A finely illuminated Book of Hours for the Use of Coutances, with miniatures in the style of Robert Boyvin and preserved in its original blind-tooled binding.

180 x 130 mm. i (parchment) + 112 + i (parchment) leaves, lacking one leaf after f. 28, otherwise complete, collation: i-ii⁶, iii⁸, iv⁸⁻¹, v-vii⁸, viii⁶⁺¹, ix-x⁸, xi⁶, xii-xv⁸, surviving catchwords and leaf signatures, unfoliated, written in a textualis script, faintly ruled in brown ink for fifteen lines, justification: 96 × 65 mm, capitals alternating in blue ink and gold on penwork grounds, two-line initials in gold on alternating red and blue grounds with penwork infill, 11 four-line decorated initials in burnished gold on red and blue grounds heightened with white tracery, accompanied by partial floral borders extending alongside the text and composed of acanthus leaves and foliage interspersed with black penwork, calendar months embellished with grotesque initials, with similar initials occurring occasionally throughout the manuscript, 4 half-page miniatures beneath rounded arches of liquid gold, accompanied by full illuminated borders divided into compartments and filled with scrolling acanthus and naturalistic floral sprays. Original blind-tooled brown calf over beveled wooden boards, the covers decorated with concentric frames surrounding a central panel formed from repeated stamps of a running deer, fleur-de-lys, lion rampant, and bird (?), spine with four raised bands (repairs to spine, traces of two clasps, now lacking. Binding worn and rubbed, with losses to the leather and scattered worming, light worming to flyleaves and pastedowns, occasional light thumbing, and mild cockling in places).

Provenance:

1) Jacques Colabau (ca 1707-1788), councilor of the Lyon cour des monnaies, who records the purchase of this manuscript in Paris in an inscription on the front flyleaf dated 1736. Two other manuscripts were also purchased by Colabau in Paris at this time, both now in Lyon (BM Lyon MSS 767 and 768).

2) J. & J. Leighton, Catalogue of Manuscripts: Mostly Illuminated, Many in Fine Bindings, London, 1900, no. 168, a clipping from this catalogue appended to the front flyleaf.

3) Sotheby’s, 1983, lot 85, “Elizabeth Sale.”

4) Private American Collection.

Content: Calendar ff. 1-12v; Hours of the Virgin ff. 13-29v (Matins ff. 13-21, Lauds ff. 21-29v); Short Hours of the Holy Spirit ff. 29v-30; Hours of the Virgin continued (Prime ff. 30-34, Terce ff. 34v-37, Sext ff. 37v-40, None ff. 40v-43v, Vespers ff. 44-46v, Compline ff. 46v-51); blank f. 52; Suffrages (Memorials) to the Saints ff. 53-58v; Seven Penitential Psalms ff. 59-68v; Litany and associated prayers ff. 68v-72v; Gospel Readings ff. 73-77v; Obsecro te (gendered male) ff. 78-81; Memorial to Saint Anne ff. 81-81v; Office of the Dead ff. 82-106; O intemerata ff. 107v-109v; Prayers to the Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist ff. 109v-112.

Illumination: The illuminations are painted in the style of Robert Boyvin, the leading illuminator in Rouen around 1500. Documented in the city between 1480 and 1536, Boyvin succeeded the Master of the Rouen Échevinage as the dominant figure in Rouennais manuscript painting and presided over a prolific workshop serving both ecclesiastical and lay patrons. He rented a shop near the north portal of Rouen Cathedral, a particularly advantageous location at the center of the city’s religious and commercial life. More than eighty manuscripts are now attributed to Boyvin and his workshop, representing an unusually long and productive career that benefited from the patronage of Cardinal Georges d’Amboise and his circle (see Elliot Adam, “Retour sur l’œuvre de Robert Boyvin, enlumineur à Rouen vers 1500,” in Peindre à Rouen au XVIe siècle, Milan, 2018, pp. 101-119).

The present illuminations find especially close comparison with a Book of Hours sold at Christie’s, 25 May 2016, lot 27, which, like the present manuscript, was produced for the Use of Coutances. The two manuscripts share the distinctive figure types and handling associated with Boyvin’s production: male figures with strongly articulated features and pointed chins; women with softly modeled, delicately shaded complexions; and elongated, almost columnar bodies defined by firm outlines and broad, controlled folds of drapery. The correspondence in both style and liturgical use is particularly noteworthy and places the present manuscript firmly within Boyvin’s artistic milieu and the wider Rouennais production of Books of Hours for patrons throughout Normandy.

We thank Peter Bovenmyer for his consultation on this entry.