Denison University

Denison University

Book of Hours, FOL 47

Office of the Dead, Matins. Conclusion of Psalm 94 with responses, followed by beginning of First Nocturn ("et dixit semper hii errant corde . . . / . . . verba mea auribus percipe domine").

Digitized image of manuscript on parchment. 1 folio, 14 lines. Recto, with visible sewing holes and tear at left edge. Adhesive tape consistent with typical Ege mounting visible at upper and lower right. Grey-blue staining toward left side of top margin.

Ruled in red with text in Northern Gothic script, below top line. Responses and abbreviated opening antiphon of First Nocturn written in a smaller module.

Illuminated line filler on line 7 with floral decoration. Illuminated initial “R” on line 8. Illuminated initial “U” on lines 13-14 with trefoil decoration. Rubricated “A” on line 12.

Decorative border panel in right margin features grotesque, with background of floral sprays above figure and acanthus below. The headdress on the praying figure resembles the "tailed cap" worn by women of humble or modest rank in other Books of Hours from the late 15th century (e.g. Les Heures de Charles d'Angoulême, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, 1173, 1482-85; Morgan Library MS M.1001, made in Poitiers c. 1475). It is particularly similar to the headcovering worn by one of the figures in an allegorical depiction of Avarice (MS M.1001, fol. 91).

Verso (not imaged) should continue the First Nocturn through approximately verse 6 of Psalm 5 (incipit: "intellege clamorem meum . . ."). Recto image shows the outlines of several decorated areas on the verso: five initials (lines 2,4, 7, 10, and 14) and two line fillers (lines 6 and 13). Color shading visible through decorative border on recto suggests that the left margin of the verso is decorated in a red and blue paneled design similar to others in this manuscript. The five colored areas appear to be triangular in shape, base towards the text, alternating red and blue (compare Cincinnati Public Library).

Made for a francophone female user: see French rubrics (Ohio University recto and verso, University of South Carolina verso) and multiple Latin phrases referring to the speaker in the feminine (“pro me peccatrice” and "adiuva me miseram" in prayer Sancta Maria dei genetrix, line 4, University of Toronto Massey verso and line 10, Cincinnati Public Library recto; "ego miserrima peccatrix" in O intemerata, line 1, Wadsworth Athenaeum recto).

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Vigilie mortuorum (traditional liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church)

Denison University Libraries, Otto F. Ege Collection

Late 15th century, Northern France or Low Countries

Katherine Philbin

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Latin

Text

Denison University Leaf 47, Otto F. Ege Collection, Denison University

[no text]

illuminated manuscript
18 x 13 cm

Transcription: et dixit [sic] semper hii [sic] errant corde ipsi vero non cognoverunt vias meas quibus iuravi in ira mea si introibunt in requiem meam: Regem cui omnia vivunt: venite adoremus. Requiem eternam dona eis domine et lux perpetua luceat eis: Venite adoremus. Regem cui omnia vivunt: venite adoremus. A. Dirige. Verba mea auribus percipe domine:

Translation: And [he] said, always they go astray in heart; they truly have not known my ways; so I have sworn in my anger, if they will enter into my rest. The king for whom all live: come, let us adore [him]. Give them eternal rest, Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon them: Come, let us adore. The king for whom all live: come, let us adore [him]. A. Direct. Receive my words with your ears, Lord.

Note: The text departs from the Vulgate and from the text of the Latin/English Primer of 1599 in the first line, with "dixit" (he or she said) rather than "dixi"(I said). One possibility is that this is a simple mistake, in which one common form has been substituted for another. It is also possible that the point of view has been altered intentionally, so that the speaker is quoting God (he said . . .), rather than temporarily playing the role of God (I said . . .), as in the original psalm. "Hii" is spelled with a geminate "i," possibly to express the long vowel.