Beschreibung:

BOOK OF HOURS, use of Utrecht, in Dutch, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [Haarlem and Zwolle, ca. 1470-1480] 195 x 143mm., 165 leaves plus one medieval flyleaf at beginning, COMPLETE, collation : 1 6 , 2-20 8 [miniatures on single leaves inserted before 3/1, 6/5, 8/7, 10/8, 13/4, 15/5, 19/1], 20 lines ruled in brown, justification 100 x 66mm., written in black ink in a gothic textura, rubrics in red, one-line initials in alternating red and blue, two-line initials in red or blue with green, red or blue penwork decoration with marginal coloured pen-flourish extensions, 41 THREE- AND FOUR-LINE INITIALS in blue or green with white or yellow tracery on gold ground infilled with foliate decoration, each with an outer baguette border and upper and lower borders of sprays of gold petals, flowers and acorn leaves, 8 LARGER INITIALS (6 to 10- line) in blue with white tracery on gold ground containing painted flowers and foliage, within ¾ baguette frames and full border of sprays of gold petals, painted foliage and flowers, containing angels, birds and grotesque figures, 7 VERY FINE FULL-PAGE MINIATURES IN ARCHED COMPARTMENTS, WITH FULL BORDERS of gold petals, flowers and acorn leaves BINDING: Contemporary brown calf over wooden boards, stamped in blind, inner and outer intersecting double fillets containing small star tools, surrounding a centre panel of the Paschal Lamb and corner medallions of the four Evangelists' symbols, with the legend: Siet:dat:Lam:Goe/des: dat:boert die:sonden/d'verl , (rebacked, joint of upper cover cracked, lacking one of two clasps). Probably a Haarlem binding [Weale 295; P. Verheyden, article in Het Boek xxxi, pp. 197-239 [1952-54] cites other examples of the Lamb and Flag panel PROVENANCE: 1. The convent of St. Gertrude in Amsterdam (Franciscan Tertiaries 1450-56, then Canonesses Regular of St. Augustine, suppressed in 1585). Inscription, dated 1652 on f. 1 ' Dit boeck compt uijt Sint Geertrudijden clooster, binnen Amsterdam. Ita attestor ' [name deleted]. 2. Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex (1773-1843) with his bookplate and shelf mark. Sale in London, Evans, 31 July 1844, lot 189 (purchased by Bohn) 3. Edward Francis Searles of Methuen, Massachusetts, bequeathed to 4. B. Allen Rowland of Lawrence, Mass., who placed the manuscript on deposit in the Beinecke Library, Yale University, in 1957 TEXT: f.1 ruled but unwritten; ff.2-13v Calendar of Utrecht with entries for every day, including in red 'Iheroen martelair; (Aug. 17); f. 14 ruled but unwritten; ff. 16-43v Hours of the Virgin; ff. 45-62v Hours of the Cross; ff. 64-80v Hours of Eternal Wisdom; ff. 82-101v Hours of the Holy Spirit; ff. 103-119 Seven Penitential Psalms and Litany; ff. 121-148 Office of the Dead; ff. 150-154v Prayers for Communion " Dit ghebet salmen lesen mit ynnicheden alsmen ten heiligen sacrament gaen wil "; ff. 155-162 Mass of the Virgin; ff. 163-164 Verses of Saint Gregory; ff. 164v-165v Suffrages of the Holy Cross, Saints Peter, Clare and Barbara DECORATION: Illuminated by the 'Masters of the Zwolle Bible'. The present manuscript is particularly interesting as it demonstrates a division of manuscript production between different parts of the Northern Netherlands. As there were more centres of book production than specialized workshops of accomplished artists, it allowed a manuscript copied in Haarlem or its vicinity to be supplied with miniatures painted in another centre, such as Zwolle. St. Jeroen in red in the calendar points to the area between Leiden and Haarlem [see note above]. The pen-flourish decoration on the text pages finds its closest analogies in manuscripts and printed books made for and belonging to the Monastery at Beverwijk to the North of Haarlem and possibly made there. [cf. W.C.M. Wüstefeld, De boeken van de Grote of Sint Bavokerk , Hilversum 1989, fig. 105b]. Although the manuscript was copied in Haarlem, the miniatures were painted at Zwolle in the Eastern Netherlands. The artists have been named th