Horae. Use of Rome.

Latin manuscript on vellum, c. 8,7 x 6,5 cm, [191] ff., ruled writing. area, c. 5,2 x 3,5 cm, 15 ll., written in black/brown and red ink, catchword (cut short at top, minor thumbing, dampstain in upper margin of ff. 23-25).

19th-c. gold-tooled crimson morocco, covers with gilt ornamental border with corner pcs, gilt spine on 3 raised bands, gilt sides, a.e.g. (warping, head and tail def.). In good condition.

This manuscript was very likely written in Bruges (litanies of i.a. Cornelius, Ursula and "Gheertrudis"). The rounded script, italianate gothic, was fashionable in Flanders c. 1460, mostly practised by copyists imitating southern scripts, and very attractive for Italian or Spanish clients in Bruges. Contents: Hours of the Cross, Office of the Holy Virgin, Seven Penitential Psalms, Office of the Dead. Decoration: 2 line initials in gold and blue or pink; 4/6-line initials in gold and blue, or gold and pink; 9-line gilt initials along margin; border decoration in Bruges style. All full-page miniatures gone, alas. Ref. J.P. Gumbert, "Can a Fleming write Italian?", in Manuscript studies in the Low Countries (2008), pp. 206-215. Prov. [Georges Petit].