Kenyon College Leaf 36

This is a leaf from a French Book of Hours made in the middle of the fifteenth century. At 10.5 x 7 cm, this is the smallest of the 50 leaves in the Ege portfolios: each side contains just thirteen lines of text. These leaves were not separated easily; their inner margins are ragged, with scraps of the other half of the bifolium often visible. The rubrication and decoration/illumination remain vivid, sometimes overwhelming the fading text ink. See Denison University Leaf 36 for more information about this manuscript.

Text: Based on the leaves we have seen, this Book of Hours accords with the Use of Rome (see Leaf 36 in the Cleveland Public Library portfolio, which contains the "Dum Esset" antiphon). This leaf is one of six containing text from the Hours of the Virgin at Vespers; specifically, it contains Psalms 112, 121, and 147.

Kenyon Leaf 36 Recto

Kenyon College Leaf 36 Recto

Kenyon Leaf 36 Recto Transcription

et in terra?
Suscitans a terra inopem: et de stercore erigens pauperem.
Ut collocet eum cum principibus: cum principibus populi sui.
Qui habitare facit sterilem in domo: matrem filiorum laetantem. Ant. Leva eius sub capite meo et dextera illius amplerabitur me. Ant.

Kenyon Leaf 36 Recto Translation

[from Psalms 112] ...and earth? Raising up the needy from the earth: and lifting up the poor out of the dung. To place him with princes: with the princes of his people. Who maketh the barren woman to dwell in a house: a joyful mother of children. Ant. His left hand under my head and his right [ ]. Ant.

Kenyon Leaf 36 Verso

Kenyon College Leaf 36 Verso

Kenyon Leaf 36 Verso Transcription

Nigra sum sed formasa filia Ihrlm. Ideo dilexit me rex et introduduxit me in cubiculum suum. Psalmus.
Laetatus sum. Ant: Iam [ ] transiit [ ] et recessit. Surge anima mea et veni. Psalmus.
Nisi Dominus. Ant. Speciosa facta. Psalmus.

Lauda Iherusalem Dominum: lauda Deum tuum Syon.

Kenyon Leaf 36 Verso Translation

I am black, but beautiful, o ye daughters of Jerusalem: therefore the king hath loved me, and brought me into his chamber. Psalm. I rejoiced. Ant: Winter is now past; the rain is gone, and departed: arise my love, and come. Psalm. Unless our Lord. Ant. Thou art made fair. Psalm.

[Psalms 147] O Jerusalem praise our Lord: praise thy God o Sion.