Nine manuscript leaves, mostly 15th century, from books of hours and prayerbooks, on vellum

Property from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery

A collection of nine manuscript leaves, mostly from Books of Hours

[Germany, France, Flanders and Greece, fifteenth to seventeenth centuries]

COMPRISING:

1. Leaf from a Book of Hours, manuscript in Latin on vellum

[France, 14th century (late)]

Single leaf, c.185×135 mm; 12 lines in textura script in two sizes (c.90×65mm); illuminated initials with leafy marginal extensions, and line-fillers

PROVENANCE: Otto Ege/Philip Duschnes; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY; Gallery Purchase, 1940 (1940:355.33)

2. Leaf from the Calendar of a Book of Hours, manuscript in French on vellum

[France (Franco-Flemish area?), 15th century (c.1430s?)]

Single leaf, c.150×105mm; written in a fine textura script IN FRENCH, 16 lines per page; illuminated with a KL monogram, bar-border, and foliate borders; the ink on the recto somewhat flaked

PROVENANCE: Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY; Gallery Purchase, 1940 (1940:355.32)

3. & 4. Two Leaves from a Missal, decorated manuscript in Latin on vellum

[Germany, 15th century (middle?)]

2 single leaves, c.370×275mm; written in 2 columns of 35 lines c.250×180 mm; original foliation ‘c .x.’ and ‘d .xxvi.’ in red ink; catchword

PROVENANCE: Otto Ege: leaves from the same parent manuscript were included in his portfolios of ‘Eight Original Leaves’, as no. 1, representing a ‘pointed Gothic prototype’; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY; Gallery Purchase, 1942 (1942:468.1 & 1942:468.1A)

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Sotheby’s 1985, lot 69; Scott Gwara, Otto Ege’s Manuscripts (Cayce, SC, 2013), Handlist no. 33; citing a leaf at the University of North Texas, and an extensive list of owners of Ege’s portfolio of ‘Fifty Original Leaves’ in which this was no. 33.

5. Leaf from a Psalter, illuminated manuscript in Latin on vellum

[Italy, 15th century]

Single leaf, c.185×135mm; written in a fine regular rounded gothic bookhand with 22 lines per page (c.20×90mm); the text comprising Psalms 20:8–21:17; Psalm 21 with an illuminated initial, every verse stating on a new line, with initials alternately gold with blue penwork or blue with red penwork; foliated ‘13’.

PROVENANCE: Unidentified owner; sold at Sotheby’s, 23 March 1936, lot 73 (126 leaves, lacking the Beatus leaf); Otto Ege; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY; Gallery Purchase, 1940 (1940:355.30)

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Scott Gwara, Otto Ege’s Manuscripts (Cayce, SC, 2013), Handlist no. 119 and fig. 53; citing leaves at four American institutions.

6. Leaf from a Prayerbook, manuscript in Latin on vellum

[Northern/Eastern Netherlands (15th century (late)]

Single leaf, c.175×130mm; written in an angular gothic textura script with 18 lines per page (c.110×75mm), the text comprising variant Collects and Chapters for the liturgical seasons of Lent and Eastertide; 1- and 2-line initials alternately plain red or blue

PROVENANCE: The parent manuscript had rubrics in Dutch, and the litany had saints from the diocese of Cologne; Otto Ege?; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY; Gallery Purchase, 1940 (1940:355.6)

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Judith Oliver, Manuscripts Sacred and Secular from the Collections of the Endowment for Biblical Research and Boston University (Boston, 1985), no. 83; Sotheby’s, Western Manuscripts and Miniatures, 26 November 1985, lot 84; Scott Gwara, Otto Ege’s Manuscripts (Cayce, SC, 2013), Handlist no. 43; citing other leaves at four American institutions, as well as a large number of institutions owning the portfolio of ‘Fifty Original Leaves’, in which leaves from this manuscript were no. 43.

7. Illuminated initial on a cutting from a printed Breviary, in Latin on vellum [Germany, late 15th century]

Single cutting, c.75×75, printed in red and black, the initial c.50×50mm.

PROVENANCE: Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY; Gallery Purchase, 1940 (1940:355.1)

8. Leaf from a Carta de Hidalguia, manuscript in Spanish on vellum

[Spain, 1594]

Single leaf, c.302×210mm; boldly ruled in red ink for 34 lines written in a fine, regular, rounded gothic bookhand (240×140mm); foliated '29'

PROVENANCE: Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY; Gallery Purchase, 1940 (1940:355.12)

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Scott Gwara, Otto Ege’s Manuscripts (Cayce, SC, 2013), Handlist no. 235; citing leaves in two Ohio institutional collections

9. Leaf from a Greek Orthodox liturgical work, manuscript in Greek on polished paper [Greek, 1650]

PROVENANCE: Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY; Gallery Purchase, 1940 (1940:355.4)