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an old book with a painting of jesus on the crossan old book with a painting of a woman in a blue dressan old book with a page of writing and a picture of a bird on itan image of a page from a medieval manuscript with an image of a cross on itan image of a page from a medieval manuscript with a picture of a man and a womanan old book with a page of writing and a picture of a bird on itan old book with a picture of a man on a horse and a woman on a horsean image of a page from a medieval manuscript with a picture of a birda painting of a man sitting in a chair with a harpan open book with a blue and yellow writing on itan open book with writing on it sitting on a tablean old book with a painting of a man kneeling down next to a womanan old book sitting on top of a white surface next to a white backgroundan old book with a painting of two women and a manan open book with a picture of a man on it
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Estimate €12,000 - €18,000
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Description
BOOK OF HOURS. [ROME USUAGE, with a calendar, Tours usage, illuminated by a Parisian workshop]. Manuscript on parchment in French and Latin, Paris, France, c. 1480–1500. Format: In-8°, 169 x 110 mm. 120 leaves, complete. Collation: 112, 2–88, 96, 10–118, 124, 13–158, 162. Modern pagination in pencil; with occasional page numbers. Writing area: 108 x 65 mm. A single column of 17 lines, ruled in light brown ink. Written in dark brown ink in Textura Gothic script; calendar in red, blue and gold; headings in red; capital letters highlighted in yellow. Hundreds of single-line initials decorated with gold leaf or in blue, hundreds of two-line initials decorated with gold leaf, filled and edged in blue, or blue initials filled and edged in red, alternating; line endings in gold leaf and blue; at the start of each section of text, twelve 3- to 4-line initials in grisaille or half-grisaille in pink, filled with a background of liquid gold and decorated with flowers, leaves and fruit, set within rectangular frames on a burgundy background adorned with filigree in liquid gold; 6 large miniatures (half a page) surrounded by solid borders; the beginnings of almost every section of the Hours of the Virgin surrounded by solid borders; borders composed of alternating geometric shapes in liquid gold with fruit and flowers, or swirling acanthus in blue, red, mauve and white. The volume is in an excellent state of general preservation, with the exception of a few decorated leaves where the black ink of the outlines has smudged slightly, and on f. 75 (miniature of David), where a liquid appears to have slightly diluted the colour of the miniature’s frame; small wormholes in the upper margin of the final quires (ff. 107–120); the upper half-back is detached from the spine, with the stitching threads visible. Brown morocco leather, with gold-stamped decoration; the spaces reserved for the coats of arms on the upper and lower covers are no longer legible, though a decorative ‘H’ can still be made out on the upper cover; signs of wear on the binding at the corners and cap ends. This fine manuscript from the last quarter of the 15th century contains a calendar according to the Tours rite and a text richly illuminated with six colourful and lively miniatures by an artist of the Parisian school. Provenance Prideaux signature on the upper inside cover; possibly Edmund Prideaux of Cornwall, England, who collected manuscripts such as the *Somme le Roi* (London, BL, Add. Ms. 54180), which he had signed c. 1720; ( ??) Auction, Sotheby’s, 3 July 1984, lot 86; Europe, private collection. Text – ff. 1–12: Calendar in French, with feast days shown in red: (Jan.) The Circumcision, Epiphany; (Feb.) Candlemas, St Peter, Matthias; (Mar.) The Annunciation of Our Lady; (Apr.) Mark; (May) James & Philip, Holy Cross, John; (Jun.) Barnabas, John the Baptist, Peter & Paul the Apostles; (Jul.) The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Martin, Mary Magdalene, James, Christopher; (Aug.) Peter, Stephen, Lawrence, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Bartholomew, John the Baptist; (Sept.) The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Matthew, Michael; (Oct.) Denis, Simon & Jude; (Nov.) All Saints’ Day, All Souls’ Day, Martin, Bris (Brice), Catherine, Andrew; (Dec.) The Immaculate Conception, Gacien, Thomas, Christmas Day, Stephen, John, the Holy Innocents; (ff. 13–74v) Hours of the Virgin, with the Hours of the Cross and of the Holy Spirit interspersed: (ff. 13–24v) Matins; (ff. 24v–39) Lauds (f. 36, Matins of the Cross, f. 38v, Matins of the Holy Spirit); (ff. 39–45) Prime (f. 43v, Prime of the Cross, f. 44v, Prime of the Holy Spirit); (ff. 45–50v) Terce (f. 49, Terce of the Cross, f. 50, Terce of the Holy Spirit); (ff. 50v–55) Sext (f. 54, Sext of the Cross, f. 54v, Holy Spirit); (ff. 55–59v) None (f. 58v, None Cross, f. 59v, None of the Holy Spirit); (ff. 60–68v) Vespers (f. 67v, Vespers of the Cross, f. 68, Vespers of the Holy Spirit); (ff. 68v–74v) Compline (f. 72v, Com. of the Cross, f. 73v, Com. of the Holy Spirit); (ff. 75–87) Penitential Psalms: (ff. 87–90v) Litanies; (ff. 90v–94) Psalm, Prayer (Deus in adiutorium meum intende; Deus cui proprium est); (f. 94v) blank; (ff. 95–120) The Office of the Dead: (ff. 95–101v) Vespers; (ff. 102–109v) Matins (f. 103, 1st night); (ff. 110–120) Lauds; (f. 120v) blank. The saints listed in the calendar—Gatian, Martin (mentioned twice) and Brice—together constitute a body of solid and specific evidence in favour of a calendar intended for use in Tours. The presence of Denis in red alongside the saints of Tours could indicate that a Parisian workshop added its local royal saint to a Tours calendar template, personalised for a patron associated with that diocese. ILLUMINATION The illuminator of this manuscript belongs to the Parisian commercial tradition that descends from Master François (fl. 1460–1480), via the Master of Jacques de Besançon (fl. 1478–1500, also identified as François Le Barbier the Younger)
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Auction time 10/30/2026 at 2:00 PM
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