Book of Hours | The Astor Book of Hours

Book of Hours

Book of Hours, Use of Toul, in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on vellum [France (probably Paris), early 16th century]

c.175×115 mm, 205 leaves (4 blank), plus two medieval flyleaves and 54 19th-century paper blanks (probably inserted to make the binding fit), foliated 1–255 (excluding the endleaves and omitting leaves after ff.26 and 174), one leaf lacking after f.48 and a blank cancelled after f.198, otherwise apparently complete in quires of 8 leaves each except i2, 1–26, 208+1, 214, 274, a few vertical catchwords, written in 20 lines of a fine script based on Roman type, rubrics in red or blue, calendar entries in gold, blue, or red, ILLUMINATED WITH 4 FULL-PAGE MINIATURES within architectural frames, 23 LARGE MINIATURES above four lines of text and surrounded by full borders, and 28 SMALLER MINIATURES, mostly 9 lines high, with three-sided borders; the first leaves rather rubbed, the face of one figure erased on f.62, and a few other minor blemishes but generally in excellent condition. Bound in red velvet covered by elaborate northern European (Netherlandish?) silver-gilt pierced covers, ca. 1700–20, each cover with a central (blank) cartouche for heraldry, flanked by putti and surrounded by birds, vases, etc.