Book of Hours, Use of Rouen — 15th century, c. 1470–80; French, Rouen

Title

Book of Hours, Use of Rouen — 15th century, c. 1470–80; French, Rouen

Shelfmark

MS. Buchanan e. 13

Place of origin

French, Rouen

Date

15th century, c. 1470–80

Language

Middle French (ca. 1400-1600)

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

Parchment.

Physical extent

i (marbled paper, conjoint with the pastedown) + 125 + i (marbled paper, conjoint with the pastedown).(painted borders around the miniatures are cropped at the fore-edge, and the margins above and below the borders on these pages are very narrow)

Hands

Written in dark brown ink in a gothic bookhand, in two sizes according to liturgical function; apparently by a single scribe throughout, except for the suffrage to Adrian (fols. 49r-50r) which is by a different but contemporary hand, perhaps in the same workshop.

Decoration

Headings in red.

Twelve miniatures with arched tops, each above three lines of text with a three-line initial containing foliage, on a gold ground, surrounded by a full border of stylized and naturalistic foliage, flowers, and fruit (that on fol. 27r with birds, an archer, and a centaur-like hybrid): (fol. 27r) Hours of the Virgin, Matins. Annunciation. (fol. 37r) Lauds. Visitation; a supplicant angel behind the Virgin. (fol. 51r) Prime. Nativity; the Child adored by the Virgin and Joseph. (fol. 56r) Terce. Annunciation to three Shepherds; one playing bagpipes, another with a pipe at his feet. (fol. 59r) Sext. Adoration of the Magi. (fol. 62r) None. Presentation in the Temple. (fol. 65r) Vespers. Flight into Egypt, from right to left; Joseph carrying a bundle on a stick. (fol. 68r) Compline. Coronation of the Virgin by two angels, before God wearing a papal tiara. (fol. 73r) Penitential Psalms. David in Penitence, kneeling before an altar(?) on which is his harp, and above which is an angel wielding a sword. (fol. 90r) Hours of the Cross. Crucifixion; the Virgin, John, and a nimbed woman to the left, Joseph of Arimathea(?) and soldiers to the right. (fol. 94r) Hours of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost. (fol. 97r) Office of the Dead. Burial of a shrouded corpse (Watson, Playfair Hours, fig. 28; Virgoe, Private life, 152, left). One eight-line historiated initial, with a full border: (fol. 18r) Obsecro te. The Virgin and Child of the Apocalypse, standing on a crescent moon. One three-line initial in blue and red with white tracery, on a gold ground with painted foliage, with a three-sided border open at the right, at the start of the Pericopes (fol. 13r); one similar two-line initial and three-sided border open at the right to the prayer on fol. 22v; two-line initals in gold on a blue and red ground with white tracery, to psalms, lessons, hymns, etc. (the blue and red perhaps slightly paler on fol. 49v, in the added suffrage to Adrian); similar one-line initials to the KL monograms in the calendar, and to verses, and other minor textual divisions; similar line-fillers throughout.

Binding

Sewn on four cords, with green and yellow endbands; bound in 19th-century undecorated brown-black leather over pasteboards; the spine divided into five compartments by four raised bands; marbled pastedowns and conjoint endleaves; the edges of the leaves red. The leaves have been re-folded a few mm. to the side of the previous sewing stations: the old spine-fold and four sewing-stations (for two cords plus kettle-stitches) are sometimes clearly visible (e.g. fols. 15, 95). Boxed, using funds provided by the Friends of the Bodleian, 1994.

Acquisition

Given to the Bodleian in 1939 by his widow,Mrs. E. O. Buchanan, when it was accessioned as MS. Lat. liturg. e. 34; re-referenced as MS. Buchanan e. 13 in 1941.

Provenance

The liturgical evidence of the volume falls into two groups: the calendar and Hours of the Virgin point very strongly to Rouen, as does the style of the miniatures; but the Office of the Dead seems to contradict this, as does the litany, which has none of the usual Rouen saints; the suffrage to Adrian, and his mention in the litany, may perhaps indicate that the original owner was a soldier. Marks and holes in the lower half of fol. 26v, and abrasion to the facing page (the start of the Hours of the Virgin) may perhaps have been caused by the sewing-in of a large pilgrim badge or other votive image.

? Unidentified 19th-century collection: the lowest compartment of the spine with a paper label inscribed in brown ink with a large 'I'; the middle compartment with a small vestige of what may have been another such label.

? Unidentified 19th-century French(?) owner; inscribed in pencil (fol. 126r): '1480 a 1500', possibly by the same hand that inscribed MS. Buchanan e. 14, fol. iii verso.

John Buchanan: inscribed in pencil with the 'Descriptive list' number, '13.', in the upper left corner of fol. i verso.

Rt. Hon. T. R. Buchanan (1846–1911).