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Detailed record for Harley 1892
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Part 1 |
ff. 1v-24v, 31v |
| Title |
Various prayers including indulgenced prayers, and Gospel Lessons |
| Origin |
Netherlands, N. or England |
| Date |
c. 1490-c. 1510 |
| Language |
Latin |
| Script |
Gothic |
| Artists |
Master of the Dark Eyes (fl. c. 1490, c. 1520), close to Master of Cornelis Croesinck |
| Decoration |
2 full-page miniatures in colours and gold, of the Crucifixion (f. 1v) and of the Tree of Jesse (f. 31v)). 3 small miniatures of the Taking of Christ (f. 13), Veronica's veil (f. 17v), and of John writing (f. 19)). 6 historiated initials in ochre with gold acanthus leaves of Christ appearing to the Mary Magdalene, the Virgin and Child in bust as the Apocalyptic Woman (f. 3v), Christ (f. 4v), the Virgin and John (f. 5v), a guardian angel (f. 6v), the Man of Sorrows (f. 9), and Jerome and the lion (f. 21)). Initials in gold/ochre with blue acanthus leaves on a dark red ground patterned with gold, or in blue-grey or gold on a gold ground patterned with red. Smaller initials and line-fillers in gold on red ground. Some rubrics written in gold on a dark red ground (ff. 13, 24v). Paraphs in gold with black penwork decoration. Capitals marked with yellow. |
| Dimensions in mm |
290 x 205 (175 x 110) |
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Part 2 |
ff. 24-145v |
| Title |
Psalter |
| Origin |
France, W. (Rouen?), and England or Netherlands, S. |
| Date |
last quarter of the 15th century, or 1st quarter of the 16th century |
| Language |
Latin |
| Script |
Gothic |
| Decoration |
4 full-page miniatures surrounded by full borders with flowers, birds, dogs, skulls, scrolls, etc. on a gold ground, of the Taking of Christ (f. 47), the Flagellation (ff. 66v and 67), and the Harrowing of Hell (f. 109)). 8 historiated initials and full borders in colours and gold with flowers, birds, dogs, skulls, scrolls, etc, at the major Psalm divisions, of David playing the harp (f. 32), David pointing to his eyes (f. 46v), David in prayer (f. 57), a king and fool (f. 68), king David in water praying to God (f. 76v), king David playing music on bells (f. 87v), clerics chanting (f. 97v), and the Trinity (f. 108v). Small marginal calendar miniatures in colours and gold with the labours of the months and Zodiac signs integrated in a full border of acanthus leaves, flowers, birds and fruits on a gold, blue, red and unpainted ground (ff. 25-30v, 2 per page). Initials in colours and gold with acanthus leaves in grisaille. |
| Dimensions in mm |
290 x 205 (175 x 110) |
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Part 3 |
f. 18v |
| Title |
Miniature |
| Origin |
Netherlands, S. |
| Date |
last quarter of the 15th century |
| Language |
n/a |
| Script |
n/a |
| Decoration |
Full-page coloured ink drawing of the Taking of Christ surrounded by a full border in grisaille on unpainted ground speckled with gold, with foliate decoration including birds and a dog, after an engravings by Martin Schongauer. |
| Dimensions in mm |
290 x 205 |
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Part 4 |
f. 115 |
| Title |
Miniature and added border |
| Origin |
France, Central (Paris)(main miniature) and England (border) |
| Date |
2nd quarter of the 15th century |
| Language |
n/a |
| Script |
n/a |
| Decoration |
Miniature in gold and colours combining on two registers: the Crucifixion, the Expulsion from Paradise, a Pieta with Instruments of the Passion, the Harrowing of Hell. The border with the 12 Apostles added slightly later. |
| Dimensions in mm |
210 x 315 (upper part folded) |
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Official foliation |
ff. 145 (+ 1 unfoliated paper and 2 parchment flyleaves at the beginning + 3 unfoliated parchment ruled leaves and 1 unfoliated paper flyleaf at the end) |
Collation |
Mostly quires of 8. |
Form |
Parchment codex |
Binding |
Post-1600. 'Harleian' binding of gold-tooled red leather; gilt edges. |
Provenance |
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 Cavendish, née 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 |
Contains a calendar (ff. 25-30v). The miniatures on ff. 8v, 18v, 47, 66v, 67 are copied from engravings by Martin Schongauer (see G. Gratet-Duplessis, Oeuvre de Martin Schongauer (1881), pls 5, 10, 11, 12, and 19). All full-page miniatures are painted on singletons. Part 1 was illuminated by a Dutch artist close to the Master of Cornelis Croesinck either in the Netherlands or in England (except f. 8, which is an added singleton). |
Select bibliography |
A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum, 4 vols (London: Eyre and Strahan, 1808-12), II (1808), no. 1892.
Walter de Gray Birch and Henry Jenner, Early Drawings and Illuminations: An Introduction to the Study of Illustrated Manuscripts (London: Bagster and Sons, 1879), p. 11.
Anglo-Flemish Art under the Tudors (London: British Museum, 1954), no. 20 [unpublished exhibition catalogue].
Erna Auerbach, 'Anglo-Flemish Art under the Tudors', The Burlington Magazine, 96 (1954), 86-90, and 95 (p. 89).
Bert Cardon, 'Het Speculum Humanae Salvationis manuscript Harley 2838 in de British Library te Londen, een handschrift omstreeks 1500 in Engeland verlucht door een miniaturist uit de Nederlanden?', in Miscellanea Neerlandica: opstellen voor Dr Jan Deschamps ter gelegenheid van zijn zeventigste verjaardag, ed. by Elly Cockx-Indestege and Frans Hendrickx, 3 vols (Louvain: Peeters, 1987), I, pp. 441-63 (p. 463 n. 45). |
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Part 1
ff. 1v-24v, 31v |
Various prayers including indulgenced prayers, and Gospel Lessons |
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f. 1v Crucifixion |

f. 8v Nativity |

f. 18v Christ before Caiaphas. |
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f. 26v April |

f. 31v Tree of Jesse |

f. 31v Tree of Jesse |
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f. 32 David and his harp |

f. 47 Arrest of Christ |

f. 57 David in prayer |
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f. 66v Flagellation of Christ |

f. 67 Flagellation of Christ |

f. 68 King and fool |
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f. 68 King and fool |

f. 68 Grotesque |

f. 68 Grotesque |
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f. 115 Crucifixion |

f. 115 Crucifixion |
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Part 2
ff. 24-145v |
Psalter |
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f. 27v June |

f. 68 King |

f. 108v Trinity |
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f. 109 Harrowing of Hell |
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Part 4
f. 115 |
Miniature and added border |
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f. 115 Crucifixion |

f. 115 Crucifixion |
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