Book of Hours

Hours of the Virgin, Matins, 1st nocturn

F-40bi

Northampton, MA, Smith College, Fifty Original Leaves of Medieval Manuscripts, no. 45

General Information

Title Book of Hours
Material Parchment
Place of Origin France

Original Condition

Page Height at least 187 mm
Page Width at least 134 mm
Height of Written Area 90 mm
Width of Written Area 64 mm
Number of Columns 1
Number of Lines 12

Current Condition

Dimensions 187 x 134 (90 x 64) mm

Book Decoration and Musical Notation

Description

Brief, feathery extensions in ink and colors extending from initials on every page into the margin. One extant miniature with gilt diapered background and full rinceaux border with marginal grotesques.

History

Origin

Made in Northwest France, possibly for the Use of Arras (the first three responsories for the Office of the Dead are often found in Books of Hours from Arras).

Provenance

Written in NW France (likely for the Use of Arras or Paris) in the early 15th century. Possibly identical with the Book of Hours sold at Sotheby's London on 20 December 1948, lot 415. "The Property of a Gentleman." Dismembered by Otto or Louise Ege in the late 1940s, leaves used as no. 45 in Ege's "Fifty Original Leaves from Medieval Manuscripts" portfolios, of which 40 were produced and 31 are known.