140 leaves, perhaps wanting a miniature on a singleton before the Hours of the Virgin (this replaced with a sixteenth- or seventeenth-century leaf with a full-page set of the de Croÿ arms), else complete, collation: i-ii6, iii9 (first leaf the singleton with the later arms), iv-vii8, viii10, ix8 (last 2 leaves singletons, but no text loss from this quire), x6, x-xi8, xii6, xiii10, xiv6, xv10, xvi6, xvii9 (including original endleaf at back; last original leaf a cancelled blank), text in single column of 16 lines of an angular late gothic bookhand, capitals touched in yellow, red rubrics, one- and 2-line initials in gold on blue and dark pink grounds, line-fillers in the same, fourteen pages with large initials in blue or dark pink enclosing swirls of coloured foliage on gold grounds, the leaves with these larger initials with decorated borders with acanthus leaves sprays and other foliage and fruit on blank vellum, silver-grey, dull gold or richly coloured grounds, enclosing birds, long necked drollery creatures with acanthus-leaf tails and several coats-of-arms (see below), two full-page arch-topped miniatures (David kneeling in prayer, opening the Penitential Psalms; and Christ Raising Lazarus, opening the Office of the Dead), small areas of flaking and damage to paintwork throughout, the second miniature smudged (probably through ritual rubbing), some pages discoloured apparently through use, spots and stains, overall in fair and presentable condition, 120 by 90mm.; 18th-century binding of red leather, gilt-tooled with frame of a bar entwined within a banderole on both boards, five compartments on spine profuse with gilt foliage, sewn on four large thongs, back board split on inside, some bumps at edges, overall solid in binding
A HITHERTO UNSUSPECTED DEVOTIONAL VOLUME MADE FOR ONE OF THE EARLIEST MEMBERS OF THE IMPORTANT DE CROY FAMILY, PERHAPS AS A GIFT FOR HIS ELECTION TO THE EPISCOPACY IN 1485
Provenance:
1. Written and illuminated for Antoine de Croÿ (1457-1495), bishop of Therouanne from 1485: his arms with a crozier identifying him as a bishop appear four times (in the borders of Lauds, Sext and Vespers in the Hours of the Virgin, and beneath the miniature from the Office of the Dead), as well as those of his parents, Philippe I de Croÿ, seigneur de Croÿ, count of Porcéan, and governor of Luxembourg and Ligny, and Jacqueline of Luxembourg (their marriage having been arranged by Phillippe's childhood companion, Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy), or individual elements of their arms. The Use of the book is that of Therouanne, and local saints abound in the Calendar (Audomer (Omer) of Therouanne on 9 September, Sylvin of Thérouanne on 16 February, Humfridus on 8 March, Maxim of Wismes on 13 September, Wulfran of Abbeville on 16 October and Winnoc of Berghes on 6 November), with SS. Winnoc and Maxim in the Litany (where St. Bavo also appears, perhaps as a nod towards the Flemish origins of the de Croÿ). Some of the prayers after the Litany instruct the reader that they are to be said by the general population of the church (""oratio generalis""), suggesting that the book was intended for use by Antoine de Croÿ during public services in the cathedral rather than in his private devotions. Antoine de Croÿ died in Cyprus in 1495 while returning from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
2. This volume remained within the de Croÿ family, and about a century later was adapted for use by a later owner: having its leaf facing the opening of the Hours of the Virgin added (with a full-page depiction of the du Croÿ arms beneath a helm bearing a hound's head, and supported by two hairy wildmen bearing clubs), and a number of smaller de Croÿ coats-of-arms on bright white grounds added to some of the decorated borders in the volume. A hand of the same date added devotions to the back endleaf.
3. ""AC"" scratched into the lower corner of the backboard, perhaps indicating the initials of an owner after the 18th century (if correct, then the second letter may indicate 'Croÿ', and the 9th Duke of Croÿ was named Auguste (1765-1822), and his eldest son was named Alfred).
Text: The volume comprises: a Calendar; the Hours of the Virgin, with Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, Nones, Vespers and Compline; the Seven Penitential Psalms, ending with an extensive Litany of Saints, with sections for different sets of saints on various days of the week, and prayers; the Office of the Dead, and a Mass for the Dead (opening ""Subvenite sancti dei ...""); the O intemerata prayer; Suffrages to SS. Philip and James, Sebastian, Christopher, Fiacre, Barbara and Genevieve; and prayers whose rubric instructs their reading ""Ante celebracionem misse"" (""Omnipotens et misericors deus ..."") and ""Post celebracionem misse"" (""Gratias tibi ago ..."").
