Book of Hours, Use of Paris — 15th century, beginning and 15th century, second half; French

Title

Book of Hours, Use of Paris — 15th century, beginning and 15th century, second half; French

Shelfmark

MS. Douce 80

Place of origin

French

Date

15th century, beginning and 15th century, second half

Language

Latin

Middle French (ca. 1400-1600)

Contents

Form

codex

Support

parchment

Physical extent

vi + 233leaves

Decoration

Half-page miniatures: Fol. 18r: Christ Carrying the Cross (Passion according to John). Fol. 36r: Annunciation (Hours of the Virgin, Matins). Fol. 72r: Nativity (Hours of the Virgin, Prime). Fol. 78v: Annunciation to the Shepherds (Hours of the Virgin, Terce). Fol. 101r: David in Prayer, David's face worn (Penitential Psalms). Fol. 127r: Pentecost (Hours of the Holy Ghost, Matins). Fol. 134r: Funeral Mass (Office of the Dead). Fol. 185v: Enthroned Virgin and Child (Fifteen Joys of the Virgin). Fol. 192r: Last Judgement (Seven Requests). Fol. 196r: Virgin and Child with portrait of a female donor (?) (Prayer to the Virgin).

Roundels: labours of the month and zodiac in the calendar: January: Feasting (fol. 1r), Aquarius (fol. 1v). February: Keeping Warm (fol. 2r), Pisces (fol. 2v). March: Pruning (fol. 3r), Aries (fol. 3v). April: Picking Flowers (fol. 4r), Taurus (fol. 4v). May: Hawking (fol. 5r), Gemini (fol. 5v). June: Mowing (fol. 6r), Cancer (fol. 6v). July: Reaping (fol. 7r), Leo (fol. 7v). August: Threshing (fol. 8r), Virgo (fol. 8v). September: Treading Grapes (fol. 9r), Libra (fol. 9v). October: Sowing (fol. 10r), Scorpio (fol. 10v). November: Thrashing for Acorns (fol. 10b, recto), Sagittarius (fol. 10b, verso). December: Slaughtering a Pig (fol. 11r, lower margin), Capricorn (fol. 11r, right-hand margin). Fol. 11v: roundels of John the Evangelist with an eagle and palm (left-hand margin); Nativity, with Mary and Joseph kneeling before the Christ Child, an ox and ass in the background (lower margin).

Borders, historiated: Fol. 18r: Five angels carrying the Instruments of the Passion; two birds, a goldfinch and a crane (Passion according to John). Fol. 101r: Jewelled frame for miniature and border. Figures hunting, dancing and playing musical instruments (Penitential Psalms).

Borders, other: full borders with foliate design, gold spray and drolleries. The borders often appear to have been copied through the parchment, resulting in a reverse of the recto design found on the verso.

Decorated initials: four-, three-, two- and one-line initials in red and blue, enclosing foliage, on a gold ground. Two-line KL monograms in the Calendar, formed from acanthus leaves and small flowers and painted in grisaille.

Chrysography: two lines, heading the Gospel of John pericope, on Fol. 12r.

Line fillers: patterns, mostly floral, on a gold background.

Acquisition

Bequeathed to the Bodleian in 1834

Provenance

With the armorial bookplate of Charles d'Orléans abbé de Rothelin (d. 1744), covering another (probably of N. J. Foucault).

Francis Douce, 1757–1834

Title

Hours of the Virgin, according to the use of Paris

Shelfmark

MS. Douce 80

Summary

Preceded by a French Calendar (fol. 1), Capitula and prayers (fol. 12), and suffrages (fol. 31v). Followed by:

(fol. 101) the Penitential Psalms with litany

(fol. 119) Hours 'de Sancta Cruce'

(fol. 127) Hours of the Holy Spirit

(fol. 134) Office for the Dead

(fol. 185v) the Fifteen Joys in French

(fol. 192) the Seven Requests in French

(fol. 196) a long French hymn to the Virgin, beg. 'Glorieuse Vierge royne'

(fol. 206) 'Missa nostra Domina'

more suffrages and prayers.

The rubrics are generally in French. Leaves presumably bearing miniatures and the beginning of the following service have been cut out after fols. 82, 86, 89, 95, 118, and 205. There are several miniatures left, and every leaf has a border filled with grotesques, animals, and flowers, some doubled by reversal as in MS. Douce 77: at fol. 196 is a portrait of the lady who owned the book; An index to the chief grotesques, etc., is at fol. 225, made by Douce.

With the armorial bookplate of Charles d'Orléans abbé de Rothelin . (d. 1744), covering another (probably of N. J. Foucault).

Date

written in the first half of the 15th cent. in France

Language

Latin

French

Physical facet

On parchment, illuminated

Physical extent

233 Leaves