"KL Mars.../...S'Albaire"

Calendar for the month of March, from a fifteenth-century Book of Hours known as the St. Alexius hours. Written in northern France in the third quarter of the fifteenth century.

17 lines on recto, 16 on verso. Alternating blue and red text with March 25 "la nre dame" in gold. Use of Paris indicated by references to saints celebrated in Paris. Dates of interest include:

March 2, St. Prime (Parisian name for Primitivus)
March 3, St. Marinus (celebrated in Paris without St. Asterius)
March 5, St. Saturnin (celebrated in Paris and Bourges)
March 6, St. Felix (Parisian name for Felicitas)
March 10, St. Alixandre (celebrated in Paris)
March 13, St. Macedonie (celebrated in Paris and Bruges)
March 18, St. Offren (Vulfran, celebrated in Paris)
March 22, St. Emerence (Parisian name for Frumence)
March 24, St. Pinguesme (Pygmenius, celebrated in Paris)
March 26, St. Mondain (Parisian name for Maximus)
March 31, St. Albaire (Parisian name for Balbine)

Full border of acanthus and rinceaux in gold and colors with birds, fruits, and flowers. Roundel miniature in the outer central margin of recto and verso.

Recto: Labors of the Months - Planting: A man in blue with a red scarf is working in the fields, pouring seeds from a bag in his hands. Behind him are trees and grassy hills; about half the trees show bare branches, the rest full green leaves. A vaguely human-shaped but all-brown figure appears to be watching him.
Verso: Zodiac - Aries: A large white goat stands in a field. The scene looks very similar to the fields depicted on the recto, including a brown figure near the goat's face.

Codex, when complete, said to have been owned by Ezra Clark Stillman (1907-1995), New York, NY. Likely broken by Bruce Ferrini in the 1980s. Resequenced December 2025 by students in Lisa Fagin Davis' Fall 2025 Simmons University School of Library and Information Science (Boston, MA) course, "The Medieval Manuscript: From Charlemagne to Gutenberg" (LIS 464).

This leaf offered by Charles Puckett Rare Books, stock number IM-4259, current location unknown.

Sarah Leveille

• Simmons School of Library and Information Science LIS 464 (Fall 2025) observations
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