Book of Hours, Use of Evreux — 15th century, late – 16th century, early, c. 1500; French, Normandy

Title

Book of Hours, Use of Evreux — 15th century, late – 16th century, early, c. 1500; French, Normandy

Shelfmark

MS. Buchanan e. 14

Place of origin

French, Normandy

Date

15th century, late – 16th century, early, c. 1500

Language

Latin

Middle French (ca. 1400-1600)

Contents

Form

codex

Support

Parchment.

Physical extent

iii (paper, the first marbled, conjoint with the pastedown), vi (parchment) + 63 + vi (parchment), iii (paper, the last marbled, conjoint with the pastedown); fols. iv-ix and 64–9 are blank parchment flyleaves, of a similar quality and weight to fols 1–63: they may be original.(calendar)

Hands

Written in lettre bâtarde in two sizes according to liturgical function

Decoration

Headings alternately in red or blue, but frequently omitted.

Twelve miniatures, each with an arched top, above six lines of text to fol. 22r, and above seven lines of text thereafter, except for fol. 34r wich has a line left blank for a rubric, and seven lines of text: (fol. 7r) Hours of the Virgin, Matins. Annunciation. (fol. 12r) Lauds. Visitation; an angel with folded arms behind the Virgin. (fol. 17r) Hours of the Cross. Crucifixion, with the Virgin and St. John. (fol. 18r) Hours of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost; the Virgin and disciples all kneel, facing the Dove. (fol. 19r) Hours of the Virgin, Prime. Nativity; the Virgin and Joseph adore the Child. (fol. 22r) Terce. Annunciation to four Shepherds. (fol. 24r) Sext. Adoration of the Magi. [Above seven lines of text]. (fol. 26r) None. Presentation in the Temple. (fol. 28r) Vespers. Flight into Egypt, from right to left; with a handmaid. (fol. 31r) Compline. Coronation of the Virgin. (fol. 34r) Penitential Psalms. David in Penitence. (fol. 43r) Office of the Dead. Job on the Dungheap, with his three friends. Each miniature above a six- to eight-line decorated initial in shades of grey, against a field of red or brown and gold, and enclosing naturalistic flowers against a gold ground; the miniatures each surrounded by a full border of naturalistic and stylised foliage, and various animals including a frog (fol. 7r), a squirrel (fol. 26r), a snail (fol. 34r), a butterfly(?) (fol. 24r), a peacock (fol. 43r), and other birds (e.g. fol. 12r), and various hybrid creatures (e.g. fol. 17r); two-line initials to psalms, hymns, etc. alternately in red or blue; similar one-line initials to verses and other minor divisions; line-fillers in red and blue, especially in the litany; occasional paraphs in blue.

Binding

The sewing not clearly visible; endbands missing; bound in late-18th-century French mottled brown leather over pasteboards; the spine with five raised bands, and a red title-piece lettered 'PSAUME | DE | DAVID' in the second compartment, gilt ornament and a flower motif in each of the other five; watermarks of flyleaves are unclear, but perhaps (fol. ii): 'M [then a lozenge shape] H.[?] M.', and, lower down: a backward-leaning 'D R.'(?), and (fol. 70): 'F.I.N 1788' (the last two numerals unclear, perhaps alternatively '99' or '83'?) and a bunch of grapes; blue silk bookmark; the edges of the leaves and boards gilt; the parchment flyleaves (fols. iv-ix, 64–69) may be original, or belong to an intermediate previous binding.

Acquisition

Given by her to the Bodleian in 1939, when it was accessioned as MS. Lat. liturg. e. 35; re-referenced as MS. Buchanan e. 14 in 1941.

Provenance

Unidentified original owner; the three feasts of Benedict in the calendar, and the repetition of his name in the litany, perhaps suggest someone with Benedictine links.

Unidentified owner: six paste deposits in a cruciform arrangement (fol. 67v), one of them apparently with traces of torn paper, perhaps from a pasted-in votive image.

Unidentified 18th/19th-century owner or bookseller: inscribed in pencil (fol. 72r), in indistinct characters, possibly: 'Bt £5 6s. 8d' if read as a purchase record with an English price, but probably closer to: 'Lt L9 6784' (perhaps a shelfmark?).

? Adolphe Labitte, 19th-century Parisian bookseller: inscribed in ink 'Ira | Bos', separated by a horizontal line, probably a bookseller's price-code, near the top right corner of fol. 72r (cf. MSS. Buchanan e. 5 and e. 7); also inscribed in pencil (fol. iii verso): 'vers [crossed through] 1450', possibly by the same hand that inscribed MS. Buchanan e. 13, fol. 126r.

John Buchanan: inscribed in pencil with the 'Descriptive list' number, '14', in the top left corner of fol. i verso.

Rt. Hon. T. R. Buchanan (1846–1911).

His widow, Mrs. E. O. Buchanan.