Two leaves from a notably large English Book of Hours, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment [England, second quarter or mid-fifteenth century (probably c. 1440)] Two consecutive leaves, each with single column of 20 lines of an angular and compressed late gothic English bookhand (with part of Office of the Dead), these ruled in pink, paragraph marks in dark blue, bright red rubrics, one-line initials in gold or blue with penwork in black or red penwork, nine 3-line initials in gold on brown, blue or green grounds, each enclosing realistically shaded coloured single leaves of acanthus, hairline foliage from these initials ending in coloured fleshy leaves decorated with lines of white dots and mirrored green leaves and gold bezants, ink flaking a little from fleshside of leaves (as is common with fifteenth-century English manuscripts), a fold to one corner, some shine-through from decoration on other side, small spots and stains, else in good condition, each leaf approximately 230 by 153mm. Provenance: Acquired from different members of the European trade in 1999 and 2018. Illumination: These leaves are from an exceptionally large and handsome English devotional volume, and must have been produced for a patron of considerable importance. The finely shaded coloured acanthus leaves in the initials find very close parallels in a Bible in Middle English produced in the second quarter of the fifteenth century, now Cambridge University Library, Dd.I.27 (P. Binski and P. Zutschi, Western Illuminated Manuscripts, 2011, no. 228, p. 213), while the simple foliage, with mirrored green leaves and ending with twists of coloured petals, points to a medical compendium probably produced in Salisbury in 1448-55, now Bodleian, MS. Bodley 362 (reproduced in K.L. Scott, Dated & Dateable English Manuscript Borders, 2002, pp. 66-7); a John Bury, Gladius Salomonis, probably from Suffolk and c. 1460, now Bodleian, MS. Bodley 108 (ibid., pp. 84-5); and a Postillae super Evangelia Dominicalia, made in Lincoln c. 1425, now Cambridge University Library, Gg.IV.19 (Binski and Zutschi, no. 214, pp. 201-02).
Two leaves from a notably large English Book of Hours, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment [England, second quarter or mid-fifteenth century (probably c. 1440)] Two consecutive leaves, each with single column of 20 lines of an angular and compressed late gothic English bookhand (with part of Office of the Dead), these ruled in pink, paragraph marks in dark blue, bright red rubrics, one-line initials in gold or blue with penwork in black or red penwork, nine 3-line initials in gold on brown, blue or green grounds, each enclosing realistically shaded coloured single leaves of acanthus, hairline foliage from these initials ending in coloured fleshy leaves decorated with lines of white dots and mirrored green leaves and gold bezants, ink flaking a little from fleshside of leaves (as is common with fifteenth-century English manuscripts), a fold to one corner, some shine-through from decoration on other side, small spots and stains, else in good condition, each leaf approximately 230 by 153mm. Provenance: Acquired from different members of the European trade in 1999 and 2018. Illumination: These leaves are from an exceptionally large and handsome English devotional volume, and must have been produced for a patron of considerable importance. The finely shaded coloured acanthus leaves in the initials find very close parallels in a Bible in Middle English produced in the second quarter of the fifteenth century, now Cambridge University Library, Dd.I.27 (P. Binski and P. Zutschi, Western Illuminated Manuscripts, 2011, no. 228, p. 213), while the simple foliage, with mirrored green leaves and ending with twists of coloured petals, points to a medical compendium probably produced in Salisbury in 1448-55, now Bodleian, MS. Bodley 362 (reproduced in K.L. Scott, Dated & Dateable English Manuscript Borders, 2002, pp. 66-7); a John Bury, Gladius Salomonis, probably from Suffolk and c. 1460, now Bodleian, MS. Bodley 108 (ibid., pp. 84-5); and a Postillae super Evangelia Dominicalia, made in Lincoln c. 1425, now Cambridge University Library, Gg.IV.19 (Binski and Zutschi, no. 214, pp. 201-02).
.jpg?w=400 "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
