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Detailed record for Harley 472
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| Part 1 |
ff. 1*r-v and 42r-v |
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| Title |
Book of Hours, fragment |
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| Origin |
England |
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| Date |
1st quarter of the 15th century |
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| Language |
Latin |
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| Script |
Gothic |
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| Decoration |
Miniature of the Annunciation to the Shepherds, initial and full bar border with ivy decoration and sprays extending into the border in gold and colours, effaced (f. 42v). Initials in gold on coloured grounds with white tracery and ivy spray decoration extending into the borders. Small initials in gold on coloured grounds. Line-fillers in gold and colours. |
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| Dimensions in mm |
150 x 100 (100 x 65) |
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| Part 2 |
ff. 1-41 |
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| Title |
Collection of arms and mottoes of Companies and Corporations of London |
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| Origin |
England, S. (London ?) |
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| Date |
2nd quarter of the 16th century, before 1547 |
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| Language |
English |
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| Script |
Cursive |
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| Decoration |
Portrait of Henry VIII wearing an emblazoned coat in ink (f. 1). Pen drawings of arms with mottoes, crests, supporters and mantling, mainly in ink except one in ink and colours (f. 2v). |
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| Dimensions in mm |
155 x 100 |
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| Official foliation |
ff. 1* + 42 (+ 4 unfoliated leaves after f. 34 and 3 after f. 40, and 4 modern paper flyleaves at the beginning and the end) |
| Form |
Parchment (ff. 1* and 42) and paper codex |
| Binding |
BM/BL in-house. 19th century; marbled endleaves. |
| Provenance |
The portrait of Henry VIII (f. 1) suggests that the manuscript may have been produced before the death of the monarch in 1547.
Sir Simonds d'Ewes (b.1602, d. 1650), 1st baronet, diarist, antiquary, and friend of Sir Robert Cotton (see Watson 1966, Wright 1972): listed in his catalogue without number as 'the Armes of the Companies of London' (see Add. 22918, f. 21; see Watson 1966).
Sir Simonds D’Ewes (d. 1722), 3rd baronet and grandson of the former: inherited and later sold the D’Ewes library to Robert Harley on 4 October 1705 for £450 (see Add. 70478 (formerly Loan 29/254 packet 2); Watson 1966; Wright and Wright 1966).
The Harley Collection, formed by Robert Harley (b. 1661, d. 1724), 1st earl of Oxford and Mortimer, politician, and Edward Harley (b. 1689, d. 1741), 2nd earl of Oxford and Mortimer, book collector and patron of the arts.
Edward Harley bequeathed the library to his widow, Henrietta, née Cavendish Holles (b. 1694, d. 1755) during her lifetime and thereafter to their daughter, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck (b. 1715, d.1785), duchess of Portland; the manuscripts were sold by the Countess and the Duchess in 1753 to the nation for £10,000 (a fraction of their contemporary value) under the Act of Parliament that also established the British Museum; the Harley manuscripts form one of the foundation collections of the British Library. |
| Notes |
f. 42r-v is a fragment from the Hours of the Virgin, corresponding to the end of Prime and the beginning of Terce with miniature of the Annunciation to the Shepherds. |
| Select bibliography |
A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum, 4 vols (London: [n. pub.], 1808-12), I, no. 472.
Andrew G. Watson, The Library of Sir Simonds D'Ewes (London: British Museum, 1966), p. 149 no. [A381].
Cyril E. Wright, Fontes Harleiani: A Study of the Sources of the Harleian Collection of Manuscripts in the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1972), pp. 131, 380. |
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Part 1
ff. 1*r-v and 42r-v |
| Book of Hours, fragment |
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f. 1*
Illuminated initials and line-fillers |
f. 1*v
Illuminated initials and line-fillers |
f. 42v
Annunciation to the Shepherds |
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Part 2
ff. 1-41 |
| Collection of arms and mottoes of Companies and Corporations of London |
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