dated 1403 and preserved in Florence at the Laurentian Library, ms. Med. Pal 69 (I. Villela-Petit, ‘The City of God: the Master of Virgil and the Master of Boethius’, Art de l’enluminure, no. 17, July–August 2006). Initials 3 vignetted initial lines at the head of the main texts and beneath the paintings, with extending scrolls and blue, red and gold ivy leaves, featuring a griffin on f. 90. 3 filigree initial lines in blue and gold, with filigree extensions on f. 143 2 filigree initial lines in blue and red or gold ink (ff. 125v, 130), with a filigree border on f. 124 1 line of letters in red and blue.
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About the sale Fine antique books – A library in the Languedoc
Auction location
Auction time 10/20/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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