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Harley MS 2923

Record Id:

040-002048754

Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:

040-002048754

MDARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100000000761.0x0000c2

LARK:

SLARK:

Format:

ISAD(G)

Reference (shelfmark):

Harley MS 2923

Title:

Book of Hours, Use of Tournai

Scope & Content:

A Book of Hours, with rubrics in French, probably from Tournai since the calendar includes St Eleutherius, bishop of Tournai (20 February), and St Piatus of Tournai (1 October). A suffrage to the unusual St Venisse (or Venisa) (ff. 28v-29r), who was associated particularly with women's health issues and was also venerated in Tournai (see Patrick, Reflexions (1674), p. 279), suggests that the manuscript may have been made for a woman in Tournai. Additions from the late 15th or early 16th century include a prayer to St Piatus of Tournai (f. 29v) and prayers for a female owner called Jeanne (mentioning '...da mihi famule tue Johanne...', f. 134r).

Contents:

ff. 1r-6v: Calendar, in French, including St Eleutherius, bishop of Tournai (20 February) and St Piatus of Tournai (1 October).

ff. 8r-14v: Hours of the Cross.

ff. 16v-21v: Hours of the Holy Spirit.

ff. 21v-29r: Suffrages to a guardian angel, St John the Baptist, Sts Peter and Paul, St Nicholas, St Sebastian, St Anthony, St Adrian, St Anne, St Catherine, St Barbara, St Margaret and St Venisse.

f. 29v: Added prayer to St Piatus, late 15th or early 16th century.

ff. 30r-31v: The Seven Prayers of St Gregory, beginning 'O domine ihesu christe adoro te in cruce pendentem'.

ff. 31v-33r: Eight verses of St Bernard.

f. 33r-v: Antiphon to the Virgin, 'Salve Regina'.

ff. 34r-35r: Hymn of the Holy Spirit, 'Veni creator Spiritus'.

f. 35r-v: Prayer at the Elevation of the Host, 'Anima Christi sanctifica me'.

ff. 35v-36v: Prayer at the Elevation of the chalice, 'Ave vere sanguis domini'.

ff. 36v-37r: Prayer for when we want to receive the body of our Lord, 'Domine non sum dignus'.

f. 37r-v: Prayer for when we receive it, 'Vera preceptio corporis et sanguinis tui'.

f. [37a] recto: Impressions of pilgrim badges and residue of paste.

f. 38r: Added prayer to the Virgin, in French, beginning 'A toy royne de hault parage', late 15th or early 16th century.

ff. 40r-89v: Hours of the Virgin.

ff. 91r-101v: Penitential Psalms.

ff. 102r-105v: Litany.

ff. 106r-133v: Office of the Dead.

ff. 134r-145v: Added prayers in Latin and French, apparently for a female owner called Jeanne as they mention '...da mihi famule tue Johanne...' (f. 134r), late 15th or early 16th century.

f. 146v: Added prayer in French, beginning 'Petit Jesus prenez mon coeur', 17th century.

Rubrics in French throughout.

Decoration:

The illumination is attributed to Jean Markant (see Vanwijnsberghe, 'Marketing Books for Burghers' (2006), p. 146, n. 1).

4 full-page miniatures inserted on single leaves, with large decorated initials on the facing page, with full foliate borders, in colours and gold, for major text divisions: the Crucifixion (f. 7v); Pentecost (f. 15v); the Annunciation (f. 39v); King David in penitence (f. 90v).

8 large miniatures with large decorated initials and full foliate borders for the Hours of the Virgin after Matins, in colours and gold: the Visitation (f. 49v); the Nativity (f. 60r); the Annunciation to the Shepherds (f. 66r); the Adoration of the Magi (f. 70r); the Presentation in the Temple (f. 74r); the Flight into Egypt (f. 85r); the Coronation of the Virgin (f. 85r).

1 large miniature with a large decorated initial and no borders: the Mass of St Gregory (f. 30r).

1 small miniature, in colours and gold, of Sts Peter and Paul (f. 22r). Small initials (1-2 lines) in gold on red and blue grounds.

Collection Area:

Western Manuscripts

Project / Collection:

Harley Collection

Hierarchy Tree:

[{ "id" : "040-002048754", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Harley MS 2923: Book of Hours, Use of Tournai" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]

Hierarchy Record Ids:

032-002045828
040-002048754

Is part of:

Harley MS 1-7661 : Harley Manuscripts

Harley MS 2923 : Book of Hours, Use of Tournai

Hierarchy:

032-002045828[2924]/040-002048754

Container:

View / search within Archive / Collection: Harley MS 1-7661

Record Type (Level):

File

Extent:

1 volume

Digitised Content:

Languages:

French, Middle
Latin

Scripts:

Latin

Start Date:

1475

End Date:

1485

Date Range:

c 1480

Era:

Access:

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User Conditions:

Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript

Physical Characteristics:

Materials: Parchment.

Dimensions: 165 x 115 mm (text space: 105 x 70 mm).

Foliation: ff. 146 (+ 1 unfoliated medieval parchment leaf after f. 37; + 2 paper flyleaves at the beginning and 1 unfoliated medieval parchment leaf and 2 paper flyleaves at the end).

Script: Gothic.

Binding: Post-1600. Gold-tooled brown leather.

Custodial History:

Origin:

Southern Netherlands, probably Tournai.

Provenance:

A female owner, Tournai: the calendar includes St Eleutherius, bishop of Tournai (20 February) and St Piatus of Tournai (1 October); the manuscript also includes a suffrage to the unusual St Venisse (or Venisa) (ff. 28v-29r), who was associated particularly with women's health issues and was also venerated in Tournai (see Patrick, Reflexions (1674), p. 279).

A female owner called Jeanne, Tournai, late 15th or early 16th century: added prayers (ff. 29v, 38r, 134r-145v) including to St Piatus of Tournai (f. 29v) and mentioning '...da mihi famule tue Johanne...' (f. 134r), in the same hand.

Impressions of pilgrim badges and paste on an unfoliated medieval parchment leaf after f. 37.

17th century: added prayer in French (f. 146v).

The Harley Collection, formed by Robert Harley (b. 1661, d. 1724), 1st earl of Oxford and Mortimer, politician, and Edward Harley (b. 1689, d. 1741), 2nd earl of Oxford and Mortimer, book collector and patron of the arts. Edward Harley bequeathed the library to his widow, Henrietta Cavendish, née Holles (b. 1694, d. 1755) during her lifetime and thereafter to their daughter, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck (b. 1715, d. 1785), duchess of Portland; the manuscripts were sold by the Countess and the Duchess in 1753 to the nation for £10,000 (a fraction of their contemporary value) under the Act of Parliament that also established the British Museum; the Harley manuscripts form one of the foundation collections of the British Library.

Information About Copies:

Select digital coverage: Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts, http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/

Publications:

A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum, 4 vols (London: [n. pub.], 1808-12), II, no. 2923.

Margaret Susannah Crosland, 'British Library Harley 2923: Aspects of Production, Attribution, and Use in a Late Fifteenth-century Flemish Book of Hours', unpublished MA Dissertation, Courtauld Institute of Art (2011).

John Patrick, Reflexions upon the devotions of the Roman church with the prayers, hymns & lessons themselves, taken out of their authentic books, 3 vols (London: Richard Royston, 1674), I, p. 279 (without citing this manuscript).

Dominique Vanwijnsberghe, 'Marketing Books for Burghers: Jean Markant's Activity in Tournai, Lille, and Bruges', in Flemish Manuscript Painting in Context: Recent Research, ed. by Elizabeth Morrison and Thomas Kren (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2006), pp. 135-48 (p. 146 n. 1).

Material Type:

Archives and Manuscripts

Legal Status:

Not Public Record(s)