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Book of Hours, Use of Bourges, in Latin with some additions in French

Manuscript
1380-1400 (made)
Place of origin

Foliation: parchment. i-ii (parchment flyleaves, 17th century, foliated ff. 1-2), iii (15th-century parchment, foliated f. 3) + 153 (foliated 4-24, 24A, 25-157) + II (foliated 158-168, 15th-century parchment) +6 (foliated 169-174, 17th-century parchment).

Number of lines: 13 lines.

Language: Latin and French.

Script: Gothic bookhand; f. 185r-v written in small secretary script; ff. 159r-168v written in small rounded Gothic bookhand.

Textual content:
ff. 1r-3r: List of feasts, added in a 17th-century hand, followed by prayers.
ff. 3r-3v: Two prayers to the Virgin written in an early 16th-century hand.
ff. 4r-15v: Calendar, half full, with major feasts in burnished gold and blue. Feasts are conventional and Paris-based.
ff. 16r-80v: Hours of the Virgin, Use of Bourges. Initial text for most Hours missing, only those for f. 52v and f. 71r remain.
ff. 81r-103v: Penitential Psalms, lacking first folio and beginning in Psalm 6, followed by two collects.
ff. 104r-105v: Office of the Cross, missing first folios, only folios with part of None and Compline surviving.
ff. 106r-109v: Hours of the Holy Spirit, missing first folio and beginning with Prime.
ff. 110r-152: Office of the Dead, Use of Bourges, missing first folio and beginning with Psalm 114.
ff. 152r-157v: Prayer to the Virgin.
ff. 158r-158v: Prayer written in 15th-century small Gothic bookhand.
ff. 159r-168v: Devotional sequence written in a small rounded Secretary script, 15th century.
ff. 169r-174v: Prayers added in a 17th-century hand.

Decoration:
2 half-page miniatures representing the Nativity and the Flight to Egypt (ff. 52v, 71r). The manuscript has letter shape initials and bar borders terminating in stiff ivy leaf sprays, some with grotesques.

Binding: 17th century, France. Calf over pasteboards, each board with a gold tooled centrepiece (Crucifixion with the Virgin Mary and St John the Evangelist) and four arabesque design corner pieces. Sewn on five raised bands with gold tooled ornament in each compartment. Boards have been stamped with the owner's name.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleBook of Hours, Use of Bourges, in Latin with some additions in French
Materials and techniques
Ink, pigments and gold on parchment. Leather binding over pasteboards.
Brief description
Manuscript, Book of Hours, Use of Bourges, in Latin with some additions in French, France (Paris?), ca.1380-1400
Physical description
Foliation: parchment. i-ii (parchment flyleaves, 17th century, foliated ff. 1-2), iii (15th-century parchment, foliated f. 3) + 153 (foliated 4-24, 24A, 25-157) + II (foliated 158-168, 15th-century parchment) +6 (foliated 169-174, 17th-century parchment).

Number of lines: 13 lines.

Language: Latin and French.

Script: Gothic bookhand; f. 185r-v written in small secretary script; ff. 159r-168v written in small rounded Gothic bookhand.

Textual content:
ff. 1r-3r: List of feasts, added in a 17th-century hand, followed by prayers.
ff. 3r-3v: Two prayers to the Virgin written in an early 16th-century hand.
ff. 4r-15v: Calendar, half full, with major feasts in burnished gold and blue. Feasts are conventional and Paris-based.
ff. 16r-80v: Hours of the Virgin, Use of Bourges. Initial text for most Hours missing, only those for f. 52v and f. 71r remain.
ff. 81r-103v: Penitential Psalms, lacking first folio and beginning in Psalm 6, followed by two collects.
ff. 104r-105v: Office of the Cross, missing first folios, only folios with part of None and Compline surviving.
ff. 106r-109v: Hours of the Holy Spirit, missing first folio and beginning with Prime.
ff. 110r-152: Office of the Dead, Use of Bourges, missing first folio and beginning with Psalm 114.
ff. 152r-157v: Prayer to the Virgin.
ff. 158r-158v: Prayer written in 15th-century small Gothic bookhand.
ff. 159r-168v: Devotional sequence written in a small rounded Secretary script, 15th century.
ff. 169r-174v: Prayers added in a 17th-century hand.

Decoration:
2 half-page miniatures representing the Nativity and the Flight to Egypt (ff. 52v, 71r). The manuscript has letter shape initials and bar borders terminating in stiff ivy leaf sprays, some with grotesques.

Binding: 17th century, France. Calf over pasteboards, each board with a gold tooled centrepiece (Crucifixion with the Virgin Mary and St John the Evangelist) and four arabesque design corner pieces. Sewn on five raised bands with gold tooled ornament in each compartment. Boards have been stamped with the owner's name.
Dimensions
  • Height: 160 mm
  • Width: 120mm
  • Height: 80mm (Text block - Calendar)
  • Width: 70mm (Text block - Calendar)
  • Height: 80 mm (Text block)
  • Width: 54mm (Text block)
Production typeUnique
Credit line
Donated by George Reid in 1902.
Object history
(1) Owned by Philippe de St Offange in the second half of the 17th century. His name is stamped on the covers.
(2) Collection of George Reid, given to the V&A in 1902.
Bibliographic references
  • Ker, N.R. Medieval Manuscripts in British Libraries I. Oxford: 1967. p. 378.
  • Watson, R. Western Illuminated Manuscripts.Victoria and Albert Museum. A catalogue of works in the National Art Library from the eleventh to the early twentieth century, with a complete account of the George Reid Collection. London, 2011. vol. 1, pp. 165-167, cat. 26.
Other numbers
  • KRP.A.13 - NAL Pressmark
  • 2 - Reid Gift
Collection
Library number
MSL/1902/1644 (Reid 2)

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Record createdJuly 6, 2019
Record URL
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