Manuscript on parchment (thick, fuzzy on hair side) of a Book of Hours, followed by 3 short devotional texts in French.
Description:
Binding: 19th-20th centuries, England. Rigid vellum case with note on spine "MS. Circa 1400". Red edges. Bound by Birdsell and Son (Northampton, 1792 and later)., Manuscript has been heavily trimmed with loss of marginal decoration; staining, rubbing throughout affects illumination., Purchased from C. A. Stonehill in 1935 by Thomas E. Marston., Script: Written in two styles of script: large gothic bookhands, often with only 3-4 words per line, by three scribes for ff. 1r, 2r-91r, 93r-115v, respectively; Anglicana scripts for ff. 1v, 91v-92v (added prayers)., and The codex, now in fragmentary condition with no miniatures extant, contains a sequence of historiated initials, some badly rubbed. Large historiated initials, 3-line, pink or blue with white designs on blue square ground framed with gold; both initial and frame edged in black; figures on gold ground, often rubbed and flaked; elongated dragons extend into margins for ascenders, as in initial D. Small historiated initials, 2-line, of similar designs and colors, but on cusped gold grounds. Other text divisions marked by 2-line initials, pink, orange, blue with simple foliage motifs in the same colors and yellow, all with designs in white and on square or cusped gold grounds that often extend far into margins. Initials on ff. 93-115 are somewhat more delicate in appearance and presumably by a different hand than those on ff. 2-91. 1-line initials in red with blue penwork designs alternate with opposing color scheme. Elaborate line-fillers, including fish and heads of long-beaked beasts, for litany (art. 5). Headings in red, ff. 2-91 only.
Subject (Name):
Catholic Church--Prayers and devotions
Subject (Topic):
Books of hours, Devotional literature, French, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, and Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library