LITURGY

Use of Sarum

Close-up of a medieval manuscript page featuring illuminated initials and Latin text related to the Sarum Rite.

[Book of hours [manuscript] : use of Sarum]

Duodecimo: 11 x 8 cm Flanders or Northern France (St. Omer?), ca. 1455–1470, Bound in its original binding of calf over wooden boards sewn on alum tawed cords. .Many of the pages still have their ‘prick marks” This manuscript was made c. 1470 in Latin on 123 vellum leaves (and several blank sheets), 17 lines to a page, with 4 large initials in fine penmanship in blue and red (occ. heightened with some gold), many smaller initials in pen and rubricated in red, contemporary leather over wooden boards, ribbed back, remains of clamps, vellum endpapers.

Illuminated initial in blue and red ink with floral motifs, from a medieval manuscript page.

see

¶ Scot McKendrick, Flemish Illuminated Manuscripts 1400-1550 (London: British Library, 2003),
Janet Backhouse, Illumination from Books of Hours (London: British Library, 2004),
Eamon Duffy, Marking the Hours: English People and Their Prayers 1240-1570 (New Haven: Yale, 2006), . Item #730 

Close-up of an intricately adorned page from a medieval manuscript featuring decorative initials in red and blue ink.

Contents
a1(blank) 13 leaves,Calendar .with English saints.

Followed by the Hours, Use of Sarurm!  8 Leaves +44

Septem. Psalms 10 leaves

Litnay of saints 2 leaves

Suffrages of prayers to the saints 11 leaves

 Office of the Dead 43 leaves


Making it most likely English or for English users. ¶Since each Book of Hours was custom made, the calendar would contain local feast days of importance to the owner of the manuscript. Important liturgical days were written in red which gave rise to the term “red letter days” to denote important holidays or events, even secular ones (Gwara, 2017).
¶The Sarum Rite was the liturgical form used in most of the English Church prior to the introduction of the first Book of Common Prayer in 1549. Like most of the liturgies of the Church at that time, it was extensive and complicated. The Use of Sarum, was developed by St. Osmund, Bishop of Sarum or Salisbury. Before being ordained a bishop, Osmund was a Norman nobleman and his ordering of the rites incorporated some of the Norman liturgical traditions (Bergh, 1912).

A page from a medieval manuscript showing a calendar with names of saints and important dates, written in Latin with red and black ink.

Price:  Sold

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A weathered manuscript book bound in brown leather with decorative brass clasps.

Open medieval manuscript page featuring decorative initials and text in Latin, with red ink headings and aged vellum paper.
Open pages of a historical manuscript featuring text in black ink with red ornamental initials, likely from a Book of Hours, showcasing liturgical content.
A close-up of an open page of an illuminated manuscript, featuring text in Latin with red and black ink, showcasing ornate initials and aged vellum paper.
Open pages of a medieval Book of Hours manuscript, featuring Latin text in black ink with red initials, held in someone’s hand outdoors.
Page from a medieval manuscript featuring intricate blue and red initials with decorative flourishes and Latin text.
Close-up view of an antique book with dark leather binding, featuring metal clasps and visible wear. The cover is embossed with a circular design.
Close-up of the clasp and spine detail of an ancient manuscript, showcasing the worn leather and brass fittings.
An illustration of a person writing at a desk with historical manuscripts and tools around them, representing a medieval scholar or scribe.

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