Beschreibung:

BOOK OF HOURS, use of Paris, in Latin and French, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [Paris c.1400 and ?eastern France 1450s] 204 x 145mm. iv + 122 + iii leaves: 1-2 8 , 3 8 (i a 15th-century replacement), 4-8 8 , 9 8 (i a 15th-century replacement), 10 8 , 11 8 (iii a 15th-century replacement), 12 8 (i a 15th-century replacement), 13-14 15 10 , with two horizontally written catchwords remaining in the inner margin of final versos, COMPLETE as replaced. 15 lines written in gothic bookhands between two verticals and 16 horizontals ruled in grey, justification: 87 x 54mm, rubrics in red, text capitals touched red, one- to three-line initials with staves of burnished gold on grounds of pink or blue patterned with white with infills of the other colour, line-endings of the same colours, eight three-line initials with staves of red or blue on burnished gold grounds with foliate infills leading to bar borders of burnished gold with vine leaves in red, blue and burnished gold, some on painted stems and some on hairline tendrils, interspersed with gold disks, 15th-century additions of PANEL BORDERS ON EVERY PAGE, in the outer margin, of hairline tendrils linking vine leaves and disks in burnished gold and small painted flowers and fruit, centred around a larger acanthus or floral motif in blue, red, pink, green and liquid gold, the four 15th-century replacement leaves with large initials with staves of blue or pink patterned with white with foliate infills on grounds of burnished gold below FOUR LARGE ARCH-TOPPED MINIATURES SURROUNDED BY FULL BORDERS, on f.17 of branches of acanthus, flowers and fruit in blue, green, pink, red and liquid gold interspersed with gold disks in a gold frame, three with bars of burnished gold and similar branches between hairline tendrils linking vine leaves and disks in burnished gold and small painted flowers and fruit (offsets of at least twelve pilgrim badges on third leaf at front, slight rubbing to miniature f.89v, a few borders rubbed, slight staining in margins). Late 15th- or early 16th-century German calf over wooden boards blindstamped to a panel design, the upper cover with a central compartment imitating a brocade pattern within a border framed by double fillets, with fra(n)sicus lege(n)d in black gothic letters at the top and flowers and foliage in the other compartments, the lower cover bordered with the flower and foliage compartments to all sides around a saltire of double fillets with a rose in a roundel in each triangular section, a separate piece of leather covering the spine, metal centre- and cornerpieces and attachments for clasps (removed from a life of St Francis at an unknown date, spine exposed, upper and lower covers detached, worn with small cut on lower cover, lacking two cornerpieces, the pin from one cornerpiece and the fasteners for the clasps). PROVENANCE: 1. The liturgical use and the saints of the Calendar and Litany show that the manuscript was originally intended for Paris use, and the original illumination suggests that it was produced in that city around 1400. 2. Around 50 years after its completion the owner decided to embellish and update its decoration. The opening texts of the Offices to be given miniatures were excised and new leaves with miniatures and rewritten texts inserted. A border was added to the outer margin of every page of the manuscript, even the originally blank versos ff.64v, 112v and 122v. From the style of illumination, these additions were made in a provincial centre, perhaps in eastern France. 3. Hugues Bernard of Mâcon, born 1465 : name in margin on f.1, family notes f.122v and the final added leaves recording the death of his grandfather, Jean Bernard l'ancien, with dates left blank; his own birth to Jehan Bernard le jeune in 1465 and a long description of his marriage to Antoine (?), second daughter of Maître Anthoine (?) Dauphine notaire (?) royal and bourgeois of Mâcon, in 1487 at St Vincent, Mâcon, which was celebrated with some splendo