TEXT FROM THE MONTH OF AUGUST

Northern France (probably Rouen), ca. 1470. 180 x 117 mm. (7 x 4 5/8"). Single column, 18 lines, text in a bâtarde hand.
Text in red, blue, and gold, two-line "KL" in shell gold on blue and red ground, both sides with panel border composed of flowers and ink dots, WITH TWO SMALL MINIATURES, each centered in the middle of the panel borders, featuring the labor of the month (Threshing) and the zodiac sign (a young woman for Virgo). ◆Vellum a bit soiled and slight wrinkling in margins, small area of rubbing at bottom of the Virgo miniature, but in excellent condition overall, the fine details in the miniatures well preserved.

Situated among the flowers of the panel borders here are two small but charming miniatures depicting the labor of the month, "Threshing," and the zodiac sign for August. According to Roger Wieck, far fewer than half the Books of Hours of the period contain illustrated calendars, "even in manuscripts with otherwise lavish cycles of miniatures"; when they do appear, they are invariably charming, as is the case here. In the threshing scene, a young layman brings down his grain flail (two hinged pieces of wood, the longer one called a helve, and the other a beater, joined by a thong) in an effort to separate the grain, while neatly gathered bushels of straw appear just behind him. On the verso we see a representation of Virgo as a young woman holding, appropriately, two long stalks of grain in her hands. The rich palette used in these miniatures allows the delicate gold highlighting on the harvested crop and garments to shine through, adding a fine sense of detail to each image..