MS. Bywater 16
Contents
Dedicatory letter of Georgius Hermonymus to Philip the Handsome, archduke of Austria
Fol. 23v with a full-page illumination.
fols. 33r-34v and the lower pastedown ruled, otherwise originally blank; fol. 34v with contemporary inscription 'Deus in adiutorium meum intende ...' and scribal(?) colophon(?) (see under Provenance).
Physical Description
Collation
Layout
Ruled with 16 lines in pale red ink
Hand(s)
Written in a gothic bookhand, of the type found in Ghent-Bruges manuscripts executed for Italian patrons (cf. Christopher R. F. de Hamel, 'Reflexions on the Trade in Books of Hours at Ghent and Bruges', in Manuscripts in the Fifty Years After the Invention of Printing, ed. J. B. Trapp (London, 1983), 29–33, pls. 9 & 10).
Decoration
Headings in red.
Full border with the coat of arms, motto, coronet and supporters of Philip the Handsome, Archduke of Austria, with the insignia of the Toison d'or (flint, cross of St. Andrew, golden fleece), and the initials 'P' and reversed 'P' joined by a tassled cord, in gold, red, black, and blue, on a purple ground within a gold border (fol. 4r).
A full-page image showing the insignia of the Order on a blue ground within a gold border, here with the intitials 'P P' joined by a multi-coloured cord (fol. 23v).
One four-line initial in gold on a green ground with the insignia only (fol. 1v).
Binding
Sewn on four(?) cords and bound in original(?) wood boards with rounded edges, and covered in purple velvet; the original endleaves and pastedowns show evidence of a single clasp at the centre of the fore-edge; the edges of the leaves gilt; the base of the spine with the trace of a paper label.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Philip the Handsome, Archduke of Austria, apparently the dedication copy to him (see under Decoration); fol. 34v with a scribal(?) note, 'est | Qui vouldra | pr [or pv] | & | Se [or Sc] mest Henr | W'.
Unidentifed French 19th-century owner/bookseller: the upper pastedown inscribed in pencil 'Charles VIII vivait(?) | 1483 | L'ordre de le Toison | d'or institité(?) | 1429'.
Traces of a bookplate on the lower pastedown.
Tregaskis, item 667 in an unidentified catalogue, with a cutting pasted to the upper pastedown, the pastedown also inscribed by them '5 guineas'.
Ingram Bywater ; inscribed in pencil in the upper left corner of the upper pastedown with the Bywater Elenchus number, 'By. | 1400'
Bequeathed to the Bodleian in 1915, and originally accessioned as 'Byw.N.4.3' (inscribed in pencil on upper pastedown and fol. 1r), and given the Summary catalogue number 40048, both now obsolete.
Record Sources
Digital Images
Digital Bodleian (2 images from 35mm slides)
Bibliography
Online resources:
Abbreviations
View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.
Last Substantive Revision
2017-07-01: First online publication.