Neo-medieval wedding present inspired by the Jean Bourdichon’s Hours of Anne of Brittany.

Dimensions: 220 x 145 mm. 66 leaves, 110 decorated borders and five full page illuminations. Bound in brown morocco, back sewn on 5 raised bands, gilt lettering on spine (LIVRE D’HEURES), name of binder (and book-dealer) at the foot of spine (GRUEL), brown silk pastedowns and lining of recto of first flyleaf and verso of last flyleaf, gilt tooling framing the inner boards, metal fixtures on upper cover, initials C and I (or I and C), perhaps for Julie Champion, recently wed ? Good general condition, a few stains on the lower cover, bands of spine a bit rubbed.

Called “Book of Hours” on the illuminated architectural title-page, this manuscript is rather a compilation of prayers (“Prières durant la messe”) commemorating a religious sacrament such as a baptism, a communion, or as in the present case a wedding. Julie Rayel married Paul Champion, a member of the important Champion family, book-sellers and erudite publishers (Honoré Champion founded the Editions Champion in 1874).

Amongst the firms that specialized in such manuscripts, sometimes printed and hand-colored, sometimes entirely manuscript, there were the members of the important Gruel family, bookbinders and book-sellers, first established in Paris in 1811, including the celebrated Léon Gruel (1841-1923). The Gruel family paired up with Engelmann (Edmond Engelmann was Léon Gruel’s half-brother), and the firm Gruel-Engelmann became famous for these pious editions and manuscripts that were offered for special religious and family occasions. The present manuscript is a pure product of the Gruel firm associating an elegant binding and refined illuminations.

Illustration
In the spirit of the Gothic Revival, Gruel had access to models that he used in his books, models that were largely popularized through several publications and model books such as Paul Lacroix (Les arts au Moyen Age, 1874) or Ferdinand Seré (Les arts somptuaires…, 1852). Amongst the models that circulated were the famous miniatures by Jean Bourdichon, including those illustrating a manuscript that was particularly admired, that of the Hours of Anne of Brittany (Paris, BnF, MS lat. 9474). The present compilation of prayers has several models, but one clearly recognizes certain large miniatures from the Hours of Anne of Brittany, such as John on the Island of Patmos; the Annunciation; the Archangel Raphaël and his characteristic sword and book satchel. Also influenced by the Hours of Anne of Brittany, are the bright illusionistic and naturalistic bracket borders found in the Rayel-Champion commemorative manuscript.

The subjects of the illuminations are: f. 1v, Trinity; f. 12v, Saint John on Patmos writing the Gospel; f. 25v, the Annunciation; f. 33v, Saint Catherine with her Wheel; f. 39v, the Flight into Egypt; f. 46, the Presentation in the Temple; f. 58v, the Archangel Raphael. 

Provenance
Private Collection, California, USA.

LITERATURE
Unpublished: Related literature, see: Sandra Hindman et al., Manuscript Illumination in the Modern Age, Recovery and Reconstruction, Evanston, Illinois, 2001; Maxence Hermant, “Les Grandes Heures d’Anne de Bretagne,” Art de l’Enluminure 74 (2020), pp. 4-30; Léon Gruel. In Wikipedia. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9on_Gruel (accessed 6/11/2025)

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