Beschreibung:

BOOK OF HOURS, use of Rouen, in Latin and French, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [Rouen c.1455] 174 x 129mm. iii + 144 + ii leaves, the first and last as pastedowns, modern pencilled pagination followed here: 1 1 2, 2 8, 3 6, 4-5 8, 6 1 0, 7-11 8, 12 1 0, 13-18 8, COMPLETE, 15 lines written in dark brown ink in a gothic bookhand between two verticals and 16 horizontals ruled in pink, justification: 93 x 63mm, rubrics in red, text capitals touched yellow, one-line initials with staves of burnished gold on grounds of pink or blue with white decoration with infills in the contrasting colour, line-endings in burnished gold on divided grounds of pink and blue with white decoration, numerous large initials with staves of blue with white decoration on grounds of burnished gold with foliate infills in blue, pink, red and green, two-line initials on rectos with hairline tendrils linking leaves and disks in burnished gold extending into margins, all two-line initials accompanied by a side border in the outer margin with a central acanthus, flower or fruit spray in liquid gold, blue, green, pink and red between hairline tendrils linking leaves and disks in burnished gold with small flowers and fruit in pink, red and blue, three four-line initials accompanied by similar borders to outer margins with single bars of burnished gold, FIFTEEN ARCH-TOPPED MINIATURES ACCOMPANIED BY FULL-PAGE BORDERS, and over large initials with bars of burnished gold, most with bands of pink and blue patterned with white, the borders of similar type, that on p.53 of flower and acanthus sprays interspersed with gold disks, five with a figure or roundels (some borders and miniatures slightly rubbed, some ink smudging, two faces repainted on p.74, some damp staining and offsetting to final folios). British 19th-century red morocco gilt, turn-ins gilt (rubbed). ONE OF THE EARLIEST MANUSCRIPTS ILLUMINATED BY THE MASTER OF THE GENEVA LATINI PROVENANCE: 1. The liturgical use and the style of the illumination show that the manuscript was produced in Rouen. Among the Rouen saints in the calendar is St Romain in gold (23 October); he is invoked in the Litany along with Sts Ouen and Austreberta. The prayers are in the masculine but the illumination was presumably executed for the lady kneeling by the Lamentation on p.265. 2. E.M. Cox: bookplate inside upper cover. 3. Lt Denys L. Milner: his sale Sotheby's, London, 17 November 1943, lot 362; bought by the firm of Robinson, especially noted for their purchase of the remainder of the manuscripts of Sir Thomas Phillipps. 4. Philip Robinson: from his private library, sold by order of his executors at Sotheby's, London, 6 December 1993, lot 73. CONTENT: Calendar pp.1-24; Gospel extracts pp.25-36; Obsecro te pp.37-44; O intemerata pp.44-52; Office of the Virgin, use of Rouen pp.53-156: matins p.25, lauds followed by suffrages to the Holy Spirit, Trinity, Sts John the Baptist, Peter, Lawrence, Nicolas, Catherine, Margaret and for peace p.74, prime p.105, terce p.118, sext p.123, none p.129, vespers p.135, compline p.147; Penitential Psalms and Litany pp.157-192; Hours of the Cross pp.193-198; Hours of the Holy Spirit pp.199-204; Office of the Dead, use of Rouen and other Norman dioceses pp.205-264; Fifteen Joys pp.265-277; Seven Requests pp.277-284. ILLUMINATION: The handsome illumination is by the Master of the Geneva Latini, more appropriately known as the Master of the Échevinage de Rouen from the series of secular manuscripts he painted for the town council of Rouen from the 1450s onwards. His miniatures, with their carefully defined forms and lucid colour-patterning in gold, blue, pink and green, had a profound influence on Norman illumination. His Books of Hours were much in demand and set the design and style of Rouen Hours in the second half of the fifteenth century, see lot 31. The present Hours is one of the earliest manuscripts attributed to the Master. In the borders, painted motifs and hairline tendrils w