15. Book Of Hours, Use of Utrecht, in Dutch, illuminated manuscript on vellum, 140 ff., including 4 blank except for ruling, gatherings of 8ff, miniatures on inserted ff., 25 lines, written in black ink in 2 gothic liturgical hands (changing after f. 124), 4 full-page miniatures, only, of 6?, in full page borders, 6 large (8-11 lines) and 28 small (2-4 lines) initials in colours, with pen-and-ink marginal decoration, other initials alternately in red and blue, rubrics in red, eighteenth-century watercolour of the Mater Dolorosa holding the dead Christ at the foot of the cross pasted to front endpaper, fore-edge margins of ff. 1 & 2 restored, f.6 almost loose, occasional slight marking, contemporary blind-stamped calf, rubbed, rebacked, preserving most of old spine, some other repairs, brass clasps, also repaired, in a cloth case, covered with calf panels imitaing the binding, ca. 185 x 130 mm., [ North Netherlands, c.1480].
est. £15000 – £20000
A handsome and very well preserved manuscript.
The contents, all in Dutch are: f. 1 blank, 2-9 calendar, 11-38 Hours of the Virgin, 39-54 Hours of the Eternal Wisdom, 56 -74 Hours of the Holy Ghost, 72-92r Hours of the Cross, 92v-97 prayers, 98-99 blank, 100-125 Office of the Dead, 127-139r Psalms, and Litany, 140 blank. The full calendar includes in red Ss Pancras, Servatius, Remigius, Willibrord; a few of the ‘black’ feasts are underlined in red, including Ambrose, Francis and Ursula’s 11000 virgin martyrs. The four miniatures on inserted ff are by two hands. The first two are in the style of the Master of Hugo Janszoon van Woerden, in arched compartments, with borders of acanthus leaves, and flowers, the first with an exotic bird in the lower margin, with a liberal scattering of gold besants. They depict (f. 10v) the Annunciation, in an elaborate interior with red flowers scattered at the Virgin’s feet, a landscape glimpsed through the large window, and (f. 55v) Pentecost, the Virgin and apostles in a plain interior, with tiled floor. The figure all have burnished gold haloes. The others are more reminiscent of the Zwolle Master, with uncluttered scenes, in rectangular compartments, with slightly less elaborated borders, with foliage, predominantly in blue, pink and green, and besants. They depict (f. 75v) the Crucifixion, with the Virgin and St John at the foot of the cross in a simple landscape, with a pink city in the background, and (126v) St Francis, displaying the stigmata, in a plain interior with tiled floor. Similar manuscripts commonly have inserted miniatures before all the major texts, and it is quite likely that 2 are missing here at ff. 39 & 100. The penwork decoration of the initials, also in 2 hands, is typical of North Netherlands work.
Unsold