Book of Hours, Use of Paris, Hymns, Prayer to the Virgin, Prayer, Devotion — 15th–16th century, c. 1500; French, Paris

Title

Book of Hours, Use of Paris, Hymns, Prayer to the Virgin, Prayer, Devotion — 15th–16th century, c. 1500; French, Paris

Shelfmark

MS. Buchanan e. 8

Place of origin

French, Paris

Date

15th–16th century, c. 1500

Language

Latin

Middle French (ca. 1400-1600)

Contents

Form

codex

Support

Parchment.

Physical extent

ii (modern paper, the first conjoint with the pastedown) + 152 + ii (modern paper, the second conjoint with the pastedown). (added leaves)

Hands

Written in lettre bâtarde, in two different sizes of script, according to liturgical function; by at least three main scribes, responsible respectively for: (i) fols. 16r-125v; (ii) fols. 126r-133v (quire XIX, with different ruling, as noted above); and (iii) fols. 134r-150v (with different one-line initials, as noted under Decoration); the attribution of the calendar to one of these hands, perhaps the third, is uncertain; and the added leaves (fols 1r-3v & 151r-152v) are by a much later hand in rounded humanistic script, perhaps imitating books printed in Roman type.

Decoration

Headings in blue.

Four large miniatures with arched tops, above three (fol. 138r), four (fol. 73r), or five (fols. 26r, 77r) lines of text: (fol. 26r) Hours of the Virgin, Matins. Annunciation. (fol. 73r) Hours of the Cross. Crucifixion: the Virgin and John to the left; soldiers, including Longinus, to the right. (fol. 77r) Hours of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost; the Apostles around the Virgin. (fol. 138r) Suffrage to the Trinity. The Trinity: the Father and Son seated together, holding an open book between them.

Twenty-five (of an original twenty-six?) small miniatures, framed in liquid gold on the upper three sides; six to nine lines high, mostly eight lines high, narrower than the width of the column: (fol. 16r) St. John on Patmos. (fol. 17r) St. Luke painting the Virgin, on a panel on an easel. (fol. 18v) St. Matthew and his angel, each holding a book. (fol. 20v) St. Mark writing. (fol. 21v) Obsecro te. The Virgin praying. (fol. 36r) Lauds. Visitation; an angel behind the Virgin. (fol. 46v) Prime. Nativity; the Virgin and Joseph adoring the Child. (fol. 52r) Terce. Annunciation to two Shepherds. (fol. 56r) Sext. Adoration of the Magi. (fol. 59r) None. Presentation in the Temple. (fol. 62v) Vespers. Massacre of the Innocents: a woman holding a dead infant before Herod and two attendants, but no soldiers. (fol. 67v) Compline. Coronation of the Virgin. (fol. 139r) St. Michael and the dragon. (fol. 140r) St. John the Baptist holding the Agnus Dei on a book(?). (fol. 140v) St. John the Evangelist blessing the poisoned chalice. (fol. 141r) St. Peter and St. Paul. (fol. 142r) St. Stephen. (fol. 142v) St. Sebastian shot with arrows. (fol. 144r) St. Nicholas and the three boys in the tub. (fol. 144v) St. Anne teaching the Virgin to read. (fol. 145v) St. Mary Magdalen. (fol. 146r) St. Catherine. (fol. 147r) St. Margaret emerging from the dragon. (fol. 147v) St. Barbara. (fol. 149r) St. Geneviève; an angel preventing a devil from extinguishing her taper.

Offsets on fol. 71v suggests that there was another miniature, probably for the prayer Salve regina, on the missing leaf before fol. 72 (see description of item 6 under Text).

Twenty-four small miniatures illustrating the Occupations of the Months and Zodiac signs, mostly set in landscapes, in the lower margin of the calendar: (fol. 4r) Feasting; Aquarius. (fol. 5r) Warming; Pisces. (fol. 6r) Pruning; Aries. (fol. 7r) Woman in a garden holding a flower; Taurus. (fol. 8r) Man with a branch; Gemini: a naked couple embracing (smudged). (fol. 9r) Scything (? - only the handle visible); Cancer: a crayfish-like creature. (fol. 10r) Hay-making; Leo. (fol. 11r) Reaping; Virgo: a woman next to a wheat-sheaf. (fol. 12r) Grape-treading; Libra: a pair of scales. (fol. 13r) Sowing; Scorpio. (fol. 14r) Knocking acorns from trees to feed hogs; Saggitarius. (fol. 15r) Killing a hog; Capricorn.

Four-sided borders to pages with miniatures, two-sided borders in the calendar, one-sided borders in the fore-edge margin of pages with a two- or three-line inital. All these borders of stylized foliage and flowers on a plain parchment or painted ground, and naturalistic foliage and flowers on geometrically-shaped panels of painted gold, occasionally containing hybrid creatures (e.g. fol. 26r) and/or animals, some of them engaged in human activities, e.g. a hybrid carrying an infant (fol. 16r), an animal playing a pipe and drum (fol. 21v), a caped fox in a pulpit preaching to a congregation of chickens (fol. 77r), and a Pelican in her Piety (fol. 56r), birds, insects, etc.

Two- or three-line initials in red, blue and white, with painted gold decoration, at the start of the hours, psalms, capitula, etc.; one-line initials in painted gold on a brown or red ground, alternating (red, brown and blue grounds used on fols. 26v-31v, brownish red and blue only on fols. 134r-150v), to verses and other minor textual divisions; similar line-fillers in the litany.

Binding

Modern sewing probably on five cords, without endbands; re-cased in 16/17th-century French limp parchment over parchment 'boards'; the covers tooled in gilt with foliate and interlace designs within framing lines (the gilt mostly rubbed away); the spine with four (of an original six) thin parchment sewing supports (no longer functional) emerging from the spine at the joints, and then passing back under the boards; the spine decorated with dense interlace designs in gilt; modern flyleaves without watermarks conjoint with the pastdowns; the edges of the leaves gilt.

Acquisition

Given to the Bodleian in 1939 by his widow,Mrs. E. O. Buchanan, when it was accessioned as MS. Lat. liturg. e. 29; re-referenced as MS. Buchanan e. 8 in 1941.

Provenance

Presumably written and decorated in Paris c.1500, but with no indications of the original owner.

Unidentified French(?) owner, 16th/17th century: the added leaves with hymns at the beginning and end of the volume were probably added at the time of the present binding.

John Buchanan: inscribed in pencil with the 'Descriptive list' number, '8.', in the top left corner of the upper pastedown.

Rt. Hon T. R. Buchanan (1846–1911); the volume was perhaps re-cased for him, since the flyleaves and pastedowns show no evidence of having passed through booksellers' hands).