633J. Book of Hours, Use of Rome most likely produced in England mid fifteenth century.

Open manuscript Book of Hours featuring a painted miniature of the Madonna and Child on the left page, surrounded by intricate floral decorations, with illuminated text on the right page.
Illuminated portrait of Christ from a 15th-century Book of Hours, surrounded by intricate floral decorations and gold accents.

Duodecimo, 10.5 x 8.5 cm. . 196 parchment leaves of parchment, including tipped-in illuminations on the verso that are coordinated with facing richly foliated leaves on the next recto. No catchwords visible, but ranges of chartae demonstrate a predominant use of quinternions. Restored binding (tight) with new cords to secure the gatherings.

$Sold 

Bound in early red velvet over past boards mostlikely English as well. This is a Beautiful 15th-Century Book of Hours. Illuminated Latin manuscript on parchment 196 chartae (ms. pages), numbered in a modern hand on recto. 

A worn 15th-century Book of Hours bound in red velvet, showcasing a textured cover with three raised bands on the spine.

Illustrated with twelve full- page painted miniatures, with an additional 20 pages with elaborate foliated decoration (full page ornamentation) of delicate floral and vine tracery design in a full palette of greens, blue, red and gold leaf. Throughout are elaborate letter devices with raised and gilt-gesso accents. The fine and very regular calligraphy, mostly seventeen lines per charta (ms. page), is predominantly in a brownish ink, with touches of red tracery decoration on all pages (those not counted as having a diaper design).

The twelve  miniature paintings include:

A portrait of Christ’s face (1), (see above)

The crucifixion(17),

An open illuminated manuscript page from a 15th-century Book of Hours, featuring a painted miniature of the crucifixion scene surrounded by floral decorations and ornate lettering on the facing page.

The Madonna and child (28),

Detailed illumination of the Madonna and Child with decorative borders in vibrant colors, found in a mid-15th-century Book of Hours.

an angel holding a staff and letter (41),

A page from a mid-15th-century Book of Hours, featuring an illuminated depiction of an angel with blue wings, dressed in an orange robe, holding a staff. The border is adorned with intricate floral designs in vibrant colors.

the visitation of a seraph(71),

A medieval illuminated manuscript page featuring two figures with spears interacting while a small angel appears above, surrounded by decorative floral motifs in vibrant colors.

Solomon on his throne and woman at his feet with two bleeding infants(84),

Illuminated manuscript page from a 15th-century Book of Hours, featuring a scene with a king on a throne, surrounded by figures, and floral decorations.

The flight out of Egypt(92),

A medieval illuminated manuscript page depicting the Madonna and child on a donkey, accompanied by a man in a red cloak, set against a landscape with castles in the background and intricate floral decorations along the border.

Monks by a Coffin (130) ,

An illuminated manuscript page from a 15th-century Book of Hours displaying a scene with several figures in religious attire, surrounded by intricate floral decorations.

St. Jerome with his lion(141),

An illuminated page from a 15th-century Book of Hours, featuring a seated figure in red robes writing at a desk, accompanied by a lion at their feet. The background includes a stylized room with visible windows and shelves. The margins are decorated with intricate floral designs.

St. Anthony with his pig with his hem aflame (191),

A detailed illuminated miniature from a 15th-century Book of Hours, depicting a saint standing with a book in hand and a pig at their feet, surrounded by intricate floral decorations in vibrant colors.

St. George slaying the dragon(191),

Illuminated manuscript page depicting St. George in armor, standing on a green dragon, surrounded by intricate floral decorations.

St. Catherine and her wheel(195). 

A richly illuminated page from a 15th-century Book of Hours, depicting a figure in blue robes holding a sword, surrounded by intricate floral and vine decorations.

Binding: red velvet, possibly contemporary, with three raised bands on spine. Condition: cover velvet heavily worn. Fabric clasps mostly missing. A few leaves — ones with the fuller decoration and painting — have suffered some worming, mostly by edges, with some of these gaps repaired with clear material meant to stabilize. (Holes and loss not disconcerting or especially conspicuous, in our view.) While we would consider it possible that the highly decorated pages without facing paintings might once have had such, we think it likelier that this Book of Hours has suffered no such loss, as there is no evidence of excision. The edges of particular leaves (see for ex. cc. 171-172) demonstrate soiling from the thumbs of the original user (users) of the book. More extensive traces of “thumb soiling” will also suggest additional information on provenance. 

Thanks to the restoration and resultant tight binding and lack of catch-words (probably due to trimming), as well as the use of tipped-in miniatures, the exact nature of the gatherings can only be confirmed by unbinding the manuscript. However, there are some sections of the ms that seem to confirm that the standard quire is the quinternion (10): for instance: cc. 131–170 (410). 

General observations: 196cc. complete. The manuscript is the product of three artisans: a single copyist for the text, a rubricator and a fine miniaturist (whose work is confined to the tipped-in, single chartae that are of a thicker parchment, and always on the verso of the charta: 16, 28, 40, etc. [above]). The collaboration among the three artisans, clearly coordinated between the copyist and rubricator is consistently demonstrated on the richly adorned “foliation pages”, invariably a recto that faces the miniaturist’s verso, to create two facing “pages” of illumination and foliation with coordinated palettes. 

The final “memorie” to saints Ioannes (John), George (193v) and Katherine (195v) are worthy of 

additional study in locating the manuscript’s original, daily use. 

A fine example of the Rome use with local amendments. The work of all three artisans is superb. 

Illuminated manuscript page depicting a bearded figure in a blue cloak holding a book, standing beside a pig on a green checkerboard floor, surrounded by intricate floral decorations.