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Egerton MS 1147
- Record Id:
- 032-001984234
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-001984234
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000057.0x0000da
- LARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100161503577.0x000001
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Egerton MS 1147
- Title:
- Book of Hours, Use of Rome
- Scope & Content:
-
Contents:
The manuscript's production was completed in two stages. The first was probably undertaken c. 1500 and included the following texts:
ff. 1r-11v: Calendar, misbound, with the pages for August-December (ff. 1r-5v) followed by the pages for January-June (ff. 6r-11v). The page for July is missing.
ff. 12r-13v: Prayer to the Holy Face, 'Salva sancta facies'.
ff. 14r-20v: Hours of the Cross, imperfect at the beginning.
ff. 21r-28v: Hours of the Holy Spirit.
ff. 29r-33v: Mass to the Virgin, imperfect at the beginning.
ff. 34r-40v: Gospel readings.
ff. 41r-45v: Prayer to the Virgin, 'Obsecro Te'.
ff. 46r-48v: Prayer to the Virgin, 'O Intermerata'.
ff. 49r-119v: Hours of the Virgin.
ff. 120r-132v: Office of the Virgin for Advent.
ff. 133r-145v: Seven Penitential Psalms.
ff. 145v-155v: Litany, imperfect at the end.
ff. 156v-163r: Office of the Dead.
ff. 208r-228v: Suffrages, including the following saints: Sts Michael, John the Baptist, Peter and Paul, John the Evangelist, James, Christopher, Sebastian, Adrian of Nicomedia, George, Anthony, Nicholas, Gregory, Francis of Assisi, Catherine, Barbara, Margaret, and Mary Magdalene.
The second stage of production was completed c. 1515 and included the following added texts and prayers:
ff. 229r-243r: The Passion, according to the Gospel of St John: 18-19.
ff. 243v-244r: Prayer, 'Deus qui manus tuas et pedes'.
ff. 245r-250r: The Athanasian Creed.
ff. 251r-255v: Prayer, 'Conditor celi et terrae rex'.
ff. 256r-258r: Prayer, 'Deus propitius esto mihi peccatori'.
ff. 259r-260r: Prayer to Saint George, 'Georgi martir inclite te decet laus et Gloria predodatum'.
ff. 244v, 250v, 258v and 260v are blank.
Decoration:
The manuscript's decoration was completed in two phases. The first phase has been attributed to the Master of the Dresden Prayer Book and a close collaborator who he also worked with on another Book of Hours (now Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett, MS 78. B.14). The Master of the Dresden Prayer Book painted the illuminated roundels on the rectos of the calendar (ff. 1-11), while his collaborator was responsible for the other miniatures as well as the border decorations (ff. 12-228).
The second phase of the decoration was completed by the Flemish painter Simon Bening (b. c. 1483, d. 1561) or a member of his workshop (see Brinkmann and König, Simon Bening (1991), pp. 94-97; Brinkmann, Die flämische Buchmalerei (1997), I, pp. 302-05, 365, 388-89). He added the final four miniatures in the manuscript (ff. 229r, 245r, 251r, 259r) as well as the borders on the versos of the calendar (ff. 1-11).
11 calendar pages with illuminated borders on the verso and accompanying roundels featuring the Labours of the Month in the lower margins on the recto, with trompe l'oeil elements in the outer margins (ff. 1r-11v).
13 full-page miniatures, accompanied by large decorated initials and full scatter or historiated borders, the first including a small miniature in the lower margin, in colours and gold, for major text divisions (ff. 12r, 21r, 49r, 71r, 94r, 99r, 104r, 113r, 133r, 156r, f. 229r, f. 251r, f. 259r); miniatures lacking for the Hours of the Cross after f. 13r, for the Mass of the Virgin after f. 28r, and for Prime and Terce of the Hours of the Virgin after ff. 84r and 88r.
23 small miniatures accompanied by partial scatter borders, in colours and gold, for minor text divisions (ff. 34r, 35v, 37v, 39v, 41r, 208r, 209r, 210r, 211r, 212v, 213v, 215r, 216r, 217v, 218v, 219v, 220v, 221v, 222v, 224r, 225v, 227r, 245r).
1 large initial (5 lines) formed of grey-white acanthus on a brown ground with floral decoration in gold (f. 120r). Small initials (1 and 2 lines) formed of grey-white acanthus on brown grounds highlighted with dots in gold.
The subjects of the roundels and miniatures are as follows:
f. 1r: August: A labourer preparing sheaves of wheat in a barn, with the maiden of Virgo.
f. 1v: August: Labourers harvesting and making sheaves.
f. 2r: September: A labourer crushing grapes for the harvest, with a figure holding the scales of Libra.
f. 2v: September: Labourers ploughing and sowing the fields.
f. 3r: October: A labourer sowing a field, with the scorpion of Scorpio.
f. 3v: October: A sale and the slaughter of oxen.
f. 4r: November: A labourer gathering acorns for pigs, with the centaur of Sagittarius.
f. 4v: November: Labourers beating flax plants to break down the stem fibres.
f. 5r: December: A labourer roasting a pig on a fire, with the goat of Capricorn.
f. 5v: December: Labourers slaughtering a pig.
f. 6r: January: A man eating at a table, with the water-bearer of Aquarius.
f. 6v: January: A husband and wife warming their feet by a fire; a woman walking a dog in the snow.
f. 7r: February: A labourer pruning trees, with the twin fish of Pisces.
f. 7v: February: Labourers cutting fruit trees and gathering firewood.
f. 8r: March: A labourer pruning trees, with the ram of Aries.
f. 8v: March: Labourers gathering bundles of wood.
f. 9r: April: Two figures enjoying the countryside, with the bull of Taurus.
f. 9v: April: Shepherds with a flock of sheep.
f. 10r: May: A pair of courtly lovers on horseback, with the twins of Gemini.
f. 10v: May: A group of nobles in a boat, drinking and playing musical instruments.
f. 11r: June: A labourer harvesting hay, with the red crab of Cancer.
f. 11v: June: Labourers shearing sheep.
f. 12r: Christ as Salvator Mundi (upper); the Maid of Ghent holding the paw of a crowned and collared lion, with the city of Ghent in the background (lower).
f. 21r: Pentecost.
f. 34r: St John the Evangelist.
f. 35v: St Luke the Evangelist.
f. 37v: St Matthew the Evangelist.
f. 39v: St Mark the Evangelist.
f. 41r: The Virgin and Child.
f. 49r: The Annunciation.
f. 71r: The Visitation.
f. 94r: The Adoration of the Magi.
f. 99r: The Presentation of Christ in the Temple.
f. 104r: The Flight into Egypt.
f. 113r: The Massacre of the Innocents.
f. 133r: King David in penance.
f. 156r: The Three Living and the Three Dead.
f. 208r: St Michael's victory over the Devil.
f. 209r: St John the Baptist.
f. 210r: St Peter and St Paul.
f. 211r: St John the Evangelist.
f. 212v: St James.
f. 213v: St Christopher carrying the Christ Child.
f. 215r: St Sebastian.
f. 216r: St Adrian of Nicomedia.
f. 217v: St George.
f. 218v: St Anthony.
f. 219v: St Nicholas.
f. 220v: St Gregory.
f. 221v: St Francis.
f. 222v: St Catherine.
f. 224r: St Barbara.
f. 225v: St Margaret.
f. 227r: St Mary Magdalene.
f. 229r: The Mount of Olives and Christ's arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane.
f. 245r: St Athanasius.
f. 251r: Creation (God's creation of the animals).
f. 259r: St George and the dragon.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Egerton Manuscripts
- Hierarchy Tree:
- [{ "id" : "032-001984234", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Egerton MS 1147: Book of Hours, Use of Rome" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-001984234
- Is part of:
- not applicable
- Hierarchy:
- 032-001984234
- Container:
- not applicable
- Record Type (Level):
- Fonds
- Extent:
- 1 volume
- Digitised Content:
- http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Egerton_MS_1147 (digital images currently unavailable)
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- Latin
- Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1500
- End Date:
- 1515
- Date Range:
- 1500-1515
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Material: Parchment.
Dimensions: 125 x 85 mm (text space: 60 x 40 mm).
Foliation: ff. 260 (+ 1 original parchment flyleaf at the beginning and 2 at the end).
Collation uncertain: perhaps: i6-1 (1st leaf excised; ff. 1-5), ii6 (ff. 6-11), iii8-1 (3rd leaf excised; ff. 12-18), iv8 (ff. 19-26), v8-1 (3rd leaf excised; ff. 27-33), vi8-1 (last leaf excised, probably blank; ff. 34-40), vii6 (ff. 41-46), viii-xi8 (ff. 47-78), xii8-1 (7th leaf excised; ff. 79-85), xiii8-2 (cental bifolium missing; ff. 86-91), xiv-xvii8 (ff. 92-123), xviii8+1 (9th leaf inserted; ff. 124-132), xix-xxvii8 (ff. 133-204), xxviii4-1 (4th leaf excised, probably blank; ff. 205-207), xxix-xxx8 (ff. 208-223); xxxi4 (ff. 224-228); xxxii-xxxiv8 (ff. 225-252), xxxv8-2 (central bifolium missing; ff. 253-258), xxxvi6-1 (penultimate leaf is the blank pastedown, last leaf excised; ff. 259-260, + 2 flyleaves)
Script: Gothic cursive, written by at least two scribes.
Binding: Post-1600. Green stamped 'Cathedral' style leather; a silver clasp in the form of a lion passant reguardant, engraved on the back with a female figure; the leaves with red edges.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin: Bruges, Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium).
Provenance:
Jan Ryckaert of Ghent (b. 1516, d. 1573), bookbinder: his monogram, the letters 'IR' linked by a lover's knot in brown ink (f. 13v, added in the lower margin).
Pierre Joseph Versturme-Roegiers of Ghent (b. 1777, d. 1846), bibliophile: his armorial bookplate (inside upper cover).
Purchased by the British Museum for £120 from Thomas Rodd the younger (b. 1796, d. 1849), London bookseller, 8 May 1847 (note on f. [i] verso), using the Bridgewater fund (£12,000 bequeathed in 1829 by Francis Henry Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgewater (b. 1756, d. 1829).
- Information About Copies:
-
Select digital coverage available for this manuscript; see the Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts, https://bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/.
- Publications:
-
Catalogue of Additions to the Manuscripts in the British Museum in the Years 1846-1847 (London: British Museum, 1864), pp. 385-86.
J. A. Herbert, Illuminated Manuscripts (London: Methuen and Co., 1911), p. 323.
Friedrich Winkler, Die flämische Buchmalerei des XV. und XVI. Jahrhunderts: Künstler und Werke von den Brüdern van Eyck bis zu Simon Bening (Leipzig: [n. pub.], 1925), p. 180.
British Museum: Guide to the Exhibited Manuscripts, 3 parts (London: British Museum, 1923), III: IlluminatedManuscripts and Bindings of Manuscripts Exhibited in The Grenville Library, no. 80.
A Guide to the Exhibition of Some Part of the Egerton Collection of Manuscripts in the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1929), no. 29.
David Diringer, The Illuminated Book: Its History and Production (London: Faber and Faber, 1958), p. 449.
W. R. Tymms and M. D. Wyatt, The Art of Illuminating as Practised in Europe from the Earliest Times (London: Day and Sons, 1860; repr. Studio Editions, 1987), pls XVI. 3-4, 7.
Patricia Basing, Trades and Crafts in Medieval Manuscripts (London: British Library, 1990), p. 31, fig. 13.
Bodo Brinkmann and Eberhard König, Simon Bening: Das Blumen-Stundenbuch Clm 23637, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München (Lucern: Faksimile Verlag, 1991), pp. 94-97, figs. 13-15 [commentary and facsimile].
Bodo Brinkmann, Die flämische Buchmalerei am Ende des Burgunderreichs: der Meister des Dresdener Gebetbuchs und die Miniaturisten seiner Zeit, 2 vols (Turnhout: Brepols, 1997), I, pp. 302-05, 365, 388-89, pls. 304-07, II, pls. 304-07.
Scot McKendrick, Flemish Illuminated Manuscripts 1400-1550 (London: British Library, 2003), pls. 109-10, 115-16.
Janet Backhouse, Illumination from Book of Hours (London: British Library, 2004), fig. 59.
Anne Margreet W. As-Vijvers, 'A 'Little Treasure': Prayer Book 74 G 2 from the Koninklijke Bibliotheek in the Hague', in Manuscriptenen Miniaturen: studies Aangeboden aan Anne S. Korteweg bij aar afscheid van de Koninklijke Bibliotheek, ed. by Jos Biemans et al (Zutphen: Walburg, 2007), pp. 21-32 (p. 29).
Splendour of the Burgundian Netherlands: Southern Netherlandish Illuminated Manuscripts in Dutch Collections, ed. by Anne Margreet W. As-Vijvers and Anne S. Korteweg (Zwolle: WBOOKS, 2018), pp. 290-91.
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)