The Hours of Françoise de Foix (Use of Bayeux); in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on parchment

BOOK DESCRIPTION: BOOK OF HOURS BELONGING TO THE CHIEF MISTRESS OF FRANCE IN THE 15TH CENTURY. In Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on parchment, Northwestern France, Normandy (Bayeux), c. 1480-1490. Dimensions 186 x 132 mm, 81 folios, lacking one leaf, written in brown ink in gothic textualis bookhand on 20 lines, 1- to 2-line champie initials in burnished gold, nine 4- to 5-line initials on burnished gold grounds, FOUR FULL-PAGE ARCHED MINIATURES WITH FULL BORDERS. BINDING: splendid sixteenth-century Parisian binding, gold-tooled à la fanfare by the royal "atelier du doreur à la première palmette" of Henri III of France; modern fitted case. ILLUSTRATION: The engaging miniatures are by an artist who painted another Book of Hours localizable in Bayeux. PROVENANCE: The localizable feasts in the calendar are characteristic of Normandy, especially of Bayeux. The original patron was probably a woman, or perhaps a couple, due to the use of both masculine and feminine prayers. Later, the manuscript belonged to Françoise de Foix, Countess of Châteaubriant and mistress of King François I (c. 1495-1537), who composed her personal prayer to the Virgin Mary on ff. 77v-78. The initials beginning each verse spell out "Honneste femme Françoise La Cointesse," suggesting that it was written by Françoise de Foix herself. In the second half of the 16th century, the manuscript belonged to Marguerite Fresneau; her name "Marguerite / Fresneau" stamped on the front and back covers of binding. The book was later owned by her granddaughter, Louis du Bellay de La Palus, abbess of the Benedictine Abbey of Norte-Dame de Nyoiseau (1643-45). In the mid-19th century, it belonged to Guglielmo Libri (1803-1869), an Italian count and notorious manuscript theft. A previous description records the manuscript as sold by Nicolas Rauch (1897-1962), bookseller, Lausanne, in 1952 (unverified). CONDITION: occasional damp stains in margins, binding very slightly scuffed in the corners, but otherwise in pristine condition. Full description and images available. (BOH 179)