Book of Hours (Roman usage). - Lot 10

Book of Hours (Roman usage). In Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on parchment. France, Lyon, circa 1510. With 5 large and 5 small miniatures attributable to the Entry Master of François I and his entourage. 214 ff, preceded and followed by 2 endpapers, two lacunar leaves [collation: i12 ii7 (8-1, lacks i), iii- xxiii8 xxiv7 (8-1, lacks viii), xxv-xxvi8 xxvii4], bastard script in brown ink, 18 lines per page, ruled in pale red ink (justification: 82x46 mm), some advertisements at the end of the quires, headings in blue and red, some capitals highlighted in yellow, ornate initials drawn in blue with white highlights decorated with flowers on pink and gold backgrounds (3 to 6 lines high), initials painted in liquid gold on blue or dark pink backgrounds with floral or plant decoration (1 to 2 lines high), endpapers in liquid gold on blue or pink backgrounds, illuminated borders in the outer margins of some leaves with geometric motifs on reserved backgrounds and gilded backgrounds with flowers, fruit, birds and acanthus leaves in blue, red and gold, large miniatures set in architectural colonnaded frames with putti, a small miniature set in a columned frame (fol. 185), five small miniatures and five large miniatures. Bound in 18th-century red morocco with gilded decoration, 5-ribbed spine with partitions and fleurons (iron with crown repeated on spine), double gilded fillets on covers with fleurons on inner corners, gilded coat of arms pushed to center of covers (Charles de Baschi, Marquis d'Aubaïs), decorated paper endpapers (gold monochrome on mauve background), gilded edges. Some restorations to the binding in the 19th century (?). - A few stains to the parchment, a few paint defects in some margins, otherwise in very good condition. Size of leaves: 143x84 mm; size of binding: 150x97 mm This manuscript is a fine example of book illumination, partly influenced by the 15th century, with its classical, meticulous compositions, but also by a new Renaissance aesthetic, with architectural frames and ornate initials that herald the decorations of the 16th century. The Lyon artist who painted the present Hours, dubbed "Master of the Entrance of François I", was one of the two major artists who dominated the illuminated manuscript market in Lyon between 1500 and 1520. For a time, he figured in the prestigious collection of Charles de Baschi, Marquis d'Aubaïs, whose taste for historical and artistic works of southern provenance is well known. Provenance: 1 - Manuscript copied and illuminated in Lyon by the Maître de l'Entrée de François Ier [Entry Master by Elisabeth Burin, Manuscript Illumination in Lyon 1473-1530, Turnhout, 2001] or an artist in his immediate circle. This manuscript contains a so-called "composite" Parisian calendar, with few saints honored locally or associated with a given region. The Hours of the Virgin and the Office of the Dead are in "universal" use in Rome. It is therefore on stylistic grounds that this manuscript can be linked to the Lyon region, or was it painted in Lyon for a patron in the south of France. 2 - Charles Baschi (1686-1777), Marquis d'Aubaïs and Baron du Cayla, bound in his coat of arms (Argent, a fess Sable) and armorial bookplate pasted on the upper counterplate (Quarterly: on 1, Or six fleurs-de-lis azure, 3, 2 and 1, on 2, Or a bear sable, armed and langued gules, having a harness of the same, from which hangs a sword argent, on 3, parti: gules plain and an escutcheon argent a chief sable set in abism, and fesswise or and gules, on 4, azure, two twins or, acc. six bezants Argent 3 and 3, overall Argent, a fess Sable; see OHR, pl. 452.2 [Olivier, E., Hermal, G., and de Roton, R.Manuel de l'amateur de reliures armoriées françaises]). An important bibliophile, Charles de Baschi was a historian and collector, of Huguenot stock but the first Catholic in his line. He amassed an extensive collection of both printed works and manuscripts, and purchased his supplies from several Lyon booksellers. He composed numerous works of his own, many of which remained in manuscript form, others published, such as his Pièces fugitives pour server à l'histoire de France (Paris, 1759). Charles de Baschi was a member of several academies, including those of Nîmes and Marseille. See H. Omont, "La bibliothèque du marquis d'Aubais", Bibliothèque de l'école des chartes, vol.76, 1915, pp.471-472. After 1777, Charles de Baschi's daughter sold a large part of her father's library to scholars (see Notice des principaux l