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Add MS 18850
- Record Id:
- 032-002095467
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-002095467
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000044.0x0003bc
- LARK:
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Add MS 18850
- Title:
-
Book of Hours (the 'Bedford Hours')
- Scope & Content:
-
Book of Hours of the use of Paris, known as the 'Bedford Hours'. The manuscript was produced in several phases. Its first owner, probably a member of the French royal family, remains untraced, but Louis (d. 1415), duke of Guyenne and dauphin of France, has been suggested as a possible candidate (Stirnemann and Rabel 'The Très Riches Heures' (2005), König, The Bedford Hours (2007)). The works on the manuscript might have started as early as 1410-1415 and continued until the early 1420s. The most significant additions were included between 1423 and 1430 when the manuscript was in the possession of John, duke of Bedford. They include a cycle of full-page miniatures from Genesis (ff. 13v-18v, quires ii-iii), portraits of the duke of Bedford and his wife, Anne of Burgundy with prayers to their patron saints (ff. 256r-259v, quire xxxiv), and the Legend of the Fleurs-de-lis, at the end of the volume (ff. 289r-289v, quire xxxix). At this stage the arms of the duke and the duchess were also included.
Contents:
ff. i verso - ii recto: Added flyleaves with the arms of Edward Harley and his wife, Henrietta Cavendish Holles;
ff. 1r-12v: Calendar, use of Paris;
ff. 13v-18v: Prefatory cycle of miniatures from Genesis;
ff. 19r-25r: Gospel readings;
ff. 25r-28v: prayer to the Virgin, Obsecro te;
ff. 28v-31v: prayer to the Virgin, O intemerata;
ff. 32r-94v: Hours of the Virgin;
ff. 96r-108r: Seven Penitential Psalms;
ff. 108r-113r: Litany;
ff. 113v-156v: Hours for each day of the week, with the Hours of the Trinity for Sunday (ff. 113v-119v); the Hours of the Dead for Monday (ff. 120r-125v); the Hours of All Saints for Tuesday (ff. 126r-131v); the Hours of the Holy Ghost for Wednesday (ff. 132r-137v); the Hours of the Holy Sacrament for Thursday (ff. 138r-143v); the Hours of Christ for Friday (ff. 144r-149v); and the Hours of the Virgin for Saturday (ff. 150v-156v).
ff. 157r-199r: Office of the Dead;
ff. 199v-207v: Prayers in French, Quinze joyes and Sept requestes a Dieu;
ff. 208r-255v: Hours of the Passion;
ff. 256r: An added inscription by John Somerset, physician and tutor to Henry VI, recording the gift of the present manuscript from Anne of Burgundy and John, duke of Bedford, to the king, at Christmas 1430.
ff. 256v-275v: Suffrages to the Saints, including Sts George, Anne, the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary, Michael, John the Baptist, Peter and Paul, James, John the Evangelist, Andrew, Matthew, Thomas the Apostle, Stephen, Sebastian,Vincent, Laurence, Denis, Christopher, Nicholas, Pope Martin, Anthony, Julian, Maur, Anne, Mary Magdalene, Catherine, Margaret, Agnes.
ff. 276r-287v: Masses to the Holy Spirit, the Holy Cross and for the Dead.
ff. 289r-289v: Legend of the Fleurs-de-lis.
Decoration:
The main miniatures and related borders including the portraits of the duke and duchess of Bedford were painted by the Bedford Master, a Parisian artist named after this manuscript. The completion of the Genesis cycle and miniatures on ff. 188r-189r was attributed to the Master of the Munich Golden Legend by König, The Bedford Hours (2007). The borders of the text, executed at an earlier stage, were associated with the Master of the Cité des Dames, the Master de Laval, and others (see König, The Bedford Hours (2007)).
5 full-page miniatures in gold and colours without borders (ff. 14r, 15v, 16v, 17v, 288v) and 33 large miniatures in colours and gold with full borders (ff. 32r, 204v, incuding two full-page miniatures, ff. 256v, 257v). Full ivy-leaf borders with historiated medalions (over 1200) on every other page. Small miniatures in the calendar with the labours of the months and the signs of the Zodiac. 3 historiated initials (ff. 25r, 28v, 32r). Illuminated initials and line fillers.
The iconography of the medallions is explained in verses in French, written in gold and blue in lower margins, which were probably added in the last stage of the production of the manuscript by the scribe of ff. 288r-289v.
The subjects of the decorations are:
f. 1r: Janus at the table, and Aquarius (January).
f. 2r: Old man warming himself by the fire, and Pisces (February).
f. 3r: Man pruning vines, and Aries (March).
f. 4r: Man gathering fresh leaves, and Taurus (April).
f. 5r: Man riding a horse, and Gemini (May).
f. 6r: Man mowing, Cancer (June).
f. 7r: Man harvesting corn, and Leo (July).
f. 8r: Man threshing, and Virgo (August).
f. 9r: Man trampling grapes, and Libra (September).
f. 10r: Man sowing, and Scorpio (October).
f. 11r: Swineherd knocking down acorns from an oak tree, and Sagittarius (November).
f. 12r: Man butchering a pig, and Capricorn (December).
f. 14r: The Story of Adam and Eve, including: the Creation of Adam and Eve, God forbiding Adam and Eve the fruit from the Tree, Temptation, Original Sin, Expulsion from Paradise, Adam labouring on the land and Eve spinning; the offerings of Abel and Cain; and Cain killing Abel.
f. 15r: a heraldic composition with the laurel bush, the emblem of Anne of Burgundy, and the root emblem of John, duke of Bedford, with the arms now overpainted with the arms of Henry II of France and his wife Catherine de Medici.
f. 15v: The building of Noah’s Ark.
f. 16v: The exit from the Ark.
f. 17v: The building of the Tower of Babel.
f. 19r: St John the Evangelist.
f. 20v: St Luke the Evangelist.
f. 22r: St Matthew the Evangelist.
f. 23v: The arms of John, Duke of Bedford, and his wife, Anne of Burgundy.
f. 24r: St Mark the Evangelist.
f. 25r: The Virgin and Child.
f. 28v: Maria Lactans.
f. 32r: Annunciation, with scenes from the life of the Virgin in the border (Matins).
f. 54v, Visitation, with scenes from the life of St John the Baptist in the border (Lauds).
f. 65r: Nativity, with scenes from the life of Joseph and the Virgin in the border (Prime).
f. 70v: Annunciation to the Shepherds, with additional scenes in the border (Terce).
f. 75r: Adoration of the Magi, with additional scenes from their journey in the border (Sext).
f. 79r: Presentation in the Temple, with additional scenes in the border (None).
f. 83r: Flight into Egypt, with scenes of the Massacre of the Innocents and Miracles on the way to Egypt in the border (Vespers).
f. 89v: Death and Coronation of the Virgin, with additional scenes in the border including miracles at her funeral (Compline).
f. 94v: The arms of John, duke of Bedford and his wife Anne of Burgundy.
f. 96r: the story of David and Bathsheba.
f. 113v: Trinity, with scenes of the Days of Creation in the border.
f. 120r: Office of the Dead in a church, with scenes of the last confession, communion and unction of a dying person, and a burial in the border.
f. 126r: Coronation of the Virgin with all saints gathered below, with St George and scenes of martyrdom of St Denis, St Catherine, St Laurence, and St Stephen in the border.
f. 132r: Pentecost, with scenes from the Baptism of Christ, angels singing and playing music, and saints in the border.
f. 138r: The Last Supper, with additional scenes from the Holy Week cycle in the border.
f. 144r: Crucifixion, with additional scenes from the Passion of Christ in the border.
f. 150v: Virgin Mary as Mater Misericordiae, with various social groups in prayer in the border.
f. 157r: The Last Judgement, with angels with symbols of the Passion and scenes of the torments of the damned in the borders.
f. 199v, Virgin and Child with scenes of five joys of the Virgin: the Annunciation, the Visitation, Christ's appearance after his Resurrection, Christ's Ascension, and the Coronation of the Virgin.
f. 204v: The Trinity as the Throne of Mercy, with the Annunciation, the Crucifixion, the Agony in the Garden, Christ's carrying the Cross, and Christ with the Apostles, in the border.
f. 207v: The arms and devices of John, duke of Bedford, and of his wife, Anne of Burgundy.
f. 208r: Agony in the Garden, with additional scenes in the border of Christ waking up his disciples, revealing himself to the soldiers, the miracle of Malchus's ear restored, Saint John and soldiers, and Christ before Annas (Matins).
f. 221v: Arrest of Christ, with additional scenes in the border of Christ before Caiaphas, the high priest, and denial of St Peter (Lauds).
f. 227v: Christ before Pilate, with additional scenes in the border of Christ being mocked, Judas returning the money and his suicide; Pilate and the Jews, Pilate and Christ (Prime).
f. 230v: Flagellation, with additional scenes in the border of crowning with thorns, Christ being taken to Herod, and Christ before Pilate (Terce).
f. 235r: Carrying of the Cross with additional scenes in the border of Pilate's wife and the Devil, Pilate talking to the Jews, Pilate washing his hands, Christ before Pilate (Sexte).
f. 240r: Crucifixion, with additional scenes in the border of undressing of Christ, preparation of the Cross, nailing Christ to the Cross, and the dead rising from their graves (None).
f. 245v: Deposition from the Cross, with additional scenes in the border of Joseph of Arimathea, mourning over Christ's body, and Christ's tomb (Vespers).
f. 249v: Entombment, with additional scenes in the border of the lamentation, Pilate and Nicodemus, soldiers, and the holy women (Compline).
f. 255v: The arms of John, duke of Bedford and his wife Anne of Burgundy.
f. 256v: Portrait of the duke of Bedford before St George.
f. 257v: Portrait of Anne of Burgundy before St Anne.
f. 288v: God giving the banner of the fleurs-de lis to an angel, the hermit of Joyenval passing it to queen Clothilda, and the queen presenting it to king Clovis.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Additional Manuscripts
Royal Manuscripts Digitisation Project - Hierarchy Tree:
- [{ "id" : "032-002095467", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Add MS 18850: Book of Hours (the 'Bedford Hours')" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002095467
- Is part of:
- not applicable
- Hierarchy:
- 032-002095467
- Container:
- not applicable
- Record Type (Level):
- Fonds
- Extent:
-
1 volume
- Digitised Content:
- http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Add_MS_18850 (digital images currently unavailable)
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- English
French
Latin - Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1405
- End Date:
- 1430
- Date Range:
- c 1410-1430
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
- Restrictions to access apply please consult British Library staff
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- User Conditions:
- Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript.
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Materials: Parchment codex.
Dimentions: 260 x 185 mm (text space: 115 x 70 mm).
Foliation: [vi] + ii + 289 + [iv] (ff. i-ii are modern parchment leaves; the unfoliated flyleaves are: 2 modern parchment leaves at the beginning and 1 at the end, and 4 paper leaves at the beginning and 3 at the end).
Collation: i12 (ff. 1-12); ii2 (ff. 13-14); iii4 (ff. 15-18); iv8 (ff. 19-26); v4 (ff. 27-31); vi-xxxiii8 (ff. 32-255); xxxiv4 (ff. 256-259); xxxv-xxxvii8 (ff. 260-283); xxxviii4 (ff. 284-287); xxxix2 (ff. 288-289). Leaves mounted on guards. Catchwords.
Layout: Written in one column of 16 lines.
Script: Gothic.
Binding: British Musem/British Library in-house binding. The manuscript was rebound when in possession of Lord Harley. The former crimson velvet binding with clasps is stored separately as Add MS 18850/1.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin: France (Paris).
Provenance:
John [John of Lancaster], duke of Bedford (b. 1389, d. 1435), regent of France and prince, adapted for him after his marriage to Anne of Burgundy, sister of Philip the Good, in 1423: mottos of the duke of Bedford, 'a vous entier' and of Anne of Burgundy, duchess of Bedford, 'jen suis contente', (f. 138r); a portrait of the duke (f. 265v); a portrait of Anne of Burgundy (f. 257v); given by Anne to her nephew Henry VI (inscription cited below).
Henry VI (b. 1421-d. 1471), king of England: inscription by John Somerset, physician, Henry VI's tutor, stating that the manuscript was presented to the king by Anne of Burgundy at Rouen, 24 December 1430 (f. 256r).
Henry II (b. 1519, d. 1559), king of France and his consort Catherine de' Medici (b. 1519, d. 1589): their arms painted on shields originally bearing the arms of the first owners, and suspended from branches of a fruit tree, the device of the duchess of Bedford (f. 15r).
Frances Worsley (b. 1673, d. 1750), wife of Sir Robert Worsley (b. 1669, d. 1747), 4rt baronet of Appuldurcombe: probably purchased from her by Edward Harley between 1713 and 1724 (see Wright 1972).
Edward Harley (b. 1689, d. 1741), 2nd earl of Oxford and Mortimer, book collector and patron of the arts: his arms and quarterings, impaling those of his wife, Henrietta Cavendish Holles, are painted on an inserted leaf at the beginning of the book (ff. i verso-ii recto).
Margaret Cavendish Holles Harley (b. 1715, d. 1785), duchess of Portland, daughter of Edward Harley and Henrietta Cavendish Holles, inherited by her; in her sale at Skinner & Co, 1786.
James Edwards (b. 1757, d.1816), bookseller of Pall Mall, London: purchased by him at Skinner and Co., London in 1786; his sale, R.H. Evans, April 1815, lot 830,
George Spencer-Churchill (b. 1766, d. 1840), 5th duke of Marlborough, purchased by him together with the rest of Edwards' library; his sale, R.H. Evans, 19 June, 1833, lot 613.
John Milner, pledged to him by Spencer-Churchill as a security for a loan and, when in his possession, studied by Frederic Madden in June 1828.
Sir John Tobin (b. 1763, d. 1851), Liverpool shipping merchant, purchased by him at George Spencer-Churchill's sale for £1100; given by him to his son Rev. John Tobin in 1838.
Rev. John Tobin of Liscard Hall, near Brighton, sold by him to William Boone, London bookseller in 1851.
Purchased by the British Museum from William Boone, London bookseller: a note by Frederic Madden, librarian at the British Museum, 'Purchased of Messers W. and J. Boone of 129 New Bond Street, 2nd. Feb. 1852'.
- Information About Copies:
-
Full digital coverage available for this manuscript, see Digitised Manuscripts http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/.
- Publications:
-
Richard Gough, An Account of a Rich Illuminated Missal Executed for John Duke of Bedford (London, 1794).
Montague Rhodes James, The Apocalypse in Art, The Schweich Lectures of the British Academy, 1927 (London: British Academy, 1931), no. 74.
Jean Porcher, French Miniatures from Illuminated Manuscripts (London: Collins, 1960), p. 91.
Eleanor P. Spenser, 'The Master of the Duke of Bedford: The Bedford Hours', The Burlington Magazine, 57 (1965), 495-502.
Alan N. L. Munby, Connoisseurs and Medieval Miniatures 1750-1850 (Oxford, 1972), pp. 2-13.
Cyril Ernest Wright, Fontes Harleiani: A Study of the Sources of the Harleian Collection of Manuscripts in the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1972), pp. 360-61.
Millard Meiss, French Painting in the Time of Jean de Berry: The Limbourgs and their Contemporaries (London, 1974), I, p.364.
Janet Backhouse, 'A Reappraisal of the Bedford Hours', British Library Journal, 7 (1981), 47-69.
Janet Backhouse, Books of Hours (London: British Library, 1985), figs. 1-2.
Charles Sterling, La peinture médiévale à Paris, 1300-1500 (Paris, 1987), pp. 419-34.
Jenny Stratford, 'The Manuscripts of John, Duke of Bedford: Library and Chapel', in England in the Fifteenth Century: Proceedings of the 1986 Harlaxton Symposium, ed. by D. Williams (Woodbridge, 1987), pp. 329-50 (pp. 342-43).
Janet Backhouse, The Bedford Hours (London: British Library, 1990).
François Avril and Nicole Reynaud, Les Manuscrits à Peintures en France 1440-1520 (Paris: Flammarion, 1993), pp. 23-24 [exhibition catalogue].
Jenny Stratford, The Bedford Inventories: The Worldly Goods of John, Duke of Bedford, Regent of France (1389-1435), (London: Society of Antiquaries, 1993), pp. 83, 97, 98 n. 4, 100, 114, 120-21.
Richard K. Emmerson, 'The Apocalypse Cycle in the Bedford Hours', Traditio, 50 (1995), 173-98.
Richard H. Rouse and Mary A. Rouse, Manuscripts and Their Makers: Commercial Book Producers in Medieval Paris 1200-1500, 2 vols (Turnhout: Harvey Miller, 2000), I, p. 403 n. 91.
Paris 1400: Les arts sous Charles VI (Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux, 2004), fig. 97 [exhibition catalogue].
The Cambridge Illuminations: Ten Centuries of Book Production in the Medieval West, ed. by Paul Binski and Stella Panayotova (London: Harvey Miller, 2005), p. 206.
Treasures of the British Library, ed. by Nicolas Barker and others (London: British Library, 2005), p. 121.
Patricia Stirnemann and Claudia Rabel, 'The Très Riches Heures and Two Artists Associated with the Bedford Workshop', Burlington Magazine, 147 (2005), 534-38.
Catherine Reynolds, 'The Très Riches Heures, the Bedford Workshop, and Barthelemy d'Eyck', Burlington Magazine, 147 (2005), 526-33.
Catherine Reynolds, 'The Workshop of the Master of the Duke of Bedford: Definitions and Identities', in Book and Book Production in Paris c. 1400, ed. by Peter Ainsworth and Godofred Croenen (Leuven:Peeters, 2006), pp. 437-72.
Eberhard König, The Bedford Hours: The Making of a Medieval Masterpiece (London: British Library, 2007).
Bedford Hours: London, British Library, Add. MS 18850, with commentary by Eberhard König (Luzern: Faksimile-Verlag, 2007) [facsimile].
Margaret Scott, Medieval Dress & Fashion (London: British Library, 2007), pl. 80.
Philip Howard, The British Library: A Treasure House of Knowledge (London: Scala Publishers, 2008), no. 5.
Babylon: Myth and Reality, ed. by I. L. Finkel and M. J. Seymour (London: British Museum, 2008), fig. 112 [exhibition catalogue].
Joe Flatman, Ships and Shipping in Medieval Manuscripts (London: British Library, 2009), pl. 2.
Patricia Stirnemann, 'Les Très riches heures et les heures de Bedford', Revista de historia da arte 7 (2009), 139-51,
Scot McKendrick, John Lowden, and Kathleen Doyle, Royal Manuscripts: The Genius of Illumination (London: British Library, 2011), no. 142 [exhibition catalogue].
Joni M. Hand, Women, manuscripts and identity in Northern Europe, 1350-1550 (Farnham: Ashgate, 2013), pp. 23, 33, n. 117.
Laurent Ungeheuer, ‘Le Maître de la Légende dorée de Munich, un émule du Maître de Bedford: Collaborations et indépendance d’un enlumineur parisien entre 1420 et 1450’, Revue de L’Art, 195 (2017), 23-32 (pp. 27-28) [online at https://www.academia.edu/15766707/Le_Ma%C3%AEtre_de_la_L%C3%A9gende_dor%C3%A9e_de_Munich_enlumineur_parisien_du_milieu_du_XVe_si%C3%A8cle; accessed June 2017].
Eberhard König, Vom Psalter zum Stundenbuch: Zwei bedeutende Handschriften aus dem 14. Jahrhundert, Illuminationen: Studien und Monographen, 22 (Bibermühle: Tenschert, 2015), p. 248.
- Exhibitions:
- British Library Treasures, (online), 27 February 2016-
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)