Beinecke MS 411               France, s. XVI^^in
Hours, use of Rome

1.  ff. 1r-6v  Full calendar in French, alternating red and blue entries.
f. 7r blank

2.  ff. 7v-12r  Sequences of the Gospels, that of John followed by the prayer
Protector in te sperancium...[Perdrizet 25].

3.  ff. 12r-17v  Obsecro te...[masculine forms; Leroquais LH 2.346]; O
intermerata...orbis terrarum. De te enim...[masculine forms; Wilmart, 494-95].

4.  ff. 18r-72v  Hours of the Virgin, use of Rome; f. 62r ruled, but blank;
changed office begins on f. 62v. f. 73r ruled, but blank

5.  ff. 73v-89v  Penitential Psalms and litany with Martialis as the last
apostle; Eutropius (13) and Quentin (14) among the 14 martyrs; Remigius (6),
Eligius (9), Egidius (10), Julian (11), Lubin (14) and Sulpice (15) among the
16 confessors; Genevieve (9) among the 12 virgins.

6.  ff. 90r-123v  Office of the Dead, use of Rome.

7.  ff. 124r-128v  Short Hours of the Cross.

8.  ff. 129r-132v  Short Hours of the Holy Spirit.

9.  ff. 133r-149r  Suffrages to Michael archangel, John the Baptist, John the
Evangelist, Peter and Paul, Andrew, James the Greater, Christopher, Lawrence,
Sebastian, Dionysius, Maurice, George, Martin, Claudius, Nicolas, Antony abbot,
Fiacre, Francis, Mary Magdalen, Anna, Catharine of Alexandria, Barbara,
Margaret, Apollonia, Genevieve, Avia, 11,000 Virgins, All Saints. f. 149v
blank

     Parchment, ff. i (paper) + i (modern parchment) + iv (contemporary parchment)
+ 149 + ii (contemporary parchment) + i (parchment), 192 x 123 (125 x 68) mm.
Written in 22 long lines; ruled in pale red ink.  Single vertical and horizontal
bounding lines, full length.
     I^^8 (1 = f. iv), II^^8, III^^4, IV^^6, V-VIII^^8, IX^^6 (+1 leaf after 4, f. 62),
X^^8, XI^^8 (+ 1 leaf before 1, f. 73), XII-XVI^^8, XVII^^2, XVIII-XX^^8, XXI^^2.
Catchwords vertical along inner bounding line.
     Written in a gothic book hand by a single scribe.
     A Book of Hours notable for its elaborate cycle of illumination, closely
related in style and some aspects of its content to two other Books of Hours,
Paris, B. N. lat. 1393 and Philadelphia, Free Library, MS 113.  See Exhibition
Catalogue, pp. 262-63, no. 79, and E. Wolf, A Descriptive Catalogue of the
John Frederick Lewis Collection of European Manuscripts in the Free Library of
Philadelphia (Philadelphia, 1937) pp. 126-29, with illustrations.  Other
loosely related manuscripts include a Missal, Waddesdon Manor, James A. de
Rothschild Collection, MS 19; a Book of Hours, New York, Pierpont Morgan
Library, Heinemann Collection, H. 5; a Book of Hours sold by Leo S. Olschki of
Florence (Cat. 74, no. 42, 1910).  See Plummer, Last Flowering, pp. 71-72,
no. 93.  To these manuscripts can be added another Book of Hours by the same
artist, Sotheby's, 10 December 1969, no. 64.  It might be fruitful to compare
the illustrations in MS 411 to the decoration in early printed Books of
Hours, particularly those produced by A. Verard, S. Vostre and P. Pigouchet
in Paris at the end of the 15th century (cf. P. Lacombe,
Livres d'Heures imprimes au XV^^e et au XVI^^e siecle, (Paris, 1907).
     Large miniatures (LM), facing text pages, and Calendar pages are in
architectural frames, gold with red and blue panels; the frames of the
miniatures are inscribed with the opening words of the text along the lower
edge.  A few small miniatures (SM, 14- to 6-line) are inserted in the text.
Historiated borders (B) in outer and lower margins, framed by red and gold
columns and/or a red and gold bounding line; upper border, a thin panel, either
pink with gold filigree and gold foliage, or flowers and acanthus on gold and
parchment grounds.  Subjects of the miniatures and the historiated borders are
as follow.  In the Calendar:  the Occupations of the months and the Signs of
the zodiac.  Similar representations of the Signs of the zodiac appear in the
Hours of Catherine of Aragon attributed to Jean Bourdichon, ca. 1503-05 (see
H. P. Kraus, Cat. 80. no. 35, with plate of Calendar).  In the Gospel
Sequences:  f. 7v Fall of Rebel Angels (LM); f. 8r
St. John on Patmos with vision of seven-headed beast (B; John); f. 9r St. Luke
painting the Virgin (SM), Annunciation (B; Luke); f. 10r St. Matthew with his
angel (SM), Three Magi guided by star (B; Matthew); f. 11r St. Mark at lectern
(SM), Calling of Apostles (B; Mark).  For the Prayers:  f. 12r Pieta (SM),
Virgin and Child in aureole, with unidentified family [?] below (B; Obsecro te);
f. 14v Maria lactans (SM), Mary's devotions in the temple (B; O intemerata).
In the Hours of the Virgin:  f. 17v David, Adam and Eve, Moses and prophets
released from Hellmouth (SM); f. 18r bust-length "portraits" in roundels with
inscriptions around edges are Basil, Hilary, Thomas, Cyprian, Luke and an
unidentified man [inscription Isaiah 7.14] (LM), according to J. Marrow
a similar version of this composition occurs in Paris, B. N. fr. 727 on f.
1r with the difference that the Paris manuscript is a copy of Jean Mansel,
Histoires romaines, and that in this context the busts are of Livy,
Orosius, Lucan, Sallust, Suetonius, and Leonardo Bruni; f. 26r Nativity, with
annunciation to the shepherds in the background (LM; Lauds); f. 35v Adoration
of the shepherds (LM; Prime); f. 39v Presentations in temple (LM; Terce); f. 43r
Presentation in the temple (LM), Adoration of the Magi, Magi warned by an angel,
departure of the Magi (B; Sext); f. 46v Massacre of the Innocents (LM), Herod
instructing soldiers, Joseph warned by an angel, Flight into Egypt and Fall of
the idols (B; None); f. 47r Death of Herod (LM), Joseph told in dream to return,
Return, 12-year old Christ in the temple (B; None); f. 50v Marriage at Cana
(LM), Christ's temptation, Christ with two angels, Calling of Peter and Andrew
(B; Vespers); f. 51r Transfiguration (LM), Christ with Apostles, Christ healing
lame man, Christ revives the daughter of official (B; Vespers).
     The series of 12 Sibyls on ff. 51v-61v are accompanied by texts on scrolls
in the lower border (except f. 56v), most of which correspond to the set used
in the painted decoration of the Roman palace of Cardinal Giordano Orsini (d.
1438); on this set of prophecies, see E. Dotson, "An Augustinian Interpretation
of Michelangelo's Sistine Ceiling," Art Bulletin 61 (1979) pp. 405-08, with
the usual text for each Orsini Sibyl given p. 407, n. 167.  Other manuscripts
with Sibylline texts (all Books of Hours) include Paris, B. N. lat. 920 and lat.
10491, and Paris, Arsenal MS 438; the texts also appear in many printed Hours
by Verard and Vostre (see E. Male, L'art religieux de la fin du moyen
age en France [Paris, 1925] pp. 267-96).  The texts in MS 411 are always
shorter than the ones given in Dotson, and are often garbled and misspelled;
they are only given in full below when they differ significantly from the text.
On the page facing each Sibyl, or on the same page (f. 56v and f. 61v) are
border scenes from the life of Christ, to which the prophecies are supposed to
refer, and appropriate biblical passages on a scroll in the lower border (these
references are given in brackets following the identification of the scene above
them).  Subjects are as follow:  f. 51v Persian Sibyl and Prophet (B); f. 52r
Virgin and Child, St. John (B; in grisaille) [John 1.5; Ps 81.5]; f. 52v Libyan
Sibyl and Prophet (B); f. 53r Virgin and Child in aureole, Prophet (B; in
grisaille) [John 1.9; Isaiah 60.1]; f. 53v Erythraean Sibyl, Prophet (B); f. 54r
Annunciation, St. Luke (B; in grisaille) [Luke 1.31; Isaiah 7.14]; f. 54v
Cumaean Sibyl, Prophet (B); f. 55r Nativity, St. Luke (B; in grisaille) [Luke
2.7; Isaiah 9.6]; f. 55v Samian Sibyl, Prophet (B); f. 56r Mary places Christ in
the manger, St. Luke (B; in grisaille) [Isaiah 1.3]; f. 56v Maria lactans, St.
Luke (both in grisaille), Tiburtine Sibyl announcing the Nativity to Caesar
Augustus, European Sibyl announcing the flight into Egypt, Flight into Egypt, in
grisaille, (B); f. 57r Assumption (LM), Visit to the temple, Angel announcing
death to Mary, Dormition (B; Compline); f. 57v Triburtine Sibyl, Prophet (B)
[with line usually attributed to Phrygian Sibyl]; f. 58r Mocking of Christ,
St. Mark (B; in grisaille) [Mark 14.65; Ps 68.8]; f. 58v Agrippan Sibyl,
Prophet (B); f. 59r Flagellation, St. Matthew (B; in grisaille) [Matthew 27.26;
Ps. 128.3]; f. 59v Delphic Sibyl, Prophet (B); f. 60r Crowning with thorns, St.
John (B; in grisaille) [John 19.2; Lamentations 3.14]; f. 60v Hellespontian
Sibyl, David (B); f. 61r Crucifixion, St. John (B; in grisaille) [John 19.18;
Ps. 21.17]; f. 61v Phrygian Sibyl, Prophet, St. Matthew, Resurrection (B, the
latter two in grisaille) [prophecy:  Vetula de resurrectione suspendunt illum
et in ligno occidunt sed tercia die resurget]; [Matthew 20.19].
     For the Changed Office of the Virgin:  f. 62v Vision of St. Bernard (LM), f. 63r
Faith (B); f. 63v Hope (B); f. 64r Charity (B); f. 64v Temperance (B); f. 65r Justice
(B); f. 65v Prudence (B); f. 66r Fortitude (B).
     In the borders of ff. 66v-72r are the Old and New Testament type and antitype
figures of prophet and apostle in the outer border, with the Old Testament
prophecy, in French, in the upper border and in the lower border the
fulfillment of the prophecy as stated in the Creed, in French, with attribution
to the specific apostle, and with an illustration in grisaille of that Creed
phrase:  f. 66v Job, St. Peter, "God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and of
earth"; f. 67r David, St. Andrew, "Jesus Christ His only begotten Son our Lord";
f. 67v Isaiah, St. James the Greater, "Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary"; f. 68r Jeremiah, St. John the Evangelist, "Suffered
under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried"; f. 68v Baruch, St.
Thomas, "He descended into hell, the third day He arose from the dead"; f. 69r
Ezekiel, St. James the Less, "He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the
right hand of God the Father"; f. 69v Daniel, St. Philip, "From thence He shall
come to judge the living and the dead"; f. 70r Hosea, St. Bartholomew, "The Holy
Catholic Church"; f. 71r Amos, St. Simon, "The Communion of Saints, the
forgiveness of sins"; f. 71v Jonah, St. Jude, "The resurrection of the body";
f. 72r Habbakuk, St. Matthias, "The life everlasting"; f. 72v Moses and the
burning bush, Israelites (B).
     For the Penitential Psalms:  f. 73v Annointing of David (LM); f. 74r David
and Goliath (LM); f. 74v Last Judgment (B); f. 75r David in prayer (B); f. 75v
Pride:  Aristocrat with lion (B); f. 76r Man in Hellfire (B); f. 76v Hatred
and Anger:  A suicide, with porcupine (B); f. 77r Man stabbed by demons (B);
f. 77v Envy:  Man brooding (B); f. 78r Man bitten by demons (B); f. 78v
Gluttony:  Man eating, dog with bones (B); f. 79r Man force-fed by demons (B);
f. 79v Lust:  Woman with mirror and goat (B); f. 80r Man in boiling oil (B);
f. 80v Avarice:  Man counting coins, bear (B); f. 81r Man in fire tormented by
demon (B); f. 81v Melancholy:  Woman and donkey, Woman in hellfire (B); f. 82r
David in prayer (B); f. 82v Pity:  Woman with pennant (B).  Similar depictions
of women with pennants representing the Virtues, through f. 89v:  f. 83r Truth
(B); f. 83v Justice (B); f. 84r Peace (B); f. 84v Hope (B); f. 85r Charity (B);
f. 85v Humility (B); f. 86r Patience (B); f. 86v Abstinence (B); f. 87r
Diligence (B); f. 87v Prudence (B); f. 88r Temperance (B); f. 88v Fortitude (B);
f. 89r Fairness (B); f. 89v Obedience (B).
     For the Office of the Dead:  f. 90r Man between Heaven and Hell (LM); f. 90v
Dance of Death:  Pope and skeleton (B) [all the figures in the border scenes
through f. 97v have a skeleton behind them]; f. 91r Emperor (B); f. 91v Cardinal
(B); f. 92r King (B); f. 92v Bishop (B); f. 93r Nobleman (B); f. 93v Abbot (B);
f. 94r Knight (B); f. 94v Priest (B); f. 95r Nobleman (B); f. 95v Cistercian
monk (B); f. 96r Merchant (B); f. 96v Franciscan friar (B); f. 97r Peasant (B);
f. 97v Hermit (B).
     For the Short Hours of the Cross:  f. 124r Arrest of Christ (LM), Apostles
flee, Christ led away, Christ before Pilate (B); f. 124v Christ before
Caiaphas (B); f. 125r Christ before Annas (B); f. 125v Christ before Pilate,
Flagellation (B); f. 126r Crowning with Thorns, Ecce Homo (B); f. 126v Pilate
washing hands, Bearing of Cross (B); f. 127r Nailing to the cross, Lance thrust
into Christ's side (B); f. 127v Joseph of Arimathia requesting the body of
Christ from Pilate (B); f. 128r Descent from the cross, three Marys and St. John
(B); f. 128v Entombment (B).
     For the Short Hours of the Holy Spirit:  f. 129r Pentecost (LM), Apostles
baptizing and preaching (B); f. 129v St. James (B); f. 130r Pope (B); f. 130v
Cardinal (B); f. 131r Bishop with staff (B); f. 131v Bishop with crosier (B).
     For the Suffrages:  f. 132v Trinity and angels (B); f. 133r Michael weighing
souls (B); f. 133v St. John the Baptist holding the Agnus Dei, and preaching in
the desert to men of varied estate (B); f. 134r St. John the Evangelist boiled
in oil, writing, and with poisoned chalice (B); f. 134v God the Father in angel
mandorla, St. Peter with book, Conversion of Paul (B); f. 135r Martyrdom of St.
Andrew, Proconsul Aegeas tortured by demons (B); f. 135v St. James the Greater
points to a young man unjustly hanged and to the man's parents, 2 pilgrims (B);
f. 136r St. Christopher and hermit, ships (B); f. 136v Martyrdom of St.
Lawrence, St. Lawrence, group in prayer (B); f. 137r Martyrdom of St. Sebastian
(LM); f. 138r Martyrdom of St. Dionysius and his companions, St. Dionysius
carries his head (B); f. 138v St. Maurice and his companions (B); f. 139r St.
George (LM); f. 140r St. Martin in bed, God holding cloak, St. Martin divides
cloak (B); f. 140v St. Claude as abbot, as bishop, and with the young men
resuscitated from drowning (B); f. 141r St. Nicolas as bishop, gift of gold,
three children in a tub (B); f. 141v St. Anthony reading, temptress, Antony in
fire (B); f. 142r St. Fiacre with spade, falsely accused of sorcery by Becnaude,
chastised by Bishop Pharo (B); f. 142v St. Francis receiving the stigmata (B);
f. 143r Assumption of Mary Magdalen, in cave, at Mass, and with ointment jar
(B); f. 143v St. Anna and her 3 daughters, man kneeling in prayer, Christ as a
child with his 6 young cousins all with haloes and their future attributes as
apostles (B); f. 144r The 3 husbands and the 3 sons-in-law of St. Anna (B); f.
144v St. Catharine debating philosophers, beside wheel, beheaded (B); f. 145r
St. Barbara baptized (LM); f. 146r St. Margaret with dragon, with flock, two
men on horseback (B); f. 146v St. Apollonia (B); f. 147r St. Genevieve with
bishop, with candle, with demons emerging from inkwell (B); f. 147v St. Avia
put into prison, with angels, administering [?] the sacrament (B); f. 148r Pope
receiving St. Ursula and 11,000 virgins (LM); f. 148v Martyrdom of St. Ursula,
virgins beheaded (B); f. 149r All Saints and Trinity (B).
     Lower borders without historiations have small landscapes with battling
grotesques and animals in red and gold frames, or acanthus surrounding scrolls,
pink and gold, some with prophecies (as in ff. 51v-61v) and others with texts
relating to the figures above (portions of Pater Noster, in French, f. 72v; 7
mortal sins, in French, ff. 75r-81r).  Text pages without miniatures or
historiated borders have borders in outer margins only:  landscapes with
animals, as above, in fanciful architectural frames; damask patterns with
lettering (MARIA VIRGO, MM, MI in black and gold); blue, black, red and/or gold
panels with elaborate gold, black and white filigree; red, blue and green
flowers on gold grounds, blue and gold acanthus on parchment grounds; some with
insects and grotesques.  2-line initials, blue with white highlights, filled
with blue and red ivy on gold grounds.  1-line initials, gold or blue with white
highlights against pink and/or blue with gold filigree.  Line-endings same as
1-line initials or with green and yellow leaves on gold.  Rubrics throughout.
Calendar with feasts alternating red and blue.
     Binding:  s. xx. Dark blue velvet case.  Bound by J. Greenfield in the
Yale Conservation Studio, 1984-85.

Written in France in the early 16th century.  The manuscript has been attributed
to Rouen, at first on the mistaken assumption that it was written for the use of
Rouen (Christie's sale catalogue, 16 July 1969, lot 149), but it is to be noted
that Rouen saints are not prominent in the litany.  On the basis of the
illumination, the manuscript could have been produced either in Rouen (for use
elsewhere) or in Paris.  An 18th-century note on f. iii verso states that
it was produced in the 14th century, belonged to the comte d'Angouleme, who
gave it to his wife Louise de Savoie, upon whose death it passed to Marguerite
de Valois, Queen of Navarre, and later to Anne d'Autriche, Mme. de Chevreuve,
the Rohans, and M. de Sardiere.  The manuscript is hence sometimes called the
"Hours of Marguerite de Valois" or "Marguerite de Valois' Prayer Book" although
there is no evidence to support ownership by anyone on the 18th-century list
except by Jean Baptiste Denis Guyon de Sardiere, son of Mme. de la Mothe-Guyon
(d. ca. 1759; signatures, ff. 1r and 149r).  His collection was catalogued for
sale in Paris, 1759, but acquired en bloc by Louis Cesar de la Baume le
Blanc, Duc de la Valliere (1708-80) before the sale (not identified in G. de
Bure, Catalogue des livres provenans de la bibliotheque de M. L. D. D. L. V.
[Paris, 1767]).  Bought at the Duc's sale by Jean-Benjamin de la Borde
(1734-94; first valet-de-chambre of Louis XV; note on second flyleaf
at end).  Unidentified shelf-mark on second flyleaf at end:  "III 9810."
Restored in 1846 by A. Gobert according to a note on second flyleaf at end:
"Restaure en 1846 par M^^r. Ad. Gobert avec autant d'habilite que de
discernement.  Ce travail a ete paye 360 f."  Sold by Gavin Astor from
the Hever Castle Collection (Christie's, 16 July 1969, no. 149; pls. of ff. 7v,
17v-18r, 46v-47r, 59v-60r and 73v-74r).  Purchased from C. A. Stonehill in 1969
by Edwin J. Beinecke for the Beinecke Library.

Bibliography: Exhibition Catalogue, pp. 262-63, no. 79.

Barbara A. Shailor