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

Dep. f. 70

Summary Catalogue no.: Not in SC (late accession)

Book of Hours, Use of Le Mans; northern France, first half 15th century

Contents

Summary of Contents: An imperfect and somewhat disordered book. It includes uncompleted original leaves in art. 4 after Lauds, where some sort of error was not fully rectified. The original leaves with pictures were perhaps single leaves, and those before arts. 2 (?), 5, 8, and 9 are missing, leaving only two (ff. 32 and 122, both displaced); one supply leaf and one supplementary (?) leaf, both with cruder pictures, were provided, s. xv1, see arts. 6 and 4.
Book of Hours, Use of Le Mans
Language(s): Latin and Middle French
1. (fols. 1–12v)

Calendar

Full calendar in French, in gold and alternating blue and red.

Language(s): Middle French
2. (fols. 13–16v)

Gospel sequences, lacking John.

Language(s): Latin
3. (fols. 122rv, 18–20v)

Obsecro te … Masculine forms.

Language(s): Latin
4. (fols. 32rv, 21–31v, 33–37r, 38, (17rv), 39–65v, 134r

Hours of B.V.M. of the use of (Le Mans).

Language(s): Latin
5. (quires 11–12) (fols. 66–81v)

Penitential psalms, beginning imperfectly in Ps. 6: 7 ‘stratum meum’, and (f. 77) Litany.

Ten confessors: … (6–10) abline fortunase anthoni maudete ludouice; fourteen virgins: … (11) radegund.

Language(s): Latin
6. (fols. 82–120v)

Office of the dead.

Fol. 82 is a supply leaf.

Language(s): Latin
7. (fols. 120v–121v)
Rubric: Oracio sancti augustini oracio

⟨D⟩eus propicius esto michi peccatori

Language(s): Latin
8. (fols. 123–124v)

[O intemerata], beginning imperfectly ‘euuangelista factus est’.

Language(s): Latin
9. (fols. 125–128v)

Fifteen Joys of B.V.M. Sonet, no. 458.

Incipit: ⟨Doulce dame—xv io⟩ies que vous eustes de vostre cher filz
Language(s): Middle French
10. (fols. 128v–131)

Seven Requests. Sonet, no. 504.

Incipit: Doulz dieu doulz pere saincte trinite
Language(s): Middle French
11. (fol. 131)
Incipit: Saincte vraye croix aouree

Sonet, no. 1876. Bottom 4 lines blank.

Language(s): Middle French
12. (fols. 131v–133v)

Indulgenced prayer (added)

Rubric: Innocencius papa concessit omnibus dicentibus istam oracionem puro corde tres annos indulgencie
Incipit: ⟨D⟩omine ihesu christe qui septem uerba

Ends imperfectly in last word

Language(s): Latin
13. (fol. 38rv)
(added, s. xv/xvi) Three prayers:
Incipit: ⟨V⟩ias tuas domine demonstra michi
Incipit: ⟨D⟩omine ihesu christe fac me id agere
Incipit: ⟨F⟩irmiter credens ihesum christum esse filium dei
Language(s): Latin

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment
Extent: 134 + i leaves
Dimensions (leaf): 142 × 105 mm.
Dimensions (written): 81 × 58 mm.

Collation

112 2 six (ff. 13–16, 122, 18; probably8 wants 1–2: ff. 13/16 and 14/15 are conjoint leaves) 3 five (ff. 19–20, 32, 21–2; perhaps8 wants 3–4 and 6: ff. 19/22 and 20/21 are conjoint leaves) 48 58 (ff. 31, 33–8) wants 7 cancelled (?) after f. 37 68 wants 1 before f. 39 supplied by f. 17 7 one (f. 46) 88 96 + 1 now missing before f. 55 106 (ff. 61–65, 134) 118 wants 1 before f. 66 128 + 1 leaf (f. 81) after 8 138 (1, f. 82 is a supply leaf, stuck in) 14–178 188 wants 1 before f. 123 4–5 after f. 124 198 wants 7–8.

Layout

15 long lines. Ruled in deep pink ink.

Decoration

Fine miniatures. Two original 11-line pictures remain (ff. 32 Annunciation, 122 B.V.M. on throne suckling Child flanked by 2 kneeling angels with 2 above holding crown) + two added (ff. 17 Pentecost, 82 burial).

Initials: (i) 3-line, in blue patterned with white on gold grounds decorated in colours; (ii, iii) 2- and 1-line, in gold, on pink and blue grounds patterned with white.

Line-fillers in pink and blue patterned with white and a blob of gold.

Borders: (i) full on original picture-pages, in colours with flowers, birds, etc.; (ii) on pages with type (i) initials, in top, bottom and left margins.

Binding

Binding, s. xix, of red velvet.

History

Origin: 15th century, first half ; French, North

Provenance and Acquisition

Perhaps in England by s. xvi: the strip used to stick f. 82 to f. 83 is cut from a document of English origin, s. xvi, concerning property in the suburbs of […] lately occupied by William Hilton skinner.

‘oct. 4. Whitechaple (?)’, in pencil, f. 135.

Snowshill Manor

deposited by the National Trust, 1981

Record Sources

Adapted from N. R. Ker, Medieval Manuscripts in British Libraries, iv.329–31

Last Substantive Revision

2017-07-01: First online publication.