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Detailed record for King's 7

Title Book of Hours, Use of Rome
Origin France, W. (perhaps Angoulême or Cognac)
Date c. 1500
Language Latin
Script Gothic cursvie
Artists In the style of Robinet Testard (ff. 7, 19, 26, 27, 28, 31, 37, 40, 45, 54, 66v, 70); several miniatures reflect the compositions of Jean Poyer (Poyet).
A second artist working in the style of Jean Pichore (ff. 34, 100) and all the small miniatures.
Decoration 14 large miniatures iin architectural frames, in colours and gold, surrounded by purple-painted parchment, at major divisions (ff. 7, 19, 26, 27, 28, 31, 34, 37, 40, 45, 54, 66v, 70, 100). 32 small miniatures for the suffrages (ff. 86v (x2), 89 (x2), 89v (x2), 90, 90v (x2), 91, 91v (x2), 92, 92v, 93, 93v, 94 (x2), 94v, 95, 95v, 96 (x2), 96v, 97 (x2), 97v, 98 (x2), 98v, 99, 99v). 1 large initial in colours on gold ground at the beginning of Lauds of the Hours of the Virgin (f. 19). Large and small initials and line-fillers in gold on red, blue or brown grounds.
The illumination is divided between two artists: the first recalls the anti-realistic aesthetic of Robinet Testard who worked in the west of France for the court of Cognac (between 1470 and 1530) (ff. 7, 19, 26, 27, 28, 31, 37, 40, 45, 54, 66v, 70); several miniatures reflect the compositions of Jean Poyer (Poyet), active in Tours (between 1480 and 1503), especially his Hours for Guillaume Briçonnet (Haarlem, Teylers Museum, Ms. 78). The second artist worked in the style of Jean Pichore, based in Paris (between 1500 and 1520): he painted 2 large (ff. 34, 100) and all the small miniatures.
Dimensions in mm 240 x 155 (140 x 75)
Official foliation ff. vi + 101 (+ 3 unfoliated modern parchment flyleaves at the beginning and at the end; ff. i-vi are parchment leaves, some with text in French)
Collation i6 (ff. 1-6), ii8 (ff. 7-14), iii8+1 (ff. 15-23), iv8-1 (ff. 24-30; 8th leaf excised, probably blank), v-vi8 (ff. 31-46), vii8-1 (ff. 47-53; 8th leaf excised, probably blank), viii-xiii8 (ff. 54-101).
Form Parchment codex
Binding BM/BL in-house. Red leather, gilt-tooled with the monogram of George III; gilt edges over red and green speckling.
Provenance Probably made for use in or near Angoulême: the calendar includes the dedication of the cathedral (19 August), Sicarius (2 May), Fortis (15 May; Bordeaux), Ausonius (21 May), Quiteria (21 May, Bordeaux), Severinus (20 October; Bordeaux), Fronto (24 October; Périgeaux) and the translation of Benignus of Angouleme (3 November); the litany includes Fronto among the apostles and evangelists, Ausonius and Benignus among the martyrs, Hilary first among the confessors, and Eparchius near the end, and Quiteria and Neomadia among the virgins; the suffrages include Benignus and Ausonius.
Unidentified owner: with the repeated monogram ‘NE’ each within a fetterlock, and the motto 'Jusques au bout' on a scroll (f. 19); the same motto and arms (f. 40, effaced); the same arms (ff. 6v, 53, 67, effaced); the arms are perhaps quarterly, 1 and 4 or a chevron gules between 3 stars(?).
A member of the Hurault family: with a series of inscriptions in French concerning the marriage of Anne Hurault, Baron d'Huriel, and Loyse de Harville, 1578; the births of their children in Vibraye, near Le Mans; and the deaths of their son Philippe, and of Anne in 1586 (ff. ii-iv).
King George III (b. 1738, d. 1820).
Given to the British Museum by King George IV in 1823 as part of the library of King George III.
Notes Note that the workshop of Jean Pichore possessed models of several manuscripts of Jean Poyer (see Mara Hofmann, Jean Poyer: Das Gesamtwerk (Turnhout: Brepols, 2004), pp. 56-60.
Includes a Calendar (ff. 1-6v); the Hours of the Virgin, with the Hours of the Cross and the Holy Spirit intermixed (ff. 26-48; 48v blank); the Advent Hours (ff. 49-53v); the Penitential Psalms and Litany (ff. 54-66); Office of the Dead (ff. 66v-86); Suffrages (ff. 86v-99v); Prayers of Gregory (ff. 100-101).
ff. i-vi are parchment flyleaves, some with text in French (see Provenance).
Select bibliography George F. Warner and Julius P. Gilson, Catalogue of Western Manuscripts in the Old Royal and King’s Collections, 4 vols (London: British Museum, 1921), III: Description of the King’s Manuscripts and Indexes to both Collections, pp. 3-4.

Janet Backhouse, Illumination from Book of Hours (London: British Library, 2004), fig. 43.


Images
* * *
 
Annunciation

f. 7
Annunciation
Angels

f. 7
Angels
Annunciation

f. 7
Annunciation
 
Christ carrying the cross

f. 26
Christ carrying the cross
Christ carrying the cross

f. 26
Christ carrying the cross
Adoration of the Magi

f. 34
Adoration of the Magi
 
David and Bathsheba

f. 54
David and Bathsheba
Bathsheba

f. 54
Bathsheba

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