Classic, richly illuminated Troyes Book of Hours with an exceptional depiction of Death confronting the living

i (modern paper) + 109 + i (modern paper) leaves, foliated in a modern hand in pencil 1–109, [collation: i8+1, ii10+1, iii8+1, iv8, v8, vi8, vii10+1, viii8, ix8, x8, xi8, xii8, xiii6], catchwords present, ruled in red ink in one column of sixteen lines (justification: 96 mm × 70 mm), written in a textualis formata script, rubrics in red, line spacers in blue in red with penwork decoration and gold bezants, one- and two-line capitals in gold on alternating grounds of red and blue with penwork infill in white, EIGHT ILLUMINATED INITIALS of three and four lines in blue with geometric penwork decoration on burnished gold with red and blue vine acnthus infill, these accompanied by three-quarter compartment borders, stipled, with acanthus sprays, flora, and fruit, SIX HALF-PAGE MINIATUEES in arched frames, accompanied by full borders in panel and grid, stipled, with acanthus sprays, floral ornaments, vine scrolls, birds, hybrids, drolleries, and animals, these accompanied by four-line illuminated initials in blue with geometric penwork decoration on burnished gold with red and blue vine acnthus infill. Bound in brown morocco over board, with blind-tooled border of repeating foliate tools, spine with raised bands, lettered in gilt “HORAE,” compartments otherwise unadorned, edges gilt. Minor stains and discoloration throughout, slight cockling in places, and leaves occasionally stiff, natural blemishes occurring, portion of bottom margin excised at f. 85, figure of Death defaced at f. 71 (likely by early reader), otherwise in good condition. Dimensions 175 mm × 130 mm.

Provenance
(1) Made for a patron probably in or near Troyes with Saints Lambert, Saturninus, Gervasius, and Protasius in the Litanies. The Obsecro te in the masculine.

(2) Seventeenth-century owner inscription in French on front flyleaf plausibly reads: “A monsieur de le Hermite de Lons,” possibly Jacques Baulieu (1651–1719), a surgeon and lithotomist from Lons-le-Saunier who began styling himself “Frère Jacques l’Hermite” after a religious experience around 1790. Beaulieu was among the first surgeons to perform lateral lithotomy and became one of the most successful and celebrated lithotomists of the seventeenth century.

(3) Paul Louis Feiss (1875–1952) of Cleveland, Ohio. His bookplate on the front pastedown. Feiss was a business executive of the Joseph and Feiss clothing store and a noted bibliophile. Kent State University acquired his 5,000-volume library in 1952; his 450 rare books formed the basis for the university library's department of special collections.

(4) Collection of Dr. Scott Schwartz, New York, his bookplate and catalog number “MS 27” on front pastedown, purchased from Fanny Duschnes, wife of the rare book dealer Philip Duschnes (d. 1970), New York.

Text
Lacking Calendar; ff. 1v–6, Gospel Readings (ff. 1v–3, John; ff. 3–4, Luke; ff. 4v–5v, ff. 5v–6, Matthew); ff. 6–8v, Obsecro te (“Famulo tuo”); ff. 8v–9v, Salve Regina; f. 10, blank; ff. 11–16v, Hours of the Cross; ff. 17v–20, Hours of the Holy Spirit; ff. 21–55, Hours of the Virgin (ff. 21–29, Matins; ff. 29v–37, Laudes; ff. 37–40v, Prime; ff. 40v–43, Terce; ff. 43–45, Sext; ff. 45–47v, Nones; ff. 47v–52, Vespers; ff. 52–55, Compline); ff. 56–64v, Penitential Psalms; ff. 64v–70v, Litanies and intercessory petitions; ff. 71–99v, Office of the Dead; ff. 100–108v, Johnine Passion Narrative; f. 108, Prayers before and after communion (rubrics in French).

Illumination
This Book of Hours can be localized to Troyes, one of the most active centers of manuscript production in northeastern France during the later fifteenth century and dated stylistically to circa 1470–1490. The prominence of Troyes as a center of manuscript production was closely connected to its economic importance within Champagne. Its famous fairs and position along major commercial routes attracted merchants, patrons, and craftsmen from across France and beyond, encouraging the development of a flourishing book trade capable of adapting manuscripts to the devotional requirements of individual clients. The selection of saints in the litany of the present manuscript, a mixture of Northeastern France, including Saints Lambert, Saturninus, Gervasius, and Protasius, may reflect the specific interests or origins of its patron.

The miniatures belong to the artistic circle of the Master of Guyot du Peley (more expansively known as the Master of Pierre Michault’s Livre de la danse aux aveugles of Guyot du Peley, named after Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS français 1654, a manuscript of Pierre Michault’s writings owned by Guyot du Peley). The artist’s workshop and immediate followers have been identified especially through comparison with the secondary miniatures in Troyes, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 129, and represent one of the characteristic strands of illumination flourishing in Champagne in the final decades of the Middle Ages. The present manuscript compares closely with other Books of Hours produced in Troyes, especially Besançon, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 156, in its ornamental border vocabulary and distinctive figure style, characterized by elongated, mannerist bodies modeled with ashy washes of shadow. The same milieu and possibly the same hand also contributed to Chaumont, Bibliothèque municipale, MSS 32–33, where similarities may be observed in compositions such as the Pentecost miniature.

An unusual feature of the manuscript is the striking scene inspired by the Dit des trois morts et des trois vifs (“The Three Living and the Three Dead”) that introduces the Office of the Dead (f. 71). The miniature eschews more conventional imagery associated with the Office such as funeral rites, burial scenes, or other explicitly liturgical representations, and instead transforms the devotional text into a dramatic confrontation between the living and Death. Here Death, personified as a rotting cadaver, attacks a woman with a spear as she drops a book (perhaps this very Book of Hours?) and succumbs to her fate. Death, meanwhile, appears to carry his own book, which opens along the spine to reveal a leering hell mouth. In the background, a man appears to enter a stairwell, yet his head turns completely backward in an almost Janus-like pose, his body fleeing forward while his gaze remains fixed on the terrifying apparition behind him. The image evidently proved too disturbing for one early reader, who took a knife to the figure of Death and scraped away much of its upper body—a kind of mortal combat between reader and image. The choice of a female protagonist is also notable. While the Obsecro te prayer (ff. 6–8) appears in the masculine form and may suggest a male patron, the prominence of the woman in this unusually individualized scene complicates the question of intended ownership. Although unlikely to represent the manuscript’s original patron directly (a decidedly morbid form of self-representation) the image may nevertheless point toward a female audience. In all, this highly inventive composition demonstrates the level of personalization and imaginative adaptation characteristic of Troyes manuscript illumination in the final decades of the fifteenth century.

The subjects of the six miniatures are: f. 1r, Saint John with Eagle on the Island of Patmos inscribing a scroll with a castle in the background (for Gospel Readings); f. 11, Crucifixion with the Virgin and Saint John (for Hours of the Cross); f. 17, Pentecost with Virgin, Apostles, and Dove (for the Hours of the Holy Spirit); f. 21, Annunciation with Virgin, Gabrial, and Dove (for the Hours of the Virgin); f. 56, David and Bathseba (for Penitential Psalms); f. 71, Death personified as a cadaver attacks a woman with a spear (for Office of the Dead).

LITERATURE
Unpublished; Related literature: François Avril and Nicole Reynaud, Les Manuscrits à peintures en France, 1440–1520, Paris, 1993, pp.186–88; François Avril, Maxence Hermant, and Françoise Bibolet, eds., Très riches heures de Champagne: L’enluminure en Champagne à la fin du Moyen Âge, Paris and Châlons-en-Champagne, 2007, pp. 39–50, and plates. 130–32; Maxence Hermant, “La Champagne,” in Peindre en France: ans de recherche sur les manuscrits à peintures (1440-1520), pp. 284-303, eds. Frédéric Elsig, Samuel Gras, Dominique Vanwijnsberghe, Milan, 2025.

We thank Senior Consultant Sandra Hindman and Peter Bovenmyer for their assistance in preparing this sale and Elliot Adam for consultation on this entry.