Book of hours : undetermined use : in Latin

Item Information

Title:
Book of hours : undetermined use : in Latin
Title (uniform):
Book of hours
Creator:
Catholic Church
Former owner:
Pauli, N., active 1411
Former owner:
Enluminures (Firm)
Date:
[1411]
Format:
Manuscripts
Books
Genre:
Inscriptions
Marginalia
Autographs
Wooden boards
Manuscripts, Latin (Medieval and Modern)--Germany
Manuscripts, Medieval--Germany
Books of hours
devotional calendars
Gothic scripts
Location:
Boston Public Library
Rare Books Department
Collection (local):
Medieval and Early Renaissance Manuscripts (Collection of Distinction)
Subjects:
Christian women--Prayers and devotions
Places:
Germany
Extent:
184 leaves : paper and parchment ; 110 x 80 (approximately 65 x 50) mm, bound to 113 mm, in box 13 cm.
Permalink:
https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/cf95nv345
Terms of Use:
No known copyright restrictions.
No known restrictions on use.
Place of origin:
[Germany]
Language:
Latin
Table of Contents:
1. fol. 1-12v: calendar, triple-graded, approximately half full. Includes Paul, the First Hermit (10 Jan.); Aldegonde of Maubeuge (30 Jan.); Romanus, abbot of Jura, (28 Feb.); Heribert, archbishop of Cologne (16 March); Gertrude the Great (17 March), the prophet Ezekiel (10 April), Quirinus (30 April), translation of Elizabeth of Hungary (2 May); Peregrinus, first bishop of Auxerre (14 May); Symeon of Trier (1 June); Medardus, bishop of Vermand (8 June); Maurinus, abbot of Cologne (10 June); Odulf, canon of Utrecht (12 June); Alban of Mainz (22 June), Lebuinus (25 June); Theobald, bishop (1 July); Kilian of Würzburg (8 July), Two Ewalds (3 October), Severinus, bishop of Cologne (10 October); Cordula (22 October), Willibrord (7 Nov.), and Cunibert, bishop of Cologne (12 Nov.)
2. fol. 13-23: Matins (Hours of the Virgin, use undetermined; invitatorium "In honore beatissime virgo maria"; lectio prima "In monibus requiem," with responsory "Sancta et immaculata")
3. fol. 23-34v: Lauds (Hours of the Virgin, use undetermined)
4. fol. 34v-39v: Prime (Hours of the Virgin, use undetermined; antiphon "Ortus conclusus," capitulum "Regi autem seculorum")
5. fol. 39v-42v: Terce (Hours of the Virgin, use undetermined)
6. fol. 42v-45v: Sext (Hours of the Virgin, use undetermined)
7. fol. 45v-48v: Nones (Hours of the Virgin, use undetermined; antiphon "Beata progenies," capitulum "Una est Columba")
8. fol. 48v-57: Vespers (Hours of the Virgin, use undetermined)
9. fol. 57-65v: Compline (Hours of the Virgin, use undetermined)
10. fol. 65v-66: prayer for the soul of the scribe and the souls of all the faithful departed, "Anima scriptoris et anime omnium fidelium defunctorum per [added: piam] misericordiam dei requiescat in pacem. Amen"; and a prayer for the dead.
11. fol. 66v: blank.
12. Fol. 67-87v: Penitential Psalms, followed by litanies and prayers, beginning on fol. 80, including, among the martyrs, Lambert of Maastricht, Alban of Mainz; Stanislas, patron saint of Poland; Gereon of Cologne and Kilian of Würzburg; among the confessors, Edward the Confessor and Cunibert of Cologne; among the virgins Gertrude the Great, Walburga of Eichstätt, Afra of Augsburg and Ursula of Cologne.
13. fol. 87v-88: Proverbs 31: 25-29, "Fortitudo et decor indumentum ejus . . ."
14. fol. 88-133: prayers to God, Christ, Trinity, the Virgin (including "O gloriossa domina et dulcissima virgo . . .", beginning on fol. 91)
15. fol. 133-142v: Suffrages to saints Christopher, Benedict, Bernard, Anthony, Quirinus.
16. fol. 143-152: Biblical extracts, beginning with Proverbs 31: 25-29 ("Fortitudo et decor indumentum ejus . . . "; repeated from fol. 87v-88), and Luke 11: 27-28 ("In illo tempore extollens quedam vocem mulier de turba . . ."); concluding with a prayer repeatedly invoking the sign of the Cross (" . . . Salva me hodie et in omnibus diebus uite mee" and a Suffrage to St. Michael.
17. fol. 152v: blank.
18. fol. 153-159: prayer (incipit: "Salve sancta facies . . .")
19. fol. 153v: prayer (incipit: "Deus qui nobis signatis . . .")
20. fol. 154: prayer ("Oracio bona de quinque vulneribus . . ., incipit: "Domine Ihesu Christe deprecor te per sanctissima quinque vulnera . . .")
21. fol. 154-159: other prayers to Christ
22. fol. 160-161: Gospel lesson (incipit: "In principio erat verbum . . .")
23. fol. 161-165v: prayers to the Virgin (incipit: "Saluto te sanctissima virgo maria angelorum regina celorum domina . . .")
24. fol. 166: blank.
25. fol. 166v-167v: originally blank, with later addition of a prayer to Christ (incipit: "Domine ihesu christi fili dei . . .")
26. fol. 168-171: blank, apart from the signature "N. Pauli" on fol. 171.
27. fol. 171v: copied by N. Pauli, a recipe in Middle Dutch for clearing freckles: "Dat meel vanden boneen salmen menghen met water oft met loeghen die hem daer mede dwaet, sijn anscijn wort claer ende beniemt hem die sproeten ..." (One should mix flour from beans with water and soda. When the face is washed with this, it becomes clear, removing the freckles). This recipe, dating to ca. 1350, is found almost identically in Brussels, KBR, MS 4260-63 (see Van Leerdam, 2014, p. 98), and was edited by W. Braekman (see Braekman, 1970, no. 702). A similar recipe can also be found in Vienna, Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek, MS 2818.
28. fol. 172-180: suffrages of saints Peter, Nicholas, the Three Kings, Jerome, Barbara, Apollonia, Ursula, Catherine, Agatha, Margaret.
29. fol. 180v-181: prayers, concluding, Oremus (incipit: "Omnipotens sempiterne deus qui ezechie . . . concede michi indigna famule tuo . . ."); followed by the calculation of the ages of the world ("Ab origine mundi annus 6710 // Etas ade annus 934 // Etas eve annus 705 // adam fuit in inferno annus 4664 // a diluvio noe 4771 // Ab incarnacione christi annus 1411.))
30. fol. 181v: blank, with later pen trials.
31. fol. 182: a proverb in Latin (found in several medieval manuscripts, cf. Dronke, 1970, pp. 124-128): "Adam sampsonen david // loth et salomonem // Femina decepit quis // modo tutus erit" (Adam, Samson, David, Lot and Solomon. A woman deceived them all. Who now would be safe?) Following these lines is the signature "N. Pauli."
32. fol. 183-184: prayers to the Virgin (incipit: "Salve regina misericordia vita dulcedo et spes nostra . . ."); concluding with a prayer to St. Margaret, added in another hand (incipit: "Deus qui beate margarite per signum sancta crucis draconem superare concedisti . . .")
Notes:
Ms codex.
Title devised by cataloger; bibliographic record based in part on dealer's description.
Origin: Copied in western Germany, no later than 1411. The autograph of "N. Pauli" -- possibly one of the scribes or an early owner -- appears on fol. 171 and 182. Localization to western Germany is based on textual and liturgical evidence. For example, the invitatorium "In honore beatissime virgo maria" is associated with Germany and the Northern netherlands, while the antiphon and capitulum in Prime are associated with Siegburg, located approximately 30 kilometers southeast of Cologne. The calendar and litany include a number of saints venerated in German lands and in Cologne specifically, as well as saints Willebrord and Odulf, venerated in Utrecht. These strong associations with Germany, the inclusion of Utrecht saints, and the presence of a Middle Dutch recipe on fol. 171v (see contents note) suggest that this book of hours was created somewhere between Cologne and the German side of the Dutch border. The date of 1411 is attested by a series of chronological calculations on fol. 181, written in a different hand than any of the other sections, and which mark the number of years from the Creation, Adam, Eve, the Flood, and the Incarnation. Dating is further supported by watermark evidence (see reference to Briquet in the collation note). That the manuscript was copied for or used by a woman is suggested by feminine endings in several prayers (see, for example, 180v) and by the addition, in a different hand, of a prayer to Saint Margaret, though masculine endings can also be found throughout.
Notes (ownership):
Provenance: Modern pencil dealer's notes on front pastedown. Sold at auction in France to Les Enluminures, Paris.
Notes (acquisition):
Immediate source of acquisition: Purchased from Les Enluminures, Paris, in December, 2019.
Purchase; Les Enluminures; 20191224; Acc.2019-352.
Notes (date):
[not after 1411]
This date is inferred.
Notes (object):
Secundo folio: vii c xvi A Anthonii abbate
Collation: Paper, with parchment used for inner and outer bifolia of quires throughout, the paper in quires i-xiv (fol. 1-164) with vertical chainlines and watermarks matching Briquet 3864 (crossed keys, hearts on handles); in quires xv and xvi (fol. 165-182) with horizontal chainlines, no watermarks visible ; fol. 184 ; i¹² (-12, +12, one leaf replaced, without loss of text) ii¹⁰ iii-ix¹² x¹⁰ xi-xiv¹² xv¹⁰ (-7, -8, -9, three leaves missing after fol. 170, without loss of text) xvi¹² (-11, one leaf missing after fol. 181, without loss of text. This quire, now loose, might have originally come after fol. 142) xvii² (fol. 184 serves as pastedown) ; quires ii-vi signed i-v in contemporary roman numerals; horizontal catchwords cropped (visible on fol. 128v), modern pencil arabic foliation in upper right margins, these numbers used here for reference.
Layout: Single column, 13 to 20 lines, bounding and writing lines in brown ink or light plummet; some sections ruled, others with bounding lines only, pricking in various configurations.
Script: Written in several gothic cursive bookhands in brown and black ink. Excluding minor additions, appears to be the work of at least four scribes. Scribe 1: 13-82v; scribe 2: 83-142v (and possibly 143-152v, as well as the calendar on 1-12v); scribe 3: 153-164v and 183r/v; scribe 4: 165r/v and 172-181.
Decoration: One- to three-line initials in red, occasionally with flourishes, incipits in red and capital strokes in red throughout.
Binding: Contemporary (original?) binding of full leather (heavily worn) over wooden boards, three raised bands on spine, original red dye visible on turn-ins. Early paper label in lower compartment of spine with the number "3". Both original clasps now missing. Housed in a tan cloth box.
Notes (bibliography):
Bibliography: A. Van Leerdam, et al., eds. Kennis in Beeld: Denken en Doen in de Middeleeuwen (Hilversum: Verloren, 2014).
Notes (language):
In Latin, with some additions in Middle Dutch.
Identifier:
06_01_016959
Call #:
RARE BKS MS q Med. 276
Barcode:
39999088026412