Add MS 61889

THE TOWER OF LONDON HOURS: Book of Hours, of Sarum Use; second half of 15th cent. Produced in England. Latin. See F. Procter and C. Wordsworth, Breviarum ad usum insignis ecclesiae Sarum (1879-1886). Flyleaves at the front of the volume carry inscriptions recording, in several hands, executions at the Tower of London, including that of Sir William Stanley (1495) and of Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham (1521), f. 1v. The hand responsible for these entries also recorded the death, on 15 May 1521, of his father, John Lucas of Ashford in Kent, f. 2. Flyleaves at the end of the book include four rough sketches in red crayon of busts in contemporary dress (ff. 140-141v) and, in the same medium, an inscription which reads 'This ys Robert Marcotys boke' (f. 141v). Robert Maycott is recorded as a beneficiary under the will of John Lucas in Oct. 1521, see Letters and Papers . . . of Henry VIII, vol. iii, pt. ii (1867), p. 725. Further notes of 19th cent. (f. ii) record that the manuscript belonged to a son of T. [sic] Lucas de Ashforde, an inmate of the Tower. Formerly in the collection of Mrs J. E. O'Donnell, of Guildford. Purchased of Alan G. Thomas, Nov. 1980.

Contents:

1. ff. 3-8. Calendar.

2. ff. 9-20. Prayers, including the 'Seven joys of the Virgin' (ff. 18v-19v).

3. ff. 21-60v. Hours of the Virgin.

4. ff. 61-68v. Penitential Psalms.

5. ff. 69-76v. Gradual Psalms.

6. ff. 77-83v. Litany of the Saints and prayers.

7. ff. 83v-117v. Office of the Dead.

8. ff. 119-133. Commendation of Souls.

Vellum; ff. ii + 142. Sec. fol.: 'Kalende marcii. Sancte David episcopi'. 137 x 95mm. Paper endpapers and pastedowns (3) at front and back, two vellum flyleaves to front and nine to back. Gatherings (19, including original flyleaves) of 8, except iii4, x6, xvi4. Ruled (single bounding lines) in ink for single columns of 16 lines. Written space 88 x 65mm. Script is a Gothic textualis semi-quadrata by several hands. Catchwords (set in trefoil-ended bars) and leaf signatures. 16th or 17th cent. binding of brown leather with tooled lines and clasp (missing) into which are set, on each board, blind-stamped panels depicting Adam and Eve, presumably from the original binding. Sewn on 3 split cords.

Decoration consists of pen-flourished initials in blue and red, alternating for the body of the letter and the flourishing, and litterae notabiliores. Guide-letters.