BOHEMIAN ILLUMINATOR
Prayerbook, in German (Sorbian-German dialect), illuminated manuscript on paper [Czechia, Planá, 8 May, 1794]

Fine example of Bohemian folk illumination with an identified patron, preserving a unique vernacular tradition of devotional bookmaking.

i + 226 + i paper leaves, no watermarks visible, paginated in red and black ink at the center of the upper margin 3–224 [collation: indeterminate due to tight binding, though apparently in gatherings of eight], ruled in drypoint for a single column of 15 lines within double-ruled frames (justification: 120 × 70 mm), written in black ink in Kurrentschrift, with rubrics in red in a formal cursive, initials painted in a lively palette of red, blue, green, and yellow washes, often heightened with dotted and star-shaped ornament, larger display initials (2–4 lines) mark principal textual divisions, executed in rounded Gothic forms with bifurcated terminals, foliate infill, and occasional figural detail, often set against densely worked pen-scroll grounds in pale blue, green, rose, and red, enriched with dotting and star motifs and accompanied by foliate sprays, vining, and wreaths, ONE FULL-PAGE MINIATURE within a frame of coiling foliage and star ornament, ONE OWNER PORTRAIT, similarly decorated with vines and stars, facing a cartouche bearing the owner’s name and place of origin. ORIGINAL BINDING of calf over boards, the covers panelled in gilt with a double-ruled frame enclosing a central rectangular compartment, the latter tooled with the initials “P.W.” and small ornamental stamps, the outer border decorated with a gilt floral roll, spine divided into compartments by raised bands, each panel gilt-tooled with simple decorative motifs, edges gilt, binding extensively worn and crackled overall, with losses to the surface, particularly on the covers, and minor damage to the headcaps and corners, leaves showing signs of use, including thumb-soiling and staining, light worming to the pastedowns, else in good condition. Dimensions 150 mm × 115 mm.

Provenance
(1) Written and illuminated in Bohemia, completed on May 8, 1794, for a patron identified in a cartouche on p. 225 as Peter Weis of the region of Plan (“Herrschaft Plann”), now Planá in western Czechia. His monogram “P.W.” is also stamped on the binding.

(2) Forum Auctions, London, 29 November 2018, lot 178.

Text
A collection of short prayers, arranged without a fixed order, including devotions for morning and evening, before and after Communion, for holy days and fasting, and in honor of the Virgin; together with litanies and additional prayers dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus, the Passion of Christ, various saints and patron figures, and intercessory prayers for the sick.

Illumination
This illuminated prayerbook was completed on May 8, 1794, for a patron identified as Peter Weis of the region of Plan (“Herrschaft Plann”) in western Bohemia. The scribe and illuminator were likely the same individual, probably an untrained artisan performing a local craft. In style and execution, the manuscript belongs to the eighteenth-century tradition of folk illumination, particularly vibrant in Moravia and Bohemia. Although printed prayerbooks predominated at the time, primarily among elite audiences, handmade manuscripts experienced a marked resurgence, especially between c. 1760–1800, among the laity and lower social strata (Fidlerová 2013).

These volumes were typically produced by amateur scribes, teachers, and local artists, often translating or adapting texts from printed Latin liturgical books into the vernacular. The widespread production and ownership of such books points to a level of lay literacy higher than has sometimes been assumed, though scholars continue to debate the extent to which they functioned as practical devotional texts as opposed to luxury or apotropaic objects. While some comparable manuscripts incorporate charms or incantations under the disguise of devotional rubrics, the present example appears wholly pious in content.

Such manuscripts frequently name their commissioners, as in the present case, though Peter Weis himself remains otherwise unidentified. Prayerbooks of this type were often commissioned as gifts for younger individuals on occasions such as baptisms or confirmations, and the corresponding portrait of Peter on the following page appears to show a young man. The book’s heavily thumbed leaves and worn binding testify to sustained and active use, indicating that its owner was both literate and devout.

Handwritten prayerbooks of this type survive in numerous public and private collections, the largest being the Olomouc collection of approximately 4,000 examples, assembled over more than thirty years by the Prague gallerist and bibliophile Jan Poš (1920–1996). Drawn largely from rural Bohemia and Moravia, the collection was preserved intact by his wife, Kateřina Pošová (1930–2008), and transferred to the Archdiocesan Museum in Olomouc in 2002, where it has since been exhibited, notably in a survey of manuscripts dating from 1750 to 1850 (see Šimková 2009).

The miniature on p. 1 depicts the Crucifixion, with Christ’s head encircled by a halo of stars and additional star motifs in the background, all enclosed within a frame of coiling vegetal ornament and vines; the portrait on p. 226 shows a young man in profile wearing a scarf or headdress framed by vegetal ornament and red star motifs.

LITERATURE
Unpublished; Related literature: Jana Vytrhlik, “Rescued from Obscurity: Handwritten, Illuminated Prayer Books from Bohemia and Moravia,” The World of Antiques & Art (2009), pp. 12–17; Anežka Šimková, Růžová Zahrádka: Rukopisné Modlitební Knížky 18. A 19: Století, Sbírka Jana Poše, Olomouc: 2009; Alena A. Fidlerová, “Lidové rukopisné modlitební knihy raného novověku” Český lid 100 (2013), pp. 385–408.

We thank Senior Consultant Sandra Hindman and Peter Bovenmyer for their assistance in preparing this sale.

This lot is located in Chicago.

BOHEMIAN ILLUMINATOR Prayerbook, in German (Sorbian-German dialect), illuminated manuscript on paper [Czechia, Planá, 8 May, 1794]

BOHEMIAN ILLUMINATOR
Prayerbook, in German (Sorbian-German dialect), illuminated manuscript on paper [Czechia, Planá, 8 May, 1794]