Beschreibung:

BOOK OF HOURS, use of Utrecht, in Dutch and Latin, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM, [Utrecht, c.1425].
BOOK OF HOURS, use of Utrecht, in Dutch and Latin, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM, [Utrecht, c.1425]. 133 x 87mm. i (former pastedown) + 160 leaves + i (former pastedown): 1-2 6 , 3-10 8 , 11 7 (?of 8, viii cancelled blank), 12 8 , 13 6 , 14-15 8 , 16 6 , 17-20 8 , 21 9 (?of 8 + ix), apparently COMPLETE , catchwords in the lower margins of final versos, signatures, 13 lines written in black ink in a gothic bookhand between two verticals and 14 horizontals ruled in violet, ruled space: 71 x 51mm, vertical prickings, rubrics in red, text capitals touched red, one- and two-line initials alternately red or blue, line-endings in red and blue, two two-line initials in gold flourished with red and blue, KL in calendar alternately red with purple flourishing or blue with red, TWENTY-SEVEN LARGE GOLD INITIALS WITH SINGLE BARS AND BORDERS of leaf and flower sprays in green and gold, FOUR VERY LARGE INITIALS WITH FOLIATE INFILLS ON GOLD GROUNDS WITH BARS AND FULL BORDERS of leaf sprays in gold, green, red, purple and blue (corners of some leaves repaired, crease to border f.84, wear to border and initial f.13, text worn but legible f.1). Contemporary blind-stamped brown calf over wooden boards with unbevelled edges, clasp with metal attachments and fastener (rebacked, wormed and worn). PROVENANCE : (1) The Office of the Virgin and the Calendar are for the use of Utrecht; the style of illumination and flourishing indicate an origin in Utrecht itself. A prayer to the Virgin in Dutch has been added in a careful 16th-century hand with red initials on f.97. (2) Christie's, 17 November 2004, lot 18. CONTENT : Calendar ff.1-12v; Office of the Virgin, use of Utrecht, ff.13-83; Hours of the Cross ff.84-97; added prayer f.97r and v; Hours of the Holy Spirit ff.98-119; Hours of the Eternal Wisdom ff.120-160v; all in Dutch with some rubrics in Latin. ILLUMINATION : Both content and illumination make this a fine example of Dutch manuscript production. Each office opens with a full border and a very large initial on burnished gold, that on f.13 with the foliate infill issuing from the mouth of a green dragon – little dragons are typical of Utrecht decoration; each subsequent hour within the offices begins with a large initial in gold and a partial border. The illumination is in the ‘colourful style’ that developed in Utrecht c.1425, where red, blue and green leaves are interspersed with the richly gilded leaves and distinctive bars. The generous stems and leaves within the large initials and the density of motifs in the full borders suggest that the book is one of the earlier examples of the style, which is particularly associated with the Masters of Zweder van Culemborg (see A. Korteweg, Kriezels , Aubergines en Takkenbossen , 1992, pp.37, 41; H. Defoer et al., The Golden Age of Dutch Manuscript Illumination , 1990, pp.98-116).