The Black Book of Hours – Limited Edition Facsimile – As New. Full-size color reproduction of the entire original document, the facsimile attempts to replicate the look-and-feel and physical features of the original document; pages are trimmed according to the original format. Published by Faksimile Verlag – Luzern, 2001. 242 pages, 17 x 12 cm. Limited to 980 copies – This is number 332. Binding: The binding from the 20th century that currently protects the manuscript has been replaced by a correspondingly magnificent black velvet binding with ornate gold-plated buttons and a clasp. Condition – As New. Commentary: 1 volume by Bernard Bousmanne and William Volkle – Language: German. The facsimile and commentary are housed in a clear acrylic slipcase/box (minor loss to the acrylic at one side of the slipcase edge). About the original manuscript. The Black Hours MS M. 493 today in the Pierpont Morgan Library New York was made around 1475 in Bruges, probably in the circle of Willem Vrelant, the leading illuminator of this time. The Black Hours is a product of unequalled luxury. All 121 vellum folios are stained in black. To make the writing stand out against the dark background, only white lead and opaque paints were used for the miniatures, and gold and silver ink for the script. Only three of these black parchment manuscripts bound in codices survive to this day. The 14 full-page miniatures are embellished with glittering gold to amplify the effect of the black stained pages. Finely differentiated shades of grey and a delicate noble coloring allowed the painter to enhance the perspective of interiors and landscapes before the black background. His limitation to a small number of carefully selected colors lends the miniatures their very special charm. The prayers are each introduced by a full-page picture. The Office of the Virgin alone contains eight of these miniatures, expressing the great veneration reserved for the Virgin Mary. When his father John the Fearless was stabbed to death on 10 September 1419 by servants of the French king, Philip was only 23 years old. Unable to revenge this murder, he decided to lend his mourning a visible expression. The mourners, who accompanied him during the celebrations and welcomed the French and the English kings on horseback, well befitted the splendor of the house of Burgundy. 2000 black pennants, with black standards and seven cubit long banners, their fringes in black silk, all embroidered or painted with golden coats of arms, adorned the funeral procession. Even the stately seats and coach of the duke were painted black. As Philip continued wearing black long after the mourning period was over, this began to “rub off” on the nobility and finally on the rich citizens of Flanders. From then on it was considered good form in Flanders to dress in black. This combination of religious thinking and fashionable splendor is the foundation of the Black Hours produced around 1475.
