Prayer book with calendar and Short Hours of the Cross, in German; Germany (Aachen), 1495

Title

Prayer book with calendar and Short Hours of the Cross, in German; Germany (Aachen), 1495

Shelfmark

MS. Germ. g. 1

Place of origin

Germany, Aachen

Date

1495

Language

Latin

German

Contents

Form

codex

Support

parchment

Physical extent

iii (paper) + 91 + iii (paper) leaves

Hands

Gothic textualis, by Theodericus Clocker alias Dietrich Klocker

Decoration

One full-page miniature of the Virgin of the Apocalypse: she suckles the infant, has a crescent moon at her feet, and is flanked by two music-making angels; within a full border; facing a page with a five-line champie initial and full border (fols. 70v–71r). There are stubs of excised leaves before many of the major textual divisions, suggesting further miniatures have been removed.

One nine-line and seven six- to eight-line initials merging into full borders with flowers, thistles, birds, butterflies, etc., at the main textual divisions (fols. 15r, 21r, 23r, 33r, 35r, 54r, 72r, 81r). Five similar three-line initials and borders at lesser divisions (fols. 16r, 17r, 18r, 19r, 20r). Five- or six-line champie initials, accompanied by a three-sided border (fols. 30r, 82v). Two- to six-line champie initials at individual prayers.

One-line initials alternately gold with black penwork or blue with red penwork.

Borders are of the ‘strewn flower’ type derived from Flemish models.

Binding

19th century leather (straight-grained morocco?) over pasteboards, each cover framed by a blind-tooled ornamental border, the spine lettered ‘missal’ in gilt black-letter characters; blue-grey endpapers; the edges of the leaves gilt; worn and extensively restored.

Acquisition

‘Bought by the Bodleian at Sotheby’s sale 12.11.1889 for £1.17 (lot 63)’ (fol. 1v, and fol. 97r, upside down).

Provenance

Written in 1495 by Dietrich Klocker / Theodericus Clocker, canon of Aachen, for Johannes Munten, city councillor of Aachen, and his wife Marie Beestoltzs (fols. 80v, 94r; cf. the dates on fols. 4v, 20v). Theodericus Clocker is recorded as a canon regular from 1464–1531 at the monastery of St. Johann-Baptist, Aachen; he completed writing of a copy of Caesarius von Heisterbach (Aachen, Stadtbibliothek, MS 49) on 18 October 1468; and in 1505 an illuminated prayerbook on behalf of the Mayor of Aachen, Peter Bestoltz, for his daughters Elisabeth and Lutkardis (Darmstadt, Hessische Landes- und Hochschulbibliothek, MS. 964). The Necrology of the Canons shows that he and his family were generous donors, and records that he was ordained in 1474, and later became subprior: on 4 April 1531, ‘Obiit frater Theodericus Clocker, supprior, canonicus et sacerdos huius domus.’ (J. Greving, ‘Geschichte des Klosters der Windesheimer Chorherren zu Aachen’, Zeitschrift des Aachener Geschichtsvereins, 13 (1891), 1–122 at 77). For further discussion, see H. Knaus, ‘Stundenbücher aus Aachen’, Archiv für Geschichte des Buchwesens, 11 (1971), cols. 1729–46 (reprinted in his collected works, Studien zur Handschriftenkunde (1991), pp. 125–38), and F. Wagner, ‘Der Codex Nr. 49 der Stadtbibliothek Aachen’, Studia codicologica, Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur, 124, ed. by K. Treu (Berlin, 1977) pp. 503–09.

An obit(?) is added by an early 16th-century hand to the calendar, for ‘myn vader’ (1 May), presumably by a child of the original patron: the death of ‘Johannes Munten, consul urbis Aquensis’ is recorded on 1 May 1509 (Greving, op. cit, p. 98); another note is added, apparently by the same hand, at 26 August.

Sir Robert Harry Inglis (1786–1855), with ink stamp, ‘R. H. Inglis’ encircling his crest, a half lion, rampant, holding a five-pointed star (fol. 4r); included in the sale of the ‘remaining part’ of his library: