WORKSHOP OF THE MASTER OF BOETHIUS OF MONTPELLIER (active Eastern France, Metz, mid-14th century
Leaf from a Book of Hours with large historiated initial ‘D’ showing the Presentation in the Temple and animal marginalia, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment [France, Metz, ca. 1325–1350]

Tantalizing example of Metz illumination belonging to a coherent group of works, often written in Lorrain dialect, and from a distinctive workshop.

130 × 90 mm. Single leaf of parchment, ruled in plummet for a single column of seventeen lines, written in red and black ink in a highly regular and compact Gothic textura, rubrics in red, one decorated two-line initial ‘M’, painted in light blue and highlighted with white penwork on blue and gold grounds, flanked by two gold bezants to either side of the central descender, one inhabited three-line initial ‘A’, in rose with penwork decoration on a burnished gold ground, containing the head of a man in mail gazing outward from the initial, ONE HISTORIATED INITIAL ‘D’ of nine lines encloses a miniature of The Presentation in the Temple, painted in sable on a rose ground with burnished gold infill, full four-sided border with foliate extensions, gold bezants, and drolleries, including a naturalistically rendered bird in the right margin and a large brown rabbit in the bas-de-page. Well preserved, with only minor pigment abrasion and slight ink flaking in the border vines, margins cropped, likely removing original foliation or marginal notations.

A charming leaf featuring playful bas-de-page marginalia, this folio originates from a Book of Hours produced by a distinctive group of painters active in Lorraine during the first half of the fourteenth century. The group is named after a lavishly illuminated copy of Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy (Montpellier, Bibliothèque de la faculté de Médecine, MS H43), whose stylistic features have become the basis for attributing related manuscripts to this distinctive atelier working in Metz. The present leaf contains a miniature of The Presentation in the Temple, marking the beginning of Compline in the Hours of the Virgin. The historiated initial ‘D’, occupying nine lines, depicts the Virgin Mary offering the Christ Child to Simeon, who stands behind a cloth-draped altar. Joseph, holding the traditional offering of doves, stands behind her. The initial introduces Deus in adiutorium—the standard opening invocation for each hour—which, in this case, replaces the more typical Compline incipit Converte nos, Deus. A smaller initial nearby contains the bust of a soldier, rendered in profile within a decorative frame.

Although the parent manuscript is no longer extant, several sister leaves survive and are notable for their inclusion of vernacular prayers in a Lorrain dialect of French, placed before each major division of the Hours. These prayers correspond thematically to the Passion of Christ, thus introducing a meta-Passion cycle embedded within the conventional liturgical structure. This feature situates the manuscript within a rare and distinctive group of fourteenth-century Books of Hours produced in Metz and attributed to the so-called Boethius of Montpellier group. Other examples from this group include manuscripts now preserved in Paris and Baltimore, as well as one presently in the collection of Les Enluminures (BOH 215). While all are linked by their use of vernacular Passion prayers, the French texts differ from manuscript to manuscript, suggesting that each was uniquely composed.

Provenance
(1) The parent volume is unidentified but bears an ink inscription reading “N DP” (possibly Notre Dame de P[...]) in the upper margin of sister leaf in the McCarthy Collection, with a faint bas-de-page inscription that may read “A 2 54”.

(2) The manuscript may have been broken up by Bruce P. Ferrini (1949–2010), who is the earliest confirmed owner. Many leaves from the parent manuscript bear pencil inscriptions with Ferrini’s stock numbers, including “VM 6519” on this leaf.

(3) Marc du Ry. His Catalogue 1 (2001), no.7.

(4) Sotheby’s, 3 December 2013, lot 13(a).

(5) Exhibited at the University of Hong Kong Museum and Art Gallery in 2015–2016.

(6) Robert McCarthy, London, MS BM 2428.

Parent manuscript and sister leaves
The parent volume has not yet been identified, but related leaves—easily recognized by their consistent style and decorative vocabulary—appear periodically on the market with others in public and private collection. These include: The McCarthy Collection: 4 leaves. Sext, with The Adoration of the Magi; Compline, with The Presentation in the Temple; Vespers, Hours of the Passion, with The Deposition; Litany, with an initial K of two clerics singing at a lectern. Cleveland Museum of Art: 2 leaves. None, Hours of the Virgin, with The Massacre of the Innocents (inv. 1999.126.6); Vespers, with The Flight into Egypt (inv. 2011.56.7). Scott Schwartz Collection, New York: 1 leaf. Compline, Hours of the Passion, with The Maries at the Sepulcher. Private Collection, Pittsburg, CA: 1 leaf. Lauds, Hours of the Passion, with Christ Before Pilate. Untraced: leaves from Lauds, Prime, and Terce of the Hours of the Virgin; Matins, Prime, Terce, Sext, and None of the Hours of the Passion; the complete section of the Seven Penitential Psalms; and a leaf from the Office of the Dead beginning Dilexi, with a funeral service.

LITERATURE
Marc Antoine du Ry, Medieval Art, Catalogue One: Gothic Art (London, 2001), no. 7 (col. ill.), described as “Northern or North Eastern France, c. 1300”; Sotheby’s, London, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts, 3 December 2013, lot 13(a); F. Knoche, Illustrious Illuminations: Christian Manuscripts from the High Gothic to the High Renaissance (1250–1540), Hong Kong, 2015, no. 8, no. 10, and no. 16; Thomson Roddick, Medcalf Carlisle, Antiquarian & Collectable [sic] Books, Maps, Postcards, Ephemera & Related Items, 26 May 2016, lot 136; Peter Kidd, The McCarthy Collection: French Miniatures, London, 2021, no. 67.

We are grateful to Peter Kidd for permission to quote from his catalogue for this entry, and we thank Senior Consultant Sandra Hindman and Peter Bovenmyer for their assistance in preparing this sale.

The Robert McCarthy Collection

This lot is located in Chicago.

Christopher Brink

Associate Vice President, Head of Sale, Senior Specialist, Books & Manuscripts

christopherbrink@freemansauction.com 312.334.4217

Darren Winston

SVP, Head of Department, Books and Manuscripts, Philadelphia

darrenwinston@freemansauction.com 267.414.1247

Darren Winston, Senior Vice President at Freeman’s, has served as Head of Department for Books & Manuscripts, Philadelphia, since 2018. He has been a trustee of the Rosenbach Museum and Library since 2022, is a member of The Manuscript Society, The Bibliographical Society of America, and Philadelphia’s Philobiblon Club.

Raised in northern New Jersey, Darren moved to New York City in 1988 and began his career there as a bookseller in 1995. He spent the next 18 years selling to private clients and at East Coast book fairs. In 2003 he moved with his young family to Sharon, Connecticut where, in 2009, he opened his own bookshop. Darren Winston, Bookseller offered rare and vintage books, prints, fine art, and more, and hosted over 50 book signings and art shows. He was a trustee and, later, Board President, of the Sharon Historical Society, and for six years a trustee of Indian Mountain School in Lakeville, Connecticut.

Darren has hosted the radio program "Darren Winston's Book Report" for NPR-affiliate WHDD since 2009, appeared in the 2014 book-themed documentary The Paper Trail, and in 2024 he joined Antiques Roadshow as a books and manuscripts appraiser. From 1999 to 2005, Darren was the buyer and consultant to the Fine and Rare Books Department at Asprey, the British luxury goods company, at its New York headquarters. While there he spearheaded various in-store events including readings by Salman Rushdie and Dominick Dunne.

In 1993, Darren was hired as a Creative Consultant to Columbia Records, where he assisted in the repackaging of their 12-record Aerosmith back catalogue. He later sold his extensive collection of Aerosmith memorabilia, which he began amassing at the age of 14, directly to the band.

Darren now lives on the Main Line, outside Philadelphia, with his wife, two children, and dog. The family travels frequently to his wife's native England and Scotland. When not bookselling, he plays guitar in Pumped, an Aerosmith tribute band. Darren also appears on the top-rated PBS television program Antiques Roadshow.

Sandra Hindman

Senior Consultant, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscript Illumination

manuscripts@freemansauction.com 312 280 1212

Sandra Hindman, Senior Consultant, is a leading expert in Medieval and Renaissance manuscript illumination. Professor Emerita of Art History at Northwestern University, Professor Hindman is author, coauthor or editor of more than twelve books, as well as numerous articles on the history and reception of illuminated manuscripts and on medieval rings. She is a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America, the National Antique and Art Dealers Association of America, the Syndicat National de la Librairie Ancienne et Moderne, and the Syndicat National des Antiquaires,The Grolier Club and the Caston Club. In 2023, the French Republic named Sandra Hindman a Chevaliere de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters). She is the owner and CEO of Les Enluminures Paris Chicago and New York founded in 1991.

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