Skip to content

No image available

[Book of Hours - use of Rouen].Rouen, Normandy, France, ca. 1480. Small 4to (14.3 x 19.3 cm). Latin and French illuminated manuscript on vellum. Ruled in red ink for 14 lines per page (16 in the calendar). Gothic textura, major feasts in calendar in burnished gold, others alternately red or blue. Text pages illuminated with panel borders of flowers and plants on gold, and blue and gold stylised acanthus on a plain ground. Calendar has 24 small square miniatures set into panel borders; major text divisions marked by 12 large miniatures; 2 historiated initials; hundreds of smaller initials and line-fillers throughout. 18th-century French gold-tooled red calf over pasteboards, with the title lettered in gold on the spine, gilt edges, marbled endpapers.

No image available

[Book of Hours - use of Rouen].Rouen, Normandy, France, ca. 1480. Small 4to (14.3 x 19.3 cm). Latin and French illuminated manuscript on vellum. Ruled in red ink for 14 lines per page (16 in the calendar). Gothic textura, major feasts in calendar in burnished gold, others alternately red or blue. Text pages illuminated with panel borders of flowers and plants on gold, and blue and gold stylised acanthus on a plain ground. Calendar has 24 small square miniatures set into panel borders; major text divisions marked by 12 large miniatures; 2 historiated initials; hundreds of smaller initials and line-fillers throughout. 18th-century French gold-tooled red calf over pasteboards, with the title lettered in gold on the spine, gilt edges, marbled endpapers.

by [BOOK OF HOURS]

  • Used
Condition
See description
Seller
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
't Goy-houten, Netherlands
Item Price
A$269,956.50
Or just A$269,923.78 with a
Bibliophiles Club Membership
A$40.90 Shipping to USA
Standard delivery: 10 to 21 days

More Shipping Options

Payment Methods Accepted

  • Visa
  • Mastercard
  • American Express
  • Discover
  • PayPal

About This Item

[160] ll.A Rouen Book of Hours of outstanding quality and in slightly larger than usual format, commissioned by a female patron who is portrayed in the last miniature awaiting the arrival of the Messiah.The style of illumination is typical of that practised in Rouen during the late 15th century. Characteristic features include the profuse use of gold highlights on draperies and hillsides, often cross-hatched; cross-hatching of grassy areas in landscapes; a palette predominantly based on pink, blue, brown and green, and the use of grey for the modelling of facial features, men having rather swarthy flesh, and women very pale skin; the rather peremptory manner of painting hands; the grey-blue acanthus on flat gold backgrounds for borders. Also the liturgical use points to Rouen as the place of production: the sparse calendar includes St Romanus (23 October) in gold, as well as St Evodius (8 October) and Mellonus (22 October), all three were bishops of Rouen; Romanus and Mellonus also appear in the Litany. Prayers are written for the use of a female supplicant, and a conventional portrait of the original owner appears in the final miniature.Contents: calendar, in French (f. 1r); Gospel extracts (f. 13r); prayers "Obsecro te" and "O intemerata", using feminine forms (ff. 20v); Hours of the Virgin (f. 31r), Lauds followed by suffrages to the Holy Spirit, Nicholas, and Katherine; Seven Penitential Psalms (f. 83r) followed by (f. 98r) a Litany of saints (Clement, Fabian, and Sebastian, at the bottom of f. 100r, are mistakenly repeated at the top of the verso); Hours of the Cross (f. 105) and of the Spirit (f. 109r); Office of the Dead (f. 113r); "Les quinze joies nostre dame" (f. 151r) and "Les sept requestes" of the Lord (f. 157r), both in French.Illumination: the calendar (ff. 1r-12v) has occupations of the months on rectos, and zodiac signs on versos. January: feasting; Aquarius. February: warming at a hearth; Pisces. March: pollarding; Aries. April: half-length man in a garden; Taurus. May: man and woman on horseback, hawking; Gemini: a naked man and woman embracing. June: scything; Cancer. July: reaping; Leo. August: threshing; Virgo. September: treading grapes; Libra. October: sowing seed; Scorpio. November: knocking acorns from trees to feed pigs; Sagittarius. December: killing a pig; Capricorn.The major texts are each introduced by a large miniature, including the individual Hours of the Virgin, except Vespers and Compline which have historiated initials:1. (f. 13r) The Four Evangelists, in a four-part miniature characteristic of Rouen.2. (f. 31r) The Annunciation, surrounded by a border composed of nine smaller compartments: three with angels, the other six with scenes from the life of the Virgin: Gabriel appearing to Joachim; Meeting at the Golden Gate; Nativity of the Virgin; Presentation of the Virgin; Virgin at the Loom; and Marriage of the Virgin to Joseph.3. (f. 44v) The Visitation.4. (f. 59r) The Nativity.5. (f. 65v) The Annunciation to the Shepherds.6. (f. 69v) The Adoration of the Magi.7. (f. 73r) The Presentation in the Temple; the infant has his arms outspread, visually prefiguring his Crucifixion.8. (f. 76v) The Flight into Egypt (historiated initial).9. (f. 78r) The Coronation of the Virgin (historiated initial).10. (f. 83r) King David in Penitence; the border with smaller miniatures depicting David and Goliath, and David Spying on Bathsheba.11. (f. 105r) The Crucifixion; the border with smaller miniatures depicting the Flagellation, and Christ carrying the Cross.12. (f. 109r) Pentecost.13. (f. 113r) A Funeral Service; the border with smaller miniatures depicting Death in the form of a cadaver killing a man, and a priest officiating at a burial.14. (f. 151r) The Virgin and Child enthroned, adored by an angel and a female patron.Provenance: 1) Purchased in 1949 from William H. Robinson, Pall Mall booksellers, per pencil note on verso of front flyleaf: "From Robinsons, 25/8/49", by 2) William Alfred Westropp Foyle (1885-1963), British bookseller, with his burgundy morocco gilt bookplate to front pastedown. 3) By descent to his grandson William Richard Mervyn Christopher Foyle (1943-2022), aviator and bookseller.Front board somewhat stained. A few minor blemishes (e.g. slight pigment loss in the lower right corner of the miniature on f. 31r, and slight water-staining in the lower left corner), but generally in fine, clean condition throughout, with ample margins. An erased 17th-century(?) inscription in the lower margin of fol. 2r reads "Mon dieu qui voicy [?] est bon"; the same hand may have been responsible for lightly disguising the nudity that occurs in some marginal scenes, including Aquarius (leaf 1v), Gemini (leaf 5v) and Bathsheba (leaf 83r).

Details

Bookseller
Antiquariaat FORUM BV NL (NL)
Bookseller's Inventory #
ABC_47765
Title
[Book of Hours - use of Rouen].Rouen, Normandy, France, ca. 1480. Small 4to (14.3 x 19.3 cm). Latin and French illuminated manuscript on vellum. Ruled in red ink for 14 lines per page (16 in the calendar). Gothic textura, major feasts in calendar in burnished gold, others alternately red or blue. Text pages illuminated with panel borders of flowers and plants on gold, and blue and gold stylised acanthus on a plain ground. Calendar has 24 small square miniatures set into panel borders; major text divisions marked by 12 large miniatures; 2 historiated initials; hundreds of smaller initials and line-fillers throughout. 18th-century French gold-tooled red calf over pasteboards, with the title lettered in gold on the spine, gilt edges, marbled endpapers.
Author
[BOOK OF HOURS]
Book Condition
Used
Keywords
[403A2955597B] AUTOGRAPHS, DOCUMENTS & MANUSCRIPTS|[403A2955597B] AUTOGRAPHS, DOCUMENTS & MANUSCRIPTS -> [C351C9CFA94C] Manuscripts & Documents|[KCRG291IIT91] EARLY PRINTING & MANUSCRIPTS|[KCRG291IIT91] EARLY PRINTING & MANUSCRIPTS -> [L1MC5ALI6FFI] Manus

Terms of Sale

Antiquariaat FORUM BV

30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.

About the Seller

Antiquariaat FORUM BV

Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Biblio member since 2014
't Goy-houten

About Antiquariaat FORUM BV

After its foundation at Utrecht in 1970 by Sebastiaan Hesselink, now an internationally recognized expert in the world of rare books, manuscripts & prints, Antiquariaat FORUM soon found place as a widely accepted member of the antiquarian book trade. We carry general stock in old and rare books, with special emphasis on the subjects of Travel, Natural History, Art and Architecture, Children's Books, Bindings, Coloured Plate Books, Emblem Books, Gastronomy, Medicine, Music, Science, 16th Century, Incunables, and Illuminated Manuscripts. All our books are in fine condition, and usually in original bindings.

Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

Verso
The page bound on the left side of a book, opposite to the recto page.
Morocco
Morocco is a style of leather book binding that is usually made with goatskin, as it is durable and easy to dye. (see also...
Gilt
The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
Bookplate
Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...
Miniature
A book that is less then 3 inches in width and ...
Fine
A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
tracking-