Two leaves from a Breviary, probably Use of Canterbury, in Latin, on parchment [England (probably Canterbury), early years of fifteenth century] Two leaves, one apparently almost complete and with a vertical stub from blank border of other half of bifolium, the other with much of lower border trimmed away, both with double column, 45 lines of a professional English bookhand, rubrics in red, paragraph marks in blue, numerous 2-line initials in blue with scrolling red penwork filling the borders, some scuffs and discoloured areas, but overall in good condition, both approximately 250 by 200mm. The presence of the Norman saint, Ouen (here “Audoenus episcopus”, a seventh-century Frankish bishop and advisor to the Merovingian king, Theuderic III) is highly suggestive that these leaves were produced for use in Canterbury. The veneration of St. Ouen was firmly confined to Normandy and the Channel Islands in the Middle Ages, but in the early decades of the eleventh century a substantial relic of his corpse was presented to Canterbury by Emma, the Norman wife of King Cnut the Great of England, Denmark and Norway.
Two leaves from a Breviary, probably Use of Canterbury, in Latin, on parchment [England (probably Canterbury), early years of fifteenth century] Two leaves, one apparently almost complete and with a vertical stub from blank border of other half of bifolium, the other with much of lower border trimmed away, both with double column, 45 lines of a professional English bookhand, rubrics in red, paragraph marks in blue, numerous 2-line initials in blue with scrolling red penwork filling the borders, some scuffs and discoloured areas, but overall in good condition, both approximately 250 by 200mm. The presence of the Norman saint, Ouen (here “Audoenus episcopus”, a seventh-century Frankish bishop and advisor to the Merovingian king, Theuderic III) is highly suggestive that these leaves were produced for use in Canterbury. The veneration of St. Ouen was firmly confined to Normandy and the Channel Islands in the Middle Ages, but in the early decades of the eleventh century a substantial relic of his corpse was presented to Canterbury by Emma, the Norman wife of King Cnut the Great of England, Denmark and Norway.
.jpg?w=400 "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
