Book Of Hours (Use Of Paris); In Latin And French, Illuminated Manuscript On Parchment -

BOOK DESCRIPTION: LOVELY BOOK OF HOURS BY ONE OF THE MOST SKILLFUL PARISIAN ILLUMINATOR OF HIS GENERATION. In Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on parchment, France, Paris, c. 1460-1470. Dimensions 176 x 123 mm., 147 folios, complete, written in brown ink in a cursive bookhand on 15 lines, SIX HISTORIATED INITIALS, FIFTEEN LARGE MINIATURES. BINDING: 16th-century(?) gold-tooled brown morocco, attachment points for two clasps (both lost).ILLUSTRATION: An undoubtedly Parisian Book of Hours attributed to an artist in the circle of the Coëtivy Master, as indicated by the rendering of faces and draperies, the decorative scheme of the borders, and the designs for the miniatures. The Coëtivy Master (perhaps identified as Colin d'Amiens, active in Paris c. 1455 to c. 1485) and his workshop illuminated a great number of Books of Hours and created designs for printed books and tapestries; this master has been called the "most important artist practicing in Paris" in the third quarter of the fifteenth century. The fifteen large miniatures comprise a complete cycle for a Book of Hours; their borders are particularly richly decorated. PROVENANCE: Copied and illuminated in France and almost certainly in Paris c. 1460-1470. The inclusion of French prayers (or poems) and historiated initials for the virgin Saints Genevieve and Avia before the Hours of the Virgin and the richness of the borders hint that it could have been made to order as a commission. Richard de Lomenie, Paris, late 19th- or early-20th-century bookplate with arms and motto "Je maintiendray," with pasted-in circular label stamped "8"; private North American Collection. CONDITION: some miniatures rubbed or with isolated losses of pigment, some folios with cockling, some dampstaining to rear board and flyleaf, otherwise in excellent condition. Full description and images available. (BOH 168)