Book of Hours Leaf

This is a original leaf from a medieval manuscript Book of Hours produced in England. The ruled text consists of 14 lines, written in Latin, in fine gothic textura script on animal vellum. There is one two-line initial in gold, on blue and red ground, with delicate white tracery. This leaf is for the Hour of Matins. The large flamboyant gold initial T” begins Lesson II with Job 10:1-7: “Tedet animam?” (My soul is weary).English manuscript Book of Hours are very uncommon. In 1533 Henry VIII decreed that books relating to the practices of the Church of Rome should be destroyed. Most of the remaining examples were held secretly in private hands.Book of Hours are personal prayerbooks of a devout and status-conscious society and are not only works of art, but cultural documents of their time. They reveal a unique combination of sacred and secular imagery – made of the finest materials, by the best craftsmen, for a small audience that could both appreciate and afford them.

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