Add MS 62105

BOOK OF HOURS: of Sarum Use, England, probably London; 15th cent., second quarter. Latin. See F. Procter and C. Wordsworth, Breviarum ad usum insignis ecclesiae Sarum (1879-1886). The medieval flyleaves, f. i and f. v, are from a confraternity register of the Augustinian Priory of St Mary Overy (now Southwark Cathedral), 1420-1505. The manuscript was previously unrecorded and does not, therefore, appear in N. R. Ker, Medieval Libraries of Great Britain (1964), pp. 180-181. On f. i are notes concerning legal proceedings over the advowson of a church, headed with the name of "Henricum Priorem de Suth'", probably Henry Werkworth, Prior of Southwark, 1414-1452, see VCH, Surrey, II (1905), p. 110. There follow records of guests received by the confraternity in the chapter house, including Thomas Ashwell (Vicar-General of the Carmelite Order in England, d. 1438), Robert Dobbes (Canon of Ripon, d. 1476) and numerous London tradespeople. Additions to the Calendar include the name of Robert Vyne (25 May) in a 16th cent. hand, a record of the birth of Margaret, daughter of William Benet, grocer (3 Sept. 1478) and the reinstatement of the erased feasts of St Thomas Becket. Faded ownership inscription of William Spooner, in an 18th cent. hand(?), at the head of f. 1. Ff. ii-iv are flyleaves added at the end of the 19th cent., recording the gift of the book by Mr J. Sanford Saltus to Michael Augustine Corrigan, Archbishop of New York, on Christmas Day 1897 (f. ii) and wrongly attributing the manuscript to Sudbury rather than Southwark. Lost leaves were also replaced at this time by competent manuscript facsimiles (ff. 7, 27 and 90). Purchased at Sotheby's, 8 Dec. 1981, lot 111.

Vellum; ff. vi+119. Sec. fol.: 'Kalends Marcius'. 190 x 180mm. Medieval fly-leaves at front (ff. i and v) and back (f. vi) and late 19th cent. flyleaves at front (ff. ii-iv). Gatherings (15) of 8, except i6, ii12 (wants 1, replaced, and 9), iv8 (wants 2, replaced), v6, xii8 (wants 3, replaced). Quire iv is misbound, the original order of the leaves being ff. 28, 29, 26. Ruled (single bounding lines) in red ink for single columns of 17 lines. Written space 106 x 62mm. Script is a Gothic textualis quadrata by several hands. 19th cent. blind stamped-binding (calf over wooden boards, with double clasps) imitating Romanesque Winchester bindings. Sewn on three cords, with red silk endbands.

Contents:

1. ff. 1-6v. Calendar.

2. ff. 7-45. Hours of the Virgin, of Sarum Use, incorporating Memorials to the Saints into Matins.

3. ff. 45v-54. Penitential Psalms (these, with the Gradual Psalms and the Litany, forming the trina oratio).

4. ff. 54-56. Gradual Psalms.

5. ff. 56-63. Litany of the Saints. Four additional prayers in Latin and an indulgence in English have been added in a 15th-16th cent. hand on ff. 63-63v.

6. ff. 64-86. Office of the Dead.

7. ff. 86v-99. Commendation of Souls.

8. ff. 99-108v. Psalms 21-30. Additional prayers have been added in 15th and 16th cent. hands to ff. 108v-111v.

9. ff. 112-119. Supplementary prayers. An extract headed Augustinus De Visitacione Infirmorum is added in a 16th cent. hand to f. 119v.

Decoration consists of 9 major foliate initials (of 4-7 lines) extending into partial foliate borders (ff. 31v, 35, 37v, 40, 45v, 64, 86v, 99 and 112) executed in rich colours with heightened modelling and much gilding and featuring the fleshy acanthus-like, budding vegetation characteristic of English illumination of the period. A 19th cent. major initial A occurs upon one of the replaced leaves (f. 7). Minor initials (approx. 134) of two lines in burnished gold on red and blue grounds with white tracery, extending into partial foliate borders executed in penwork, with small gold and green leaves. Litterae notabiliores in blue on red or gold on blue. Some line-fillers in blue and gold.