1. Book of hours, use of Rome
- Abstract
TEXT: leaves 1-12 verso, Calendar in French -- leaves 13-17 verso, Hours of the Cross, with rubrics in French -- leaf 18 recto, blank; leaf 18 verso, originally blank with a Marian prayer added in the fifteenth century, beginning "[A]ve sanctissima Maria, mater Dei, regina celi, porta paradisi..." -- leaves 19-85 verso, Hours of the Virgin, use of Rome in the Netherlands, with rubrics in French -- leaf 86 recto and verso ruled, otherwise blank., Prayers are in Latin; calendar and rubrics are in French Gothic textualis script; Layout is 14 lines ruled in red ink., DECORATION: Capitals touched in yellow, 1- to 2-line initials alternating in red and blue throughout, many of the 2-line initials decorated with areas of parchment left in reserve. Nine 3- to 4-line puzzle initials with penwork flourishes alternating in red and blue. Black stains from pilgrims' badges on leaves 18 verso-19 and 37 verso-38, PROVENANCE: 1. The dialect of French used is Picard, spoken from the northernmost part of France to the southern Netherlands (modern Belgium). The liturgical use of the Hours of the Virgin, specifically the None capitulum "Sicut cinnamomum," and the penwork decoration, point more specifically to the southern Netherlands in the fifteenth century. The calendar lacks the feast of the Presentation of the Virgin (introduced in the Roman Missal in 1472), added to the calendar in a later hand. 2. On the first flyleaf and in the calendar are dated obits of the Despaigne and the D'Assonleville families. At the top of the flyleaf is the obit of Martine Despaigne: "Le vi decembre 1555 soier Martine despaigne a Rendu a dieu son esprit..." Below it, "Damp Jacques despaigne a Rendu a dieu son esprit, ... le dyxeysme Jour de Juin 1559 Dieu luy soit misericorde." In the calendar obits of Jeanne Despaigne dated 1598 (leaf 1 verso), Julye Despaigne dated 1580 (leaf 2), Jacques Despaigne 1559, date cropped (leaf 6), Marie Despaigne dated 1578 (leaf 9 verso), Marie D'Assonleville dated 1586 and Martine Despaigne dated 1555 (leaf 12). The D'Assonleville/D'Assonville family can be traced to Arras in Picardy in the 16th century. 3. In the margin of leaf 49 verso, an 18th or 19th century inscription in black ink "Rollet est im fripon" (Rollet is a rascal). An initial "D" by the same hand in the margin of leaf 37 verso., Bound in the 18th or 19th century using leather from an earlier binding in dark brown morocco over tan-colored leather over wooden boards, the morocco blind-tooled with a frame of triple fillets. The earlier morocco leather is very worn and covers the boards only partly, and the leather underneath is also worn. Traces of a single clasp on the front cover