Beschreibung:

THE DES FOURS HOURS, use of Rome, in Latin and French, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [Lorraine, c.1510-20] 194 x 135mm. 129 leaves, pencil foliation 1-129 in lower outer corner including final endleaf and skipping a leaf between f.91 and f.92: 1 4, 2-15 8, 16 7 (i a singleton), 17 6 (iii and vi singletons) COMPLETE, cut signature marks centre lower edge of some rectos, 28 lines written in black ink in a gothic bookhand between two horizontals and 29 verticals ruled in dark pink, prickings survive on outer edges of leaves, text justification: 132 x 88mm, rubrics in red and blue, one-, two- and three-line initials in liquid gold on grounds of blue and red with liquid gold decoration, line-endings of similar type, three-line initials opening major devotions with monochrome heads in infills, ELEVEN LARGE MINIATURES, one accompanied by a full-page border with acanthus, strawberry and daisy sprays, chevrons, birds and the arms of the original owner, FIVE SMALL MINIATURES (occasional spotting and staining in margins, small miniature on f. 68v smudged, a few drops of sealing-wax at edges of first and final three leaves). Original boards with remnants of purple velvet, within an old chemise binding of purple stained doeskin (some worming of boards, the edges of the chemise binding trimmed and all but the pockets of the doeskin faded). A RARE AND IMPRESSIVE EXAMPLE OF MANUSCRIPT ILLUMINATION IN LORRAINE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 16TH CENTURY, WITH NOTES DOCUMENTING ITS CONTINUOUS OWNERSHIP BY NOBLES IN THE SERVICE OF THE DUKES OF LORRAINE AND THE ROYAL HOUSEHOLD PROVENANCE: 1. Marguerite de Boyseleaw, wife of Nicholas II Des Fours, controller-general and member of the household of the Duke of Lorraine: her arms in a lozenge in the lower margin of the border on folio 17v. From her husband's position and the continued presence of the family, and manuscript, in Nancy it seems most likely that this was where the Hours was made. The Calendar provides no evidence for localisation; no feasts have been entered. The only remarkable inclusion in the Litany is the joint invocation to Berard de Carbio, Peter, Accursius, Adjustus and Otho, the protomartyrs of the Franciscan order. Sent by St Francis to preach the Gospel to the Moors in 1219, they were tortured and beheaded in Morocco in 1220. Their cult was approved in 1481. 2. Joachim Des Fours, second son of Nicolas II, and seigneur de Mont: notes recording his marriage to Anne de Lescut, daughter of the lieutenant of Nancy in August 1536, the births and deaths of their eleven children and Anne's death in 1551 on ff.1-v and 129. 3. Catherine Des Fours (b.1547 as recorded on f.3) and her two husbands Pierre Jau (d.1567), treasurer-general and counsellor to the Duke of Lorraine in Nancy, and Nicolas Rose, seigneur de Dessay and prevost of Chaumont: notes recording these marriages and the births of her eleven children including Claude Rose (b.1576) on ff.117-119 and 121v-122. 4. Marguerite Rose, daughter of Claude Rose, seigneur de Dessay et de Donnemarie, conseiller du roi at Chaumont and her husband Jean Depoirreson, seigneur de Chamarandes, conseiller et procureur du roi at Chaumont: records of their marriage and the births of their children, including Claude (b.1632), written by Jean on ff.123-124v. 5. Claude Depoirreson: notes in his hand recording his marriage to Germaine Garrofroy and the births of his children (ff.124v-128v), the genealogy of the Roses (ff.119v-120), and various marginal annotations concerning his ancestors and updating the lives of his children until 1700. CONTENT: Des Fours family records ff.1-4; Calendar (blank but for headings and days) ff.7-12; Extracts from the Gospel of John ff.13-17; Hours of the Virgin, use of Rome ff.17v-36v: matins f.17v, lauds f.21v, prime f.25v, terce f.27v, sext f.29, none f.30, vespers f.32, compline f.35; Hours of the Cross ff.37-39v; Hours of the Holy Spirit ff.40-41v; Hours of the Conception ff.42-43v; Hours of the Holy Sacrament