Fine Florentine Book of Hours from the golden age of Renaissance illumination.
 
i (vellum) + 279 + i (vellum) leaves foliated in pencil 1–278, the sequence omitting an unfoliated miniature cuplet following f. 12, lacking one leaf after f. 130, else complete [collation: i12, ii10+1, iii10, iv10, v10, vi10, vii10, viii10, ix10, x10, xi10, xii10, xiii10-1, xiv10, xv10, xvi10, xvii10, xviii10, xix12, xx10, xxi10, xxii10, xxii4+1], with catchwords, booktabs placed at textual divisions, ruled in brown ink in one column of thirteen lines (justification: 52 mm × 38 mm), written in a Gothic rotunda script, rubrics in red, capitals in red and blue ink, two-line Lombard capitals with penwork extensions, FOUR SMALL HISTORIATED INITIALS of three and four lines in blue with white filigree and green infill on burnished gold, accompanied by partial borders of slender acanthus stems supporting alternating gold bezants and stylized blossoms in green, blue, and rose, ONE LARGE HISTORIATED INITIAL of six lines painted in blue with white penwork filagree, green infill, and gold edging, with curling terminals extending outward into margins, accompanied by full borders of florals and acanthus rose, green, blue, gold bezants and a decorative urn, with heraldic cartouche in lower margin, TWO FULL-PAGE MINIATURES, presented in a double-page spread with full borders of acanthus, florals, and bezants, with heraldic cartouche in lower margins, painted and added by the owner.. Bound in red goatskin over boards, with a double fillet border enclosing a panel of corner and central floral tools, spine with raised bands and compartments densely tooled in gilt with scrolling foliage, edges gilt and tooled with small repeating punches, folio with second miniature detached and now loose within the manuscript, minor scuffing and staining to a few leaves, but vellum remains crisp and clean overall, in excellent condition. Dimensions 88 mm × 66 mm.
 
Provenance
(1) Written and illuminated in Florence for a patron whose arms appear three times in oval cartouches at the preface to the Hours of the Virgin: a lion rampant azure, on an or field, encircled by a wreath. Possibly those of the Acciaioli family, an important Italian noble family from Florence, whose members were the ruling Dukes of Athens.
(2) Added to the final verso, an early inscription in Italian containing a passion narrative: “... male ... eglisi recegua con … gli giotorono e heisu schierno dimandar lo a chiagro alla ... che dice li giovani…”
(3) Added on the front flyleaf, a painted coat of arms: gules, a bend Or charged with three mullets (of five points) sable, with a bugle-horn Or in the field; likely sixteenth-century; not securely identified.
(4) J. A. Dortmund collection, his bookplate and catalog number “452” on front pastedown. Johannes A. Dortmond (1912–1988) was a prominent Dutch antiquarian book collector and wholesale dealer in stationery and office materials based in Amsterdam. He is most renowned for his extensive collection of materials related to the history of writing and scripts, which eventually led to the establishment of the J. A. Dortmond Museum of Script, now housed in the Allard Pierson collection of manuscripts and early printed books in Amsterdam.
(5) Sotheby’s, London, 12 September 1992, lot 74.
(6) Collection of Dr. Scott Schwartz, New York, his bookplate and catalog number “MS 27” on front pastedown.
 
Text
ff. 1–12 Calendar (Use of Rome); ff. 13–107, Hours of the Virgin (ff. 13–26, Matins; ff. 26–41v, Lauds; ff. 41v–47v, Prime; ff. 47v–53v, Terce; ff. 53v–58v, Sext; ff. 58v–64, None; ff. 64–74; Vespers; ff. 74–80, Compline; ff. 80–107, Seasonal variants); ff. 104–161v, Office of the Dead; ff. 162–164v, Hours of the Cross; ff. 165–193, Hours of the Passion; ff. 194–207, Penitential Psalms; ff. 207v–218, Litanies and supplications (f. 210, Zenobius; f. 210v, Reparata).
 
Illumination
Written and illuminated in Florence in the final decades of the fifteenth century, fine Book of Hours was produced for a Florentine patron whose heraldic device appears three times in cartouches in the lower margins. The arms, a lion rampant azure on a silver field, enclosed within a laurel wreath, recall those of the Acciaioli family of Florence. The manuscript’s decoration belongs firmly within the refined tradition of Florentine Renaissance illumination, combining elaborate penwork initials, historiated decoration, and classically inspired floral borders characteristic of luxury manuscript production during this period. an exact artist or workshop has yet to be identified, but the illumination appears to have been completed by at least two artists working within the milieu of Florentine book production around 1480–1500. The artist responsible for the historiated initials employs a painterly approach, with softly modeled figures and faces that recalls some aspects of the work of Boccardino il Vecchio among others
 
The subjects of the two miniatures and five historiated initials are as follows: unfoliated (following f. 12), two half-page miniatures of the Annunciation (the second on a loose folio); f. 13, the Virgin and Child in an initial ‘D’ (opening the Hours of the Virgin); f. 104, a skull in an initial ‘D’ (opening the Office of the Dead); f. 162, a cross in an initial ‘P’ (opening the Hours of the Cross); f. 165, a cross in an initial ‘D’ (opening the Hours of the Passion); f. 194, King David in an initial ‘D’ (opening the Penitential Psalms).
 
LITERATURE
Unpublished; Related literature: Paolo D’Ancona, La miniatura fiorentina (secoli XI–XVI), 2 vols., Florence, 1914; Mirella Levi D’Ancona, Miniatura e miniatori a Firenze dal XIV al XVI secolo, Florence, 1962; Annarosa Garzelli and Albinia C. de la Mare, Miniatura fiorentina del Rinascimento, 1440–1525: un primo censimento, 2 vols., Florence, 1985.Jonathan J. G. Alexander, The Painted Page: Italian Renaissance Book Illumination 1450–1550. Munich and New York: Prestel, 1994; Ada Labriola, I manoscritti miniati del Museo di San Marco a Firenze: corali francescani (1440–1530), Florence, 2020.
 
We thank Senior Consultant Sandra Hindman and Peter Bovenmyer for their assistance in preparing this sale and Gaudenz Freuler for consultation on this entry.
 
Collection of Dr. Scott Schwartz