Textmanuscripts - Les Enluminures
iv (nineteenth-century paper) + i (original parchment) + 184 + iv (nineteenth-century paper) folios on parchment, modern foliation in pencil, 1-184, lacking three leaves, two of which probably with miniatures (collation i10 [-1, lacking one leaf before f. 1, with loss of text] ii10 [-1, lacking one leaf after f. 9, probably with loss of a miniature] iii6 iv10 v6 vi- ix8 x8 [-1, lacking one leaf after f. 72, probably with loss of a miniature] xi-xxii8 xxiii9), alphanumerical leaf signatures in tiny writing in brown ink (mostly cropped), ruling in brown ink (written space 105 x 66 mm.), written in brown ink in a Gothic bookhand (textualis) in single column on 21 lines, rubrics red, capitals touched in red, 2- and 1-line initials alternately red and blue, fifty-four puzzle initials of 3- to 4-lines high with very fine penwork ornamentation extending to the margins in red and violet inks, enhanced with red, blue, green and yellow paint, eleven large puzzle initials of 5- to 6-lines high of the same style with the penwork extending to all margins, minor stains and signs of use, in overall excellent condition. Half-bound in red morocco over pasteboards in the nineteenth century, corners and spine gold-tooled with rich foliage motifs and fillets, entitled in gilt “MANUEL” on the flat spine, gilt edges, pastedowns and the first front and end flyleaves lined in white silk, two silk page-markers, one in pink, another in light blue, front cover nearly detached, covers and spine overall very worn and fragile. Dimensions 157 x 112 mm.
Copied by a woman, a nun named “Suster Maritghen,” this attractive Book of Hours bears a colophon also stating where and when in The Netherlands she wrote it. Manuscripts from Marienborn in Beverwijk are rare, and scribal colophons are not common in Books of Hours. The combination of languages, Latin and Dutch, is likewise unusual. Typical of North Holland is the extensive and beautiful penwork.
1. The manuscript was made at the Marienborn convent of Canonesses Regular in Beverwijk in North Holland, in the diocese of Utrecht. It was written by a nun called Maritghen in 1516, as stated in the colophon in red ink at the end of the book on f. 184v: “Item dit boeck hoert tot die nonnen in beverwijck ende heest ghescreven suster maritghen claes dodjter op heilighe daghen Int jaer ons heren dusent vijf hondert ende xvi” (This book belongs to the nuns in Beverwijck and was written by sister Maritghen Claes’s daughter on the holy days in the year of our Lord one thousand five hundred and sixteen).
The Canonesses Regular follow the rule of St. Augustine, and the text is also specific to the liturgical use of Windesheim (see below).
2. On f. 9v, at the end of the calendar, a dated ownership note inscribed by hand in brown ink: “Ich ben ghetroud de 31 maÿ ould stÿl 1627” (I got married on 31 May old style 1627).
3. Belonged to the London bookseller, Robert Harding Evans (1778-1857); inscribed in pencil on the second front flyleaf: “Mr Evans - ancient book seller Pall-Mall next Door to the Conservative Club-House London” (94 Pall Mall).” A note in pencil “£25” on the verso of the first front flyleaf.
4. Ownership inscription, “Alger n Greene,” in pencil on the fourth front flyleaf.
5. Belonged to Susan Lowell Clarke (1879-1968) according to an earlier sale description. Inserted in the manuscript is an old Christmas gift tag wishing “Gesegnete Weihnachten” and inscribed in blue ink “To dear Susan,” presumably once used as a page-marker.
6. Private collection, Switzerland.
Texts on ff. 1-72v are in Latin and texts on ff. 73-184v in Dutch.
[unnumbered front flyleaf], Two incomplete drafts of computational circles with letters a-g for determining dominical letters and finding the dates for major feasts;
ff. 1-9v, Calendar, use of Windesheim, lacking the first leaf with January and the beginning of February (contents discussed below);
ff. 10-44, [Hours of the Cross and Hours of the Virgin intermixed], [f. 10], Incipiunt hore scante (sic) crucis, incipit, “Domine labia mea aperies …”; [after Matins for the Hours of the Cross the text follows with Matins for the Hours of the Virgin on f. 10v (no rubric)], incipit, “Domine labia mea aperies,” Ps. 94, “Venite exultemus ...”;
The text of the Hours of the Cross begins correctly on f. 10, but this first quire is incomplete, lacking the first leaf before f. 10, which may have contained a miniature or a historiated initial with a short introductory prayer.
ff. 44-48v, Litanies, use of Windesheim, followed by collects;
ff. 49-72v, Office of the Dead, use of Windesheim;
ff. 73-91, [Prayers for each day of the week, beginning imperfectly (lacking a leaf, undoubtedly containing illustration)], incipit, “dat ghi im vaderliken te hulpe ...,”;
Rubrics for each day of the week as follows: f. 74, des manendaechs; f. 76, Des durxdaechs; f. 78, Des woendaechs; f. 81, des saterdachs; f. 83, des vridachs; f. 86, Des donredachs.
ff. 92-96, [Hours of the Holy Sacrament, rubric (f. 91v)], Hier beghijnt een schoen vanden heilige sacrament. Dat ghemaect heest die heilige leerer sinte iheromimus, incipit “O grote ende oud’windelike ...”;
ff. 96-104, [Prayer to Christ], Hier beghijnt weest ghegruet o mijn salicheit, incipit, “Weest ghegruet o miijn salicheit ...”;
ff. 104-109, [Prayer to Christ], Hier beghijnt een scoen van madreheer, incipit, “Voer die voeten dijnre heilicheit leeghe ...”;
ff. 109-122, [Prayers to Christ] Dese ghebeden sehnen lesen tot onsen heer, incipit, “O here ihesu christe Je aenbede u anden cruce ...”;
ff. 122-135v, [Mass of the Virgin], Hier beghijnt onse vrouwen misse, incipit, “Weest ghegruet heilighe moeder ...”;
ff. 136-153v, [Hours of All Saints], Hier beghijnt die ghetide van alre heiligen, incipit, “Alle heilighen gods bidt voer onser alre sahvheit ...,”; ... Te metten tijt, incipit, “Here du selste op doen mijn lippen ...”;
ff. 154-169, [Passion of Christ according to St. John] Hier beghijnt dat beghijsel der passien ons liefs heren ihesu christi johannes, incipit, “Due ihesus ses daghen voer die feest dach van paesschen ...”;
ff. 169-184v, Passion of Christ according to the four Evangelists, Hier beghijnt die vier ewangelijsten passien, incipit, “Due ihesus dit ghesproken hadde ende si hoer gracie gheseit hadden ... den steen ende bevalen den hoeders dat graf wel te hoeden; [f. 184v, scribal colophon],“Item dit boeck hoert tot die nonnen in beverwijck ende heest ghescreven suster maritghen daes dodjter op heilighe daghen Int jaer ons heren dusent vijt hondert ende xvi” (This book belongs to the nuns in Beverwijck and was written by sister Maritghen on [daes dodjter] on the holy days in the year of our Lord 1516).
The Marienborn convent in Beverwijk was initially founded as a Franciscan convent and was converted into a convent for Canonesses Regular following the rule of St. Augustine sometime before 1430 (Schoengen, 1941-1942, vol. 1, p. 39). Other known manuscripts made by the canonesses at Beverwijk are a Dutch translation of Gerard Zerbolt van Zutphen’s De spiritualibus ascensionibus dated 1446 (Haarlem, Stadsbibliotheek, MS187 D 15; see CMD-NL, vol. 2, no. 397; Stooker, K. and T. Verbeij, 1997, no. 171; and Online Resources), a Diurnal with hymns and computational circles (cf. our manuscript and see Online Resources) copied by sister Diewer Pelgrims and dated 1479 (Tilburg, University Library, MS KHS 7; see Ven, 1994, pp. 53-58; CMD-NL, vol. 2, no. 328 (where it is erroneously identified as a Breviary copied by the Canons Regular)), and a composite manuscript in Latin and Dutch, including a date 1443, but probably dating from the second half of the fifteenth century (Leiden, University Library, MS B. P. L. 3300).
In total, seventeen manuscripts in Dutch collections are either known or suspected to have been made in Beverwijk, but most were made by the Canons Regular of St. Mary (Sion) in Beverwijk (cf. Byvanck database in Online Resources). It would be especially interesting to compare our manuscript with two Books of Hours in Dutch, one copied by brother Gherijt van Castrinchem at the convent of St. Mary in Beverwijk in 1498 (Leiden, University Library, MS B. P. L. 2747; see CMD-NL, vol. 2, no. 543 and Online Resources), and another copied in 1489, most likely at Beverwijk, and decorated with miniatures, as well as penwork flourishes that are very similar to those in our manuscript (Hague, KB, MS 79 K 5; sold by Les Enluminures in 2000). In addition, there are manuscripts which were copied elsewhere, but were acquired by the Beverwijk convent, including a Book of Hours for the use of Utrecht copied at a Charterhouse near Utrecht (Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Douce 57).
An important tenet of the religious reform movement known as the Modern Devotion was prayer in the vernacular. Geert Grote (1340-1384), the movement’s founder, translated the Latin text of the Book of Hours into Dutch the early 1380s, and his translation became popular in the diocese of Utrecht soon after (cf. Korteweg, 2013, p. 235). Books of Hours in Latin make up only a tenth of all surviving Books of Hours from the Northern Netherlands, and their texts follow either the liturgical use of Utrecht or that of the Chapter of Windesheim, the congregation that evolved from the Houses of the Brethren of the Common Life in the late fourteenth century (cf. Korteweg, 2013, p. 235). Our manuscript is partially in the vernacular, in keeping with the teachings of the Devotio moderna; the inclusion of Latin texts in this prayer book made for and by nuns is less common and is interesting evidence that literacy in that language was not exclusively male and priestly.
The Latin texts in this Book of Hours, including the calendar, litanies, and Office of the Dead, are those used by the monasteries and convents that became associated with the Congregation of Windesheim. The Windesheim calendar was based on that of Utrecht, and the calendar in our manuscript does include five of the seven mandatory saints in Utrecht calendars: Pancras (12 May), Odulph (12 June), Willibrord (7 Nov), and Lebuinus (12 Nov and his Translation 25 June); the calendar lacks the leaf with January, which undoubtedly included the feast of St. Pontian on 14 Jan (Korteweg, 2013, p. 238). However, the Translation of Martin on 4 July, the patron saint of Utrecht, is absent. Furthermore, on 28 August the feast of the patron saint of the Windesheim order, St. Augustine, is included in red, and on 3 October (typically 5 October), we find the feast of the Windesheim saint, Meinulfus, the patron saint of the monastery of Böddeken. The calendar in our manuscript also includes the local saint, Cyriacus of Hoorn in North Holland, on 8 August. In the litanies St. Augustine is placed before St. Martin, confirming the liturgical use of Windesheim (Korteweg, 2013, p. 241). Finally, the ninth lesson “Ecce mysterium” (f. 63v, error of rubric), as well as the seventh and ninth short (“breviores”) responsories, “Heu mihi” (f. 64) and “Libera me domine de morte” (f. 65) in the Office of the Dead further confirm the liturgical use of Windesheim (Korteweg, 2013, pp. 259-260).
The beautiful penwork ornamentation decorating sixty-five pages in this book include forms typical of the pen-flourishes made in North Holland at the end of the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. These include the “U-bends,” “eye-leaves,” pointed lines in bundles (often in violet ink in our manuscript), and the Haarlem “sunbursts”; for comparison, see contemporary manuscripts made in Haarlem and North Holland, as described by Hülsmann and Nieuwstraten, 1992. There are also wonderful pearl borders, stylized roses and aubergines; see f. 91v in our manuscript. The penwork flourishes in our manuscript are very similar to those in a Book of Hours in Dutch copied in 1498 by brother Gherijt van Castrinchem at the convent of St. Mary in Beverwijk (Leiden, University Library, MS B. P. L. 2747; see a reproduction from the Manuscrits datés conservés dans les Pays-Bas in Online Resources).
Hülsmann, M. and R. Nieuwstraten, “Haarlem en Noord-Holland,” Kriezels, aubergines en takkenbossen: Randversiering in Noordnederlandse handscriften uit de vijftiende eeuw, ed. by A. S. Korteweg, ‘s-Gravenhage, 1992, pp. 84-115.
Korteweg, A. S. “Books of Hours from the Northern Netherlands Reconsidered: The Uses of Utrecht and Windesheim and Geert Grote’s Role as a Translator,” Books of Hours Reconsidered, ed. by S. Hindman and J. H. Marrow, London, Turnhout, 2013, pp. 235-261.
Lieftinck, G.I. and J. P. Gumbert. Manuscrits datés conservés dans les Pays-Bas: catalogue paléographique des manuscrits en écriture latine portant des indications de date (CMD-NL), 2 vols, Amsterdam, 1964-1988.
Marrow, J. H. “Notes on the Liturgical ‘Use’ of the Hours of the Virgin in the Low Countries,” Manuscripten en Miniaturen: Studies aangeboden aan Anne S. Korteweg bij haar afscheid van de Koninklijke Bibliotheek, ed. by J. Biemans et al., Zutphen, 2007, pp. 279-294.
Schoengen, M. Monasticon Batavum, 3 vols, Amsterdam, 1941-1942.
Stooker, K. and T. Verbeij, Collecties op orde: Middelnederlandse handschriften uit kloosters en semi-religieuze gemeenschappen in de Nederlanden, Leuven, 1997.
Ven, J. van de, Over Brabant geschreven: Handschriften en archivalische bronnen in de Tilburgse Universiteitsbibliotheek, Leuven 1994.
Medieval Manuscripts in Dutch Collections
Search in the catalogue — Medieval Manuscripts in Dutch Collections — Koninklijke Bibliotheek (mmdc.nl)
Haarlem, Stadsbibliotheek, MS 187 D 15
http://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=urn:PTP:Haarlem:SB:187D15_001r
Leiden, University Library, MS B. P. L. 2747
http://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=urn:PTP:KB_MANUSCRITSDATES:VOL2:PL_603
Tilburg, University Library, MS KHS 7
http://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=urn:PTP:Tilburg:UVT:KHS7_020R
TM 1302
