A catalogue of Western manuscripts at the Bodleian Libraries and selected Oxford colleges

MS. Buchanan e. 10

Former shelfmark: MS. Lat. liturg. e. 31

Contents

Language(s): Latin, Middle French

Book of Hours, Use of Paris

All except item 2 have rubrics in French.

[Item 1 occupies quire I]

1. (fols. 2r-13v)

Calendar, an entry for almost every day, major feasts in gold (none of them local), the others alternately red or blue; each month headed by a note on the length of the calendar month in gold; feasts include 'Dedicace saint eustace' (6 Oct.), but lack most of the feasts characteristic of Paris, such as Germanus (28 May), Marcellus (3 Nov.) and Geneviève (26 Nov.).

Language(s): Latin, Middle French

[Items 2–3 occupy quires II-IV]

2. (fols. 14r-19v)

Gospel Pericopes; John followed (fol. 15v) by the usual antiphon, versicle, response, and the prayer 'Protector in te sperantium ...' (cf. MS. Buchanan e. 3).

3. (fols. 19v-25r)
Prayers to the Virgin
(fols. 19v-22v)
Rubric: Deuote oraison de nostre dame
Incipit: Obsecro te

[masculine forms] (cf. MS. Buchanan e. 2)

(fols. 23r-25r, rubric on fol. 22v)
Rubric: Aultre oraison de nostre dame
Incipit: O intemerata ... orbis terrarum. Inclina aures tue pietatis

[feminine forms], the second word mis-written and partially corrected by erasure (pr. Wilmart, Auteurs spirituels, 488–90)

Language(s): Latin, Middle French

Fol. 25v ruled, otherwise blank.

[Item 4 occupies quires V-XIII]

4. (fols. 26r-91v)

Hours of the Virgin, Use of Paris, with nine lessons at Matins; fol. 70v ruled, otherwise blank.

[Items 5–13 occupy quires XIV-XXV]

5. (fols. 92r-104v)

The Seven Penitential Psalms.

6. (fols. 104v-110v)

Litany and collects: the litany with Marcial last among the Apostles, and including Lubin and Sulpice (14–15) among sixteen confessors, and Geneviève (8) among thirteen virgins; followed (fol. 109v) by four collects:

Incipit: Deus cui proprium est
( Corpus orationum, no. 1143)
Incipit: Deus qui nos patrem et matrem
( ibid., no. 1903)
Incipit: Deus venie largitor
( ibid., no. 2205, but mentioning '... sorores parentes amicos benefactores et recommandatos nostros ...' after 'fratres', and '... beata maria semper uirgine ...' in place of '... beato illi patrono nostro ...'; cf. MS. Buchanan f. 2, text item 8(iv), and MS. Buchanan e. 9, under Provenance)
Incipit: Fidelium deus omnium conditor
( ibid., no. 2684b).
7. (fols. 111r-117v, rubric on fol. 110v)

Hours of the Cross

8. (fols. 118r-123r, rubric on fol. 117v)

Hours of the Holy Spirit

9. (fols. 123v-166r)

Office of the Dead, Use of Paris

10. (fols. 166v-171r, rubric on fol. 166r)

The Fifteen Joys of the Virgin

Rubric: Les xv. ioyes nostre dame
Incipit: Doulce dame de misericorde
Explicit: mercy et vray repos. Amen Aue maria
(pr. Leroquais, Livres d'heures, II, 310–11).
Language(s): Middle French
11. (fols. 171v-174v, rubric on fol. 171r)

The Seven Requests of Our Lord

Rubric: Les sept requestes nostre seigneur
Incipit: Doulx dieu doulx pere saincte trinite
(pr. Leroquais, Livres d'heures, II, 309–10); followed by the usual rhymed verse devotion in French:
(fol. 174r-v)
Incipit: Saincte vraie croix aouree. Qui du corps dieu fus aournee
(pr. Perdrizet, Calendrier Parisien, 32).
Language(s): Middle French
Language(s): Middle French
12. (fols. 174v-182v)

Suffrages to (i) the Trinity, and Sts. (ii) Michael, (iii) John the Baptist, (iv) James, (v) Christopher ('... michi famulo tuo ...'), (vi) Antony Abbot, (vii) Sebastian, (viii) Nicholas, (ix) Catherine, (x) Geneviève, and (xi) Barbara (the prayers pr. in Corpus orationum are nos. (i) 3920, (ii) 1798, (iii) 4492, (iv) 2445d, (vi) 1486, (viii) 1463, (ix) 1521, and (x) 1368); fols. 183r-184v ruled, otherwise originally blank.

13. (fols. 183r-184r)

Communion prayers, added in a small 16th-century cursive hand

(fol. 183r)
Rubric: [title partly cropped, perhaps: Quant on veult recevoir le corps] de nostre seigneur'
Incipit: Domine non sum dignus ut intres sub tectum meum
Explicit: remissionem peccatorum meorum qui viuis et regnas
(fol. 183v)
Rubric: quant on la receu
Incipit: Vera preceptio corporis et sanguinis tui
Explicit: vitam presentem et eternam introductio per...
(fols. 183v-184r)
Rubric: oraizun apres la communium[sic]
Incipit: Gratias tibi ago domine. sancte pater omnipotens eterne deus qui me indignum peccatorem
Explicit: dignatus es corpore||

Ends incomplete. The first two of these prayers frequently occur together; for all three together see e.g. Ker, MMBL, II, 197 arts. 13b-d; Leroquais, Livres d'heures, II, 232.

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: (Calendar, fol. 3) KL Feurier a
Secundo Folio: (text, fol. 15) venientem in
Form: codex
Support: Parchment.
Extent: ii (modern paper, the first conjoint with the pastedown) + 184 + ii (modern paper, the second conjoint with the pastedown).
Dimensions (leaf): 157–8 × 105 mm.
Dimensions (ruled): 90–2 × 47–9 mm.
Dimensions (written): 88 × 48 mm.
Foliation: Foliated in modern pencil: i-ii, 1–186.

Collation

Mostly on quires of 8 leaves: I12+1 (1st leaf added, fol. 1) (fols. 1–13) | II6 (fols. 14–19), III4 (fols. 20–23), IV2 (fols. 24–25) | V-XII8 (fols. 26–89), XIII2 (fols. 90–91) | XIV-XVII8 (fols. 92–123), XVIII4 (fols. 124–127), XIX-XXIV8 (fols. 128–175), XXV10–1 (10th leaf cancelled, after fol. 184) (fols. 176–184); a trace of a catchword survives at fol. 127v.

Layout

19 lines ruled in red ink (in both calendar and text), between single vertical bounding lines extending the full height of the page, the top and bottom horizontal lines extending the full width of the page; no prickings visible. 18 lines of text per page.

Hand(s)

Written in a gothic liturgical bookhand in two sizes, according to liturgical function

Decoration

Headings in red, capitals touched with a yellow wash.

Fourteen large miniatures with arched tops, all but one (fol. 92r) above five lines of text:

  • (fol. 14r) Pericopes. St. John writing on Patmos, with the Eagle holding his ink-pot and pen-case; some flaking of pigment, especially in the sky.
  • (fol. 26r) Hours of the Virgin, Matins. Annunciation; the Virgin with an open book on her lap.
  • (fol. 60r) Prime. Nativity; the Virgin and Joseph adore the Child.
  • (fol. 66r) Terce. Annunciation to the Shepherds, one with bagpipes.
  • (fol. 71r) Sext. Adoration of the Magi.
  • (fol. 75v) None. Presentation in the Temple.
  • (fol. 80r) Vespers. Flight into Egypt, from right to left; Joseph's face and the sky flaking.
  • (fol. 86v) Compline. Coronation of the Virgin.
  • (fol. 92r) Penitential Psalms. King David in Penitence; some striations of pigment. [Above six lines of text].
  • (fol. 111r) Hours of the Cross. Crucifixion, with the Virgin and John to the left, the centurian Longinus and other soldiers to the right.
  • (fol. 118r) Hours of the Spirit. Pentecost.
  • (fol. 123v) Office of the Dead. Job on the Dungheap, with his three friends.
  • (fol. 166v) Fifteen Joys. The Virgin and Child enthroned, adored by angels.
  • (fol. 171v) Seven Requests. The Trinity: the Son holding the Cross, the Father wearing a papal tiara and holding an orb, seated together, both holding an open book between them, the Dove above.

Ten small miniatures to the suffrages, mostly seven lines high:

  • (fol. 175r) St. Michael (eight-line).
  • (fol. 175v) St. John the Baptist.
  • (fol. 176r) St. James the Greater.
  • (fol. 176v) St. Christopher; the hermit in the background.
  • (fol. 178r) St. Antony Abbot.
  • (fol. 179r) St. Sebastian.
  • (fol. 180r) St. Nicholas and the three boys in the tub.
  • (fol. 180v) St. Catherine.
  • (fol. 181r) St. Geneviève, with an angel preventing a devil from extinguishing her taper.
  • (fol. 181v) St. Barbara.

One six-line historiated initial:

  • (fol. 49r) Hours of the Virgin, Lauds. Visitation.

Two five-line historiated initials:

  • (fol. 19v) Obsecro te. Virgin and Child enthroned; the Virgin holding a red fruit(?).
  • (fol. 23r) O intemerata. Pietà.

The large miniatures and the Lauds initial are surrounded by four-sided framed borders of stylised foliage on a plain parchment ground, and variously-shaped panels of naturalistic plants on a painted gold ground; the small miniatures and five-line historiated initials surrounded by similar three-sided borders (in the outer margins); similar one-sided border panels on all pages with a two-line initial.

Four- or three-line initials in blue and red, enclosing foliage, on a gold ground, at the start of each text with a large miniature; two-line initals in gold, on a blue and red ground with white tracery, to psalms, capitula, lessons, etc. and the KL monograms in the calendar; similar one-line initials to verses and other minor divisions; similar line-fillers throughout.

For fol. 1 see Accompanying Material.

Binding

Sewing not visible; tightly rebound between 19th-century pasteboards, re-using panels of 16th-century brown leather with gilt tooling à la fanfare , Paris c.1580–90, in the style associated with Clovis Eve (of the bindings ill. in Hobson, Les reliures à la fanfare, the boards are closest in general design to pl. XXI b); the centre of each cover inlaid with a 17th-century oval medallion of red leather tooled in gilt (perhaps replacing the identifying mark of a previous owner); the spine similarly tooled, without raised bands or title-piece (similar in design to ibid. pl. XIXa); coloured endbands; the edges of the leaves and boards gilt. Boxed.

Accompanying Material

Fol. 1 is an inserted leaf of parchment printed on the recto with a 16th-century German(?) engraving of the Crucifixion, signed 'G.N.'; gilded and hand-coloured.

History

Origin: French, Paris ; 15th-16th century, c. 1500

Provenance and Acquisition

Perhaps made for use in Paris, and presumably still there when bound in the late 16th century; fol. 1 was perhaps added at the same time.

Unidentified English 19th-century owner: no markings characteristic of booksellers survive, since the endleaves have been replaced, but 'Small office of the | Virgin' has been written in pencil below the image on fol. 1r.

John Buchanan; inscribed in pencil with the 'Descriptive list' number, '10.', in the top left corner of the upper pastedown.

Rt. Hon. T. R. Buchanan (1846–1911).

Given to the Bodleian by his widow, Mrs E. O. Buchanan, in 1939 by his widow,Mrs. E. O. Buchanan, when it was accessioned as MS. Lat. liturg. e. 31; re-referenced as MS. Buchanan e. 10 in 1941.

Record Sources

Adapted from Peter Kidd, Medieval Manuscripts from the Collection of T. R. Buchanan in the Bodleian Library, Oxford (Oxford, 2001)

Digital Images

Digital Bodleian (4 images from 35mm slides)

Bibliography

Last Substantive Revision

2017-07-01: First online publication.