Book of Hours of James IV
Great hopes were pinned on the marriage between the Scottish King James IV (1473–1513) and the young English king's daughter Margaret Tudor (1489–1541) throughout Europe: peace at last for the two neighboring countries! The wedding gift for his bride is a token of love from the (otherwise notoriously unfaithful) king on every page: the best Flemish artists such as Gerard Horenbout (ca. 1465 – ca. 1541) and the Maximilian Master were commissioned. The lively borders full of colorful flowers, blossoms and fruit may have cheered up the dainty Margaret far from home; bright miniatures also show challenging scenes such as a funeral and may have given the queen strength later on when she had to stand at her children's graves again and again. Half-page landscapes full of harmony offered her as well as today's viewers relaxation while enjoying this masterpiece of the Ghent-Bruges School!
The Book of Hours of James IV
The medieval book of hours was a very personalized type of book and is best exemplified in the prayer book of James IV and his wife Margaret Tudor. The wedding of the Scottish king and the daughter of the English sovereign Henry VII – a political dream of many who hoped for durable peace between the two countries – was celebrated in 1513 at Holyrood. The so-called Book of Hours of James IV probably constitutes the wedding gift of the groom to his bride. Whoever commissioned this work had entrusted one of the leading illuminator’s workshops with the production of his present.
65 Miniatures by Masters of Illumination
The design and layout of the manuscript is from the hands of several artists of the Ghent-Bruges school, among them are famous names of Flemish book painting: Gerald Horenbout, court painter Margaret of Austria, General Governor of the Netherlands, and the so-called Maximilian Master. Their style is identifiable due to the perfect execution and the extremely imaginative and elaborate decoration of the page borders. The calendar conveys a distant atmospheric effect through 12 sensational half-page landscape illustrations. The days of the months are arranged in pairs placed on opposing pages. Both writing and text are framed in Gothic tracery architecture and form a harmonious composition. The patrons’ portraits depicting King James himself and his wife Margaret Tudor give reference to the original owners of the manuscript.
Unbelievable Richness of Detail
The prayer book is illustrated by 65 full-page miniatures which mark the chapter beginnings or are dispersed throughout the text. The rich and detailed decoration makes them unique examples of their kind. Both miniature and text pages are framed with borders showing blossoms, rinceaux and tiny creatures in a stunningly naturalistic style. The Prayer Book of James IV owes its outstanding significance not only to its position in history but also to its high art-historic value. It ranks among the most important works ever made in a workshop of the Gent-Bruges school where Flemish illumination flourished and ultimately blossomed. Of the 3,487 miniatures (72 of them full-page) 59 illustrate the essential and secondary texts, which are arranged under 10 headings: the calendar, extracts from the four Gospels, Hours of the Holy Ghost, Mass of Our Lady, Hours of Our Lady, Hours of the Passion of Jesus Christ, Office for the Dead, Penitential Psalms, various prayers and Intercession of the Saints. The other miniatures illustrate the large number of additional themes. We find an abundance of borders with traditional acanthus garlands, flowers, fruit, human figures, birds and small animals, as well as a large number of decorated capital letters (87 large, 181 medium and 2,964 small) , with a variety of decorations including burnished gold. The Gothic lettering of the written text is in black and red ink.
Codicology
- Alternative Titles
- Gebetbuch Jakobs IV. von Schottland
Hours of James IV of Scotland
Prayer Book of James IV and Queen Margaret - Size / Format
- 494 pages / 20.0 × 14.5 cm
- Origin
- Belgium
- Date
- 1503–1513
- Epochs
- Style
- Genre
- Language
- Script
- Littera bastarda
- Illustrations
- 65 miniatures including 19 full-page miniatures, 14 half-page miniatures in the calendar section with zodiac symbols, two historiated initials, nine historiated borders. All the pages, even those with text, have decorative borders and rich gold ornaments.
- Content
- Liturgy of the Hours
- Patron
- James IV (1473–1513), King of Scotland
- Artist / School
- Gerard Horenbout / Master of James IV of Scotland (illuminator)
Possibly Alexander Bening / Maximilian Master (illuminator)
So-called "Thin Descender Scribe" (scribe) - Previous Owners
- Margaret Tudor (1489–1541)
Mary Tudor (1496–1533), Queen of France
Emperor Leopold I (1640–1705)
Hapsburg Library, Vienna
Book of Hours of James IV
Saint Margaret and the Dragon
According to the Golden Legend, Margaret was a native of Antioch who committed her virginity to God despite the objections of her father, a pagan priest. After refusing to denounce Christianity and marry the governor of the Roman Diocese of the East, she was tortured. Margaret was then swallowed by a dragon, but her faith and the cross she carried irritated the dragon’s innards. Embedded in the text, this miniature shows St. Margaret emerging unharmed from the devilish beast.
Book of Hours of James IV
David and Bathsheba
This masterful miniature by Gerard Horenbout manages to sum up the famous story from the Old Testament in a primary scene and its surrounding frame. In the frame’s upper left corner, we see the young King David watching from a window as a naked Bathsheba bathes in the lower left corner. She is attended by her ladies in waiting, dressed in the contemporary style of the Spanish court and holding various luxury goods, such as a hand mirror.
Skipping over the scheming and subsequent divine punishment of David, we see the King kneeling in penance inside the walls of a Gothic castle in the primary miniature. David has laid his crown and signature lyre on the ground. He looks to God for forgiveness, depicted wearing a papal tiara and holding the globe.
#1 Gebetbuch Jakobs IV. von Schottland (Normal Edition)
Language: German
The commentary volume gives a profound explanation of all miniatures and introduces the reader to the historical and art-historical context of King James IV.
(1,000€ - 3,000€)
#2 Gebetbuch Jakobs IV. von Schottland (Luxury Edition)
Language: German
The commentary volume provides a comprehensive explanation of the miniatures and expertly guides the reader through the historic and art historic background of the era of King James IV.
(3,000€ - 7,000€)
- Treatises / Secular Books
- Apocalypses / Beatus
- Astronomy / Astrology
- Bestiaries
- Bibles / Gospels
- Chronicles / History / Law
- Geography / Maps
- Saints' Lives
- Islam / Oriental
- Judaism / Hebrew
- Single Leaf Collections
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Literature / Poetry
- Liturgical Manuscripts
- Medicine / Botany / Alchemy
- Music
- Mythology / Prophecies
- Psalters
- Other Religious Books
- Games / Hunting
- Private Devotion Books
- Other Genres
- Afghanistan
- Armenia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Colombia
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Egypt
- Ethiopia
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- India
- Iran
- Iraq
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Lebanon
- Luxembourg
- Mexico
- Morocco
- Netherlands
- Palestine
- Peru
- Poland
- Portugal
- Russia
- Serbia
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Turkey
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Uzbekistan
- Aboca Museum
- Ajuntament de Valencia
- Akademie Verlag
- Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA)
- Aldo Ausilio Editore - Bottega d’Erasmo
- Alecto Historical Editions
- Alkuin Verlag
- Almqvist & Wiksell
- Amilcare Pizzi
- Andreas & Andreas Verlagsbuchhandlung
- Archa 90
- Archiv Verlag
- Archivi Edizioni
- Arnold Verlag
- ARS
- Ars Magna
- ArtCodex
- AyN Ediciones
- Azimuth Editions
- Badenia Verlag
- Bärenreiter-Verlag
- Belser Verlag
- Belser Verlag / WK Wertkontor
- Benziger Verlag
- Bernardinum Wydawnictwo
- BiblioGemma
- Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Vaticanstadt, Vaticanstadt)
- Bibliotheca Palatina Faksimile Verlag
- Bibliotheca Rara
- Boydell & Brewer
- Bramante Edizioni
- Bredius Genootschap
- Brepols Publishers
- British Library
- C. Weckesser
- Caixa Catalunya
- Canesi
- CAPSA, Ars Scriptoria
- Caratzas Brothers, Publishers
- Carus Verlag
- Casamassima Libri
- Chavane Verlag
- Christian Brandstätter Verlag
- Circulo Cientifico
- Club Bibliófilo Versol
- Club du Livre
- CM Editores
- Collegium Graphicum
- Collezione Apocrifa Da Vinci
- Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses
- Coron Verlag
- Corvina
- CTHS
- D. S. Brewer
- Damon
- De Agostini/UTET
- De Nederlandsche Boekhandel
- De Schutter
- Deuschle & Stemmle
- Deutscher Verlag für Kunstwissenschaft
- DIAMM
- Droz
- E. Schreiber Graphische Kunstanstalten
- Ediciones Boreal
- Ediciones Grial
- Ediclube
- Edições Inapa
- Edilan
- Editalia
- Edition Deuschle
- Edition Georg Popp
- Edition Leipzig
- Edition Libri Illustri
- Editiones Reales Sitios S. L.
- Éditions de l'Oiseau Lyre
- Editions Medicina Rara
- Editorial Casariego
- Editorial Mintzoa
- Editrice Antenore
- Editrice Velar
- Edizioni Edison
- Egeria, S.L.
- Eikon Editores
- Electa
- Emery Walker Limited
- Enciclopèdia Catalana
- Eos-Verlag
- Ephesus Publishing
- Eugrammia Press
- Extraordinary Editions
- Fackelverlag
- Facsimila Art & Edition
- Facsimile Editions Ltd.
- Facsimilia Art & Edition Ebert KG
- Faksimile Verlag
- Feuermann Verlag
- Folger Shakespeare Library
- Franco Cosimo Panini Editore
- Friedrich Wittig Verlag
- Fundación Hullera Vasco-Leonesa
- G. Braziller
- Gabriele Mazzotta Editore
- Gebr. Mann Verlag
- Gesellschaft für graphische Industrie
- Getty Research Institute
- Giovanni Domenico de Rossi
- Giunti Editore
- Graffiti
- Grafica European Center of Fine Arts
- Guido Pressler
- Guillermo Blazquez
- Gustav Kiepenheuer
- H. N. Abrams
- Harrassowitz
- Helikon
- Hendrickson Publishers
- Henning Oppermann
- Herder Verlag
- Hes & De Graaf Publishers
- Hoepli
- Hortus Deliciarum
- Houghton Library
- Hugo Schmidt Verlag
- Idion Verlag
- Il Bulino, edizioni d'arte
- ILte
- Imago
- Insel Verlag
- Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia
- Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana - Treccani
- Istituto Ellenico di Studi Bizantini e Postbizantini
- Istituto Geografico De Agostini
- Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato
- Italarte Art Establishments
- J. Thorbecke
- Jan Thorbecke Verlag
- Johnson Reprint Corporation
- Josef Stocker
- Josef Stocker-Schmid
- Jugoslavija
- Karl W. Hiersemann
- Kasper Straube
- Kaydeda Ediciones
- Kindler Verlag / Coron Verlag
- Kodansha International Ltd.
- Konrad Kölbl Verlag
- Kurt Wolff Verlag
- La Liberia dello Stato
- La Linea Editrice
- La Meta Editore
- Lambert Schneider
- Landeskreditbank Baden-Württemberg
- Leo S. Olschki
- Les Incunables
- Library of Congress
- Libreria Musicale Italiana
- Lichtdruck
- Lito Immagine Editore
- Lumen Artis
- Lund Humphries
- M. Moleiro Editor
- Maison des Sciences de l'homme et de la société de Poitiers
- Manuscriptum
- Martinus Nijhoff
- Maruzen-Yushodo Co. Ltd.
- MASA
- McGraw-Hill
- Militos
- Millennium Liber
- Müller & Schindler
- Nahar and Steimatzky
- National Library of Wales
- Neri Pozza
- Nova Charta
- Oceanum Verlag
- Odeon
- Orbis Mediaevalis
- Orbis Pictus
- Österreichische Staatsdruckerei
- Oxford University Press
- Pageant Books
- Parzellers Buchverlag
- Patrimonio Ediciones
- Pattloch Verlag
- PIAF
- Pieper Verlag
- Plon-Nourrit et cie
- Prestel Verlag
- Princeton University Press
- Prisma Verlag
- Priuli & Verlucca, editori
- Pro Sport Verlag
- Propyläen Verlag
- Pytheas Books
- Quaternio Verlag Luzern
- Reales Sitios
- Recht-Verlag
- Reichert Verlag
- Reichsdruckerei
- Riehn & Reusch
- Roberto Vattori Editore
- Rosenkilde and Bagger
- Roxburghe Club
- Salerno Editrice
- Sarajevo Svjetlost
- Schöck ArtPrint Kft.
- Scolar Press
- Scrinium
- Scripta Maneant
- Scriptorium
- Siloé, arte y bibliofilia
- SISMEL - Edizioni del Galluzzo
- Sociedad Mexicana de Antropología
- Soncin Publishing
- Sorli Ediciones
- Stainer and Bell
- Studer
- Styria Verlag
- Sumptibus Pragopress
- Szegedi Tudomànyegyetem
- Taberna Libraria
- Tarshish Books
- Taschen
- Tempus Libri
- Testimonio Compañía Editorial
- Thames and Hudson
- The Clear Vue Publishing Partnership Limited
- The Facsimile Codex
- The Folio Society
- The Marquess of Normanby
- The Richard III and Yorkist History Trust
- Tip.Le.Co
- TouchArt
- TREC Publishing House
- TRI Publishing Co.
- Trident Editore
- Typis Regiae Officinae Polygraphicae
- Union Verlag Berlin
- Universidad de Granada
- University of California Press
- University of Chicago Press
- Urs Graf
- Vallecchi
- Van Wijnen
- VCH, Acta Humaniora
- VDI Verlag
- VEB Deutscher Verlag für Musik
- Verlag Anton Pustet / Andreas Verlag
- Verlag der Münchner Drucke
- Verlag für Regionalgeschichte
- Verlag Styria
- Vicent Garcia Editores
- W. Turnowsky
- Waanders Printers
- Wiener Mechitharisten-Congregation (Wien, Österreich)
- Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft
- Wydawnictwo Dolnoslaskie
- Xuntanza Editorial
- Zakład Narodowy
- Zollikofer AG