Beinecke MS 434               Netherlands, s. XV^^4/4
Hours, use of Utrecht (in Dutch)

1.  ff. 1r-12v  Full calendar, with major feasts in red, including
Pontianus (14 Jan., in red), Ludger (26 March), Pancratius (12 May, in red),
Servatius (13 May, in red), Boniface (5 June, in red), Odulf (12 June, in
red), Translation of Lebwin (25 June, in red), Lambert (17 Sept., in red),
Remigius and Bavo (1 Oct., in red), Willibrord (7 Nov., in red), Lebwin (12
Nov., in red).  f. 13r-v frame-ruled, but blank

     N. van Wijk, Het Getijdenboek van Geert Grote (Leiden, 1940) pp. 25-35.

2.  f. 14r blank; ff. 14v-54v  Hours of the Virgin [van Wijk, op. cit.,
pp. 36-70].

3.  f. 55r blank; ff. 55v-124v  Long Hours of the Eucharist, with 9 lessons
at matins.  f. 125r-v ruled, but blank

4.  f. 126r blank; ff. 126v-148v  Penitential Psalms and Litany, including
Gereon (18), Pancratius (32), Boniface (35), Lambert (37) among 51 martyrs;
Werenfrid (15), Remigius (17), Bavo (18), Willibrord (21), Servatius (28),
Lebwin (29), Ludger (30), Odulf (31) among 31 confessors; Gertrude (17), Ursula
(20) among 26 virgins [van Wijk, op. cit., pp. 139-54].

5.  f. 149r blank; ff. 149v-187v  Office of the Dead [van Wijk, op. cit.,
pp. 155-95].

     Parchment, ff. i (paper) + ii (contemporary parchment) + 187 + ii
(contemporary parchment) + i (paper), 164 x 111 (91 x 57) mm., trimmed.  19 long
lines, ruled in pale red ink.  Single vertical and single or double
horizontal bounding lines full length and full across.
     I^^6, II^^6 (+2 leaves, ff. 7 and 14, before 1 and after 6), III-VII^^8, VIII^^8
(+ 1 leaf, f. 55, before 1), IX-XI^^8, XII^^6, XIII-XV^^8, XVI^^8 (+ 1 leaf, f. 126,
after 8), XVII^^8, XVIII^^6, XIX^^8 (+ 1 leaf, f. 149, after 8), XX-XXIII^^8,
XXIV^^6.
     Written in gothic bookhand.
     The decoration of the manuscript was executed in three distinct stages (we
thank J. Marrow for his assistance with the illumination).  First the original
decoration (some of it overpainted later) of historiated initials with acanthus
and penwork borders on ordinary text pages dates from ca. 1475 and is in a style
associated with Delft.  It consists of four 9- or 8-line historiated initials:
f. 15r Virgin and Child, half-length (Hours of the Virgin); f. 56r Monstrance
under filigree (Hours of the Eucharist); f. 127r Last Judgment (Penitential
Psalms); f. 150r Souls in Purgatory (Office of the Dead); the initials are blue
with white highlights or spiralling acanthus in white and gold, against cusped
grounds, with penwork floral sprays in border, tinted red, blue and yellow.
Fourteen 5-line initials for the Hours, blue, with leaves in white, filled with
flowers or fruit, against gold grounds, square with cusps at corners:  each with
a three-quarter border, a red, blue and gold bar, some with dragon-head
terminals, in outer margin; foliage with flowers, red, blue, green, purple and
pink, and animals surrounded by brown and black hair-spray and gold dots.
Fairly close analogies to this first style of decoration include Cambridge,
Fitzwilliam Museum, James MS 25; The Hague, Koninklijke Bibliotheek MS 131 G 8;
Berlin, Preussische Staatsbibliothek MS germ. Oct. 6.  Second, the inserted
miniatures on f. 14v Adoration of Magi (Hours of the Virgin), f. 126v David
rebuked by Nathan, David in penance (Penitential Psalms), and f. 149v Raising of
Lazarus, probably date ca. 1475-85 and differ in style from the manuscript to
which they were added; their place of origin is uncertain.  The Three Kings in
the Adoration scene and the Raising of Lazarus were executed by an artist of
some accomplishment.  Third, the miniature on f. 55v Angels with Monstrance
(Hours of the Eucharist) and most of the overpainted borders around miniatures
and pages with historiated initials probably date from ca. 1500-10.  The borders
consist of pink and/or gold arched frames, cusped in black, with full borders,
some compartmentalized, pink, blue and/or gold, with various combinations of
gold curling acanthus, red, blue, and green flowers, insects and jewels; one
(f. 149v) a damask pattern with jewels and flowers in roundels.  For this
latest style of border and miniature compare a Book of Hours of the early 16th
century in Copenhagen, Royal Library G1. Kgl. Saml. 1607, 4^^o.  Many small
initials in red or blue with flourishing in blue or red, often extending the
length of the written space.  1-line initials alternating red and blue.
Rubrics throughout.
     Binding:  s. xvii.  Gold-tooled, green goatskin with a red label and a spine
decorated "a la grotesque," possibly by one of the Padeloups, a family active in
Paris from ca. 1654 to 1800.  Traces of original sewing and paste in gutter and
on contemporary parchment flyleaves.  Gilt edges.

Produced in the Netherlands, probably in Delft, ca. 1475, with ornamentation
added in the fourth quarter of the 15th century and at the beginning of the 16th
century (see discussion of illumination above); early modern provenance unknown.
No. 733 in an unidentified sale (sale description pasted on f. i verso); pencil
notation "M 350" added on f. i verso.  Unidentified pale blue rectangular label
with "1994" printed in black pasted to f. iii recto.  Collection of Cornelius
Vanderbilt (no. 191); bequeathed in his memory by his daughter, Gladys Moore
Vanderbilt, Countess Laszlo Szechenyi in 1966.

Barbara A. Shailor