Books of Hours collected by Elizabeth Seymour Percy, 1st Duchess of Northumberland (1716-1776): An examination of three unpublished late fifteenth- and early sixteenth-century illuminated Books of Hours at Alnwick Castle

Harthoorn, Janice Lynda (2023). Books of Hours collected by Elizabeth Seymour Percy, 1st Duchess of Northumberland (1716-1776): An examination of three unpublished late fifteenth- and early sixteenth-century illuminated Books of Hours at Alnwick Castle. PhD thesis The Open University.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21954/ou.ro.0001588b

Abstract

This thesis introduces Elizabeth Seymour Percy, 1st Duchess of Northumberland (1716-1776) who is known to have collected the Books of Hours now held at Alnwick Castle. Three of her unpublished Books of Hours are examined more closely, Duke of Northumberland (DNP) MSS 483, 484 and 485, here named The Van Zonnevelt Hours, The Golden Bathsheba Hours and The Goesin Hours respectively. My research has endeavoured to establish, as far as possible, where, when and by whom each manuscript was produced and to whom they belonged. The Van Zonnevelt Hours was produced in the Northern Netherlands in two distinct artistic phases, while the other two were produced in the Southern Netherlands although DNP MS 484, The Golden Bathsheba Hours, contains a monotone miniature of aVnaked [sic] Bathsheba in the French tradition. All were produced in the late fifteenth or early sixteenth centuries. A fourth Book of Hours from the collection at Alnwick, DNP MS 482, The Hours of Charlotte de Bourbon Montpensier, and DNP MS 483, The Van Zonnevelt Hours, contain added inscriptions, which between them contribute new information on the Dutch Revolt from either side of the religious divide. All four manuscripts have either a binding or cover of red velvet and all four manuscripts have similar library labels that are not those of Alnwick, raising the question of whether some or all of the books were together before they entered the Alnwick collection.

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