Book of Hours

Horæ Beatæ Mariæ Virginis

Vellum leaf from an illuminated Medieval Manuscript
The Netherlands; Late 15th Century
Latin Text; Bold Angular Gothic Script
17.5 by 13 cm

In general, the Books of Hours produced for the devout layman in the Netherlands at the end of the 15th century were written in Dutch. This particular example, however, is in Latin. The heavy, angular, and closely spaced vertical strokes, with very short ascenders and descenders, give a much darker tone to the page than to similar scripts in such northern countries as Germany and England. This book hand resembles very closely the types known as lettre de forme which were used by certain anonymous contemporary printers in the Netherlands between 1470 and 1500 A.D.

Keywords: 1200s, Bible, decoration, initials, Italy, Rotunda, Script

Manuscripts | Cary Collection