[Spain, c.1470s]

A large portion of what would once have been a handsome Spanish prayerbook, possibly a Book of Hours.

The illumination, Italianate in flavour, is colourful and flamboyant, and reminiscent of the decoration of a Toledo Breviary and Psalter at the British Library (Henry Davis Collection 656). Similar foliate extensions of bright scrolling acanthus can also be found in an Estoria de España at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (Espagnol 12), produced in Castille in the mid-15th century. A rubric in Spanish 'Los versos de Sant Bernar' is found in one of the bifolia.

Physical description:
172 x 122mm (6⅝ x 4⅞ in.). 26 leaves: 6 bifolia and 14 single leaves, 17 lines, ruled space: 88 x 65mm, ff. nos 20, 25, 34, 35, 46, 58, 59, 64, 65, 68, 70, 71, 75, 80, 82, 89, 90, 97, 99-104, 108, 109, rubrics in red, 42 illuminated initials with elaborate foliate extensions. The leaves include parts of the gospel extracts, prayers to the Virgin, suffrages and the Seven Penitential Psalms and Litany - all texts that can appear in a Book of Hours, although there is nothing in the present selection from an Office that can securely confirm the nature of the parent manuscript.

Please note this lot is the property of a private consignor.