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[BOOK OF HOURS LEAF WITH A PET SQUIRREL]

Single leaf from a Book of Hours, with a squirrel in its border, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum
[Northern France
c. 1475]
€500 - €700

Single leaf, 165 by 120mm, with single column of 17 lines of a professional late gothic bookhand, rubrics in red, capital in blue with red penwork, two-line initial in gold on pink and blue grounds, one large illuminated initial in pink and blue on gold grounds, enclosing coloured foliage, the recto with a full border formed from thin gold and coloured bars on three sides and then sprays of coloured acanthus leaves and other foliage separated by black dots, and enclosing a squirrel wearing a thin red collar and eating a red nut while standing on a blue flower head, slight darkening to edges, else in excellent condition

The hairline red collar around the squirrel's neck suggests it is a pet, perhaps added to the book here as a personal touch for the parent book's original owner. The text here is uncommon and contains the readings for Vespers in the variant to be said during Advent