Accession number
MS M.359
Object title
Book of hours (MS M.359).
Created
Paris, France, 1430-1435.
Binding
Dark red velvet lined in purple moire; gilt and gauffered edges, in red morocco gilt case by Marguerite Duprez Lahey.
Credit line
Purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1909.
Description
174 leaves (1 column, 16 lines), bound : vellum, ill. ; 254 x 175 mm
Provenance
Commissioned possibly by or for Anne of Burgundy, Duchess of Bedford (1404-1432), first wife of John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford (1389-1435); owned in the mid-16th century by Charles de Bourgueville (1504-1593) of Caen and given in 1604 by his nephew to Jesse Hermyer, conseiller du Roy, of Caen (note on fol. 173v); a note on the fly-leaf states that Louis XV gave the ms to the London bibliophile and physician Dr. Richard Mead (1673-1754) after whose death it was purchased in 1755 by Thomas Hollis (1720-1774) who left his collection to Thomas Brand (Hollis), and that in 1863 the ms was purchased by the London bookseller Thomas Boone who sold it to Ambroise Firmin Didot of Paris, and that at the Didot sale on June 17, 1882 it was acquired by Baron de Beurnonville; purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) from Ludovic Badin of Paris in June 1909; J.P. Morgan (1867-1943).
Notes
Ms. book of hours for the use of Rome; calendar composite, mainly Paris; written in Poitiers (ca. 1419-24?) or Paris (during the English occupation, 1420-37) and illuminated in Paris beginning ca. 1430.
Once part of M. 359, 90 leaves (Paris, Bibliothèque de l'Institut de France, MS 547) contain the Hours of the Passion with 8 large miniatures and other texts.
Decoration: 12 large miniatures, 332 small border miniatures, 24 calendar illustrations; there are uncommon features in the decoration, including the earliest surviving cycle of the Dance of Death with 58 scenes illustrating the Office of the Dead and a new iconography for the Theological and Cardinal Virtues; also there are many still perceptible marginal sketches executed to guide the illuminator.
Artists: Bedford Master and his workshop.
Revised: 2021
Once part of M. 359, 90 leaves (Paris, Bibliothèque de l'Institut de France, MS 547) contain the Hours of the Passion with 8 large miniatures and other texts.
Decoration: 12 large miniatures, 332 small border miniatures, 24 calendar illustrations; there are uncommon features in the decoration, including the earliest surviving cycle of the Dance of Death with 58 scenes illustrating the Office of the Dead and a new iconography for the Theological and Cardinal Virtues; also there are many still perceptible marginal sketches executed to guide the illuminator.
Artists: Bedford Master and his workshop.
Revised: 2021
Script
textura
Language
Latin and French
Resources
Century
Catalog link
Classification
Department