Book of Hours, Use of Dol, in Latin and French [France (Paris), c.1500]

118x90mm, vellum, ii+217+ii leaves, lacking three leaves with miniatures and others with text, collation: i-ii6, iii8-1 (last blank cancelled), iv8-1 (i lacking), v-xvii8, xiii6, xiv-xvii8, xviii8-2 (iii and vi lacking), xix8-1 (viii lacking), [lacking at least one quire], xx-xviii8, xix4, 15 lines, 56x38mm, 10 LARGE MINIATURES with full borders and 1 SMALL MINIATURE of St John within a three-sided border on f.13r, small illuminated initials and line-fillers throughout, PANEL BORDERS ON ALL TEXT PAGES, miniature on f.60v smudged, occasionally very slight rubbing, 16th-century brown leather binding gilt on both covers with fleur-de-lis and in the centre of each cover the monogram of CATHERINE DE' MEDICI (consisting of a 'C' linked with a reversed 'C' and an 'H' for her husband Henri II), blue morocoo slip-case

A PERSONAL COMMISSION FOR A MAN NAMED IN ONE OF THE PRAYERS 'GUILLERMO', IN A RARE 16TH-CENTURY BINDING OF CATHERINE DE' MEDICI, LATER OWNED BY THE CELESTINE MONASTERY OF MARCOUSSIS

PROVENANCE

(1) Made for GUILLAUME, a man named in one of the prayers: '...michi Guillermo famulo tuo...' (f.145r); his coat of arms below the miniature with the Nativity (f.60v) over-painted by a later owner. The Book of Hours was produced in Paris but the Use of the Hours of the Virgin suggests that the person for whom it was prepared lived in Dol, on the north coast of Brittany. (2) Perhaps CATHERINE DE' MEDICI (1519-89), WIFE OF HENRI II, KING OF FRANCE: with fleur-de-lis and her monogram on the binding. On her important library see Le Roux de Lincy (1859), Delisle (1868) and Quentin-Bauchart (1886). After her death, much of her library was absorbed into the royal library, now Bibl. nat. de France, where the books were rebound. SURVIVING BINDINGS MADE FOR CATHERINE DE' MEDICI ARE EXTREMELY RARE. (3) The CELESTINE MONASTERY OF THE HOLY TRINITY OF MARCOUSSIS, founded c.1405 a few km south of Paris: inscribed 'Coelestinorum de Marcoussiaco' (ff.142v, 217r). On the Celestine libraries in France see Vernet (1989) and Delisle (1874), listing twelve manuscripts form Marcoussis now in Paris; others are in Copenhagen (Royal Lib., Thott 67 fol.), Lincoln (Cathedral Lib., MS 193), London (BL, Burney MS 247), New York (Morgan Lib., MS G.59), Oxford (Bodl. Lib., MS Lat.th.e.26), and elsewhere.

TEXT AND ILLUMINATION

Calendar, f.1r; Gospel Extracts, f.13r; Hours of the Virgin, f.20r, starts imperfect; Penitential Psalms, f.97r, litany, f.110v; Hours of the Cross, f.125v, ends imperfect; Hours of the Holy Spirit, f.133r, starts and ends imperfect; Office of the Dead, f.135r, starts and ends imperfect; Obsecro te, f.142r; O intemerata, two versions, f.147r and 151v; other prayers, f.154v; Suffrages, f.181v.

Most of the miniatures were illuminated by JEAN COENE, also known as the MASTER OF THE PARIS ENTRIES (ff.47v, 60v, 68r, 73r, 83r), a prolific artist who was active in Paris for the French court under Louis XII (1498-1515) and François Ier (1515-47). The soft manner of the second artist relates to the MASTER OF THE CHRONIQUE SCANDALEUSE (ff.78r, 97r, 125v) while the third artist belongs to the previous generation of Parisian painters working in the manner of the MASTER OF JACQUES DE BESANÇON (ff.13r, 91r, 142r).

The subjects of the large miniatures are: (1) Visitation, f.47v; (2) Nativity, f.60v; (3) Annunciation to the Shepherds, f.68r; (4) Adoration of the Magi, f.73r; (5) Presentation in the Temple, f.78r; (6) Flight into Egypt, f.83r; (7) Coronation of the Virgin, f.91r; (8) David spying on Bathseba, f.97r; (9) Crucifixion, f.125v; (10) Virgin and Child, f.142r.