Horae. Use of Rome.

Latin manuscript on vellum, c. 17,3 x 12,4 cm, [176] ff., ruled writing area, c. 10 x 7 cm, 17 ll., various hands, written in black/brown and red ink (some minor soiling at beginning, a few natural holes in vellum, i. f. 88, blank bottom corners of ff. 75, 163, 168, 169, 173, 175, 176 cut off and underlaid or strengthened, large miniatures trimmed at top and right edge touching the flowery decoration).

17th-c. blind-stamped calf over wood, edges bevelled inside, front cover Agnus Dei stamp, with "INRI" and text, lower cover with "IHS" emblem, spine on 4 raised bands, a.e.g., vellum endpapers (rubbed, head and tail def., gilding fading, clasps and catches gone). In very good condition.

The miniatures can be attributed to the Gold Scrolls Group, active in Bruges in the 2nd quarter of the 15th c. The calendar and litanies are for general use, as is the Use of Rome for the Hours. The devotion to the Magi is the only indication of a personal element. Illumination: 12 large miniatures, c. 11,3 x 7,5 cm, surrounded by extended decorative borders: Man of Sorrows, Madonna and Child, Annunciation, Arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, Christ before Pilate, Flagellation, Christ Carrying the Cross, Crucifixion, Descent from the Cross, Entombment, Christus Rex, Office of the Dead and 10 smaller ones, 7,2 x 5,7 cm: Biblical Magi, Holy Trinity, Holy Spirit, St George, St Anthony, St Christopher, St Sebastian, St John the Baptist, St Lucy, St Michael. Contents: Calendar, Hours of the Cross, Office of the Holy Virgin, Gospel quotations, Little Office of the Holy Virgin, Hours of the Holy Spirit (additional), Office of the Dead, Suffragia; on f. 70v manuscript prayers in a much later hand. Decoration: numerous 2/3-line initials in goldleaf and blue or red; 11 3/9-line elaborate initials extending into the margins, border decoration. Ref. J.P. Gumbert, "Can a Fleming write Italian?", in Manuscript studies in the Low Countries (2008), pp. 206-215. Prov. German inscription on front flyleaf "Paull Wilhelm Hazy?". - Ownership entry "Sebastianus Liechtel (?), 1570" on lower pastedown. - "Collegij Soc. Jesu Viennae ... 1614" (f. 11r) + A note dated 1783 in blue-green (when the Jesuit manuscripts were transferred to the University Library). - [Georges Petit].