Book of Hours, Use of Rome, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum

225 leaves, 114 mm. by 75 mm., complete, collation: i^{12, ii1+10 [fol. 12 inserted], iii-ix10, x4, xi-xii10, xiii6, xiv-xviii10, xix8, xx10, xxi4, xxii-xxiii10, xxiv6, xxv4, with horizontal catchwords, 13 lines, ruled in pale brown ink, written-space 64 mm. by 45 mm., written in dark brown ink in two sizes of a rounded gothic hand, rubrics in red, versal initials in red or blue, 2-line initials throughout in red or blue with full-length penwork in purple or red, seven large 4-line decorated initials in similar colours,} five very large historiated initials with full or three-quarter illuminated borders, initials in leafy designs on burnished gold panels with borders of lush coloured leaves extending into gold bezants and coloured flowers and leaves infilled with brown penwork stems, sometimes with birds, putti, etc., full-page frontispiece (fol. 13v) with illuminated border, some rubbing and thumbing (including some wear to the frontispiece), the ink turning powdery on some leaves (occasionally with a few words re-written in an old hand), upper margins cut close with very slightly loss of some extremities of borders, bound in late eighteenth-century [presumably Scottish] blind-stamped calf, title gilt, brown silk marker, paper endleaves, edges gilt and gauffered, in a pale brown morocco fitted slipcase, title gilt

provenance

(1) Written in Florence.  The Calendar includes the Florentine saints Zenobius (25 May, in red) and Reparata (8 October).  The arms are those of Castellani and Baroncelli, both of Florence.  The medieval chapels of the Castellani and Baroncelli families are adjacent in the basilica of Santa Croce, both with frescoes by members of the Gaddi family.  The manuscript was perhaps made for a wedding.  The arms of Castellani are below a miniature of Saint Katherine, which may indicate that the woman was Caterina Castellani.  The arms of Baroncelli are flanked by dolphins, emblems of the Pazzi family, which might suggest allegiance to the Pazzi conspiracy against the Medici in 1478.

(2) From the Boswell collection at Auchinleck House, in East Ayrshire, Scotland, with the gothic stamp c.1800 "Auchinleck" on the front flyleaf; and by descent from Alexander Boswell (1707-1782), Lord Auchinleck, to his son, James Boswell (1740-1795), the biographer of Johnson, and through the family to James Boswell Talbot (1874-1948), sixth Baron Talbot of Malahide, at Malahide Castle, near Dublin, and sold privately in 1976 by Lady Talbot to a collector, from whom they have passed by descent to the present owner.

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing where appropriate
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

text

A Calendar (fol. 1r); the Hours of the Virgin "secundum consuetudinem romane ecclesie", with Matins (fol. 14r), Lauds (fol. 28r), Prime (fol. 48v), Terce (fol. 48v), Sext (fol. 54r), None (fol. 58v), Vespers (fol. 63r) and Compline (fol. 73r), with seasonal variants from fol. 79r; the Hours of the Passion (fol. 98r); the Office of the Dead (fol. 124r); the Gradual Psalms (fol. 182r); the Penitential Psalms (fol. 196r) and Litany; and the Hours of the Cross (fol. 222r).

 

illumination

This is a dainty Florentine Book of Hours probably by two artists.  The frontispiece is in the style or hand of Ser Ricciardo di Nanni (fl. 1445-1480), illuminator of – among many other manuscripts – the Blandford Hours which was lot 29 in the Beck sale in these rooms, 16 June 1997, still the highest price ever paid for an Italian Book of Hours.  The five historiated initials are in the style or hand of the prolific Francesco di Antonio del Chierico (1443-1484).  The religious scenes are transferred into a setting of renaissance Florence, with its elegant courtyards; even the city behind King David resembles Florence on the Arno.  The miniatures are:

(1) Folio 13v, The beheading of Saint Katherine, rectangular miniature, 66 mm. by 50 mm., the saint kneeling in the courtyard of a castellated manor, her wheel behind her, a scroll emerging from her mouth, a soldier raising a sword accompanied by two men, God waiting in the sky with a crown and palm of martyrdom; floral and leafy border including the arms of Castellani.

(2) Folio 14r, The Virgin and Child, historiated initial 'D', 38 mm. by 42 mm., full floral and leafy border including the arms of Baroncelli, two vases, five birds and a putto.

(3) Folio 98r, The Crucifixion, historiated initial 'D', 43 mm. by 40 mm., landscape background with a medieval city on a river with a bridge and boats; three-quarter floral and leafy border including a seated putto.

(4) Folio 124r, A charnel house, historiated initial 'D', 45 mm. by 45 mm., an enclosed and partially ruined courtyard in a landscape, with a skull in a niche and bones scattered on the ground; three-quarter floral and leafy border including two birds.

(5) Folio 196r, King David with his psaltery, historiated initial 'D', 41 mm. by 41 mm., half-length figure; three-quarter floral and leafy border including two birds.

(6) Folio 222r, Christ as the Man of Sorrows, historiated initial 'D', 42 mm. by 41 mm., standing half-length in the sarcophagus displaying his wounds; three-quarter floral and leafy border including two birds.