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Harley MS 2980

Record Id:

040-002048811

Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:

040-002048811

MDARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100000000761.0x00010e

LARK:

SLARK:

Format:

ISAD(G)

Reference (shelfmark):

Harley MS 2980

Title:

Book of Hours, probably Use of Paris

Scope & Content:

Contents:

ff. 2r-13v: Calendar.

ff. 14r-19v: Gospel lessons.

ff. 20r-23r: 'Obsecro te'.

ff. 23v-25v: 'O intemerata'.

ff. 26r-37v: Hours of the Virgin, Vespers to Compline only (imperfect due to loss of leaves).

ff. 38r-51r: Penitential Psalms.

ff. 51r-54r: Litany.

ff. 55r-58r: Hours of the Cross.

ff. 58v-61v: Hours of the Holy Spirit.

Decoration:

The illumination is attributed to the workshop of Maître François (active around 1460-1480).

6 large miniatures, with large decorated initials and full foliate borders including hybrid figures, animals, birds, etc.: St John the Evangelist writing on Patmos (f. 14r); the Flight into Egypt (f. 26r); the Coronation of the Virgin Mary (f. 32v); King David penitent, with roundels in the border showing David killing Goliath, David presenting the head of Goliath to Saul, and David in the bath with Bathsheba (f. 38r); the Crucifixion, with roundels in the border showing the Flagellation, Herod washing his hands, and Christ carrying the cross with men beating him (f. 55r); Pentecost (f. 58v).

24 small roundels showing the signs of the zodiac and the labours of the months in the calendar, in colours and gold (ff. 2-13v).

Large and small decorated initials, in colours and gold.

All of the text pages feature three-sided foliate borders including hybrid figures, animals, birds, etc., in colours and gold.

Decorated line-fillers, in colours and gold.

Collection Area:

Western Manuscripts

Project / Collection:

Harley Collection

Hierarchy Tree:

[{ "id" : "040-002048811", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Harley MS 2980: Book of Hours, probably Use of Paris" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]

Hierarchy Record Ids:

032-002045828
040-002048811

Is part of:

Harley MS 1-7661 : Harley Manuscripts

Harley MS 2980 : Book of Hours, probably Use of Paris

Hierarchy:

032-002045828[2981]/040-002048811

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:

1470

End Date:

1479

Date Range:

1470s

Era:

Access:

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User Conditions:

Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript

Physical Characteristics:

Materials: Parchment.

Dimensions: 205 x 150 mm (text space: 105 x 65 mm).

Foliation: ff. 61 (+ 2 unfoliated medieval parchment flyleaves at the end); f. 1 is a medieval parchment flyleaf.

Script: Gothic.

Binding: Post-1600. Harleian binding of gold-tooled red leather; marbled endpapers; gilt edges.

Custodial History:

Origin:

Paris, France.

Provenance:

Remains of a piece of paper once pasted onto the inside upper cover (a book plate?).

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, inscribed as usual by their librarian, Humfrey Wanley 'ii die Martij, A.D. 1723/4' (f. 1r).

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. 2980.

Walter de Gray Birch and Henry Jenner, Early Drawings and Illuminations: An Introduction to the Study of Illustrated Manuscripts (London: Bagster and Sons, 1879), p. 17.

Claire Baker, ‘A dismembered book of hours: MSS. Harley 2980 and Douce 77’, Bodleian Library Record, 10 (1978), 19-22.

Material Type:

Archives and Manuscripts

Legal Status:

Not Public Record(s)