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MS. Buchanan e. 14

Former shelfmark: MS. Lat. liturg. e. 35

Contents

Book of Hours, Use of Evreux
Language(s): Latin and Middle French

[Item 1 occupies quire I]

(fols. 1r-6v)

Calendar

About half-full, major feasts in red, each month headed by a note in red on the number of days in the calendar month; feasts, many of them characteristic of Evreux (cf. Leroquais, Bréviaires, II, 95–6), include: Gaudus of Evreux (31 Jan.), Ansbert of Rouen (9 Feb.), Aquilinus of Evreux and his translation (15 Feb., 18 July), Benedict of Nursia and his translation (21 Mar., 11 July), Benedict (12 Apr. [sic]), Maximus and Venerandus (25 May), Leufred (21 June), Swithun (2 July), Thuriaf (13 July), the invention of Taurinus of Evreux (5 Sept.), Michael (16 Oct.), King Edmund (20 Nov.), Ursinus (30 Dec.).

Language(s): Middle French

[Items 2–5 occupy quires II-VIII]

(fols. 7r-33v)

Hours of the Virgin, Use of Evreux, with the Hours of the Cross and the Hours of the Holy Spirit intermixed

Lauds of the Hours of the Virgin followed by six collects (fol. 16r-v), for (i) the Virgin, (ii) the Holy Spirit, (iii) John the Evangelist, (iv) Nicholas, (v) Catherine, and (vi) Peace (those pr. in Corpus orationum are nos. (i) 706, (iii) 2416a, (iv) 1463, (v) 1521, and (vi) 1088a).

(fols. 34r-39r)

The Seven Penitential Psalms.

(fols. 39r-42r)

Litany and collects

The litany including Uriel last among four angels and archangels, Martial last among sixteen Apostles and Evangelists; Ursinus between All Apostles and Evangelists and All Disciples (cf. MS. Buchanan e. 3); the confessors ending with Mellon, Romanus, Ouen, Ansbert, Eloi, Giles, Taurinus, Nicholas, Benedict, Benedict (i.e. twice), Theobald, Maurus, Lubin, Sulpicius, Gorgonius (8–22); the petitions followed (fol. 42r) by three collects:

Incipit: Deus cui proprium
(pr. Corpus orationum, no. 1143)
Incipit: Ure igne sancti spiritus
(pr. Bruylants, Oraisons, no. 1168)
Incipit: Consciencias nostras quesumus domine visitando purifica
(pr. Corpus orationum, no. 800d)

fol. 42v ruled, otherwise blank.

(fols. 43r-61r)

Office of the Dead, use of Evreux

Followed (fol. 61r-v) by a memorial for the Dead:

Incipit: Auete omnes anime fideles
(pr. Leroquais, Livres d'heures, II, 341)

Fols. 62r-63v ruled, otherwise blank.

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: (Calendar) KL Mars a xxxi iour
Secundo Folio: (text, fol. 8) vestri; probauerunt
Form: codex
Support: Parchment.
Extent: iii (paper, the first marbled, conjoint with the pastedown), vi (parchment) + 63 + vi (parchment), iii (paper, the last marbled, conjoint with the pastedown); fols. iv-ix and 64–9 are blank parchment flyleaves, of a similar quality and weight to fols 1–63: they may be original.
Dimensions (leaf): 208–12 × 137–140 mm.
Dimensions (ruled): 143–5 × 72–4 mm.
Dimensions (ruled): 166–74 × 72–4 mm.
(calendar)
Dimensions (written): 142 × 72 mm.
Foliation: Foliated in modern pencil: i-ix, 1–72.

Collation

Mostly written on quires of 8 leaves: I6 (fols. iv-ix) | II6 (fols. 1–6) | III-IX8 (fols. 7–63) | X6 (fols. 64–69); no catchwords visible.

Layout

28 lines ruled in pale red ink, between single vertical bounding lines extending the full height of the page, the top and bottom horizontal extending the full width of the page; ; in the calendar, months with 30 days have 32 ruled lines, those with 31 days have an extra line ruled at the bottom of the column to accommodate the extra day; prickings frequently survive at the fore-edge. 27 lines of text per page; the calendar with up to 31 lines of text per page.

Hand(s)

Written in lettre bâtarde in two sizes according to liturgical function

Decoration

Headings alternately in red or blue, but frequently omitted.

Twelve miniatures, each with an arched top, above six lines of text to fol. 22r, and above seven lines of text thereafter, except for fol. 34r wich has a line left blank for a rubric, and seven lines of text:

  • (fol. 7r) Hours of the Virgin, Matins. Annunciation.
  • (fol. 12r) Lauds. Visitation; an angel with folded arms behind the Virgin.
  • (fol. 17r) Hours of the Cross. Crucifixion, with the Virgin and St. John.
  • (fol. 18r) Hours of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost; the Virgin and disciples all kneel, facing the Dove.
  • (fol. 19r) Hours of the Virgin, Prime. Nativity; the Virgin and Joseph adore the Child.
  • (fol. 22r) Terce. Annunciation to four Shepherds.
  • (fol. 24r) Sext. Adoration of the Magi. [Above seven lines of text].
  • (fol. 26r) None. Presentation in the Temple.
  • (fol. 28r) Vespers. Flight into Egypt, from right to left; with a handmaid.
  • (fol. 31r) Compline. Coronation of the Virgin.
  • (fol. 34r) Penitential Psalms. David in Penitence.
  • (fol. 43r) Office of the Dead. Job on the Dungheap, with his three friends.

Each miniature above a six- to eight-line decorated initial in shades of grey, against a field of red or brown and gold, and enclosing naturalistic flowers against a gold ground; the miniatures each surrounded by a full border of naturalistic and stylised foliage, and various animals including a frog (fol. 7r), a squirrel (fol. 26r), a snail (fol. 34r), a butterfly(?) (fol. 24r), a peacock (fol. 43r), and other birds (e.g. fol. 12r), and various hybrid creatures (e.g. fol. 17r); two-line initials to psalms, hymns, etc. alternately in red or blue; similar one-line initials to verses and other minor divisions; line-fillers in red and blue, especially in the litany; occasional paraphs in blue.

Binding

The sewing not clearly visible; endbands missing; bound in late-18th-century French mottled brown leather over pasteboards; the spine with five raised bands, and a red title-piece lettered 'PSAUME | DE | DAVID' in the second compartment, gilt ornament and a flower motif in each of the other five; watermarks of flyleaves are unclear, but perhaps (fol. ii): 'M [then a lozenge shape] H.[?] M.', and, lower down: a backward-leaning 'D R.'(?), and (fol. 70): 'F.I.N 1788' (the last two numerals unclear, perhaps alternatively '99' or '83'?) and a bunch of grapes; blue silk bookmark; the edges of the leaves and boards gilt; the parchment flyleaves (fols. iv-ix, 64–69) may be original, or belong to an intermediate previous binding.

History

Origin: French, Normandy ; 15th century, late - 16th century, early, c. 1500

Provenance and Acquisition

Unidentified original owner; the three feasts of Benedict in the calendar, and the repetition of his name in the litany, perhaps suggest someone with Benedictine links.

Unidentified owner: six paste deposits in a cruciform arrangement (fol. 67v), one of them apparently with traces of torn paper, perhaps from a pasted-in votive image.

Unidentified 18th/19th-century owner or bookseller: inscribed in pencil (fol. 72r), in indistinct characters, possibly: 'Bt £5 6s. 8d' if read as a purchase record with an English price, but probably closer to: 'Lt L9 6784' (perhaps a shelfmark?).

? Adolphe Labitte, 19th-century Parisian bookseller: inscribed in ink 'Ira | Bos', separated by a horizontal line, probably a bookseller's price-code, near the top right corner of fol. 72r (cf. MSS. Buchanan e. 5 and e. 7); also inscribed in pencil (fol. iii verso): 'vers [crossed through] 1450', possibly by the same hand that inscribed MS. Buchanan e. 13, fol. 126r.

John Buchanan: inscribed in pencil with the 'Descriptive list' number, '14', in the top left corner of fol. i verso.

Rt. Hon. T. R. Buchanan (1846–1911).

His widow, Mrs. E. O. Buchanan.

Given by her to the Bodleian in 1939, when it was accessioned as MS. Lat. liturg. e. 35; re-referenced as MS. Buchanan e. 14 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 (3 images from 35mm slides)

Bibliography

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Last Substantive Revision

2017-07-01: First online publication.