(i) NORTHERN FRENCH ILLUMINATOR
Calendar Leaf from a Book of Hours, in French, illuminated manuscript on parchment [France, Champagne? c. 1420]
 
Calendar leaf the month of October with burnished gold and tempera initials and a three-quarter foliate border with bar.
 
single leaf from a Calendar, from a Book of Hours, ruled in red ink for a single column of seventeen lines, written in a textualis formata script, (justification: 82 × 56) major feasts written in burnished gold with alternating entries in red and blue, large “KL” initials introducing the month, in blue and read with white geometric ornament peneowrk and foliate infill on burnished gold grounds, extending into three-quarter illuminated bar border composed of delicate black vine scrolls with burnished gold ivy leaves and small colored flowers in blue and rose. Some rubbing, fading, and surface abrasion affecting portions of the border decoration and gold, with minor staining and natural cockling of the parchment, otherwise in good condition. Framed in walnut with beveled molding and mounted on white matboard with beveled double-sided window. Dimensions 193 mm × 149 mm,
 
Provenance
(1) Bruce P. Ferrini (1949–2010), Akron, OH, formerly VM 168, his label and description on the reverse of the frame. Attributed to Troyes by him.
 
(2) Private Collection, United States.
 
Text
The calendar preserves the feast days for the month of October, with the principal feasts of Saint Remigius (1 October), Saint Denis (9 October), Saint Luke the Evangelist (18 October), and Saints Simon and Jude (28 October) distinguished in burnished gold. Other noteworthy regional saints include Saint Leodegar (2 October), Saint Foy (6 October), Saint Caprasius (14 October), Saint Romanus (23 October), Saint Magloire (24 October), and Saints Crispin and Crispinian (25 October). This combination of saints, particularly the prominence of Remigius together with several northern French cults, suggests an origin in northeastern France, but with Saint Denis elevated to the highest rank, Paris is certainly possible.
 
Illumination
This leaf probably derives from northeastern France and was attributed by Bruce Ferrini to Troyes. However, the style of illumination, particularly the burnished gold ivy-leaf borders, colored acanthus sprays, and ornamental KL initials, belongs to a decorative vocabulary widely employed across northern French manuscript production led by the Parisian illuminators Boucicaut Master, and Haincelin de Haguenau (Bedford Master). A closely comparable decorative scheme appears, for example, in a Parisian Book of Hours attributed to the circle of the Boucicaut Master, c. 1415–1420 (Heribert Tenschert, Paris mon amour, vol. I, no. 8). Similar in dimensions and secondary decoration, the present leaf may have belonged to a manuscript of comparable quality and refinement.
 
Parent manuscript and sister leaves
A sister leaf containing the Seven Joys of the Virgin was offered by Bruce Ferrini, Rare Books and Manuscripts, no. 76.
 
LITERATURE
Unpublished; Related literature: Bruce Ferrini, Rare Books and Manuscripts, Akron, 1999, no. 76, pp. 134–35; Eberhard König and Heribert Tenschert, Paris mon amour: 700 Years of Manuscript Illumination, vol. I, Ramsen, 2017, no. 8.

(ii) PARISIAN ILLUMINATOR
Litany Leaf from a Book of Hours, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment [France, Paris c. 1450]
 
Lot Description
Litany leaf from a Parisian Book of Hours with burnished gold initials and decorated line spacers.
 
single leaf from the Litany of a Book of Hours, ruled in pale brown ink for a single column of fourteen lines (justification: 81 × 55 mm), written in brown ink in a fine Gothic bookhand, one-line initials throughout in burnished gold on alternating blue and rose grounds heightened with white penwork, numerous line-fillers in blue and rose with burnished gold disks and white tracery. Framed in walnut with beveled molding and mounted on white matboard with beveled double-sided window. Dimensions 148 mm × 93 mm
 
Provenance
(1) Bruce P. Ferrini (1949–2010), Akron, OH, formerly VM 168, his label on the reverse of the frame.
 
(2) Private Collection, United States.
 
Text
Litany of the Saints (use of Paris) commencing with the Blessed Virgin through Saint Stephen.
 
Parent manuscript and sister leaves
None presently identified
 
LITERATURE
Unpublished; Related literature: Roger S. Wieck, Painted Prayers: The Book of Hours in Medieval and Renaissance Art, New York, 1997, pp. 104–111.
 
We thank Senior Consultant Sandra Hindman and Peter Bovenmyer for their assistance in preparing this sale.