Beschreibung:

DE CROY-LUXEMBOURG HOURS, use of Thérouanne, in Latin and French, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [Paris, c.1470] 176 x 125mm. 127 leaves: 1 5(of 6, lacking i), 2 8, 3 7(of 8, lacking viii and with i misbound as vii), 4 7(of 8, iv cancelled blank), 5-6 8, 7 6(of 8, lacking i and vi with miniatures), 8 7(of 8, lacking iv with miniature), 9-11 8, 12 9(ix a singleton), 13 6(of 8, i cancelled blank, lacking iv with miniature), 14-17 8, catchwords in centre lower margin of final versos, 20 lines in brown ink in a lettre bâtarde between two verticals and 21 horizontals ruled in beige, top and bottom across margins, text justification: 101 x 68mm, rubrics in red, one- and two-line initials of liquid gold on grounds of blue or brown with gold decoration, line-endings of similar type, four-line initials with staves of pink or blue with foliate decoration in gold against grounds and infills of the other colour with monochrome foliage, NINE LARGE ARCH-TOPPED MINIATURES accompanied by full-page borders with divided grounds with blue and gold acanthus and shaped fields of liquid gold with sprays of naturalistic flowers and fruit, occasional birds, insects and grotesques and two with monograms and coats of arms, SEVEN SMALL MINIATURES with panel borders (small pigment losses or surface abrasion to all miniatures, first and final two folios torn and lacking parts of margins, three further leaves with marginal losses, first five and final ten folios darkened and stained in margins, slight spotting and staining throughout). Brown calf gilt by Quannone, stamped 'à la cathédrale' and spine gilt with leafy arabesques (rubbed at extremities). PROVENANCE: 1. Philippe de Croÿ, comte de Porcéan (d.1511), and his wife Jacqueline de Luxembourg: coats of arms on ff.6, 21 and 66. The first two are those of the aristocratic family de Croÿ and the third, in a lozenge, shows these arms impaling Luxembourg. Philippe was the son of Antoine de Croy (d.1475), one of the most powerful lords at the Burgundian court, and cousin of the Philippe de Croÿ, comte de Chimay, who was a patron of Simon Marmion and Rogier van der Weyden Jacqueline was the daughter of Louis de Luxembourg, comte de Saint Pol and connétable de France (d.1475). The use of Thérouanne would have been appropriate for the Luxembourg St Pol estates and although most of the prayers are in the masculine form the suffrage to John the Baptist is in the feminine. The initials 'J' and 'A' tied with a green cord are, apparently, as inscrutable as those in the background of the van der Weyden portrait of Philippe's cousin. 2. ?Charles de Créquy, maréchal de France (1573-1638): inscription 'A jamais le seray votre ?humble servyteur C de Crequy' written in a 16th-century hand beside 16 to 20 December in the Calendar (f.5v). The inscription may have been written by an earlier member of the house of Créquy, to which the maréchal's mother belonged, and to which he was heir. The maréchal combined a brilliant military career with the acquisition of a splendid art collection. When it was broken up after his death many of the best paintings were acquired by Cardinal Richelieu. 3. The manuscript clearly continued in France: there are various inscriptions in French, including one of the 17th century signed E.N. (f.10v), and a marginal note on f.2 and poem on the final leaf in a 19th-century hand. A French bookseller's description, with the annotation 23/3/36, is pasted inside the rear cover. 4. G. Fesch: bookplate inside upper cover CONTENT: Calendar ff.1-5; Gospel Extracts ff.6-10; Obsecro te ... ff.10v-13; prayers to be said at the celebration of Mass ff.14-16; Suffrages ff.16v-19v: to Sts Michael f.16v, John the Baptist f.17, Christopher f.17v, Sebastian f.18v, Nicholas f.19v, prayers f.20r&v (misbound folio, should follow f.13); Office of the Virgin use of Thérouanne ff.21-64: matins f.21, lauds f.36v, prime f.45, terce f.49, sext, lacking opening f.52, none f.54, vespers f.56, compline, lacking opening