Beschreibung:

MANUSCRIPT] [Book of Hours] . Paris or Tours?: intended for Southern France (based on the Calendar, which includes Maximinius of Aix and other saints associated with the region), second or third quarter of the 15th century (the final leaf bears a date, slightly worn, of 1457). Binding of the period, brown leather over wooden boards, covers stamped with alternating panels of text (indistinct, but apparently Old French) and decoration, spine simply decorated with a pattern of intersecting lines, the pastedowns (which appear to be original) utilizing an earlier manuscript. 6 5/8 x 5 inches (17 x 12 cm), with 153 vellum leaves with text in Latin (first leaf blank, but apparently part of the original work), 15 lines written in a Gothic bookhand, ruled faintly in red, textual area 3 3/4 x 2 3/4 inches (11.5 x 7.5 cm), with 4 arch-topped miniatures within borders of acanthus and leafy vines; rubrics in red; one-line initials in blue or gold with red penwork; two-line initials in gold or on red and blue grounds, the initials with decorative pen flourishing extending into the margins. Collates [a]^[13] [b-i]^[8] [k]^[6] [l-m]^[8] [n]^16 [o]^8 [p]^[7] (with stub of extracted miniature, which would have been p3) [q-r]^[8] s^[4] t^[9] (the final signature apparently added at an early date; it contains the prayer Obsecro te domina sancta Maria). Boards wormed, corners of boards and edges of spine with losses, some soiling and staining throughout, some wear to the miniatures, that for the Office of the Dead smudged, one leaf torn into text. An interesting Book of Hours, written in a heavily contracted textus quadratus. Pardulf (October 6) was venerated in Limoges, and Maximinus, the apocryphal first bishop of Aix (April 8), was venerated in that city and region, so it seems likely that this was intended for use in southern France. The text includes a Calendar (ff. 2-12, leaf 1 an integral blank); the text proper begins with the prayers for Office for Matins Domine labia mea aperies; Et os meum annunciabit laudem tuam, with a miniature of the Annunciation. C