Illuminated Leaves from a Ferial Psalter and Breviary

Two illuminated leaves from a ferial psalter and breviary from central France in 1472. Text is arranged in two columns and is decorated with red and blue initials. One leaf contains guide initials and what may be proofreader marks.Illuminated vellum manuscript leaves from a breviary and ferial psalter in Latin. (Autun, 1472?) 229 x 165. Double column, 31 lines, written in a very pleasing uncluttered gothic book hand. Basic leaves, with rubrics in red with three two-line initials in red or blue. Occasional fading to portions of the text. Leaves are slightly dampstained along the bottom, isolated darkening, but generally in excellent condition and are very bright, smooth, and clean. These leaves come from a Burgundian prayer book on vellum that contained both a psalter and a breviary. The manuscript is unusual in that was signed and dated by its scribe, Gerald Lequyn. He tells us that he began the book on the 15th of December and that it was intended for use by the Cathedral of St. Lazare in Autun, or, as he learnedly calls it, the cathedral of the Aedui, the Gaulish tribe headquartered in the place in Roman times. The date of 1472 has been supplied by the source of the leaves, and while there is no definitive evidence for that date, there is nothing about the manuscript that would make that date seem wrong