Full page from LSU Book of Hours
January Calender Page
Friday, April 13, 2012
Title
The title of this manuscript is Book of Hours. The horea is
in the simplest form, a prayer manual. Most books include a calendar of holy
days and the prayers needed for divine intervention from the Virgin Mary on the
owner’s behalf. Normally said by clergy, lay people who could afford a Book of Hours were able to say the
prayers for themselves. Theoretically,
lay people could increase their piety level and increase the intercession of
the Virgin Mary and other Saints on their behalf (more prayers equal more
piety). Each Book of Hours was individually created to order during the 12th
through 15th centuries, (Leaves, par. 1) and could include other
intercessory prayers, Mass prayers or psalms.
Context
England and France were at war with each other
during the reign of Henry the V in England and Charles the VI in France which
finally concluded with a marriage and the birth of a royal son named
Henry. This solution only served to
split the nobility of France when both Henry V and Charles died, making Henry
the VI the king of England and France before he was an adolescent. With France split and portions refusing to
acknowledge the young king, court life could be difficult and potentially life
threatening (Allmand).
Unfortunately for young Henry VI, he had uncles who preferred
the throne over him. The stage was set
for another war between England and France. But how much of this information
was known to the general public living day by day is unknown. Extrapolating from other regions, some news
was carried via word of mouth but life went on with daily chores, cares and
necessity.
Joan of Arc arrived on scene at this point to help
Charles, the Dauphin and heir to the throne, overthrow the treaty and his
nephew. Her story doubtless made it
around the country as she told of hearing the voice of the Virgin Mary, the
Saints and God telling her to lead men to battle. Yet for her success, she was ultimately
executed for witchcraft. Joan was not
royalty nor could she read, but her devotion came to known throughout France
for the fervor and passion she felt.
Later manuscripts did depict paintings of Joan of Arc as a warrior of
God.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Author
Given the liturgical nature of the Book of Hours, there is no specific
author or creator for the book. Rather,
scribes compiled a book based on a patron’s request.
Donor Information
Louisiana
State University houses a rare book collection that includes the Book of Hours discussed in this
paper. The history behind the gift of
the manuscript is rather intriguing, however.
A donor, named John S. McIlhenny, presented the gift as the two millionth
entry in the LSU library system. Mr. McIlhenny donated many items to the
Louisiana State system over a span of 20 or so years, including parts of his
uncle’s ornithology collection including, but not limited to, original sketches
by John James Audubon and James Gould.
His uncle, Edward Avery McIlhenny, in addition to be a conservationist,
founded the Tabasco company which is still a family owned business today.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Binding and size
When acquired by Louisiana State University, the original
sewing of the codices still appeared to be intact but the binding from the 15th
century had already been replaced with a 19th century binding and no
information was available about the original.
Juxtaposing from other manuscripts of the same time frame, however, bindings
were generally created from leather over wooden boards and were the last step
in the process of finishing the manuscript (Brown, 1994, p. 22). The 19th century binding was on
the book so snug as to prevent any real access to the pages. The library
quickly had the manuscript rebound, allowing for study (personal communication,
E. Smyth March 28th 2012) and viewing.
Figure 2- new binding on the Book of Hours. Bound by LSU in late 20th century
Size
Size
7.72 inches x 5.51 inches
Handwriting
Figure . After the decipit, the handwriting changes to smaller letters with a slight slant. The ruling lines can also be seen.
Figure . Although sideways, the handwriting in the last four lines changes from broad and bold to smaller with a few distinct changes.
From evidence on numerous folios, at least 3 or 4
distinct hand writings appear in the manuscript. Lowercase a shows at least 3 different
variations throughout the folios with a possible fourth although fatigue could
cause the slight deviation. On folios 9,
20 and again on 101, the variations in the q and g can be seen more readily than
other letters. In the pictures above,
the handwriting changes size, shape and style part way through the page leaving
no doubt that another scribe took over the copy work. The second figure shows only a few lines of change, almost as if the scribe was trying to squeeze in the last few words. Fortunately, there are a few letters that appear different in more than size which indicates more than a space problem. Was this due to time constraints, illness, or
some other vexing problem? Unfortunately the records are lost on original
ownership so we shall never know.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Decoration
The borders throughout this manuscript are decorated
with vines, berries, flowers, leaves and odd squiggles and shapes. Each page of text has 14 or 15 lines with a
border of just over an inch wide. The
calendar and full pages of decoration do not have borders but the colors are
bright and vibrant. Gold leaf is used
throughout the book as embellishments in the incipit, explicit, borders and
full page illuminations. Gold was always
applied first to prevent sticking to pigments.
Script
Gothic script with bold and defined strokes makes
the Latin language of this book easy to read or recite. According to Brown (p.
115) bilinear or quadrilinear letters are uniform to either 2 sides (bi) or all
4 sides (quad) and were commonly used singularly until closer to the 14th and
15th centuries when a combination became more common.
Parchment or Vellum
Vellum of good quality is the medium upon which this
manuscript was written, according to the special collections staff at Hill
Memorial Library in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
After close to six centuries, there are few trouble spots in the vellum
itself except for the very outer pages that appear to have been damp or wet at
one time. As these were end pages with
no writing on them, there was no damage to the manuscript itself.
Vellum is a writing material made from calf skin
that is treated and prepared to receive ink and/or paints. The only real
difference between parchment and vellum is that parchment applies to goat and
sheep skins, not to calf. Either
material could be used for manuscript making but vellum of good quality lasts
more than a life time and it can be extrapolated, was more expensive (Brown, p.
95).
Explicit
The technique of explicit marks is used throughout
the manuscript to denote ending points of texts as can be seen in the figure
above. The scribes and illustrators use
blue, red and yellow in addition to gold leaf in a vibrant mix of colors. In looking at other manuscripts available
online, this time consuming process with extra color does not appear to be the norm
for an every day, middle class manuscript.
The page above is certainly not unique to this Book of Hours indicating that perhaps the purchaser was not
concerned about the cost of extra ink.
Incipit
According to Michelle Brown, the incipit is the
first words of a text and stems from the Latin “incipere” which means to begin
(1994, p. 72). This manuscript uses
large decorated letters, known as display script to emphasize the start of new
sections or prayers and also includes smaller decorated letters within some
pages.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Collation
As previously seen and shown above, rulings are
visible throughout the manuscript in faint red lines. There are 163 folios,
some apparent missing leaves, and is bundled in quires of 8.
Ink
“Encaustum” is the Latin word that the English word “ink”
derives from. Encaustum means to burn or burn in and relates to the acids in
medieval inks that would literally singe into the vellum or parchment. Gall acid (or gallic acid) was mixed with
soot from lamp black, gum and possibly iron salts to create an ink that would
last for centuries although it is prone to fading to a redish brown color
(Brown, p. 73). The ink in the LSU
manuscript still appears very fresh on most pages with minimal fading.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Summary
LSU is blessed to be the owner of an extant Book of Hours from roughly 1430 Paris,
France. Without a thorough chain of
custody through the last 580 years, it is impossible to know for sure where the
manuscript was created and for whom but the script, ink, decorations and
language lend credence to France and the Paris region. Though this was a tumultuous time in France,
there were plenty of noble families that could afford and would desire an
illuminated manuscript. Although not the largest possible manuscript available
at the time, the calendar and hours of prayers are well created, maintained and
beautiful.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Works Cited
Almand, C., & Sykes, D. (n.d.). The Coronations of Henry
VI | History Today. History Today | The World's Best History Writing.
Retrieved April 12, 2012, from
http://www.historytoday.com/ct-allmand/coronations-henry-vi
Anderson, B. S., & Zinsser, J. P. (1988). A history
of their own: women in Europe from prehistory to the present. New York:
Harper & Row.
Dawes, M. (2005). Investigation into a French 15th century
book of hours. Louisiana State University. Retrieved February 1, 2012,
from
http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-06142005-153505/unrestricted/Dawes_thesis.pdf
HISTORY OF WRITING. (n.d.). HistoryWorld - History and
Timelines. Retrieved April 1, 2012, from http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab33
LSU Libraries -- Special Collections. (n.d.). LSU
Libraries. Retrieved April 9, 2012, from http://www.lib.lsu.edu/special/cc/mcilhenny
Medieval Books of Hours. (n.d.). Medieval Books of Hours.
Retrieved March 14, 2012, from http://www.medievalbooksofhours.com
Office., t. c. (n.d.). Medieval Manuscripts, medieval Book
of Hours. Paulus Swaen old maps Old maps Internet Auction, antique maps,
rare maps, globes, atlases, old prints, medieval manuscripts. Retrieved
April 1, 2012, from http://www.swaen.com/medieval.php
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