A Breviary is liturgical book used for the celebration of the Divine Office. All members of monastic orders and the clergy are committed to the daily recitation prayers, devotions and reading contained in the breviary. During the Middle Ages, the leaves making up a Breviary were written by hand on expensive parchment and beautifully illuminated with jewel-like pigments and gold leaf. These illuminated manuscripts combined the collaborative efforts of an array of highly skilled craftspeople; requiring the joint labors of the parchmenter, professional scribes to write the text in Gothic script, artists to illuminate the pages with decorations in a laborious manner with handmade paints and gold leaf, and masterful binders to complete the process.

A wonderful large leaf from a French Breviary. The text is written in a bold gothic bookhand in black ink with rubrics in red. On the recto, in the left column, is a list of Jesus’ forefathers and on the verso are prayers to Saint Gorgonius.

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Condition: A

Couple of light spots in top margin and a small flaw in the vellum at bottom edge.