Book of Hours, Use of Paris, in Latin and French [northern France, Champagne, c.1420-30]

202x150mm, vellum, i+2+149+2+ i leaves (first and last are modern paper), complete, 20 quires mostly of 8 leaves except vii6, xii2, and xx7 (including two flyleaves, final blank cancelled), 16 lines, 108x70mm, 15 large miniatures with full borders including a variety of carefully observed birds, all text pages with three-sided borders, slight water damage affecting some leaves at end, a few borders slightly cropped at top, script occasionally rubbed, all miniatures in pristine condition, bound in modern red velvet, somewhat worn at joints

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

provenance

(1) Written for the use of a woman: prayers use feminine forms (ff.141r, 143v); a thoroughly erased coat of arms in the lower margin of f.72v.

(2) Koller, Zurich, 30 October 1980, no.7020; by descent to the present owner.

text and illumination

Calendar, in French, with an entry for every day (f.1r); Gospel extracts (f.13r); the Verses of St Bernard (f.18r); the prayer Salve crux preciosa (f.19v); suffrages to Sts John the Baptist (f.21r), Sebastian (f.21r), Christopher (f.23r), and Mary Magdalene (f.24r); Hours of the Virgin, with Matins (f.25r), Lauds (f.36r), Prime (f.47v), Terce (f.53r), Sext (f.57v), None (f.62r), Vespers (f.66r), Compline (f.73r); Hours of the Cross (f.79r); Hours of the Holy Spirit (f.84r); Seven Penitential Psalms (f.89r), litany (101v); Office of the Dead (f.107r); prayers Obsecro te (f.138v) and O intemerata (f.142v); Passion according to St John (f.146v); added 15th-century suffrage to St Anthony (f.148v).

The artist of this Book of Hours is strikingly original. Most riveting is the rich palette and the contrast between fully rounded figures and ornamentally arranged interiors and landscapes. A taste for copious patterning is evident in manuscripts made in Champagne where insistent patterning was the norm. Parallels can be found in the Cauchon Hours for the Use of Rheims from c.1440 which share the delightful landscapes dotted with small flowers (see Très Riches Heures de Champagne, exh.cat., 2007, no.16; G. Clark, 'Walters 269 and Manuscript Illumination in Reims', forthcoming). Gregory Clark kindly informed us that the present manuscript is close in style to a Book of Hours for the Use of Soissons (Lyon, Bibl. Munic., ms.5142; V. Leroquais, Manuscrits à Peintures, 1920, no.33, ill.) which was probably produced by the same workshop. The manuscript in Lyon was made for Marguerite de Charny (1390-1460) whose first husband Jean de Bauffremont died at the battle of Agincourt in 1415. Her coat-of-arms are impaled with those of the nobleman Humbert de Villersexel (1385-1437), Comte de la Roche, whom she married in 1418.

The large miniatures are: (1) f.23r, St Christopher carrying the Christ Child; (2) f.24r, St Mary Magdalene; (3) f.25r, Annunciation; (4) f.36r, Visitation; (5) f.47v, Nativity with Joseph lighting a Fire; (6) f.53r, Annunciation to the Shepherds; (7) f.57v, Circumcision; (8) f.62r, Adoration of the Magi; (9) f.66r, Presentation in the Temple; (10) f.73r, Flight into Egypt; (11) f.79r, Crucifixion; (12) f.84r, Pentecost; (13) f.89r, King David; (14) f.107r, Funeral Service; (15) f.138v, Virgin and Child on a Crescent Moon.