Beschreibung:

BOOK OF HOURS, use of Utrecht, in Dutch with some Latin rubrics, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [Haarlem, c.1470] 160 x 113mm. ii paper + 74 leaves + ii paper: 1 7 (vii a singleton), 2 4 , 3-4 8 , 5 9 (i an inserted miniature), 6-8 8 , 9 7 (of 8, viii cancelled blank), 10 7 (i an inserted miniature), COMPLETE, 19 lines written in grey-black ink in a gothic bookhand, between two verticals and 20 horizontals ruled in grey, justification: 99 x 60mm, rubrics in red, text initials touched red, one- and two-line initials alternately in red and blue, four-line initials with staves of burnished gold on divided grounds of pink and green, red and green or red and blue with white tracery, eleven with extensions of acanthus in red, blue and green with liquid gold and burnished gold disks, ten with single bar of burnished gold and partial borders of acanthus with stylised fruit, flowers, birds and animals, THREE LARGE INITIALS with staves of blue, red and pink acanthus with infills of stylised fruit and acanthus on burnished gold grounds with three-quarter burnished gold bars and similar borders, TWO FULL-PAGE MINIATURES with burnished gold frames surrounded by similar borders (slight rubbing to border and miniature f.68, areas of discolouration in calendar margins). 18th-century speckled calf gilt, cover with gilt roll-tooled border, spine in compartments, each decorated with gilt floral tool, gilt edges (lightly rubbed). PROVENANCE: 1. The calendar indicates that the book was made for use in the County of Holland from the presence in red of St Jeroen (16 August) and specifically in Haarlem from the celebration in red of St Bavo (1 Oct) the patron of Haarlem's great parish church. The illumination is localisable to Haarlem. 2. Notes inside upper cover: 'No 6, lot 255 - 9587'; cutting from bookseller's catalogue in French where this manuscript is no. 4434; two manuscript sheets with description of the manuscript in French. CONTENT: Calendar ff.1-11; Hours of the Eternal Wisdom ff.12-27: matins f.12, lauds f.16, prime f.17v, terce f.19, sext f.20v, none f.22, vespers f.23v, compline f.25; Office of the Virgin ff.28-67: matins f.29, lauds f.37v, prime f.45v, terce f.49, sext f.51v, none f.54v, vespers f.57v, compline f.62v; Short Hours of the Cross ff.68-74: matins f.67, prime f.70, terce f.71, sext f.71v, none f.72v, vespers f.73, compline f.73v. ILLUMINATION: The miniatures, with their angular outlines, strong colours and pale flesh tones, are very close to those by the Master of the Haarlem Bible in a Book of Hours in New York (Pierpont Morgan Library, M.1031). The figures have the same slightly oblong heads, which are small in relation to the bodies in their emphatically modelled drapery. The Master, who seems to have specialised in Books of Hours, is named from a three-volume Bible in the Stadsbibliotheek, Haarlem, (Mss 187 C 1-3, The Golden Age of Dutch Manuscript Painting , Utrecht and New York, 1990, pp.233-238). Instead of the borders with stiff 'branches of twigs' which are characteristic of the Master of the Haarlem Bible, this manuscript has sinuous acanthus inhabited by lively birds and animals, a stag, bear, monkey, wolf etc. They and the illuminated initials follow the same patterns, sometimes exactly, as a Book of Hours from the Library of William Foyle, sold in these rooms 11 July 2000 (lot 64), where the later borders by the Delft Monkey Master obscured its Haarlem origins. The Master of the Haarlem Bible kept patterns for miniatures as well as borders. The Virgin and Child comes from a composition originated by Rogier van der Weyden Reliance on prints may have encouraged the Master's linear style, which, in this and the Foyle Hours, gains a painterly richness from the distinctive colours and burnished gold. The subjects of the miniatures are: f.28 The Virgin and Child in an interior with views of a landscape f. 68 Christ on the Cross between the Virgin and St John