DPL Reed MMF19

1. Book of Hours, Latin; the Flight into Egypt and the Miracle of the Cornfields. France (perhaps Paris), ca. 1435–1450
2. Book of Hours, Latin. France (perhaps Paris), ca. 1435–1450

Single leaf. 185 by 128mm. Single column, 17 lines, ruled in ink, written space 98 by 64mm; gothic liturgical hand.

Text: The opening of Vespers for the Hours of the Virgin.
Decoration: One- and 2-line initials and line fillers in burnished gold on red and blue grounds with white tracery, 3-line initial in colours on burnished gold ground; large miniature in an arched compartment showing the flight into Egypt with the miracle of the cornfield in the background; full border of French floral-acanthus and ivy-leaf design.
Provenance: Purported to be from a pair of albums of cuttings assembled in the late nineteenth century by the manuscript historian John William Bradley (1830–1916). The albums belonged later to W. Charles Fewtrell and were sold at Sotheby's, 10 November 1952, lot 22. This single leaf was purchased from H. G. Commin catalogue 149 (1959), no. 117.
References: Manion, Vines, de Hamel no. 82; Reed Early Bibles no. 42.
Shelfmark: RMM Fragment 19.

Description reproduced from Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in New Zealand Collections< (London, 1989) by permission of the authors (Christopher de Hamel, Margaret Manion, and the family of Vera F. Vines).