(Q17441)

Collation: Parchment, fol. 192 ; 112 28 38−1 (made up of three bifolia, with a tipped-in singleton at the front of the quire (fol. 22) written in a secondary hand ) 4-78 810 9-108 116 12-238 244 ; modern quire numbers written in lower left corner on first recto of each quire. Modern foliation in upper right corner of each recto, skipping 31 and thus reaching 191 instead of 192. Flyleaf counted...

0 references

Layout: Single column, 13 lines (17 lines in calendar). Bounding lines in red plummet, full length vertically and horizontally.

0 references

Script: Primarily written in a northern gothic textualis formata (textus quadratus) in black ink with red rubrics. Secondary hand in a gothic cursive on folios 20 and 70, both singletons with blank spaces where miniatures should be. The secondary hand is written with a red-tinted ink.

0 references

Decoration (primary): 25 illuminated miniatures, appearing at the beginning of each hour in the Hours of the Virgin, the Hours of the Holy Cross, and the Hours of the Holy Spirit as well as the beginning of the Penitential Psalms and the Office of the Dead. Recorded in the catalog of J.M.C. Armbruster (September 1852) as including 27 miniatures. The two extra miniatures likely refer to the two...

0 references

Decoration (secondary): Fully decorated borders throughout the manuscript. Black vines with golden leaves, acanthus leaves, fruits, flowers, and other plants (often clustered in block patterns). Gold, blue and red lines on the outer edges of text columns, frequently with flowers and plants sprouting out from top of line. A variety of different hands working on the borders, evident from the...

0 references

Decoration (tertiary): One- to three-line initials throughout the manuscript. Three-line decorated initials, often with intertwined vines and flowers, accompany every miniature (except miniature on fol. 74). Three initials with unidentified coats of arms: fol. 29 (Hours of the Virgin, Matins), fol. 124 (Penitential Psalms), fol. 148 (Office of the Dead, Matins). The coats of arms consist of...

0 references

Binding: Modern vellum conservation binding. Housed in a tan cloth clamshell case, brown gilt-stamped labels on spine: "Livre d'heures/XV Century" and "MS Q. MED. 89." Previously bound in nineteenth-century brown morocco leather by "Niderée" in Paris, France, with large brass clasps added in 1857 (Census Supplement). Clasps engraved by Joseph Whitney's son with his initials and date...

0 references

Origin: Illuminated in Northern France in the second quarter of the fifteenth century. Likely meant for the use of Poitiers. Many of the landscapes and compositions in the miniature cycles are similar in style to those created by the Workshop of the Boucicaut Master.

0 references

Provenance: Appeared in the catalog of the German dealer J.M.C. Armbruster in September 1852 (no. 2597). Exhibited at the New York Historical Society by "Dr. Osgood" and sold to Joseph Whitney in 1856 (reported in the Christian Inquirer on December 20, 1856).

0 references

Immediate source of acquisition: Purchased in October 1940 from Joseph Whitney's grandson, George H. Whitney. On the flyleaf at the front of the manuscript is the following text in pencil: "Josiah H. Benton / Dec. 24, 1940 / L."

0 references

Call number: MS q Med.89.

0 references

Former call number: MS 1516.

0 references

Bibliography: Nancy Netzer, ed., Secular/Sacred 11th-16th Century Works from the Boston Public Library and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Boston College, 2006), no. 83.

0 references

date last updated

4 December 2023

0 references