Caring for the Living and the Dead. A Study on the Use of Book of Hours 74 G 35 (The Hague, Koninklijke Bibliotheek)

Abstract

This thesis adds to previous research concerning the use of Books of Hours by focussing on the augmented manuscript 74 G 35 (Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague). This Book of Hours (Delft, ca. 1440-1450) has in its past been altered and augmented to fit the preferences of its earliest owners. Apart from the standard set of texts, the Hours of the Virgin, the Hours of the Cross, the Penitential Psalms and Litany, the Suffrages, and the Office of the Dead, it includes a number of additions: Latin kriezel border prayers, the prayer salve sancta facies and a Vera Icon miniature, a miniature of St Jerome, pilgrim badges, astronomical and astrological features and notes, and a family record. One of its alterations, the family record, clarifies that the book once belonged to the noble families Van Matenesse and Van Duvenvoorde. Why did they change the manuscript's contents? And what can the alterations tell about the use of Ms. 74 G 35?