Beschreibung:

Book of Hours, Use of Rouen, Illuminated Latin Manuscript on Parchment. Rouen, c. 1490-1510. Quarto-format parchment manuscript featuring eight full-page miniatures with architectural borders; the first calendar leaf with a complete illuminated border featuring dragons; each calendar page illuminated with two border miniatures depicting the activity that symbolizes the month and the zodiacal sign, along with an ornamental panel containing an abstract/plant-themed border design: January: feasting and Aquarius; February: warming by the fire and Pisces; March: pruning grape vines and Aries; April: a courting couple (man offers woman flowers) and Taurus; May: courting couple (riding together on a horse) and Gemini; June: sowing the field and Cancer; July: harvesting grain and Leo; August: gathering seed and Virgo; September: stamping on grapes in a barrel and Libra; October: sowing seeds and Scorpio; November: tending swine and Sagittarius; December: butchering swine and Capricorn; calendar text in French with entries in red and blue, and major feast days in gold, with some spaces left blank (calendar includes feast days that pertain to Rouen); no catchwords; seventy five leaves (of seventy-nine? lacking: ii 1, ii 9, iv 5, and vii 6); large illuminated miniatures as follows: folio 19: the Visitation; folio 26: the Crucifixion; folio 27 Pentecost; folio 28: Annunciation to the shepherds; folio 34: Adoration of the Magi; folio 37: Flight into Egypt; folio 39: Wounds of Christ; and folio 43: King David kneeling in prayer; the miniatures are characterized by architectural and arch-topped borders that feature decorated and fanciful columns sometimes terminating in clawed feet, executed in a markedly russet palette with warm browns and deep oranges accented in gold; the border designs found on each text leaf include the often seen fruit, acanthus, and flower motifs, along with repeated use of painted pearls and grotesque dragon-like creatures; text in Latin, twenty-five lines per page, executed in a brown ink, with smaller colored and gilt initials and line-fill; bound in an early 19th century blind- and gilt-tooled calfskin binding, with parchment pastedowns and fly leaves, front board detached; ex libris Henry A. Whitney, with a gift inscription on ffep dated January 17, 1818, first leaf of calendar rubbed, toned, with some loss of paint, 6 1/4 x 4 1/2 in.