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Walters Ms. W.441, Book of Hours (Medieval text, Modern illuminations)

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Shelf mark

W.441


Manuscript

Book of Hours (Medieval text, Modern illuminations)


Text title
Book of Hours (Medieval text, Modern illuminations)

Abstract

Originating in Ghent or Bruges, Flanders, in the early sixteenth century, this Dominican Book of Hours focuses on the Passion of Christ and the Corpus Christi. This book masquerades as a purely authentic medieval manuscript, when in fact it is a modern and medieval hybrid. The majority of the manuscript was made ca. 1500, but it had remained unfinished. Its nineteenth-century owner, John Boykett Jarman, commissioned English illustrator William Caleb Wing to "finish" the manuscript ca. 1850. Known for his manuscript illumination skills, Wing recreated imagery typical of a fifteenth- to sixteenth-century Flemish Book of Hours. Henry Walters was aware that the manuscript was partially painted in the nineteenth century when he purchased it, as the manuscript is noted as a "forgery" in the James C. Anderson inventory, December 7th, 1913. Whether pages and images are original or nineteenth century has been indicated both within the individual text parts as well as within the image cataloging.


Date

Ca. 1500 CE; illuminations late 19th-century


Origin

Bruges or Ghent, Flanders


Artist

Authority name: W.C Wing

Known as: William Caleb Wing


Form

Book


Genre

Devotional


Language:

The primary language in this manuscript is Latin.


Support material

Parchment

Thin, well-prepared parchment; thicker parchment for inserted full-page miniatures


Extent

Foliation: v+128+v

Foliation in pencil, top right corners, rectos; two sets of foliation (with exception of the calendar); the lower number set used here


Collation

Formula: Collation for this manuscript cannot be completed at this time

Catchwords: Present on bottom right of fols. 105v and 115v

Signatures: None

Comments:


Dimensions

12.0 cm wide by 17.5 cm high


Written surface

6.0 cm wide by 9.5 cm high


Layout
  1. Columns: 1
  2. Ruled lines: 18-20
  3. Red ink ruling for calender and text; layout does not apply to calender (written surface 6 cm x 8.5 cm, 17 ruled lines)

Contents:
fols. 1r - 128v:
  1. Title: Book of Hours (Medieval text, Modern illuminations)
  2. Hand note: Gothic script; same scribe for entire text, with exceptions: calendar and folios opposite full-page miniatures written in 19th-century hand
  3. Decoration note: Illustrated calendar, twelve pages; seventeen full-page miniatures; one other miniature; illuminated borders; decorated illuminated initials in gold with alternating blue, green, and red backgrounds (5-6 lines); secondary decorated initials and line fillers contain silver or gold letters and alternating blue and red backgrounds (2-3 lines); text in varying light-dark black ink
fols. 1r - 6v:
  1. Title: Calendar
  2. Incipit: Januarius die
  3. Hand note: Nineteenth-century imitation of Gothic script
  4. Decoration note: Modern parchment, with both text and illuminations created by W.C Wing; zodiac symbols and labors for each month represented by border illuminations
fols. 7v - 21v:
  1. Title: Liturgy of Easter
  2. Rubric: Protestatio aut oratio in introitu et surrectione lectio : a quo libet xpiano dicenda : facta per sanctum vincentium ferrarii : Et primo te ipsum signa sic dicendo
  3. Incipit: In nomine patris et filii et spiritus sancti Amen
  4. Contents: Dominican use; fols. 8r-11v: St. Vincent Ferrer profession prayer, oratio pro gratiarum actione, Intemerata; fols. 12r-19v: processional, St. Bernard’s verses (O Bone Jesu), instruction for the priest before the altar, Offertory, Consecration, elevation of the Host; fol. 20r-v: Pope Benedict’s prayer for indulgence; fols. 20v-21v: prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas for the elevation of the Host, adoration of the blood of Christ
  5. Text note: Fol. 7: modern parchment; fols. 8r-v: modern parchment and text; fols. 9r-21v: original parchment and text;
  6. Decoration note: Fol. 7v: full-page miniature; fol. 8r: initial "D" (6 lines); smaller initials throughout (1-3 lines); line fillers throughout; fol. 7v: modern miniature; fol. 8r: modern border
fols. 22v - 30v:
  1. Title: Prayers of Pope Boniface VI and writings of St. Thomas Aquinas
  2. Rubric: Sequens oratio est scripta in tabula sancti sepulcri: et ad supplicationem philippi regis francie: bonefacius papa: vi: dedit omnibus eam devote dicentibus inter elevationem corporis xpi et agnus dei duo milia annorum de indulgentia: s
  3. Incipit: Domine ihu xpriste
  4. Contents: Fols. 23r-24v: Pope Boniface's prayers to recite for indulgence at the elevation of the Host; fols. 24v-30v: St. Thomas Aquinas' writings on the Eucharist
  5. Text note: Fol. 22: modern parchment; fols. 23r-30v: original parchment and original text; "Papa Boniface VI" is most likely Pope Boniface XI, 1350-1404, as his successor Pope Innocent is mentioned later in the manuscript, and St. Vincent Ferrer, also explicitly mentioned at the beginning of the manuscript, was his contemporary
  6. Decoration note: Fol. 22v: full-page miniature; small initials throughout (1-2 lines); line fillers throughout; fol. 22v: modern border and miniature; fol. 23r: original/modern border, original paint mostly retouched
fols. 31v - 71v:
  1. Title: Hours of the Passion
  2. Rubric: Officium de passione domini nostri ihu xpi: ad matutina:
  3. Incipit: Domine labia mea aperies
  4. Contents: Fol. 32r: Matins; fol. 38r: Lauds; fol. 43r: Prime; fol. 47r: Terce; fol. 52r: Sext; fol. 57r: None; fol. 63r: Vespers; fol. 68r: Compline;
  5. Text note: Fol. 31: modern parchment; fols. 32r-36v: original parchment and text; fol. 37: original parchment and original text (recto only); fols. 38r-41v: original parchment and original text; fol. 42: original parchment and original text (recto only); fols. 43r-45v: original parchment and original text; fol. 46: original parchment and original text (recto only); fols. 47-50: original parchment and original text; fols. 51: original parchment and original text (recto only); fols. 52r-55v: original parchment and original text; fol. 56: original parchment and original text (recto only): fols. 57r-61v: original parchment and original text; fol. 62: original parchment and original text (recto only); fols 63r-66v: original parchment and original text; fol. 67: modern parchment; fols. 68r-71v: original parchment and original text
  6. Decoration note: Eight full-page miniatures with decorative borders; eight inhabited initials (5-6 lines); secondary decorative initials throughout (1-2 lines); fol. 31v: modern border and miniature; fol. 32r: original/modern border, many losses in original paint; fol. 37v: modern border and miniature; fol. 38r: original border; fol. 42v: modern border and miniature; fol. 43r: original border; fol. 46v: modern border and miniature; fol. 47r: original border; fol. 51v: modern border and miniature; fol. 52r: original border; fol. 56v: modern border and miniature; fol. 57r: original border; fol. 62v: modern border and miniature; fol. 63r: original border; fol. 67v: modern border and miniature; fol. 68r: original border; fol. 71v: modern miniature and border
fols. 71v - 77v:
  1. Title: Mass of the Five Wounds
  2. Rubric: Missa quinque plagarum: s
  3. Incipit: Humiliavit semetipsum
  4. Contents: Original parchment and text; fol. 72r-v: preparation of the Mass; fols. 72v-73r: stations of the cross prayer; fols. 74v-75v: Nicaenum Crede; fols. 75v-76r: Sanctus and Communion
  5. Decoration note: Fol. 71v: full-page miniature; fol. 72r: initial "H" (6 lines); smaller initials throughout (1-2 lines); line fillers throughout; fol. 72r: modern (possibly original) border
fols. 78v - 86v:
  1. Title: The Passion of Christ, according to John
  2. Rubric: Passio domini nostri ihesu: xpristi: secundum iohannem
  3. Incipit: Egressus est Dominus
  4. Contents: Fol. 78: modern parchment; fols. 79r-86v: original parchment and text
  5. Decoration note: Fol. 78v: full-page miniature; fol. 79r: initial "E" (6 lines); fol. 78v: modern border and miniature; fol. 79r: original border
fols. 87v - 96v:
  1. Title: Fifteen Prayers of St. Bridget
  2. Rubric: Innocencius papa concessit omnibus vere contritis: confessis: et debite satisfactis: sequentem orationem ob honore vulneris: dextere lateris christi devote dicentibus: iiii: milia annos indulgencie: Cuius vera mensura in sequenti forma continetur
  3. Incipit: Ave vulnus lateris
  4. Contents: Fol. 88r: Pope Innocent's prayer for indulgence; fols. 89r-94r: fifteen prayers or "O's" of St. Bridget; fol. 94v: Bede's prayer, majority of prayer scratched out; fols. 94v-96v: prayers
  5. Text note: Fol. 87: modern parchment; fols. 88r-96v: original parchment and text
  6. Decoration note: Fol. 87v: full-page miniature; secondary illuminated initials throughout (2-3 lines); line fillers throughout; fol. 87v: modern border and miniature; fol. 88r: original border
fols. 97v - 105v:
  1. Title: Office of all Saints
  2. Rubric: Incipit officium de omnibus sanctis die mercurii dicendum
  3. Incipit: Domine labia mea aperies
  4. Contents: Fols. 98r-102v: Hours Prime to Compline; fols. 102v-104v: St. John's vision of the Apocalypse; fols. 104v-105r: Offertory
  5. Text note: Fol. 97: modern parchment; fols. 98r-105v: original parchment and original text
  6. Decoration note: Fol. 97v: full-page miniature; fol. 98r: initial "D" (6 lines); smaller initials throughout (1-4 lines); line fillers throughout; fol. 97v: modern miniature; fol. 98r: original border
fols. 106v - 111v:
  1. Title: Office of the Body of Christ
  2. Rubric: Incipit officium corporis xpi die iovis dicendum: ad matutina
  3. Incipit: Domine labia mea aperies
  4. Contents: Fol. 106: modern parchment; fols. 107r-111v: original parchment and original text
  5. Decoration note: Fol. 106v: full-page miniature; fol. 107r: "D" initial; smaller initials throughout (1-3 lines); line fillers throughout; fol. 106v: modern border and miniature; fol. 107r: original/modern border, original paint in poor condition, only losses retouched
fols. 112v - 117v:
  1. Title: Mass of the Body of Christ
  2. Rubric: Incipit missa de corpore xpristi
  3. Incipit: Cibavit eos ex adipe frumenti
  4. Contents: Fols. 113r-114r: Letter of Paul to the Corinthians; fol. 114r-114v: reading from the Gospel of John; fols. 114v-117v: Offertory and reading after Communion
  5. Text note: Fol. 112: modern parchment; fols. 113r-117v: original parchment and original text
  6. Decoration note: Fol. 112v: full-page miniature; fol. 113r: initial "O" (4 lines); smaller initials throughout (1-2 lines); line fillers throughout; fol. 112v: modern border and miniature; fol. 113r: original/modern border, original paint in good condition
fols. 118v - 123v:
  1. Title: Hours of the Virgin, Saturday
  2. Rubric: Pro die sabbati hore beate marie virginis. Ad matutinas. Ymnus.
  3. Incipit: Domine labia mea aperies
  4. Contents: Fols. 119r-123v: Hours of the Virgin from Matins to Compline
  5. Text note: Fol. 118: modern parchment: fols. 119r-123v: original parchment and text
  6. Decoration note: Fol. 118v: full-page miniature; fol. 119r: initial "D" (7 lines); smaller initials throughout (1-3 lines); line fillers throughout; fol. 118v: modern border and miniature; fol. 119r: original/modern border, original paint in good condition with small cracks and losses
fols. 124v - 128v:
  1. Title: Mass of the Virgin
  2. Rubric: Missa beate marie virginis.
  3. Incipit: Salve sancta
  4. Contents: Fol. 125r: the Introit; fol. 126r-v: excerpt from the libri sapentie; fols. 126v-127v: reading from the Gospel of Luke and articles; fols. 127v-128v: Offertory and Communion
  5. Text note: Fol. 124: modern parchment: fols. 125r-128v: original parchment and text (recto only)
  6. Decoration note: Fol. 124v: full-page miniature; fol. 125r: initial "D" (5 lines); smaller initials throughout (1-2 lines); line fillers throughout; fol. 124v: modern border and miniature; fol. 125r: original border

Decoration:

fol. 1r:

  1. W.441, fol. 1r
  2. Title: Dining before the fire
  3. Form: Border illumination
  4. Text: January
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition

fol. 1v:

  1. W.441, fol. 1v
  2. Title: Men chopping wood
  3. Form: Border illumination
  4. Text: February
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition

fol. 2r:

  1. W.441, fol. 2r
  2. Title: Men making charcoal
  3. Form: Border illumination
  4. Text: March
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition

fol. 2v:

  1. W.441, fol. 2v
  2. Title: Shepherds
  3. Form: Border illuminations
  4. Text: April
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition

fol. 3r:

  1. W.441, fol. 3r
  2. Title: Boating party, musician, and lovers
  3. Form: Border illuminations
  4. Text: May
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition

fol. 3v:

  1. W.441, fol. 3v
  2. Title: Falconers
  3. Form: Border illuminations
  4. Text: June
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition

fol. 4r:

  1. W.441, fol. 4r
  2. Title: Reapers in field
  3. Form: Border illuminations
  4. Text: July
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition

fol. 4v:

  1. W.441, fol. 4v
  2. Title: Men harvesting
  3. Form: Border illumination
  4. Text: August
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition

fol. 5r:

  1. W.441, fol. 5r
  2. Title: Vine harvesting
  3. Form: Border illuminations
  4. Text: September
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition

fol. 5v:

  1. W.441, fol. 5v
  2. Title: Men plowing
  3. Form: Border illumination
  4. Text: October
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition

fol. 6r:

  1. W.441, fol. 6r
  2. Title: Slaughtering
  3. Form: Border illumination
  4. Text: November
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition

fol. 6v:

  1. W.441, fol. 6v
  2. Title: Bleeding the pig
  3. Form: Border illuminations
  4. Text: December
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition

fol. 7v:

  1. W.441, fol. 7v
  2. Title: Annunciation
  3. Form: Full-page miniature
  4. Text: Prayer of St. Vincent Ferrer
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition

fol. 22v:

  1. W.441, fol. 22v
  2. Title: Philip of France before Pope Boniface
  3. Form: Full-page miniature
  4. Text: Pope Boniface VI's prayers for indulgence
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition; parchment distorted in upper half

fol. 31v:

  1. W.441, fol. 31v
  2. Title: The Last Supper
  3. Form: Full-page miniature
  4. Text: Matins
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition

fol. 37v:

  1. W.441, fol. 37v
  2. Title: Visitation
  3. Form: Full-page miniature
  4. Text: Lauds
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition; red ruling under modern paint, verso; parchment distorted

fol. 42v:

  1. W.441, fol. 42v
  2. Title: Nativity
  3. Form: Full-page miniature
  4. Text: Prime
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition; red ruling under modern paint, verso; parchment distorted

fol. 46v:

  1. W.441, fol. 46v
  2. Title: Annunciation to the shepherds
  3. Form: Full-page miniature
  4. Text: Terce
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition; red ruling under modern paint, verso; parchment distorted; bounding lines in metal point in bottom margin, recto

fol. 51v:

  1. W.441, fol. 51v
  2. Title: Adoration of the Magi
  3. Form: Full-page miniature
  4. Text: Sext
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition; red ruling under modern paint, verso; parchment distorted

fol. 56v:

  1. W.441, fol. 56v
  2. Title: Presentation of Christ in the temple
  3. Form: Full-page miniature
  4. Text: None
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition; red ruling under modern paint, verso; parchment very distorted; some bleed through motif not seen elsewhere; no retouching

fol. 62v:

  1. W.441, fol. 62v
  2. Title: Massacre of the Innocents
  3. Form: Full-page miniature
  4. Text: Vesper
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition; red ruling in modern paint, verso; parchment very distorted

fol. 67v:

  1. W.441, fol. 67v
  2. Title: Pentecost
  3. Form: Full-page miniature
  4. Text: Compline
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition

fol. 68r:

  1. W.441, fol. 68r
  2. Title: Border with grotesques and animals
  3. Form: Border illumination
  4. Text: Hours of the Passion
  5. Comment:

    Original illumination

fol. 71v:

  1. W.441, fol. 71v
  2. Title: Five wounds of Christ
  3. Form: Full-page miniature
  4. Text: Humiliavit semetipsum
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition; red ruling under modern paint, verso; parchment very distorted

fol. 78v:

  1. W.441, fol. 78v
  2. Title: Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane
  3. Form: Full-page miniature
  4. Text: Passion according to John
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition

fol. 87v:

  1. W.441, fol. 87v
  2. Title: Man of Sorrow
  3. Form: Full-page miniature
  4. Text: Prayers for indulgence
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition

fol. 97v:

  1. W.441, fol. 97v
  2. Title: Infant Christ surrounded by saints
  3. Form: Full-page miniature
  4. Text: Office of All Saints: Wednesday
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition

fol. 106v:

  1. W.441, fol. 106v
  2. Title: Christ in Gethsemane upheld by angel
  3. Form: Full-page miniature
  4. Text: Matins
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition

fol. 112v:

  1. W.441, fol. 112v
  2. Title: Entombment
  3. Form: Full-page miniature
  4. Text: Mass of the Corpus Christi
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition

fol. 118v:

  1. W.441, fol. 118v
  2. Title: Assumption of the Virgin
  3. Form: Full-page miniature
  4. Text: Matins
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition

fol. 124v:

  1. W.441, fol. 124v
  2. Title: Enthroned Virgin
  3. Form: Full-page miniature
  4. Text: Introit
  5. Comment:

    Modern addition


Binding

The binding is not original.

Nineteenth-century purple velvet binding by Léon Gruel (his bookplate number 1397); nineteenth-century metal clasp with allegorical figures


Provenance

Made in the early sixteenth century in Bruges or Ghent, Flanders

John Boykett Jarman commissioned W.C Wing to add illuminations, London, ca. 1850

Jarman sold manuscript at Sotheby's auction on June 13-14, 1864, lot 93

Léon Gruel, Paris, before 1913; Gruel and Engelmann bookplate with inscription "1397"

Henry Walters, Baltimore, purchased from Gruel in 1913


Acquisition

Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters' bequest


Bibliography

De Ricci, Seymour, and W. J. Wilson. Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States and Canada. Vol. 1. New York: H. W. Wilson Company, 1935; p. 808, cat. no. 319.

Backhouse, Janet. A Victorian Connoisseur and His Manuscripts: The Tale of Mr. Jarman and Mr. Wing. British Museum Quarterly 32, nos. 3-4 (1968): 76-92.

Bowles, Edmund A. "A Checklist of Musical Instruments in Fifteenth Century Illuminated Manuscripts at the Walters Art Gallery." Quarterly of the Music Library Association 32 (1976): 719-726; 720.

Randall, Lilian M. C. Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the Walters Art Gallery. Vol. 3, Belgium, 1250-1530. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press in association with the Walters Art Gallery, 1997; p. 629, cat. no. App. I.


Contributors

Principal cataloger: Randall, Lilian M.C.

Catalogers: Bucca, Lauren; Herbold, Rebekah

Editor: Herbert, Lynley

Copy editor: Dibble, Charles

Conservators: Owen, Linda; Quandt, Abigail

Contributors: Bucca, Lauren; Emery, Doug; Noel, William; Schuele, Allyson; Tabritha, Ariel; Toth, Michael B.; Wiegand, Kimber


Publisher

The Walters Art Museum


License

Licensed for use under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Access Rights, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode. It is requested that copies of any published articles based on the information in this data set be sent to the curator of manuscripts, The Walters Art Museum, 600 North Charles Street, Baltimore MD 21201.