Manuscript leaf from a Book of Hours, in Latin, produced in France (Paris)

Text: From a Book of Hours, in Latin

Script: Textualis Formata (Textus Quadratus)

There are sixteen lines of text from a Book of Hours, Use of Rouen, but produced in Paris. Parts of Psalms 22 and 24 are shown. It is probably from the Office of the Dead.

There is one two-line initial in blue on a burnished gold ground and infilled with blue and orange flowers on curling stems, eight one-line initials in pink or blue on burnished gold grounds with floral decoration and six line-fillers in similar colours. Rubrics are in burnished gold. There is a full illuminated border enclosing the text on both sides of the leaf composed of hair-line stems, with acanthus leaves in burnished gold and various colours, rays of gold oak-leaves on hair-line stems which are interspersed with coloured flower-heads and strawberries.

Recto side:

1 -put meum et calix meus in- [part of Psalm 22

2 ebrians qua(m) preclarus est

3 [22:6] E t misericordia tua sub-

4 sequetur me : omnibus dieb(us)

5 vite mee . [line filler]

6 E t ut inhabitem in do-

7 mo domini in longitudine(m)

8 dierum . [line filler]

9 R equiem eternam dona [Office of the Dead

10 eis domine : (et) lux perpetua

11 luceat eis . an(tiphona) In loco pascue

12 ibi me collocavit a(ntiphona) : Delicta

13 [24:1] A d te domine levavi [Psalm 24

14 animam meam [24:2] de-

15 us meus in te confido non

16 erubescam . [line filler]

Verso side:

1 [24:3] N eq(ue) irrideant me inimici

2 mei : etenim universi qui su-

3 stinent te non confundentur

4 [24:4] C onfundantur omnes

5 iniqua agentes supervacue

6 V ias tuas domine demon-

7 stra michi et semitas tuas

8 edoce me . [line filler]

9 [24:5] D irige me in veritate tua

10 et doce me : quia tu es deus

11 salvator meus et te sustinui

12 tota die . [line filler]

13 [24:6] R eminiscere miseratio-

14 num tuarum domine et

15 misericordiarum tuarum

16 que a seculo sunt . [line filler]

Notes:

A Letters: a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i,l,m,n,o,p,q,r,s,t,u/v,x,D.

Versals: A,C,D,E,N,R.

B Alternative forms of letters ‘a’(2), ‘r’(3), ‘s’(2) and ‘v’.

C Fusion between letters ‘be’, ‘de’, ‘De’, ‘do’, ‘oc’ and ‘pe’.

D Elision between letters ‘ci’, ‘cu’, ‘fi’, ‘gi’, ‘ri’, ‘ru’, ‘rv’ and ‘tu’.

E Ligature between letters ‘st’ in ‘est’ (recto, line 2).

F Use of crossed Tironian ‘et’ (recto, line 10).

G Use of hairlines on letters ‘h’, ‘x’, some final ‘e’s, round ‘r’ and final ‘t’s.

H Use of burnished gold lettering for rubrics (recto, lines 11 and 12).

I Abbreviation of ‘diebus’ (recto, line 4).

J Abbreviation of ‘Neque’ (verso, line 1).