Book of hours

thumb|Opening from the [[Hours of Catherine of Cleves, c. 1440, with Catherine kneeling before the Virgin and Child, surrounded by her family heraldry. Opposite is the start of Matins in the Little Office, illustrated by the Annunciation to Joachim, as the start of a long cycle of the Life of the Virgin.]]

[[File:'Adoration of the Magi' from a Book of Hours (© 2016, Society of Antiquaries of London).jpg|alt=Image of a Book of Hours|thumb|An early 15th-century French book of hours (MS13, Society of Antiquaries of London) open to an illustration of the 'Adoration of the Magi'. Bequeathed to the Society in 1769 by the Revd Charles Lyttleton, Bishop of Carlisle and President of the Society (1765-8).]]

Books of hours () are Christian prayer books, which were used to pray the canonical hours. The use of a book of hours was especially popular in the Middle Ages, and as a result, they are the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscript. Like every manuscript, each manuscript book of hours is unique in one way or another, but most contain a similar collection of texts, prayers and psalms, often with appropriate decorations, for Christian devotion. Illumination or decoration is minimal in many examples, often restricted to decorated capital letters at the start of psalms and other prayers, but books made for wealthy patrons may be extremely lavish, with full-page miniatures. These illustrations would combine picturesque scenes of country life with sacred images.

Books of hours were usually written in Latin (they were largely known by the name until "book of hours" was relatively recently applied to them), although there are many entirely or partially written in vernacular European languages, especially Dutch. The closely related primer is occasionally considered synonymous with books of hours a medieval horae was referred to as a primer in Middle English but their contents and purposes could deviate significantly from the simple recitation of the canonical hours. Tens of thousands of books of hours have survived to the present day, in libraries and private collections throughout the world.

The typical book of hours is an abbreviated form of the breviary, which contains the Divine Office recited in monasteries. It was developed for lay people who wished to incorporate elements of monasticism into their devotional life. Reciting the hours typically centered upon the reading of a number of psalms and other prayers.

A typical book of hours contains the Calendar of Church feasts, extracts from the Four Gospels, the Mass readings for major feasts, the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the fifteen Psalms of Degrees, the seven Penitential Psalms, a Litany of Saints, an Office for the Dead and the Hours of the Cross. Most 15th-century books of hours have these basic contents. The Marian prayers ("I beseech thee") and ("O undefiled one") were frequently added, as were devotions for use at Mass, and meditations on the Passion of Christ, among other optional texts. Such books of hours continue to be used by many Christians today, such as the Catholic Key of Heaven prayer books, the Agpeya of Coptic Christianity or The Brotherhood Prayer Book of Lutheranism.

History

left|thumb|Example of a more affordable and thus more common book of hours: Excerpt from a "simple" [[Middle Dutch book of hours. Made in the 2nd half of the fifteenth century in Brabant.]]

thumb|220px|left|Even this level of decoration is richer than those of most books, though less than the lavish amounts of illumination in luxury books, which are the ones most often seen reproduced.

The book of hours has its ultimate origin in the Psalter, which monks and nuns were required to recite. By the 12th century this had developed into the breviary, with weekly cycles of psalms, prayers, hymns, antiphons, and readings which changed with the liturgical season. Eventually a selection of texts was produced in much shorter volumes and came to be called a book of hours. During the latter part of the thirteenth century the Book of Hours became popular as a personal prayer book for men and women who led secular lives. It consisted of a selection of prayers, psalms, hymns and lessons based on the liturgy of the clergy. Each book was unique in its content though all included the Hours of the Virgin Mary, devotions to be made during the eight canonical hours of the day, the reasoning behind the name 'Book of Hours'.

thumb|van Reynegom Book of Hours, , collection [[Royal Library of Belgium & King Baudouin Foundation]]

Many books of hours were made for women. There is some evidence that they were sometimes given as a wedding present from a husband to his bride. This arrangement was maintained over the years as many aristocrats commissioned the production of their own books.

By the end of the 15th century, the advent of printing made books more affordable and much of the emerging middle-class could afford to buy a printed book of hours, and new manuscripts were only commissioned by the very wealthy. The Kitab salat al-sawai (1514), widely considered the first book in Arabic printed using moveable type, is a book of hours intended for Arabic-speaking Christians and presumably commissioned by Pope Julius II.

Decoration

thumb|right|A full-page miniature of May, from a calendar cycle by [[Simon Bening, early 16th century.]]

As many books of hours are richly illuminated, they form an important record of life in the 15th and 16th centuries as well as the iconography of medieval Christianity. Some of them were also decorated with jewelled covers, portraits, and heraldic emblems. Some were bound as girdle books for easy carrying, though few of these or other medieval bindings have survived. Luxury books, like the Talbot Hours of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, may include a portrait of the owner, and in this case his wife, kneeling in adoration of the Virgin and Child as a form of donor portrait. In expensive books, miniature cycles showed the Life of the Virgin or the Passion of Christ in eight scenes decorating the eight Hours of the Virgin, and the Labours of the Months and signs of the zodiac decorating the calendar. Secular scenes of calendar cycles include many of the best known images from books of hours, and played an important role in the early history of landscape painting.

From the 14th century decorated borders round the edges of at least important pages were common in heavily illuminated books, including books of hours. At the beginning of the 15th century these were still usually based on foliage designs, and painted on a plain background, but by the second half of the century coloured or patterned backgrounds with images of all sorts of objects, were used in luxury books.

Second-hand books of hours were often modified for new owners, even among royalty. After defeating Richard III, Henry VII gave Richard's book of hours to his mother, who modified it to include her name. Heraldry was usually erased or over-painted by new owners. Many have handwritten annotations, personal additions and marginal notes but some new owners also commissioned new craftsmen to include more illustrations or texts. Sir Thomas Lewkenor of Trotton hired an illustrator to add details to what is now known as the Lewkenor Hours. Flyleaves of some surviving books include notes of household accounting or records of births and deaths, in the manner of later family bibles. Some owners had also collected autographs of notable visitors to their house. Books of hours were often the only book in a house, and were commonly used to teach children to read, sometimes having a page with the alphabet to assist this.

Towards the end of the 15th century, printers produced books of hours with woodcut illustrations, and the book of hours was one of the main works decorated in the related metalcut technique.

The luxury book of hours

thumb|right|The lavish illusionistic borders of this Flemish book of hours from the late 1470s are typical of luxury books of this period, which were now often decorated on every page. The butterfly wing cutting into the text area is an example of playing with visual conventions, typical of the period. (Among the plants are the [[Veronica (plant)|Veronica, Vinca, Viola tricolor, Bellis perennis, and Chelidonium majus. The lower butterfly is Aglais urticae, the top left butterfly is Pieris rapae. The Latin text is a devotion to Saint Christopher).]]

In the 14th century the book of hours overtook the psalter as the most common vehicle for lavish illumination. This partly reflected the increasing dominance of illumination both commissioned and executed by laymen rather than monastic clergy. From the late 14th century a number of bibliophile royal figures began to collect luxury illuminated manuscripts for their decorations, a fashion that spread across Europe from the Valois courts of France and the Burgundy, as well as Prague under Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and later Wenceslaus. A generation later, Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy was the most important collector of manuscripts, with several of his circle also collecting. It was during this period that the Flemish cities overtook Paris as the leading force in illumination, a position they retained until the terminal decline of the illuminated manuscript in the early 16th century.

The most famous collector of all, the French prince John, Duke of Berry (1340–1416) owned several books of hours, some of which survive, including the most celebrated of all, the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. This was begun around 1410 by the Limbourg brothers, although left incomplete by them, and decoration continued over several decades by other artists and owners. The same was true of the Turin-Milan Hours, which also passed through Berry's ownership.

By the mid-15th century, a much wider group of nobility and rich businesspeople were able to commission highly decorated, often small, books of hours. With the arrival of printing, the market contracted sharply, and by 1500 the finest quality books were once again being produced only for royal or very grand collectors. One of the last major illuminated book of hours was the Farnese Hours completed for the Roman Cardinal Alessandro Farnese in 1546 by Giulio Clovio, who was also the last major manuscript illuminator.

Gallery

File:Offiziolo - L'eterno e gli eremiti.jpg|The Visconti Hours

File:Fuchs.margin.jpg|Calendar page from the Hours of Catherine of Cleves for June 1–15.

File:Pucelle.jpg|Book of Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux: Arrest of Jesus and Annunciation

File:Jean Fouquet (French, born about 1415 - 1420, died before 1481) - Simon de Varie Kneeling in Prayer - Google Art Project.jpg|Book of hours of Simone de Varie, portrait of the owner and his wife

File:BLRoyal2BXVFol031vArrestChrist.jpg|Book of Hours, British Library, the Arrest of Christ

File:BLRoyal2BXVFol054vLifeChrist.jpg|Scenes from the Life of Christ and Life of the Virgin in the same book

File:Book-of-Hours-Yah5-JudasKiss.jpg|Book of Hours, 1420-1450, Bruges, from the collections of the National Library of Israel

File:Folio 199v - A Funeral Service.jpg|Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry A Funeral Service

File:Building of the Tower of Babel - British Library Add MS 18850 f17v (detail).jpg|Bedford Hours; building the Tower of Babel

File:Deposition chevalier.jpg|Book of Hours of Étienne Chevalier: Deposition by Jean Fouquet

File:Clovio magi.jpg|Farnese Hours: Adoration of the Magi and Solomon Adored by the Queen of Sheba

File:The Annunciation, from a Book of Hours, 1440-45.jpg|The Visitation, 1440–45

File:Chasoslov 031.jpg|Printed Bulgarian book of hours, 1566

File:September- Four men playing a game that resembles golf - The Golf Book (1520-1530), f.27r - BL Add MS 24098.jpg|The Golf book c.1540 by Simon Bening in the British Library

File:Llanbeblig Hours (f. 2v.) St. Peter, holding a key and a book.jpg|Llanbeblig Hours. St. Peter, holding a key and a book

File:Illuminated human alphabet.jpg|The beginning of Ave Maria in historiated letters in Heures de Charles d'Angoulême

File:Fol. 185v - Saint-Lifard.jpg|Saint Lifard with a dragon in the Grandes Heures of Anne of Brittany by Jean Bourdichon

File:Horae Beatae Mariae Virginis (BN Rps BOZ 44) (1012645) (cropped).jpg|French thumb-sized miniature prayer book from the collection of National Library of Poland

File:Illumination av Jungfru Marie bebådelse i en fransk tidegärd.tif|Illumination of the Annunciation in a french book of hours from the 15th century.

</gallery>

Selected examples

thumb|Example of a French-Latin book of hours. The [[miniature (illuminated manuscript)|miniatures have didactical purposes. Excerpt from the Book of Hours of Alexandre Petau. Made in the 16th century, Rouen.]]

See :Category:Illuminated books of hours for a fuller list

In Europe

Bedford Hours (c.1410–1430): London, British Library, Add. MS 18850
Belles Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry (c.1405–1408/1409): Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cloisters Collection, 54.1.1a, b
Black Hours of Galeazzo Maria Sforza (c.1466–1477): Vienna, Austrian National Library, Codex Vindobon. 1856
Book of Hours (15th century): Milan, Biblioteca Trivulziana, Cod. 470
Book of Hours (15th century): Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, MS lat. 10536 — one of the few early cordiform manuscripts still extant
Book of Hours of Frederick of Aragon (1501–1502): Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, MS Lat. 10532
Book of Hours of Queen Bona (c. 1527–1528): Bodleian Library — created by the Polish Renaissance painter and illuminator Stanisław Samostrzelnik and his collaborators. The manuscript was intended for Queen Bona of the Sforza family – the second wife of Sigismund I the Old.
Cobden Book of Hours: Bristol University Special Collections
Grandes Heures of Anne of Brittany (1503–1508): Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, MS lat. 9474
Hours of Étienne Chevalier (1450s) — sheets in several libraries
Hours of Gian Galeazzo Visconti (late 14th century): Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale, Banco Rari 397 and Landau-Finaly 22
Hours of James IV of Scotland (c.1503): Austrian National Library, Codex Vindobon. 1897
Hours of Philip the Bold (late 14th century): Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum, MS 3-1954
Howard Psalter and Hours (1310–1320): London, British Library, Arundel MS 83, pt 1
Llanbeblig Book of Hours (1390–1400): Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales, NLW MS 17520A
Petites Heures du Duc de Berry (1375×1385–1390): Paris, Royal Library, MS lat. 18014
Primer of Claude of France (1505): Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum, MS 294 — simplified for a young princess
Ravenelle Hours (15th century): Uppsala, UUB, MS C517e — a typical representative of books of hours made in Paris
Rohan Hours (1430s): Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, MS lat. 9471
Sforza Hours (commissioned c.1490, completed c.1517–1520): London, British Library, Add. MS 34294
Taymouth Hours (c.1325–1335): London, British Library, Yates Thompson MS 13
Très belles heures du Duc de Berry: Brussels, Royal Library of Belgium, 11060–11061
Très belles heures de Notre-Dame du Duc de Berry: Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, nouv. acq. lat. 3093
Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (c.1411–1416): Chantilly, Musée Condé, MS 65
Turin-Milan Hours: Turin, City Museum of Ancient Art, MS Inv. 47
'The De Brailes Hours', formerly known as 'The Dyson Perrins Hours' (1240): London, British Library, Add. MS 49999

In the United States

Belles Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry (c.1405–1408/9): New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters, 54.1.1a, b — miniatures of 'the Limburg Brothers'
Black Hours (1460–1475): New York, Morgan Library, Morgan MS 493 — an example of Black Hours, codices copied on black pages
Farnese Hours (1546): New York, Morgan Library, MS M.69 — illuminated by Giulio Clovio
Hours of Catherine of Cleves, property of 'Katharina van Kleef' (15th century): New York, Morgan Library, MSS  M.917 and M.945
Hours of Henry VIII: New York, Morgan Library, MS H.8 — with miniatures by Jean Poyer
Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux (1325–1328): New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters, 54.1.2

In Australia

Rothschild Prayerbook (c.1500–1520): on display at the National Library of Australia in Canberra, owned by Australian businessman Kerry Stokes.

References

External links

General information

Book of Hours - Harry Ransom Center of the University of Texas at Austin
World Digital Library from partner - Library of Congress (Digital Books of Hours)
Sacred Image and Illusion in Late Flemish Manuscripts, Robert G. Calkins, Cornell University
AbeBooks, Explaining Books of Hours with a varied selection of examples.
541 examples from the Digital Scriptorium
Book of Hours Tutorial, Les Enluminures and the Morgan Library & Museum, MS M.1093
Blog: PECIA/ Le manuscrit médiéval ~ The medieval manuscript
Prints & People: A Social History of Printed Pictures, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF)
CHD Center for Håndskriftstudier i Danmark, founded by Erik Drigsdahl

Full "turn the pages" online individual manuscripts

Lavishly illustrated Books of Hours, 12th through 16th centuries, Center for Digital Initiatives, University of Vermont Libraries
The Sforza Hours at the British Library.
Book of Hours, Use of Rome (the 'Golf Book'), c.1540, BL, Add MS 24098.
Catholic Church. Book of hours Ms.Library of Congress. Rosenwald ms. 10, 1524. 113 leaves (23 lines (calendar 33 lines)), bound: parchment, col. ill.; 24 cm.
Picturing Prayer, Books of Hours at Houghton Library, Harvard University.
Book of Hours, of Premonstratensian Use at the Digital Archives Initiative Memorial University of Newfoundland.
Late 15th Century French Book of Hours- De Villers Book of Hours, Digitized Collection: Utah State University.
Book of Hours, circa 1430: University of Edinburgh MS 39.
Book of Hours from the Netherlands, Trinity College Dublin Library MS 103.
Book of Hours, Paris (15th century), Trinity College Dublin Library MS 104.

The texts

A Hypertext Book of Hours; full texts and translation
Late Medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts - Books of Hours 1400-1530 - An excellent guide containing tables describing all the various uses; also with original Latin texts and high-resolution photographs of many books.
Books of Hours at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries - fully digitized with descriptions.