Illuminated Manuscript "Book of Hours," ca. 1470
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GUEST:
I brought my mother-in-law's book of hours. She started out collecting medieval manuscripts, and then she found some pages, small pages from books of hours. And she became interested in finding a whole book.
APPRAISER:
A whole book of hours, which is what we have here today, which is very exciting.
GUEST:
(chuckling)
APPRAISER:
Medieval manuscripts have been collected for hundreds of years. And I think this binding is probably around the late 17th century, kind of 1680s, probably French.
GUEST:
Oh, wow, mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
It was very high-end work. That is real gold. So this is a Morocco leather binding, which is goatskin. Usually they're red, and the reason they're red is that they're tanned with sumac. We have the privilege to look at a medieval manuscript that contains hymns. It's called an antiphon. It's handwritten completely throughout, and it has illuminations and miniature paintings inside. The pages are not paper, they are parchment. Which is an animal skin, usually sheepskin. These would have been made in a scriptorium by monks. And a small book like this, with music in it, is meant to be a personal devotional book, to be held by a person who is doing prayers throughout the day, singing throughout the day. The, the music in it is a plainchant or a Gregorian chant. What we're seeing is an illuminated border with a gilt-washed background and flowers all around it. And up on top, we have Jesus's entry into Jerusalem. The process of making a medieval manuscript like this requires, uh, several very skilled people, from the parchment maker to the production of the manuscript. All of the text is written by a scribe in a scriptorium, working with no artificial light, of course, and a feather pen and ink made by hand.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
Do you have any idea about the time period?
GUEST:
No, I don't.
APPRAISER:
So this is, I think this manuscript is from the 1470s, probably, likely French.
GUEST:
Oh, wow-- wow.
APPRAISER:
There are little clues-- it doesn't have a title page. One of the ways that I can tell a clue about this little precious guy you brought here today is this illumination here. So we have a Benedictine monk with his tonsure, this shaved bald spot that they do. He's wearing black robes, indicating that he's a Benedictine. And then there is a lamb, and he's holding a, a white lily, as well. The Benedictine monks were not like the Franciscans, who wore sackcloth and took a vow of...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Well I mean, they all took a vow of poverty.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
But the Benedictines also liked expensive things.
GUEST:
(chuckles)
APPRAISER:
So this manuscript is, is kind of perfect for that, too. And the presence of that tiny miniature of the Benedictine friar...
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
...gives us a, a sense, and there are also some prayers in here to St. Benedict.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Medieval manuscripts like these were often made for a patron whose coat of arms would appear at the foot of the first page of text, and that's the case here. Do you have any idea what your mother-in-law paid or when she purchased the book?
GUEST:
I believe she bought it about 30 years ago.
APPRAISER:
Mm-hmm.
GUEST:
And family legend is it's around $20,000.
APPRAISER:
Mm-hmm. Well, that, I don't think that that's an unreasonable amount.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
It's obviously a jewel-like, precious object. For a retail market, I would expect it to sell for more like $40,000 to $60,000 on a retail market.
GUEST:
Hm, wow.
APPRAISER:
And it's very well preserved, so it's a treasure.
GUEST:
Wow-- wow! Oh, thank you so much.
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